[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt) › 92 # 宗鏡錄 92 English (machine translation) 92 - **Language:** English ### [92.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.1) Compiled by Yanshou, Chan Master Zhijue, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Temple. ### [92.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.2) Now, in terms of the gate of worldly truth, the ordinary and the noble are distinctly separated. Ordinary beings establish dharmas outside the mind and deludedly grasp what is seen and heard. Since the sage has comprehended the one mind, how could he share the knowledge and views of the ordinary? ### [92.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.3) Answer: Although the sage perceives and knows, he constantly realizes that things are empty; like an illusory creation, there is no clinging. As the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra says: Kāśyapa Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, "World-Honoured One, if based on this thought of kleśa, inverted thoughts arise, all sages truly have inverted thoughts and yet are without kleśa—what is the meaning of this?" The Buddha said, "Good son, how could a sage have inverted thoughts?" Kāśyapa Bodhisattva said, "World-Honoured One, with all sages, when \[seeing\] an ox they think it is an ox and also say it is an ox; when \[seeing\] a horse they think it is a horse and also say it is a horse; the same applies to male, female, great, small, houses, vehicles, going and coming. These are called inverted thoughts." \[The Buddha said:\] "Good son, all ordinary people have two kinds of thoughts: the first is worldly conventional thought, and the second is clinging thought. All sages have only worldly conventional thought, and have no clinging thought. Because all ordinary people have unwholesome vitarka and vicāra, they generate clinging thoughts toward worldly conventions. Because all sages have wholesome vitarka and vicāra, they do not generate clinging thoughts toward worldly conventions. Therefore ordinary people are called having inverted thoughts; although the sage knows, it is not called inverted thought." Moreover, since the objective realm is fundamentally empty of itself, what need is there to destroy characteristics? Since the numinous mind illuminates of itself, how could it depend on conditioned arising? It is not like the ordinary person's emotional clinging to subject and object in knowing and seeing. Therefore the Zhao lun says: "Whenever there is something known, there is something not known. Because the sage's mind has no knowledge, there is nothing it does not know. The knowing of not-knowing is called omniscience. Thus a sūtra says: 'The sage's mind has no knowledge, yet there is nothing it does not know.' How true this is!" Therefore the sage empties his mind and makes his illumination real, knowing all day long yet never \[conventionally\] knowing. Like still water reflecting an image, how could it establish a mind of subject and object? Then objective realm and wisdom are both empty; how could there be thoughts of perception and knowing? The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "The Buddha told Mahāmati: 'Because the worldly takes that delusion as real, the sages also appear \[there\], yet they are not inverted. Mahāmati, it is like a spring mirage, a fire-wheel, dangling hairs, a gandharvanagara, an illusion, a dream, or an image in a mirror: the worldly is inverted, not having clear wisdom; yet they are not non-apparent.'" Explanation: The above seven similes clarify that the objective realm is one, but the views differ. Yet the sages use that delusive realm, appearing as form and the other dusts identically with ordinary beings; because the sages have no thought of clinging, they are not inverted. However, the sages do not fail to see those delusive dharmas; when seeing them, they are just like the moon in the water or an image in a mirror. Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva said: "Sunlight touches dust, and a gentle breeze blows it, turning it in the open wilderness; it is called a mirage. When foolish people see it, they call it wild horses; when thirsty people see it, they take it to be flowing water. Karmic retributions are also like this: the sunlight of kleśas heats the dust of the saṃskāras; the wind of false mindfulness blows it in the wilderness of saṃsāra, causing it to turn; they falsely see it as humans, ghosts, men, or women. Craving and clinging, endlessly addicted and submerged, if one does not draw near to the holy Dharma, there is no way to recognize it. Fire and the sun shine brightly on the outside; water and mirrors illuminate on the inside. Light being above makes a shadow; light being below makes an image. An image is transmitted by clarity, and the image appears in the water; a form is illuminated by the sun, and the light being blocked makes a shadow. Although these two things are empty, that which is depended upon falsely exists. Although false existence is empty, mad delusion sees it. If one sees it with an un-maddened \[mind\], then the form and the shadow are one, and the image and the form are the same. Worldly dharmas are also like this: arisen from conditions, the existence of that which arises