宗鏡錄 87.10

87.10

"Answer: The root of citta is established in the dharmadhātu; therefore this citta is called the 'root.' Subsequent to this, one gives rise to contemplation: just as in the previous contemplation of states, mindfulness operates everywhere, understanding and knowing that all thoughts are merely conceptual discrimination and not truly existent. Having known this in such a way, one swiftly exhausts the ocean of merits, which is the ocean of merits of the fruit of buddhahood, and is able swiftly to reach the other shore. Therefore, a verse in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha says:

'The two provisions of merit and wisdom
Are well prepared by the bodhisattva without boundary.
Having well determined [them] through reflection on phenomena,
He understands that the intended referents are merely categories of verbal expression.

If one knows that all referents are merely verbal expressions,
One abides in the principle of mind-only resembling them;
Then one can directly realize the true dharmadhātu,
And therefore both characteristics are entirely eliminated.

Realizing through the substance that apart from citta there is no other object,
Through this one understands that citta is also non-existent.
The wise person fully understands that both are non-existent,
And abides equally in the true dharmadhātu of the non-existence of both.

With the power of the non-discriminative wisdom of the wise one,
Universally, equally, and constantly proceeding in accordance,
One eradicates the mass of faults, the thickets upon which [afflictions] rely,
Like a great efficacious medicine dispelling all poisons.

When the wonderful Dharma spoken by the Buddha is well established,
Wisdom together with its root is placed within the dharmadhātu;
Comprehending that the direction of thoughts is merely conceptual discrimination,
One courageously and swiftly returns to the shore of the ocean of virtues.'

The commentary says: 'Furthermore, there are gāthās on clear realization (abhisamaya), as explained in the sūtras and the Sūtrālaṃkāra. What is difficult to understand therein is now demonstrated here. Regarding "The two provisions of merit and wisdom / Are well prepared by the bodhisattva without boundary": provisions are of two kinds—first, the provision of merit; second, the provision of wisdom. That is, the three pāramitās beginning with giving (dāna) are the provision of merit; the sixth, prajñāpāramitā, is the provision of wisdom; and the vīryapāramitā is subsumed under both provisions. Why is this? If one practices vigor for the sake of wisdom, it is the provision of wisdom; if one practices vigor for the sake of merit, it is the provision of merit. In the same way, the dhyānapāramitā also applies to both kinds: if one cultivates dhyāna focused on the immeasurables (apramāṇa), it is the provision of merit; the remainder is the provision of wisdom. To whom do such provisions belong? They belong to bodhisattvas. Being prolonged and difficult to traverse, they are called "without boundary." Just as speaking of "boundless" does not mean there is literally no boundary, but because they are so numerous they obtain the name "without boundary," this is also like that. Regarding "Having well determined [them] through reflection on phenomena": it is necessarily through reflecting upon all phenomena after samādhi that one can make a proper determination; it cannot be done by anything else. Regarding "He understands that the intended referents are merely categories of verbal expression": this means understanding and knowing that all referents have merely the verbal expression of the mind (manojalpa) as their cause. Regarding "If one knows that all referents are merely verbal expressions, / One abides in the principle of mind-only resembling them": this means that if one fully understands that the appearance resembling an object is merely the verbal expression of the mind, one then abides in the correct principle of mind-only resembling an object. Regarding "Then one can directly realize the true dharmadhātu, / And therefore both characteristics are entirely eliminated": this means that subsequent to this, one directly realizes tathatā and is forever separated from the two characteristics of the grasped and the grasper. Having thus entered direct realization, it is next demonstrated: regarding "Realizing through the substance that apart from citta there is no other object, / Through this one understands that citta is also non-existent": knowing through the substance that apart from citta there is no referential object to be cognized, and because that does not exist, one directly understands that the cognizing citta is also non-existent. Regarding "The wise person fully understands that both are non-existent": this means that bodhisattvas fully understand that both of these are entirely non-existent. Regarding "And abides equally in the true dharmadhātu of the non-existence of both": this means abiding equally in the real dharmadhātu that is devoid of object and devoid of citta. Regarding "With the power of the non-discriminative wisdom of the wise one": this refers to whatever power the bodhisattvas' non-discriminative wisdom possesses. Regarding "Universally, equally, and constantly proceeding in accordance": one proceeds in accordance within equality, contemplating all phenomena such as the sūtras as like empty space, because their natures are equal; both internal and external phenomena are contemplated in this way, hence it is called "universally and constantly." Regarding "One eradicates the mass of faults, the thickets upon which [afflictions] rely, / Like a great efficacious medicine dispelling all poisons": "eradicating" means eliminating and destroying; "relying" refers to the basis, which is the cause of defiled phenomena within the basis—being extremely difficult to comprehend, it is like the tangled thickets of valleys and forests that are hard to penetrate; the "mass of faults" refers to the inherent nature of the perfuming of defiled phenomena. Regarding "When the wonderful Dharma spoken by the Buddha is well established, / Wisdom together with its root is placed within the dharmadhātu": this means that through the Buddha's teachings, one properly establishes one's wisdom, placing it within tathatā and within the root citta that can cognize it. The "root citta" means cognizing all the correct teachings of the Tathāgata, taking them universally as a single characteristic; one should know that this is precisely the non-discriminative mind. Regarding "Comprehending that the direction of thoughts is merely conceptual discrimination": this means that after abiding in that root citta, for the sake of expounding the correct teachings, one is mindful of all intended referents through the subsequently attained wisdom, knowing that the direction of these thoughts is merely conceptual discrimination. Regarding "One courageously and swiftly returns to the shore of the ocean of virtues": this means that bodhisattvas, through the skillful means of non-discriminative wisdom and subsequently attained wisdom, swiftly proceed to the shore of the ocean of the virtues of the fruit of buddhahood.'

