宗鏡錄 85.13

85.13

Answer: What is called following the flow and returning against the flow is spoken entirely in terms of the mind of conditioning thoughts of sentient beings, falsely calling it transmigration. Its substance is ever tranquil; if only one does not see where a single thought arises, that is precisely non-flowing—there are not necessarily thoughts that can be cut off. The Jñānavaipulyasūtra says: 'Mañjuśrī said: "How does one cut off transmigration? By not giving rise to past mind, future consciousness not proceeding, present thought not moving, not abiding and not pondering, not perceiving and not discriminating."' Therefore, know that matching objects with objects and using mind to control mind is like a dog chasing a clod of earth only for more to come, or a man fleeing his shadow only to tire himself in vain. If one can know that the body is a shadow, and abandon the clod to approach the person, then the shadow vanishes and the footprints sink away, peacefully walking the path. Therefore, know that all movements are lustful and entirely become the work of Māra. If one knows that the mind does not move, then one does not follow the flow; only then does one enter into the mirror of the source, eternally transcending demonic illusions, and naturally the mind's cognition is extinguished and all views are dissolved. As the Mahāgaganagañjaparipṛcchāsūtra says: 'The bodhisattva Parvatasaṃgātarāja said: "For example, where there is an aperture, wind enters into it and shakes things, having the characteristic of coming and going. The bodhisattva is also like this: if the mind has an aperture, the mind is shaken. Because it is shaken, Māra obtains an opportunity. Therefore, the bodhisattva guards the mind and does not let there be an aperture. If the mind has no aperture, then all characteristics are fulfilled. Because characteristics are fulfilled, the nature of emptiness is fulfilled. This is the bodhisattva's Dharma gate of transcending Māra." Further, the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī said: "Good sirs, what you have spoken is all the realm of Māra. Why is this? The establishment of words and letters is entirely the work of Māra; even the words of the Buddha are still the work of Māra. Where there is no speech, free from all words and letters, Māra can do nothing. If there is no establishment, there is no view of self and no view of words and letters. Because there is no self, there is no loss or gain with regard to dharmas. One who enters in this way transcends the realm of Māra. This is the bodhisattva's Dharma gate of transcending Māra."' The Mahāyāna Thousand-Bowl Great Teaching King Sūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "The illusory deceptions of the various heavenly demons, in their varied forms, obstruct the sacred path of the mind's eye of practitioners, even causing them to see all illusory forms of past and future matters of birth and death, various good and bad signs. These are illusory deceptions made by Māra, unrelated to correct knowledge; they are only transformations manifested by the mind—do not grasp external conditions. Practitioners must never, in dream realms or present before their eyes, grasp characteristics and cling to them, agitating their human minds with terror and fear, whereupon they will be obstructed by heavenly demons, ghosts, and spirits. For the practitioner's correct view, one must constantly and attentively contemplate the nature of the mind, seeing that the nature is tranquil, that the nature of the mind is devoid of things, and not grasp these characteristics; then there will be no conditions of objective realms and false thoughts. Therefore, practitioners must practice diligence with vigor, never regressing, becoming lax, or indolent, and then they will swiftly realize unsurpassed, complete, and perfect bodhi."' The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'Except for the true characteristic of all dharmas, all else is the work of Māra for bodhisattvas. If one realizes prajñā and can tally with the true characteristic, one then overcomes the works of Māra.' This is spoken regarding the time of realizing the true characteristic. When personally realizing it, it is like a person drinking water: one must not merely take to speaking without realizing. If one merely speaks of overcoming Māra, one does not depart from the realm of Māra; if one overcomes the realm of Māra, both speech and realization are completely severed. Therefore, know that there is certainly no demonic objective realm—it only arises from the mind. Why is this? If internally the mind delights in birth and death, one's body becomes a heavenly demon; if internally the mind clings to wrong views, one's body becomes a non-Buddhist; up to and including seeing dharmas outside the mind and seeking separately outside of principle—all of these become non-Buddhists.