萬善同歸集 2.42

2.42

答：「若以性善性惡，凡聖不移。諸佛不斷性惡，能現地獄之身；闡提不斷性善，常具佛果之體。若以修善修惡，就事即殊，因果不同，愚智有別。修一念善，遠階覺地；起一念惡，長沒苦輪。若以性從緣，雖同而異；若泯緣從性，雖異而同。故《禪門祕要經》云：『佛言：「善惡業緣，本無有異；雖復不異，不共俱止。」』《華嚴經》云：『如相與無相，生死及涅槃，分別各不同，智無智如是。』故知教旨如鏡，何所疑焉？」

Answer: "If considered from the standpoint of innate good and innate evil, ordinary beings and sages are unchanging. The Buddhas do not sever innate evil, and thus can manifest bodies in hell; the icchantika does not sever innate good, and constantly possesses the essence of the Buddha fruit. If considered from the standpoint of cultivated good and cultivated evil, they differ in phenomena: causes and effects are distinct, and fools and the wise are differentiated. Cultivating a single thought of goodness ascends far toward the ground of enlightenment; giving rise to a single thought of evil causes one to sink for long ages in the wheel of suffering. If nature follows conditions, though identical, they differ; if conditions are eliminated to follow nature, though different, they are identical. Hence the Sūtra on the Secret Essentials of Chan Meditation says: 'The Buddha said: "Karmic conditions of good and evil are fundamentally without difference; yet although they are not different, they do not abide together."' The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'Just as marks and marklessness, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, are differentiated and each distinct, so it is with wisdom and non-wisdom.' Thus we know the doctrinal purport is like a mirror—what doubt could there be?"