As for the general summary meaning of these five verses: the first verse reveals the path of provisions; the first half of the second verse reveals the path of application; its second half and the third verse reveal the path of vision; the fourth verse reveals the path of cultivation; and the fifth verse reveals the path of culmination.

The Vajrasamādhi Sūtra says: 'The Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta (or Great Power) said: "How is it that the two entrances do not arise in the mind? If the mind is originally unarisen, how can there be an entrance?" The Buddha said: "As for the two entrances, the first is called entrance by principle; the second is called entrance by practice. As for entrance by principle: having deep faith that sentient beings are not different from the true nature, neither identical nor collective, but merely obscured and hindered by adventitious defilements; neither going nor coming, one abides steadily in awareness and contemplation, clearly contemplating the buddha-nature as neither existing nor non-existing, devoid of self and devoid of other, commoner and sage being non-dual; one abides firmly and unmovingly on the adamantine ground of the mind, tranquil and unconditioned, devoid of conceptual discrimination—this is called entrance by principle. As for entrance by practice: the mind does not lean or tilt, reflections do not flow or shift; in all places, silent thought is free from seeking; unperturbed by the blowing wind, like the great earth; discarding the mind's ego, saving sentient beings; devoid of arising and devoid of characteristics, neither grasping nor relinquishing. For a bodhisattva, the mind has no exiting or entering; because the mind without exiting or entering enters without entering, it is therefore called 'entrance.' When a bodhisattva enters phenomena in this way, the characteristics of phenomena are not empty; regarding phenomena that are not empty, phenomena are not wastefully discarded. Why is this? Phenomena that are not non-existent are replete with merits, being neither mind nor shadow, and naturally pure."'

It also says: 'The Buddha said: "From the mind of the icchantika up to the Tathāgata, the real characteristic of the Tathāgata abides in five equal stages. The first is the stage of faith: having faith that the seed of tathatā within this body is obscured by delusion, one relinquishes the deluded mind and purifies the mind into clean clarity, knowing that all sensory realms are the conceptual discrimination of the mind's verbal expressions. The second is the stage of reflection: as for reflection, one contemplates that all sensory realms are merely the mind's verbal expressions, and the conceptual discrimination of the mind's verbal expressions appears in accordance with thought; the sensory realms that are seen are not my fundamental consciousness (mūlavijñāna); one knows that this fundamental consciousness is neither phenomenon nor referent, neither the grasped nor the grasper. The third is the stage of cultivation: as for cultivation, it constantly arises; because that which can give rise and that which is given rise to are simultaneous, one first leads with wisdom, dispelling all obstacles and difficulties, and escaping from coverings and fetters. The fourth is the stage of practice: as for practice, one leaves behind the grounds of all practices, the mind is devoid of grasping and relinquishing, the faculties are supremely pure and sharp, and the unmoving mind is like the definitively real nature, the great parinirvāṇa, which is only the great emptiness of nature. The fifth is the stage of relinquishment: as for relinquishment, one does not abide in the emptiness of nature; correct wisdom flows and shifts, great compassion is like the characteristic, yet the characteristic does not abide in tathatā; samyaksaṃbodhi is an empty mind without realization, the mind is boundless and sees no location—this reaches the Tathāgata. Good sons, the five stages are a single awakening; one enters from the fundamental benefit. If one transforms sentient beings, it is from their original place."'

As in the sūtras and treatises cited above, the four stages of application of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, the five stages of vijñaptimātra, and so forth are all differentiated into depth and shallowness based on the one mind. Arising from the root to produce the branches, it appears as though the initial mind manifests; by means of the branches the root is revealed, returning again to the original ground. Therefore the sūtra says: 'The five stages are a single awakening; one enters from the fundamental benefit. If one transforms sentient beings, it is from their original place.' As for the various stages mentioned above, they are merely the one mind. Because of the depth and shallowness of wisdom, the realization is divided into earlier and later; in the gradual arrangement, there appear to be gradations. As Master Que's commentary says: 'The Śūraṅgamasūtra establishes sixty stages upon a single thought. They are like images in a jewel: although the kinds of objects are many, the jewel is entirely one; the one contains many images, and the many images return into the single jewel. Just as among the sixty stages, each single stage contains sixty stages; moreover, just as each stage is entirely the realization of mind: the one mind can produce many minds, and the many minds return into the one mind. Minds mutually contain one another—what obstruction could there be?'"