and the conditions from which it arises are both empty things, without oneness or difference. Yet people, because of the invertedness of the wind-disease of falsehood, see what should not be seen and hear what should not be heard. If one attains the illumination of great wisdom, then the mad wind of the mind ceases, and there is no such seeing." Moreover, the "prajñā has no knowledge" is not like wood and stone; "it is not possessing knowledge" is not the same as emotional thoughts. An ancient worthy said: "The Buddha's seeing of non-self is not lack of knowing; it is merely not-knowing knowing and not-seeing seeing. Because knowing is not-knowing knowing, there is no mind that does not know; because seeing is not-seeing seeing, there is no form that is not seen. Because there is no form that is not seen, it is due to not-seeing seeing; because there is no mind that does not know, it is by means of not-knowing knowing." As the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra says: "The form seen is equal to \[what is seen by\] the blind." The Congfu commentary says: "For example, it is like five fingers painting in empty space: in empty space no image appears. One cannot, because no image appears in space, say that the fingers did not paint in space; nor can one, because the five fingers painted in space, wish to make an image appear in space. The matter is not so. There is no hindrance to blazing painting in space, yet originally no image appears in space. How could the eye faculty seeing form make one become like the blind? How could the eye faculty being like the blind mean that there is nothing seen at all? There is no hindrance to seeing forms with the eyes full, while realizing that form is originally empty in its own-nature. Although at the time of seeing form, it is originally no different from being blind, one merely calms one's own discriminative mind; it is not the removal of dharmas. Dharmas are originally empty in themselves; there is nothing to remove." Furthermore, "the sound heard is equal to an echo": how could this mean not hearing? It is just that all sounds are like echoes in a valley, without grasping or discrimination. Therefore, seeing forms with the eyes full and hearing sounds with the ears full, neither following nor destroying them, is because one realizes the true nature of sounds and forms. Why is that? If one follows the gate of sounds and forms, one falls into the clinging of ordinary people, discriminating characteristics of beauty and ugliness, deeply clinging to love and hate, receiving the sounds of slander and praise, and falsely giving rise to joy and revulsion. If one destroys the characteristics of sounds and forms, it is identical to the mind of the Hīnayāna, which entails three faults: First, since the nature of form and the rest is empty, there is nothing that can be destroyed; if it is empty only when destroyed, it is not fundamentally empty. Second, because emptiness is precisely the real, identical to the dharmatā; if it is real only when destroyed, phenomena would lie outside principle. Third, because it is immediately empty, it does not wait to be destroyed; if destroyed, it is annihilationism. Therefore, the Tathāgata's five eyes illuminate penetratingly without omission; how could it be like the congenital blindness of ordinary people or the one-eyed blindness of the two vehicles who see nothing at all? Merely neither following nor destroying, one leaves the extremes and deviations of the two views; neither existing nor empty, one accords with the middle principle of the one mind. Then, meeting conditions, there is no hindrance; encountering objects, there is no arising. Therefore, the ten thousand things are fundamentally empty; from the mind they are seen as real. Depending on thoughts and reflections, one clings to non-existence or clings to existence, falling into the gate of delusion and confusion; through grasping and clinging, one forms illusions and madness, receiving the retributions of miscellaneous defilement. If one can reflect back on mind-only, and great wisdom exhaustively mirrors the true source of the real mark, then the dream of illusion is suddenly awakened from, and reflections and images are all stilled. Thereafter, with the mark of non-duality, one penetratingly sees the ten directions; using the gate of the one mind, one unifies and gathers the ten thousand kinds. Then seeing has nothing seen, while all characteristics tower to the heavens; hearing has nothing heard, while all sounds shake the earth. When one comprehends like this, the mind is vacant and the objective realm is empty; then one enters the gate of the great dhāraṇī and inherits the gotra of the Buddha Vehicle. The Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "Realizing the self-mind's pratyakṣa, that external natures are non-natures, without falsely conceptualizing characteristics, one gives rise to the gotra of the Buddha Vehicle." If one is deluded about external dharmas and takes mind with mind, then this becomes the gate of karmic illusion, continuing the gotra of sentient beings. A verse in the Śūraṅgamasūtra says: "When the self-mind grasps the self-mind, That which is not an illusion becomes an illusory dharma. If one does not grasp, there is no non-illusion; When