宗鏡錄 89.37

89.37

Answer: It is only because sentient beings do not understand mind-only and falsely generate external objects; because they are unreal, the buddhas appear in the world. If a single dharma were real, then the buddhas would never appear in the world. The expedient teachings they expound are not spoken for those who know, but are merely to break attachments and eliminate doubts for those who do not yet know, taking the form of verbal teachings. If attachments are destroyed and doubts dissolved, then there is no Way to be attained and no Dharma to be expounded. The Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchāsūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "When I sat at the place of awakening, I only attained the ultimate emptiness of the afflictions arising from inversion. By having nothing to attain, I attained; by having nothing to know, I knew."' Again, Brahma Viśeṣacinti asked Mañjuśrī: 'By attaining what dharma is it called attaining the Way?' Mañjuśrī said: 'If a dharma is not born of itself, not born of another, nor born of a combination of conditions, and from the beginning has always been unborn—by attaining this dharma, it is called attaining the Way.' He asked again: 'If dharmas are unborn, what is attained?' He answered: 'If one knows dharmas are unborn, that is called attainment. Therefore the Buddha said: "If one sees the unborn characteristic of all conditioned dharmas, one enters the correct status."' He asked again: 'What is called the correct status?' He answered: 'I and nirvāṇa are equal, not two; this is called the correct status.' Now, the correct status is one's own true mind; entering this status, all views naturally vanish. The Tathāgatagocarasūtra says: 'The Tathāgata should not be seen through form, should not be seen through dharmas, should not be seen through characteristics, should not be seen through auspicious marks, and should not be seen through Dharma-nature.' The Mahāsaṃnipātasūtra says: 'At that time, there was a devaputra in the assembly named Uttaramati, who spoke to the Bodhisattva Anabhilāpya: "Good man, if all dharmas are ineffable, how can sentient beings have speech?" Anabhilāpya said: "Good man, do you know whether an echo has speech or not?" Uttaramati said: "Good man, an echo exists from causes and conditions." "Good man, is the cause of this echo definitely inside or definitely outside?" The devaputra said: "Good man, such a cause is not definitely inside, nor definitely outside." "Devaputra, all sentient beings forcibly make dual thoughts and thus have speech. The nature of all dharmas is truly ineffable." The devaputra said: "Good man, if they are ineffable, why does the Tathāgata expound the eighty-four thousand aggregates of dharmas, causing the śrāvakas to uphold, read, and recite them?" "Devaputra, the Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, truly has nothing expounded. That which has nothing expounded is precisely the Tathāgata. Devaputra, do you know what the Tathāgata is? Would you say that form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are the Tathāgata? Would you say the Buddha is past, future, or present; conditioned or unconditioned; the aggregates, elements, and sense bases; contained within the three realms; a cause, an effect, or an aggregation? Or perception, non-perception, both perception and non-perception, or neither perception nor non-perception?" "No, good man." "Devaputra, if these are not the Tathāgata, how can he be spoken of? If he cannot be spoken of, how can it be said that the Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, expounds the eighty-four thousand aggregates of dharmas? Therefore, the eighty-four thousand aggregates of dharmas are truly ineffable. The śrāvakas who receive them are also ineffable. That which is ineffable is the correct meaning. If there is no speaking, that is the real truth." The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "I speak only of the beginningless false conceptualization and habit-energy, the various evils, the causes of the three existences. Unable to awaken to and know the direct perception of one's own mind, one gives rise to false conceptualization and grasps at external natures." Thus, one merely understands one's own mind; external objects have no nature. Because one is not awake to the measure of mind, one falsely grasps at external conditions. If one knows that mind is itself the Way and mind is itself the Dharma, how could there be any dharma outside mind to be expounded? Therefore, a verse of the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'The buddhas do not expound the Dharma; / where would the Buddha speak? / Merely following their own minds, / he expounds such dharmas for them.' The Śataśāstravaipulya says: 'All vows and practices comply with worldly convention; what is seen and heard is forcibly and provisionally designated. In the principle of ultimate truth, neither is admitted, because all discrimination and conceptual proliferation have ceased. It is not that the Tathāgatas have a dharma to expound, nor is there any dharma in the least to be attained.'