宗鏡錄 9.15.2

9.15.2

Therefore, it is said: “Because prajñā is great, form is great; because prajñā is pure, form is pure.” That is precisely luminosity. Among the ten thousand things under heaven, only humanity is noble; a seven-foot bodily frame is not as noble as spiritual wisdom. Thus, examining it, citta is noble, and citta is gold itself. Furthermore, knowing the dependent and knowing the primary is called “light”; knowing that all dharmas are devoid of all dharmas is called “luminosity.” Therefore, if one only has faith and entry into the mirror of the source, complete understanding immediately arises, and one is able to bring forth the true and authentic bodhicitta, than which none is higher, the peerless mind, the most supreme mind, the truest mind. The *Zhiguan* says: “One who brings forth this mind can overturn each and every gate of afflictive toil, which are then the eighty-four thousand gates of samādhi. When avidyā is transformed, it immediately changes into luminosity, like ice melting into water. It is not at all a distant thing, nor does it come from somewhere else; in merely a single thought-moment of citta, all is ubiquitously complete. It is like the wish-fulfilling jewel: it does not possess gems, nor is it devoid of gems. If one says it lacks them, that is false speech; if one says it possesses them, that is wrong view. It cannot be known through citta, nor can it be debated with words. Sentient beings, in this inconceivable and unbonded dharma, produce bondage through conceptual thought, and in that which is devoid of liberation, they seek liberation. Therefore, one gives rise to great compassion, raises the four universal vows, uproots both sufferings, and bestows both joys; hence it is called neither bonded nor liberated, the true and authentic bodhicitta.” When this single bodhicitta is generated, it is all bodhicittas. It is like a good physician having one secret prescription that gathers together all prescriptions; like agada medicine, its efficacy embraces all medicines; like eating milk-porridge, there is no further need for anything else; everything is complete, like a wish-fulfilling jewel. And so this one mind is the greatest of the great, the highest of the high, the roundest of the round, the fullest of the full, the truest of the true, the realest of the real, the definitive meaning within definitive meanings, the mystery within mysteries, the marvel within marvels, the inconceivable within the inconceivable. If one is able to generate the mind in this way, discarding the false and revealing the true, realizing the provisional and recognizing the ultimate, then one is the seed of all buddhas. Just as a diamond is produced from the nature of gold, the bodhicitta of the buddhas arises from great compassion. It is foremost among all practices: just as in taking asara medicine, one first uses clear water, so it is the supreme among all practices; just as among all sense faculties, the life faculty is supreme, so within the right Dharma and right practice of the buddhas, this mind is supreme. Like a prince born with the marks of royal deportment, whom the ministers revere and who possesses great renown; like the cry of a kalaviṅka bird while still within the shell, which already surpasses all other birds—this bodhicitta has great power and influence: like strings of lion-sinew, like lion's milk, like a vajra mallet, like a Nārāyaṇa arrow. Endowed with all treasures, it can eliminate poverty and suffering, like a wish-fulfilling jewel. Even if one is slightly lax or slightly violates deportment, one still surpasses the merits of the two vehicles. In brief, this mind is endowed with all the virtues of a bodhisattva and can accomplish the unexcelled right awakening of the three periods of time. If one understands this mind, one naturally arrives at śamatha and vipaśyanā: having no rising and no obstruction is vipaśyanā; its nature being calm and extinguished is śamatha. Śamatha and vipaśyanā are bodhi; bodhi is śamatha and vipaśyanā. As praised extensively above, a person who brings forth such complete faith and bodhicitta is truly rare to find. Ordinary beings and non-Buddhists are deluded about this citta and undergo fragmented birth and death. The two vehicles of the Piṭaka and Shared Teachings turn their backs on this citta and produce nirvāṇa with remainder. Furthermore, bodhisattvas of the Shared Teaching, who are beginners in the Mahāyāna, realize this citta merely as emptiness of self-nature. Bodhisattvas of the Distinct Teaching, reaching the culmination of the Mahāyāna, awaken to this citta; though they see the non-empty as that upon which the ten dharmadhātus rely, it is not yet complete in the present moment, still relying on distinct cultivation to arise sequentially. None of them can recognize and know that their own citta, in a single thought-moment, is the頓-complete, equal, and right nature, shared by ordinary beings and sages alike, of a single limit and without distinction. Because they do not recognize it, none of them can generate this unexcelled, peerless, most supreme, vast, and inconceivable bodhicitta. All of their compassionate vows, wisdom, and practices are incomplete. If one generates this mind even once, its merit is boundless, fulfilling the ten pāramitās in thought-moment after thought-moment. Therefore, the *Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa* says: “Vimalakīrti said, ‘However, if you all simply generate the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is precisely leaving home; that is precisely completeness.’” Now this mirror of the source is precisely meant to reveal this citta, searching it out exhaustively one by one and citing proofs layer upon layer, universally for all sentient beings in the dharmadhātu who possess a mind, wishing that all may faithfully accept it. The moment one attains faith and enters, one naturally and spontaneously generates this unexcelled bodhicitta, immediately sits in the bodhimanda, practices great compassion of identical substance, and gives rise to transformation through unconditioned kindness. Therefore, the buddhas of the ten directions praise the inexhaustible merit of one who understands this citta and can generate bodhi. As the *Avataṃsakasūtra* says: “Bodhicitta is like a seed, because it can produce all buddha-dharmas. Bodhicitta is like a fertile field, because it can grow the pure, white dharmas of sentient beings. Bodhicitta is like the great earth, because it can sustain all worlds. Bodhicitta is like pure water, because it can wash away all stains of kleśa. Bodhicitta is like a great wind, because it is unobstructed throughout the worlds. Bodhicitta is like a blazing fire, because it can burn the firewood of all views. Bodhicitta is like a pure sun, because it universally illuminates all worlds. Bodhicitta is like a full moon, because all pure, white dharmas are perfected by it. Bodhicitta is like a bright lamp, because it can emit the light of various dharmas. Bodhicitta is like pure eyes, because it universally sees all places of safety and danger. Bodhicitta is like a great highway, because it universally enables entry into the city of great wisdom. Bodhicitta is like a right ford, because it enables departure from all wrong dharmas. Bodhicitta is like a great cart, because it can universally transport all bodhisattvas. Bodhicitta is like a doorway, because it opens and displays all bodhisattva practices. Bodhicitta…”