even non-illusion does not arise, From where can illusory dharmas be established?" Therefore we know that all defiled and pure dharmas are produced from grasping. Hence it is said: "Grasping a self is defilement; not grasping a self is purity." If there is no mind of grasper and grasped, there are also no dharmas that are illusion or non-illusion. When real dharmas that are non-illusion do not even arise, on what can the illusory arising of empty traces be established? Furthermore, seeing dharmas outside the mind all become relative, because having no substance and no power, they are provisionally interdependent on conditions. Therefore a verse in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra says: "Because of existence, there is non-existence; Because of non-existence, there is existence. If there is non-existence, one should not receive it; If there is existence, one should not conceptualize it." If opening up expedients, sometimes one speaks of existence to cure non-existence, and speaks of non-existence to destroy existence, then there is no hindrance. As a verse in the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā-śāstra says: "If one employs existence and non-existence, One may both refute and accept them; Although speaking of them, if the mind does not cling, Then there is no fault." If according to the genuine source, both existence and non-existence are dissolved. Therefore the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: "The Buddha does not speak of non-existence regarding what exists, nor does he speak of existence regarding what is non-existent; he merely speaks of the real mark of all dharmas. For example, the sunlight does not create high and low, but illuminates equally as one. The Buddha is also like this: he does not make existence become non-existence, nor make non-existence become existence." From this we know that if one is deluded about the great purport, one sees existence and non-existence. As the Niepan lun says: "The Nameless One said: 'The categories of existence and non-existence truly leave no dharma uncovered and no principle un-unified. Yet what they unify is merely conventional truth.' A sūtra says: 'What is ultimate truth? It is the path of nirvāṇa. What is conventional truth? It is the dharmas of existence and non-existence.' Why? That which exists, exists in relation to non-existence; that which is non-existent, is non-existent in relation to existence. Existence is called 'existence' because of non-existence; non-existence is called 'non-existence' because of existence. Thus existence is born from non-existence, and non-existence is born from existence. Apart from existence there is no non-existence, and apart from non-existence there is no existence. Existence and non-existence mutually generate each other, just as high and low incline toward each other: where there is high, there must be low; where there is low, there must be high. Thus, although existence and non-existence differ, neither escapes existence. This is that by which words and images are formed, and right and wrong are produced. How could they suffice to unify the profound ultimate or approximate the spiritual Way? Therefore, when the treatise speaks of 'transcending existence and non-existence', it is truly because the categories of existence and non-existence stop within the six sense objects. Within the six sense objects is not the dwelling place of nirvāṇa; hence it borrows 'transcending' to dispel them. It is hoped that those who seek the Way may glimpse the profound path, place their feelings in the transcendent realm, attain the meaning and forget the words, and realize that it is neither existence nor non-existence. How could it mean that outside of existence and non-existence there is another marvelous Way that can be designated? A sūtra says: 'As for the three unconditioned \[dharmas\], because sentient beings are agitated and troubled, arising from severe afflictions; among severe afflictions, none is prior to existence. To extinguish the designation of existence, none is prior to non-existence. Therefore, non-existence is borrowed to clarify that it is not-existence; clarifying that it is not-existence does not mean non-existence.' The One with a Name said: 'The treatise's purport states that since nirvāṇa neither transcends existence and non-existence, nor is it within existence and non-existence: not being within existence and non-existence, it cannot be found in existence and non-existence; not transcending existence and non-existence, it cannot be sought apart from existence and non-existence. Seeking it nowhere, it should simply be non-existent. Yet, its Way is not non-existent. Since its Way is not non-existent, the profound path can be pursued; this is why a thousand sages have followed the same track and never returned in vain. Since its Way exists, yet you say it neither transcends nor is within, there must be a different meaning. May I hear it?' The Nameless One said: 'Words arise from names, and names are generated by characteristics. Characteristics depend on what can be characterized; without characteristics there are no names. Without names there is no exposition; without exposition there is no hearing. A sūtra says: "Nirvāṇa is neither dharma nor