宗鏡錄 92.11

92.11

Answer: The primary and secondary fetters and drives (saṃyojana and anuśaya) are fundamentally empty in their essential nature. Foolish worldlings do not understand this, and so create entanglements and bonds for themselves. If one clarifies the Buddha's vision and knowledge and awakens to one's fundamental mind, what dust-like realm could ever cause an obstruction? As the Ratnakūṭasūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "Just as when a lamp is lit, all darkness naturally ceases to exist: it comes from nowhere, and when it departs it goes nowhere. It does not come from the east, nor does it depart to the south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, or below; it does not come from there, nor does it depart to anywhere there. Yet this lamplight has no such thought as: 'I am able to extinguish darkness.' It is simply that by means of the lamplight, phenomena are naturally free from darkness. Light and darkness are both empty, without action and without grasping. Just so, Kāśyapa, when real wisdom arises, ignorance is extinguished. Wisdom and ignorance—both characteristics are empty, without action and without grasping. Kāśyapa, consider, for example, a dark chamber of a thousand years that has never seen light. When a lamp is lit, what do you think? Would the darkness have the thought: 'I have dwelt here long, and do not wish to leave'?" '"No, World-Honoured One. When the lamp is lit, that darkness is powerless; even if it did not wish to leave, it must inevitably be destroyed." '"Just so, Kāśyapa: the fettered karma long practiced through hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas is instantly eliminated by a single contemplation of reality. The lamplight is noble wisdom; the darkness is the various fettered karmas." What is termed the 'single contemplation of reality' is precisely the true contemplation of mind-only and tathatā. Outside of the mind, all becomes an illusion; therefore it is called the 'realm of single reality', and is also termed the 'true characteristic' (dharmatā / bhūtalakṣaṇa), the 'real ground', the 'limit of reality' (bhūtakoṭi), the 'real Dharma', up to being named the 'vision and knowledge of the Buddhas', 'noble wisdom', and so forth. Treating the sickness of the kleśas by means of this teaching of the one mind is like breaking into a sweat during a feverish illness: there is none that does not heal at once. Does not the path of essential escape reside solely in this? As the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'At that time the bodhisattva illuminates the bodhisattva path, and his mind is secure and at ease. He thinks to himself: "I need only sever the mind of attachment, and the Path will naturally arrive." Having understood this matter, he reflects that sentient beings are deeply attached to the world, yet it is ultimately empty, also empty and without nature, and without any resting place; it is difficult for sentient beings to believe and accept this. In order to cause sentient beings to believe and accept this Dharma, he learns all dharmas and practices their arising: these are the skilful means for crossing sentient beings over. Contemplating the arising of the mental activities of sentient beings, he knows which dharmas they like, what matters they think upon, and what their aspirations are; upon contemplation he knows them all. The places where sentient beings attach are all deceptive, inverted conceptualisations and discriminations; therefore they attach, without any fundamental real entity. At that time the bodhisattva rejoices greatly and thinks: "Sentient beings are easy to cross over! Why is that? What sentient beings attach to is entirely deceptive and without reality. It is just like a man who has a child that delights in playing in filth, gathering dirt for grain and taking grass and wood for birds and beasts, generating love and attachment toward them; if someone takes them away, he gets angry and weeps. When his father sees this, [he thinks:] 'Although this child is now attached in love, it is easy to separate him from this matter. As he grows a little older, it will cease of its own accord. Why is this? Because these things are not real.' The bodhisattva is also like this: contemplating sentient beings loving and attaching to their impure, foul-smelling bodies and the five desires, which are impermanent and causes of various sufferings, he knows that when these sentient beings accomplish the five good faculties such as faith, they will be able to abandon and cast them off. If what the small child was attached to were truly a real thing, even if he reached a hundred years of age, his attachment would grow ever deeper and could not be abandoned. If the things sentient beings are attached to were definitely and genuinely real, even if they attained the five faculties such as faith, their attachment would only deepen and they could not be parted from them. Because all dharmas are empty, deceptive, and unreal, when they attain