宗鏡錄 85.5

85.5

Answer: If one understands the one mind, views of existence and non-existence are cut off; object and cognition are both silenced, tallying with that emptiness of nature; sense faculties and sense dusts are both obliterated, bringing liberation internally and externally. It also constantly illuminates both the internal and the external, freed from ignorance. When even emptiness does not remain, from where could delusion arise? The external realms of various sufferings and pleasures that appear are like images in a mirror: taking one's own mind as a bright mirror, it simply reflects the shadows of one's own karma. An ancient master of virtue said: 'Taking the nature of the tathāgatagarbha as the bright mirror, according to karmic conditions and objects, it manifests the images of retribution.' Now, karma encompasses both nature and characteristics. That is, the substance of this karma takes the phenomenon of naturelessness as its nature, and takes the characteristic of not losing karmic retribution as its nature. Because it has no nature, it can bring about karmic retribution; because it does not destroy characteristics, true emptiness is thereby revealed. Why is this? If it had an inherent nature, then good and bad karma would be fixed and unalterable, and there would be no retribution of suffering or pleasure. If it destroyed the characteristics of karma, then it would lead to annihilationism. Because all causes and effects arise from one's own mind, outside of mind there is truly no good or bad karma to be found. Because karma has no intrinsic nature and arises solely from the mind, it is therefore like a shadow or a phantom, having no fixed characteristic. Furthermore, because karma has no intrinsic nature, it does not fall into existence; because it does not destroy karmic retribution, it does not fall into non-existence. Being neither existent nor non-existent is the principle of the middle of the one mind.