non-dharma; without hearing and without exposition, it is not what the mind can know." How could I dare speak of it, and how could you wish to hear it? Even so, Subhūti had a saying: "If the assembly can receive with no-mind and hear with non-hearing, I shall speak of it with wordlessness." In setting forth its Way, it may perhaps also be spoken of. Vimalakīrti said: "Without departing from kleśas, one attains nirvāṇa." The devī said: "Without departing from Māra's realm, one enters the Buddha realm." Thus the profound Way lies in marvelous awakening; marvelous awakening lies in being immediately real. Being immediately real, existence and non-existence are viewed equally; viewing existence and non-existence equally, other and self are not two. Therefore heaven and earth share the same root with me; the ten thousand things are of one substance with me. Being identical with me, they are no longer existence or non-existence; being different from me, they violate comprehensive understanding. Therefore it neither transcends nor is within, and the Way abides in between them. Why? The consummate person empties his mind and darkly illuminates, leaving no principle un-unified. Embracing the six directions within his breast, his numinous mirror has room to spare; mirroring the ten thousand images in his square-inch \[heart\], his spirit remains ever empty. He can even pull up the profound root at the beginningless, and calming the mind in the midst of manifold movements, tranquil and profoundly silent, marvelously accords with spontaneity. Therefore, dwelling in existence, he is not existent; abiding in non-existence, he is not non-existent. Abiding in non-existence, he is not non-existent, hence he is not non-existent toward non-existence; dwelling in existence, he is not existent, hence he is not existent toward existence. Therefore he is able to neither transcend existence and non-existence nor be within existence and non-existence. Thus dharmas have no characteristics of existence or non-existence, and the sage has no knowledge of existence or non-existence. When the sage has no knowledge of existence or non-existence, he has no mind on the inside; when dharmas have no characteristics of existence or non-existence, there are no categories on the outside. Without categories on the outside and without mind on the inside, this and that are stilled and extinguished, and things and self are darkly united. Tranquil and without omen, this is called nirvāṇa. When nirvāṇa is like this, conceptual calculation is cut off. How could one seek it within existence and non-existence, or search for it outside of existence and non-existence?' Explanation: As for 'the profound Way lies in marvelous awakening; marvelous awakening lies in being immediately real': The profound and mysterious Way is without name and without characteristic; shallow and proximate emotional knowledge cannot reach it, and coarse and floating intellectual understanding can hardly measure it. Only at the time of marvelous awakening does one awaken to this purport. Having attained its purport, it is truly inconceivable: mind and objective realm blend and penetrate, just like spiritual transformations. Pointing to the dharmadhātu in one's palm, gathering the ten thousand images before one's eyes; like a mirror reflecting empty space containing \[all\], appearing simultaneously and equally; having neither before nor after, and cutting off any middle. The marvelous purport is brilliant; words and thoughts are cut off! This can be called marvelous awakening, this can be called being immediately real. Then existence and non-existence are viewed equally, other and self are not two; neither transcending nor within—does not its Way lie right here? ### [92.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.4) Question: The objects of the six sense-fields possess distinctions solely by relying on delusional thoughts. Does a person without thought still perceive all objective realms or not? ### [92.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.5) Answer: Delusional thoughts grasp the external fields before them as existent and make them into real cognitive understandings, so that the wondrous nature is not penetrated and distinctions consequently arise. For a person without thought, it is not a matter of departing from thought; rather, it is just that thought itself is non-thought. Thoughts have no distinct characteristics. Although seeing and hearing take place, they are all like illusions. Furthermore, in a single thought \[such a person\] is suddenly complete, constantly seeing the principle of the Middle Way in all phenomena of the ten dharmadhātus. ### [92.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.6) An ancient master asked: "If it is said that thought is simply non-thought, could it be that one does not hear or see the sounds and visible forms of humans, animals, and so forth at all?" ### [92.