the uncontaminated, pure eye of wisdom, they can distance themselves from their attachments, filled with great shame and conscience. It is like the unlawful deeds done during a fit of madness: after awakening, one is embarrassed, ashamed, and without face. Once the bodhisattva knows that sentient beings are easy to cross over, he abides securely in prajñā and, through the power of skilful means, teaches and transforms sentient beings."' Therefore, the Tathāgataguhyasūtra says: 'If a person whose father is a pratyekabuddha murders him; steals from the Three Jewels; whose mother is an arhat and violates her; slanders the Buddha with untrue matters; uses double-tongued speech to sow discord among the worthy and noble; uses harsh speech to revile the noble ones; disrupts those seeking the Dharma; [has] the hatred of the initial karma of the five heinous deeds; the greed that steals the possessions of those keeping the precepts; and the delusion of extreme views—these constituting the ten evils—if he is able to understand the Dharma of causes and conditions taught by the Tathāgata, that there is no self, person, sentient being, or life-span, no arising and no cessation, no defilement and no attachment, and that the fundamental nature is pure; and moreover regarding all dharmas, knows that their fundamental nature is pure, and understands, knows, believes, and enters into this, I do not say that this person will head toward hell and the retributions of the evil destinies. Why is this? Dharmas have no accumulation; dharmas have no gathering of afflictions. All dharmas do not arise and do not abide; they arise through the harmony of causes and conditions, and having arisen, they cease again. If mind ceases once arisen, all fetters and drives also cease once arisen. Understanding in this way, there is no place of transgression. If there were transgression and abiding, this would be impossible.' The Tiantai teachings explain: 'This sūtra fully points to four minds of bodhi (bodhicitta): knowing the Dharma of causes and conditions taught by the Tathāgata points to the bodhicitta of the initial Tripiṭaka Teaching; being without arising and without cessation points to the bodhicitta of the second Common Teaching; the fundamental nature being pure points to the bodhicitta of the third Distinct Teaching; and knowing that with regard to all dharmas the fundamental nature is pure points to the bodhicitta of the fourth Complete Teaching. If the initial bodhicitta can already eliminate the repeated ten evils, how much more so the second, third, and fourth bodhicitta!' When practitioners hear of this sublime merit, they should congratulate themselves, like finding fragrant sandalwood in a dark place of castor-oil plants (eraṇḍa). Hence we know that when seeing the Buddha sins are extinguished, like the profound transgressions of King Ajātaśatru; when attaining the Way karmas vanish, like the grave crimes of Aṅgulimāla. One need only realize that there is no person and no self, that arising through conditions is empty of intrinsic nature. Being without a self, there is no person who can receive punishment; being empty of nature, there is also no dharma of punishment to be received. Both person and dharma are completely quiescent: whence could the defilement of sin arise? Because when the mind arises, sin arises; when the mind ceases, sin ceases. If one can believe and enter in this manner, thoroughly understanding and being completely enlightened, it is like a forest of castor-oil plants diffusing the fragrance of sandalwood, or a room of accumulated darkness radiating the light of cassia-wood torches. Being able to awaken to this mind possesses immeasurable efficacy: the moment one enters the mirror of the source, the ocean of karma instantly dries up, like the wind blowing away clouds, like hot water poured onto snow, like a lamp breaking through darkness, or like fire burning firewood. As a verse in the Ghanavyūhasūtra says: 'Just as fire burning tall brambles / Turns them to ashes in an instant, / The fire of wisdom burning the firewood of karma / Should be known to be just like this. / Also, just as a lamp breaks through darkness, / Exhausting it completely in a single thought-moment without remainder, / So all the darkness of karmic propensities, / Accumulated through perfuming from beginningless time, / When the lamp of the Muni's wisdom arises, / Are in a kṣaṇa completely extinguished at once.' Therefore, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: 'When there is wisdom, there are no afflictions.' Hence it is said: 'To escape the evil karma of the three wretched paths, one must necessarily transcend the two characteristics of existence and non-existence, and realize and understand the one mind; only then will one attain liberation.' From this we know: delusion arises from delusion of one's own mind; awakening returns to awakening of one's own mind. Delusion and awakening have no intrinsic nature; they simply arise in accordance with conditions.