萬善同歸集 2.60

2.60

答：「此是古人破凡夫不識自佛，一向外求，住相迷真，分別他境；不為助道，但求福門。似箭射空，如人入暗；果招生滅，寧越心塵？若達惟心，所見一切，皆是心之相分，終不執為外來。然不壞因緣，理事無閡。故神鍇和尚云：『緣眾生空，不捨於大慈；觀如來寂，不失於敬養。談實相，不壞於假名；論差別，不破於平等。』又《華嚴經》八地菩薩，親證無生法忍，入無功用道；了一切法，如虛空性，乃至涅槃，心猶不現前，方始見無量佛，熾然供養。又云：『若彼常於三寶中，恭敬供養無疲厭，則能超出四魔境，速成無上佛菩提。』《賢愚經》云：『舍衛國有長者，生一男兒。當爾之時，天雨七寶，因字寶天；後值佛出家得道。佛言：「毘婆尸佛出現於世，有一貧人，雖懷喜心，無供養具；以一把白石擬珠，用散眾僧，今此寶天比丘是。乃至受無量福，衣食自然；今遭我世，得道果證。」』又真覺大師云：『深信正法，勤行六度；讀誦大乘，行道禮拜。妙味香華，音聲讚唄；燈燭臺觀，山海泉林；空中平地，世間所有，微塵已上，悉持供養。合集功德，迴助菩提。』以知秖破凡夫心外所執：或是貪利供養、瞋心持戒、憍慢作福、勝他布施，無殷重心、非廣大意。若如是行，難招淨業。不可錯會聖意，斷自凡情，起斷滅心，滅菩提種。《首楞嚴經》云：『若彼定中，諸善男子，見色陰消，受陰明白。自謂已足，忽有無端，大我慢起；如是乃至，慢與過慢，及慢過慢，或增上慢，或卑劣慢，一時俱發。心中尚輕，十方如來；何況下位，聲聞緣覺。此名見勝，無慧自救。悟則無咎，非為聖證。若作聖解，則有一分，大我慢魔，入其心腑；不禮塔廟，摧毀經像。謂檀越言：「此是金銅，或是土木；經是樹葉，或是疊華；肉身真常，不自恭敬；却崇土木，實為顛倒。」其深信者，從其毀碎，埋棄地中。疑誤眾生，入無間獄；失於正受，當從淪墜。』但所作之時，一切無著；歡喜慶幸，竭力盡誠，迴向無上菩提，普施法界含識。則一毫之善，皆是圓因，終不墮落，人天因果。

He answered: "This was spoken by an ancient worthy to shatter ordinary beings' failure to recognize their own [inner] Buddha, their exclusive seeking externally, dwelling on signs and straying from the real, and discriminating other objects. Not doing it to assist the Path, they merely seek the gate of worldly merit. It is like shooting an arrow into empty space, or like a person entering darkness; the fruit they bring about is subject to arising and ceasing—how could it transcend mental defilements? If one realizes that all is mind-only, everything seen is merely an objective aspect (nimittabhāga) of the mind; in the end one does not grasp at it as coming from the outside. Yet, this does not destroy cause and conditions; principle and phenomena are unhindered. Thus Master Shenkai said: 'Seeing the emptiness of sentient beings, he does not abandon great compassion; contemplating the Tathāgata's quiescence, he does not fail in respectful veneration. He expounds the dharmatā without destroying provisional designations; he discusses distinctions without shattering equality.' Furthermore, the eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra personally realizes the tolerance of the unarisen dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) and enters the path of effortless action; understanding all dharmas to be like the nature of empty space, such that even nirvāṇa does not manifest in his mind, only then does he begin to behold countless Buddhas and make blazing offerings to them. It also says: 'If one constantly shows respect and makes offerings to the Three Jewels without weariness, one can transcend the realm of the four Māras and swiftly accomplish unexcelled Buddha-bodhi.' The Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish says: 'In the city of Śrāvastī there was an elder who gave birth to a boy. At that time, the heavens rained the seven treasures; therefore he was named Treasure-Heaven (Ratnadeva). Later he encountered the Buddha, left the household life, and attained the Path. The Buddha said: "When Vipaśyin Buddha appeared in the world, there was a poor man who, although cherishing a joyful heart, lacked offering implements; using a handful of white stones in place of pearls, he scattered them over the saṅgha. That man is none other than this monk Ratnadeva. He received immeasurable fortune, with food and clothing providing themselves naturally, and now encountering my era, he has attained the fruits of the Path."' Furthermore, Great Master Zhenjue said: 'With deep faith in the true Dharma, diligently practice the six perfections; read and recite the Mahāyāna, circumambulate the Path and prostrate; with exquisite flavors, fragrant flowers, vocal chants of praise, lamps, torches, terraces, and towers, mountains, oceans, springs, and forests, in the sky and on level ground, whatever exists in the world, from fine dust particles upwards, hold all of it and make offerings. Gather these merits together to dedicate them toward assisting bodhi.' From this we know that it only shatters the graspings outside the mind of ordinary beings: such as making offerings out of greed for profit, maintaining precepts with an angry mind, cultivating fortune with arrogance, or practicing giving to surpass others—lacking a deeply earnest mind and not having a vast, grand intention. If one acts like this, it is difficult to attract pure karma. One must not misunderstand the holy intention, severing one's own ordinary sentiments while giving rise to an annihilationist mind and extinguishing the seeds of bodhi. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'If, in that samādhi, those good sons see the form aggregate dissolve and the feeling aggregate become clear, they consider themselves already satisfied. Suddenly, an ungrounded, great arrogance arises; like this, even arrogance, excessive arrogance, arrogance over arrogance, arrogance of overestimation, or arrogance of inferiority, all erupt at the same time. In their minds they even belittle the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, not to mention those in lower positions, such as the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. This is called perceiving superiority while lacking the wisdom to save oneself. If one realizes it, there is no fault; it is not a holy realization. But if one takes it to be a holy attainment, then a portion of the demon of great arrogance enters their mind and vitals; they do not pay homage at stūpas and temples, and they destroy scriptures and images. They say to the dānapatis: "These are made of gold and copper, or clay and wood; the scriptures are tree leaves or woven cotton. The physical body is true and eternal, yet you do not respect yourselves, but venerate clay and wood instead; this is truly inverted." Those who deeply believe them follow them in smashing and shattering them, burying and abandoning them in the ground. Deluding and misleading sentient beings, they enter the Avīci hell; having lost right reception, they will surely sink and plunge down.' But if at the time of one's actions one is completely unattached, joyful and thankful, exerting all strength and utter sincerity, dedicating it to unexcelled bodhi and bestowing it universally on all sentient beings of the dharmadhātu, then even a tiny bit of good is an all-embracing cause, and one will ultimately never fall into the [mundane] causes and effects of humans and devas."