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.7) Answer: One constantly hears and sees, because hearing and seeing are themselves non-hearing and non-seeing. Why is this? Because simply hearing and seeing phenomena such as sounds and forms is the seeing and hearing of consciousnesses such as the eye and ear. Knowing that these are the forms and sounds of animals and the like is naturally the conceptual discrimination of the manovijñāna. However, the seeing and hearing natures of consciousnesses such as the eye are without distinction; they merely accord with phenomena such as forms, without any different conditions. The manovijñāna is falsely existent; when one comprehends that it lacks substantiality, what is known is like an illusion. Therefore, it is said that the forms seen are equivalent to \[what is seen by\] the blind. Moreover, one contemplates that those phenomena such as forms and sounds arise from conditions; conditions have no creator, and their intrinsic nature does not exist, so they are not humans, animals, and so forth. Furthermore, humans, animals, and so forth arise from names and marks; since names and marks are not the things themselves, delusion is thereby eliminated. This very \[state\], which comes about merely through seeing and hearing, is the mind of non-thought; it does not mean that a blind or deaf person's single thought is non-thought. This is what is meant by speaking of hearing yet not hearing, seeing yet not seeing, and so forth. Therefore, a sūtra says: "Always seek the wisdom of the real mark of non-thought," and so forth. Furthermore, merely to seek the reality of conditions in terms of dependent origination—which is named "seeing"—is the non-arising of this seeing, and this alone is called true seeing. Why is this? Because the seeing of non-seeing illuminates the dharmadhātu. For this reason the \*Baozang lun\* states: "Lacking eyes and ears is called 'transcendence' (\*li\*); possessing seeing and hearing is called 'subtlety' (\*wei\*). Lacking self and lacking agency is called 'transcendence'; possessing comprehension and mastery is called 'subtlety'." Furthermore, transcendence is nirvāṇa; subtlety is prajñā. Because of prajñā, great function is suddenly aroused; because of nirvāṇa, quiescent cessation is without remainder. Because it is without remainder, kleśas are forever exhausted; because of great function, holy transformations are inexhaustible. If a person does not penetrate transcendence and subtlety, even though they practice ascetic dhūta austerities, stay far away from sensory objects, sever rāga, dveṣa, and moha, and accomplish the patience of dharmas, throughout countless kalpas they will never enter the real. Why is this? Because their practice is based on grasping: their mind has something attained, and they do not depart from inverted dream-like thoughts, coarse perceptions, and various views. If, on the other hand, a person embodies and understands transcendence and subtlety, even though in the immediate present they have habitual propensities of delusional thinking and view-kleśas, if they repeatedly awaken to the meaning of transcendence and subtlety, this person will before long enter the real, unexcelled path. Why is this? Because they have understood the root of right view. Explanation: Transcendence and subtlety are the substance and function of all phenomena. Transcendence is substance. As stated in the sūtras: "Because its intrinsic nature is transcendent," and also: "Because its intrinsic nature is empty." This is without name and without mark, neither seeing nor hearing; it is the substance common to ordinary beings and sages, and the source of the ultimate and conventional truths. The \*Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra\* states: "Knowing transcendence is called the Dharma." This is the Dharma that is the teacher of all buddhas. Subtlety is function: possessing seeing and hearing, able to comprehend and master. For subtlety is the wondrous: within non-seeing there is seeing, and within non-hearing there is hearing. This is an inconceivable dharma, wondrous and difficult to know, which only buddhas can awaken to. The \*Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchā-sūtra\* states: "Knowing the Dharma is called the Buddha." When transcendence and subtlety are non-dual and substance and function are harmoniously integrated, this is called the Saṅgha. Thus the three jewels of one substance constantly appear in the world; whether buddhas exist or not, their nature and characteristics abide eternally. This is the root of right view, the gate to the real. Therefore, the sage illuminates that the substance is non-existent, and establishes existence in terms of function. This existence is not existent; existence is taken to elucidate non-existence. When non-existence is not non-existent, non-existence is taken to elucidate existence. Existing yet not existing is wondrous existence; being non-existent yet not non-existent is true non-existence. Therefore, true non-existence is the substance of nirvāṇa, just as great space is unmixed with the five colors, or a bright mirror is not compounded with the myriad reflections; hence it is called "transcendence." Wondrous existence is the function of prajñā: within non-dual dharmas it displays wondrous spiritual powers, and facing the unconditioned gate it initiates great buddha-work; hence it is called "subtlety." For this reason, because ordinary beings do not penetrate transcendence and subtlety, they are always bound by internal saṃyojanas and shackled by external dust. Non-Buddhists grasp them as annihilation or permanence; the two vehicles consequently realize them as arising and ceasing. If one does not enter into the mirror of the source, it is difficult to fathom the wondrous purport of transcendence and subtlety. ### [92.