萬善同歸集 1.52

1.52

答：「若行道、禮拜時，不生殷重，既無觀慧，又不專精。雖身在道場，而心緣異境，著有為之相，迷其性空，起能作之心，生諸我慢，不了自他平等，能所虛玄。儻涉茲倫，深當前責。南泉大師云：『微妙淨法身，具相三十二，秖是不許，分劑心量。』若無如是心，一切行處，乃至彈指、合掌，皆是正因，萬善皆同無漏，始得自在。百丈和尚云：『行道、禮拜、慈、悲、喜、捨，是沙門本事，宛然依佛勅，秖是不許執著。』《法華懺》云：『有二種修：一、事中修。若禮念行道，悉皆一心，無分散意。二、理中修。所作之心，心性不二，觀見一切，悉皆是心，不得心相。』《普賢觀經》云：『若有晝夜六時，禮十方佛，誦大乘經，思第一義甚深空法，於一彈指頃，除百萬億那由他恒河沙劫，生死之罪。行此法者，真是佛子，從諸佛生；十方諸佛及諸菩薩，為其和尚，是名具足菩薩戒者，不須羯磨，自然成就，應受一切人天供養。』且行道一法，西天偏重；繞百千匝，方施一拜。經云：『一日一夜行道，志心報四恩，如是等人，得入道疾。』《繞塔功德經》云：『勇猛勤精進，堅固不可壞；所作速成就，斯由右繞塔。得妙紫金色，相好莊嚴身；現作天人師，斯由右繞塔。』《華嚴懺》云：『行道步步過於無邊世界，一一道場皆見我身。』南山《行道儀》云：『夫行道，障盡為期，無定日限。』若論障盡，佛地乃亡。心灼灼如火然；形翹翹如履刃。《儀》云：『若從來不行道，業相無因而現。經云：「眾生如大富盲兒，雖有種種寶物，而不得見。」今行道用功，垢除心淨，如翳眼開明，如水澄鏡淨，眾像皆現，亦如日照火珠，於火便出。』」

Answer: "If, when circumambulating and prostrating, one does not generate earnestness, neither having contemplative wisdom nor being single-minded; if although the body is in the place of the Way, the mind conditions different objects, clings to conditioned signs, is confused about intrinsic emptiness, gives rise to a mind of agency, and produces various egotistical conceits, failing to realize the equality of self and other and the insubstantial mystery of subject and object—if one falls into this sort, one thoroughly deserves the foregoing reproach. Master Nanquan said: 'The subtle, wonderful, pure dharmakāya is endowed with the thirty-two marks; it merely does not permit measured deliberations of mind.' If one is without such a mind, in all places of practice, even a snap of the fingers or joining the palms is a correct cause; the myriad good practices all equally become uncontaminated, and only then does one attain self-mastery. Reverend Baizhang said: 'Circumambulation, prostration, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are the proper duties of a śramaṇa, distinctly following the Buddha's decree; they merely do not permit clinging.' The Fahua Chan says: 'There are two kinds of practice: First, practice in phenomena. Prostrating, recollecting, and circumambulating are all done with single-mindedness, without a scattered mind. Second, practice in principle. The active mind and the mind-nature are non-dual; one contemplates and sees that everything is mind, without grasping any sign of mind.' The Sūtra on the Contemplation of Samantabhadra says: 'If during the six periods of the day and night one prostrates to the Buddhas of the ten directions, recites the Mahāyāna sūtras, and contemplates the profound empty Dharma of supreme truth, in the time of a finger-snap one dispels the sins of birth and death spanning a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of Ganges-sands of kalpas. One who practices this Dharma is truly a son of the Buddha, born from the Buddhas; the Buddhas of the ten directions and the bodhisattvas become their upādhyāya, and they are called one endowed with the bodhisattva precepts, naturally accomplished without needing a karmavācanā, and worthy of receiving the offerings of all humans and devas.' Furthermore, the practice of circumambulation is particularly emphasized in the Western Heaven: only after circling hundreds of thousands of times does one make a single prostration. A sūtra says: 'If one circumambulates for a day and night, dedicated with a sincere mind to repaying the four debts of gratitude, such persons swiftly enter the Way.' The Sūtra on the Merit of Circumambulating a Stūpa says: 'Vigorous and diligently energetic, / Firm and indestructible; / Swiftly accomplishing what is undertaken, / This comes from rightward circumambulation of a stūpa. / Attaining an exquisite purple-gold colour, / A body adorned with the marks and signs; / Manifesting as the teacher of devas and humans, / This comes from rightward circumambulation of a stūpa.' The Huayan Chan says: 'Step by step in circumambulation one passes through boundless worlds; in each place of the Way my body is seen.' The Nanshan Xingdao Yi says: 'Now, circumambulation takes the exhaustion of obstacles as its period, with no fixed limit of days.' If we speak of the exhaustion of obstacles, they vanish only at the Buddha ground. The mind blazes like a burning fire; the body stands on tip-toe as if treading on the edge of a blade. The Yi says: 'If one has never circumambulated, the marks of karma will manifest without cause. A sūtra says: "Sentient beings are like the blind child of a wealthy man: though there are all kinds of precious treasures, they cannot see them." Now, through applying effort in circumambulation, impurities are removed and the mind is purified, like an eye cleared of cataracts, or like still water and a clean mirror in which all images manifest, or like the sun shining on a fire-crystal, whereupon fire emerges.'"