萬善同歸集 2.12

2.12

答：「能依之事，從理而成；所依之理，隨事而現。如千波不閡一濕，猶眾器匪隔一金。體用相收，卷舒一際。若約圓旨，不惟理事相即，要理理相即亦得；事事相即亦得；理事不即亦得。故稱隨緣自在無閡法門。又且諸佛化門，檀施一法，為十度之首，乃萬行之先，入道之初因，攝生之要軌。《大論》云：『檀為寶藏，常隨逐人；檀為破苦，能與人樂；檀為善御，開示天道；檀為善府，攝諸善人；檀為安隱，臨命終時，心不怖畏；檀為慈相，能濟一切；檀為集樂，能破苦賊；檀為大將，能伏慳敵；檀為淨道，賢聖所由；檀為積善，福德之門；檀能全獲福樂之果；檀為涅槃之初緣；入善人眾中之要法；稱譽讚歎之淵府；處眾無難之功德；心不悔恨之窟宅；善法道行之根本；種種歡樂之林藪；富貴安隱之福田；得道涅槃之津濟。』《六行集》云：『若凡夫施時，起慢心成罪行；起敬心成福行。若二乘施時，惟觀塵動轉。小菩薩施時，念色體空。大菩薩施時，知心妄見。若佛謂證惟心，離念常淨。是知一布施門，六行成別；豈可雷同，一時該下。亦有內施、外施、理檀、事檀，體用更資，本末互顯。據理沈斷；執事墮常。理事融通，方超二患。且諸佛聖旨，校量施中，理檀為先，內施偏重。』故《法華經》云：『佛言：「若有發心欲得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，能然手指，乃至足一指，供養佛塔，勝以國城、妻、子，及三千大千國土，山林、河池、諸珍寶物而供養者。」』《智論》云：『若人捨身，勝過閻浮提滿中珍寶。』則知利口輕言易述，全身重寶難傾；保命情深，好生意切。直得三輪體寂，猶為通教所收；況乃取捨情生，豈得成其淨施？且圓教施門，遍含法界，乃何事而不備？何理而不圓？菩薩照理而不却事，鑒事而不捐理；弘之在人，曷滯於法。若離理有事，事成定性之愚；若離事有理，理成斷滅之執。若著事而迷理，則報在輪迴；若體理而得事，則果成究竟。故《法華經》云：『又見菩薩，頭、目、身體，欣樂施與，求佛智慧。』若捨身是邪，何成佛慧？故知毫善，趣果弘深；以此度門，標因匪棄。如釋迦佛捨身命時，度度皆證法門，或得柔順忍，或入無生法忍等。大凡菩薩所作，皆了無我、無性；涉事見理，遇境知空。不同凡夫，造其罪福，不解因果、善惡無性；是為迷事取性，常繫三有。」

Answer: "Phenomena, which depend, are accomplished from principle; principle, upon which they depend, manifests in accordance with phenomena. Just as a thousand waves do not obstruct the single wetness, and many vessels do not divide the single gold. Essence and function contain each other; unfolding and folding are on the same plane. If speaking from the complete purport, not only are principle and phenomena mutually identical, but principle and principle can also be mutually identical; phenomena and phenomena can also be mutually identical; and principle and phenomena not being identical is also permissible. Hence it is called the unobstructed Dharma gate of freedom according with conditions. Furthermore, among the conversion gates of the Buddhas, the single Dharma of dāna-giving is the first of the ten perfections and the foremost of the myriad practices, the initial cause for entering the path, and the essential guideline for gathering sentient beings. The Great Treatise states: 'Giving is a treasure house that constantly follows a person; giving destroys suffering and can bestow happiness upon people; giving is a good charioteer, revealing the heavenly path; giving is an abode of goodness, gathering all good people; giving is peace and security: when facing the end of life, the mind has no dread; giving is the mark of compassion, able to deliver all; giving gathers joy and can destroy the thief of suffering; giving is a great general, able to subdue the enemy of stinginess; giving is the pure path traversed by worthies and sages; giving is the accumulation of goodness, the gate to blessings and virtues; giving fully obtains the fruits of blessing and joy; giving is the initial condition for nirvāṇa, the essential dharma for entering the assembly of good people, the deep treasury of praise and eulogy, the merit of abiding in assemblies without difficulty, the mansion of a mind without regret, the root of wholesome dharmas and the practice of the path, the grove of various rejoicings, the field of merit for wealth and peace, and the ferry for attaining the path and nirvāṇa.' The Collection of the Six Practices states: 'When an ordinary being gives, if giving rise to arrogance, it becomes a sinful practice; if giving rise to respect, it becomes a meritorious practice. When those of the two vehicles give, they merely contemplate the movement of dusts. When junior bodhisattvas give, they consider that the nature of form is empty. When great bodhisattvas give, they know the mind's false views. When Buddhas give, they are said to realize mind-only, forever pure and free from thought. Thus we know that within the single gate of giving, six practices form distinctions; how could one conflate them and reduce them all at once? There are also internal giving, external giving, giving of principle, and giving of phenomena; essence and function mutually support each other, and root and branch mutually illuminate. If relying solely on principle, one sinks into annihilation; if clinging to phenomena, one falls into eternalism. Only when principle and phenomena harmonize does one transcend both afflictions. Moreover, among the holy purports of the Buddhas that measure giving, the giving of principle is foremost, and internal giving is given special weight.' Thus the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra states: 'The Buddha said: "If there is someone who gives rise to the aspiration to attain anuttarā samyak-saṃbodhi and can burn a finger, or even a toe, as an offering to a Buddha's stūpa, it surpasses offering kingdoms, cities, wives, children, and the mountains, forests, rivers, ponds, and various precious treasures of a three-thousand-great-thousandfold world realm."' The Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā states: 'If a person relinquishes the body, it surpasses all the treasures that fill Jambudvīpa.' From this we know that nimble tongues easily utter light words, but the great treasure of one's whole body is difficult to cast away; the affection for preserving life is deep, and the desire to live is intense. Even reaching the tranquility of the substance of the three wheels is still subsumed under the Shared Teaching; how much less can one attain pure giving when thoughts of taking and rejecting arise? Moreover, the gate of giving in the Complete Teaching universally encompasses the dharmadhātu; what phenomenon is not prepared, and what principle is not perfected? The bodhisattva illuminates principle without rejecting phenomena, and inspects phenomena without abandoning principle; its promotion lies with the person, so why stagnate in dharmas? If there are phenomena apart from principle, phenomena become the folly of determinate nature; if there is principle apart from phenomena, principle becomes the attachment to annihilation. If one clings to phenomena and is confused about principle, the retribution lies in saṃsāra; if one embodies principle and attains phenomena, the fruit becomes ultimate. Thus the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra states: 'Furthermore, I see bodhisattvas joyfully giving away heads, eyes, and bodies, seeking the Buddha's wisdom.' If relinquishing the body were heterodox, how could it accomplish the Buddha's wisdom? Therefore we know that a tiny good leads to an immensely profound fruit; through this gate of perfection, the marked cause is not discarded. Just as when Śākyamuni Buddha relinquished his body and life, each and every time he verified a Dharma gate, either obtaining the forbearance of compliance or entering the forbearance of non-arising phenomena. In general, all that a bodhisattva does understands selflessness and naturelessness; engaging with phenomena, they see principle; encountering realms, they know emptiness. They are not like ordinary beings who create sin and merit without understanding that cause and effect, good and evil, have no intrinsic nature; this is being confused about phenomena and seizing on nature, permanently bound to the three realms of existence."