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.8) Question: That avidyā contradicts principle and that its self-nature is differentiated is reasonably so. How is it that pure dharmas of original awakening are also said to possess differentiated merits as numerous as the sands of the Ganges? ### [92.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.9) Answer: It is through counteracting those differentiated defiled dharmas that the differentiated myriad virtues of initial awakening are accomplished. The \*Awakening of Faith\* states: "In contrast to the differentiated defiled dharmas such as karmic consciousness, the original awakening is spoken of as having nature-virtues as numerous as the sands of the Ganges." Defilement and purity such as these are both manifested by tathatā in accordance with conditions; they appear so, yet lack substantiality. Since defiled dharmas are already empty, how could pure dharmas exist? The \*Vimalakīrti-sūtra\* states: "Seeing the true nature of defilement, there is no characteristic of purity." Furthermore, that which is called "pure" acquires its name in opposition to defilement. Because adventitious kleśas defile without truly defiling, soiling the true nature, it is called "defilement." Because the prajñā of initial awakening purifies without truly purifying, awakening to the original mind, it is called "purity." Therefore, the one mind of tathatā is tranquil and unmoving; names and meanings are merely adventitious, and defilement and purity are originally empty. The ancestral master said: "The nature is originally pure; when purity is free of any characteristic of purity, only then does one see my mind." A verse in the \*Avataṃsaka-sūtra\* says: "If there is someone who knows that the Tathāgata's / Substance and marks are non-existent, / And by cultivation attains clear comprehension, / Such a person will swiftly become a buddha." Therefore, a sūtra says: "All sentient beings from the beginningless past have constantly entered nirvāṇa. Bodhi has no characteristic that can be cultivated, nor any characteristic that can be produced; in the end nothing is attained, and there are no visible marks that can be seen. As for those who see visible marks, know that these are all illusory functions according with defilement; they are not the mark of non-empty wisdom-form, for the mark of wisdom is unobtainable." An explanation says: "Illusory functions according with defilement are untainted dharmas. The illusory nature of defilement being intrinsically differentiated is the dharma of avidyā. Because that avidyā is confused about the principle of equality, its nature is intrinsically differentiated. All untainted dharmas accord with the emptiness of the nature of equality; discussed in terms of their nature, there is no differentiation. It is merely in accordance with the differentiated characteristics of defiled dharmas that untainted \[dharmas\] are spoken of as having differentiation." Furthermore, if one can contemplate the mind's nature, \[it is\] naturally so (\*dharmatā\*); revealing the merits arisen from the nature is an inexhaustible dharma-gate, not a matter of differentiation. As the \*Akṣayamatinirdeśa-sūtra\* states: "What is the bodhisattva's station of mindfulness of mind? ... 'Even down to: I must now diligently cultivate and accumulate adornments without departing from the mind's nature.' What is the mind's nature? What are adornments? The mind's nature is like an illusion, without master, without agent, and without designation. Adornments are: whatever giving is performed is entirely dedicated to adorning and purifying the buddha-lands, down to attaining anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi with a single thought's wisdom. Śāriputra, this is called the bodhisattva's station of mindfulness of right mind, which is inexhaustible." Explanation: Although the mind is empty in nature, it can accomplish the myriad practices. Comprehending it, one suddenly completes right awakening; cultivating it, one extensively provides adornments. Therefore, it is said that although its substantial nature is empty, it can accomplish principles and rules. It is also said: "Because there is the meaning of emptiness, all dharmas can be accomplished." If one departs from this gate of true emptiness, not a single dharma can be established; then the bodhisattva practices would be abandoned, and the Buddha path would not be accomplished—just as, if not relying on the wind-wheel, the world would collapse and be destroyed. ### [92.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.10) Question: The beginningless avidyā of all sentient beings has firm seeds and thick active manifestations. How can it be eliminated suddenly in a single thought? ### [92.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.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. ### [92.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.12) As a question in the Huayan lun asks: 'All sentient beings fundamentally possess immovable wisdom (acalā prajñā); why does it not accord with true permanence, and why does it follow defilement?' ### [92.