宗鏡錄 91.13

91.13

Answer: This refers simply to one's own mind being constantly open. The gates of the six consciousnesses—when have they ever been closed even for a moment? Day and night calculating and conceiving, conditioning thoughts on all unwholesome matters, pervading every realm of objects, from thought-moment to thought-moment constantly fabricating the hells of saṃsāra. A sūtra says: 'The accumulation of mental thoughts is called hell.' If one can contemplate that the nature of one's own mind-consciousness is non-existent, that itself is opening the gate to the wholesome destinies. If one does not give rise to mental thoughts, that itself is closing the gates to the evil destinies. If one attains sovereign wisdom appearing before oneself, one immediately manifests bodies to be born in the five destinies, entering the realms of the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, and so forth, to rescue suffering sentient beings. Therefore, within the Chan gate, 'no-thought' is established as the source, taken as the essential study. Thus a sūtra verse says: / 'Diligently minding non-thought, / The Buddha-Dharma is not hard to obtain.' / Why is it called not hard to obtain? Because through non-thought, the myriad objects do not arise, and right where one is, there is liberation. If there is a thought arising, it does not merely open the gates to the evil destinies—the twenty-five states of existence all appear simultaneously. Thus we know that the myriad entities all differ on account of thought; the twelve classes [of beings] spread out in confusion; the thousand distinctions all arise following conceptual thought; and the eighty-thousand gates compete to arise. As the Xinxin ming says: 'If the eye does not sleep, / All dreams naturally vanish. / If the mind does not differentiate, / The myriad dharmas are of one suchness.' Because all dharmas lack an inherent substance, they arise from one's own mind. If the mind does not arise, external objects are perpetually quiescent. Hence it is said: 'The myriad dharmas are originally at rest, yet people disturb themselves.' Therefore the Zhaolun says: 'Hence the sage, mounting the true mind to tread in accord, finds nothing obstructed that does not flow through; examining the single pneumata to observe transformation, everything encountered is harmonious and fitting. Because nothing obstructed fails to flow through, he can blend diversity to reach purity; because everything encountered is harmonious and fitting, he touches things and unifies with them. In this way, although the myriad forms differ, they cannot differentiate themselves. Because they cannot differentiate themselves, we know that forms are not true forms. Since forms are not true forms, then although they are forms, they are non-forms. Thus, then, objects and self share the same root; right and wrong are of a single pneumata. Hidden, subtle, profound, and obscure, it is scarcely something that the sentiments of the masses can fathom.' Thus we know that if one mounts the one mind and treads upon it, where does one go that is not tathatā? If one receives the single pneumata and enacts transformation, what entity is not in accord? As Zhuangzi says: 'Heaven and earth are a single pneumata, yet capable of myriad transformations.' Laozi says: 'Heaven obtaining the One becomes clear; Earth obtaining the One becomes tranquil; the spirits obtaining the One become efficacious; the myriad things obtaining the One come to life.' Therefore the sage, observing the myriad objects with the single true mind, finds that whatever is encountered is harmonious and fitting, touching things and merging into oneness. From this we know that all dharmas lack an inherent substance; relying on conditioned, nominal marks, they appear to have distinctions, yet cannot differentiate themselves. Why is this? Length has no mark of length, and of itself does not say 'I am long'; shortness has no mark of shortness, and also of itself does not say 'I am short.' These are all calculative discriminations made following thoughts; when parikalpita attachments and sentiments arise, one then knows that the myriad things are originally empty, and being identical to forms, they are without form.