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.13) Answer: That all sentient beings are born into the three realms through this wisdom is because wisdom lacks an intrinsic nature, and cannot of itself know whether it is wisdom or non-wisdom, or dharmas such as good, evil, suffering, or pleasure. Because the substance of wisdom lacks an intrinsic nature, it merely manifests according to conditions, like an echo in the sky producing sound in response to an object. Wisdom devoid of intrinsic nature merely discriminates in response to conditions; because of discrimination, delusion and craving arise in succession. Because of delusion and craving, the illness of "mine" arises. Because there is "mine", the grasping karma of self and other immediately arises. Because of grasping, it is designated as manas; when grasping is uninterrupted, it is termed consciousness (vijñāna). Because of the seeds of consciousness, birth and death continue in succession. Because of birth and death, suffering is immeasurable. Because suffering is immeasurable, one only then seeks the path of non-suffering. Those who are deluded and do not know suffering cannot generate the resolve \[for awakening\]; those who know suffering and seek the truth are still none other than the fundamental wisdom. It is because it meets the conditions of suffering that it is able to know suffering; if it did not meet the conditions of suffering, it could not know suffering. Thus, because it knows the conditions of suffering, it can only then generate the resolve to seek the unsurpassed Path. Bodhisattvas of good lineage (gotra), having previously known suffering in past lives, have strong seeds of faith and understanding; even when experiencing the pleasurable retributions of humans and gods, they are still able to generate the resolve to seek the unsurpassed Path. Therefore, because of wisdom one follows delusion, and because of wisdom one follows awakening. Thus it is like a person who falls to the ground and rises by relying on the ground. At the very moment of following delusion, it is termed consciousness; at the very moment of following awakening, it is termed wisdom. In bondage it is called consciousness; in awakening it is called wisdom. Consciousness and wisdom fundamentally have no self-names; their names are merely established according to delusion and awakening. Therefore they cannot be bound to permanence or bound to annihilation. This wisdom and consciousness merely establish their names according to delusion and awakening; if one seeks their beginning and end, it is like seeking tracks in the sky, seeking a person in a shadow, or seeking a self in a body: their resting place is ultimately unobtainable. Therefore \[they lack\] characteristics of newly produced length, shortness, or location. Thus, this ignorance and wisdom have no beginning or end. When bodhi is attained, ignorance is not extinguished. Why is this? Because fundamentally it does not exist, there is no further extinguishing. When following ignorance, immovable wisdom is also not extinguished; because fundamentally it does not exist, it also has no extinguishing. It is merely termed ignorance due to conditions grasped in following forms, sounds, and scents; it is merely termed wisdom due to conditions of knowing suffering and generating the resolve \[for awakening\]. It is merely termed existent according to conditions; therefore its substance is fundamentally non-existent. Like an echo in the sky, upon reflection this can be seen. Consequently, if one enters the mirror of the source, the meaning of attaining Buddhahood is perfected: ascending and descending follow conditions, and one knows that sentient beings never permanently sink; noble and ordinary are not separated, clarifying that the Buddhas have scriptural statements of having the identical substance. ### [92.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.14) Question: Are the seas of various Dharma-gates of the one mind spoken of above the provisional and real dharmas of self-practice, or the provisional and real dharmas of transforming others? ### [92.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.15) Answer: If one speaks of the provisional and real of self-practice in accordance with one's own intention, then one only speaks of the gate of the one mind. If it is the provisional and real of transforming others in accordance with the intention of others, one broadly opens the eighty thousand dharmas. Now we only speak of the provisional and real of self-practice, where the branches and roots return to the source. The Tiantai teachings say: 'If within the Buddha's mind the ten realms and ten thusnesses contemplated are all without superior characteristics, there is only the single Buddha-dharmadhātu, just as the sea gathers the myriad streams and a thousand carriages share a single rut: this is the provisional and real of self-practice. If it accords with the intentions of others, then there are the ten thusnesses of the nine realms: this is the provisional and real of transforming others.' In accordance with others, there is opening; in accordance with oneself, there is combining. Comprehensively illuminating both horizontally and vertically, opening and combining are unobstructed. Although opening into the immeasurable, the immeasurable is one; although combining into the one, the one is immeasurable. Although immeasurable and one, it is neither one nor immeasurable; although neither one nor immeasurable, it is both one and immeasurable. ### [92.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.16) Question: Are these two gates of self and other, provisional and real, definitive within the correct principle? ### [92.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.17) Answer: It merely accords with the teaching gate of conversion; there is nothing fixed. A sūtra says: 'Because there is no fixed Dharma, it is called anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.' If one clings to a single gate, all become non-Buddhist paths; or if one fixes upon a single characteristic, that is just the Māra king. Therefore, all dharmas are provisional; all dharmas are real; all dharmas are both provisional and real; all dharmas are neither provisional nor real. The Tiantai teaching says: 'If all dharmas are provisional, what would not be refuted? Even what the Tathāgata spoke is still provisional, let alone \[the teachings of\] human masters. If all dharmas are real, what would not be refuted? Only this one matter is real; there is only one ultimate path—how could there be many ultimate paths? If all dharmas are both provisional and real, what again would not be refuted? Everything has both the provisional and the real; one cannot have them be exclusively provisional or exclusively real. If all dharmas are neither provisional nor real, what again would not be refuted? How could there be confusion and arbitrary establishment?' An ancient worthy said: 'Being provisional right within the real, there is existence and yet no existence; being real right within the provisional, there is non-existence and yet not non-existence. If both the provisional and the real are negated, then existence and non-existence are both refuted. If both the provisional and the real are illumined, then existence and non-existence are both affirmed. If there is neither negation nor illumination, then affirmation and negation are both refuted. Yet with both negation and illumination, affirmation and negation are both affirmed. If affirmation and negation are both affirmed, then throughout the whole day one negates and yet it is not negation. If affirmation and negation are both refuted, then throughout the whole day one affirms and yet it is not affirmation. If one affirms and yet it is not affirmation, then it is not the negation of affirming what is non-negation. If one negates and yet it is not negation, then it is not the affirmation of negating what is non-affirmation. Thus citta encompasses the end-branch of form, and form penetrates the source of citta. Citta and form being one suchness, what is negated and what is affirmed? Hence we know that when there are dharmas outside citta, dispute over right and wrong arises competitively; when there is no citta outside dharmas, grasping and rejection are both extinguished.' ### [92.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.18) Question: By which teaching is this Record of the Mirror of the Source subsumed? ### [92.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92.19) Answer: In the true vijñaptimātra nature, the principle is without partiality or roundness. With regard to differences in views, it is briefly divided into five teachings: First, the Small Vehicle teaching, which only speaks of the six vijñānas and does not know of the eighth, the ālaya\[vijñāna\]. Second, the initial teaching, which speaks of the ālaya\[vijñāna\] as arising and ceasing, and also does not state that there is a tathāgatagarbha. Third, the final teaching, in which there is the tathāgatagarbha; the arising and ceasing and the unarisen and unceasing combine to form the ālayavijñāna. Fourth, the sudden teaching, in which there are entirely no sixth, seventh, or eighth vijñānas and so forth. Why is this? Because the one mind is real and true; from the beginning onward, it has had no stirring of thoughts; substance and function are non-dual, and therefore there are no deluded dharmas to be revealed. Fifth, the round teaching of the One Vehicle, which speaks of the round and luminous cognition of Samantabhadra and does not speak of the gradual sequence of vijñaptimātra. It also says: 'Sons of the Buddha, the three realms are false and illusory; they are made solely by the one mind.' This is also subsumed therein. This source is subsumed by the round teaching. It is the root of the Dharma gates spoken by the Tathāgata, because the Tathāgata relied on this citta to become a Buddha. This citta can be considered the root meaning of the Tathāgata. There is not a single dharma it does not gather in; there is not a single principle it does not possess. It is like a clear mirror reflecting objects: how could there be anything left out? Like the character formed upon the precious seal, there is no before or after. _First 19 of 26 passages. [Read on](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92)_ ## Linked texts (1) - [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.92.1) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016~en-mt.92) · Pramāṇa