萬善同歸集 3.83

3.83

答：「一切理事，以心為本。約理者，經云：『觀一切法，即心自性；成就慧身，不由他悟。』此以真如觀、真實心為本。約事者，經云：『心如工畫師，能畫諸世間；五蘊悉從生，無法而不造。』此以心識觀，緣慮心為本。真實心為體，緣慮心為用；用即心生滅門，體即心真如門。約體用分二，惟是一心。即體之用，用不離體；即用之體，體不離用。開合雖殊，真性不動。心能作佛，心作眾生；心作天堂，心作地獄。心異則千差競起，心平則法界坦然；心凡則三毒縈纏，心聖則六道自在；心空則一道清淨，心有則萬境縱橫。如谷應聲，語高而響大；似鏡鑒像，形曲而影邪。以萬行由心，一切在我。內虛，外終不實；內細，外終不麁。善因終值善緣，惡行難逃惡境。踏雲霞而飲甘露，非他所授；臥烟焰而噉膿血，皆自所為。非天之所生，非地之所出，秖在最初一念，致此昇沈。欲外安和，但內寧靜；心虛境寂，念起法生；水濁波昏，潭清月朗。修行之要，靡出於斯。可謂眾妙之門，群靈之府，昇降之本，禍福之源。但正自心，何疑別境？經云：『為善福隨，履惡禍追；響之應聲，善惡如音；非天龍鬼神所授，非先禰後裔所為。』造之者惟心，成之者身口矣。佛說偈曰：『心為法本，心尊心使；中心念惡，即言即行；罪苦自追，車礫于轍。心為法本，心尊心使；中心念善，即言即行；福樂自追，如影隨形。』《華嚴經》云：『智首菩薩問文殊師利云：「何得無過失身口意業？乃至為上，為無上；為等，為無等等？」文殊師利答言：「佛子，若諸菩薩善用其心，則獲一切勝妙功德。」』《密嚴經》云：『如地無分別，庶物依以生；藏識亦如是，眾境之依處。如人以己手，還自摩挃身；亦如象以鼻，取水自沾沐；復似諸嬰兒，以口含其指。如是自心內，現境還自緣；是心之境界，普遍於三有。久修觀行者，而能善通達；內外諸世間，一切惟心現。』以此之言，豈止萬善之本，乃至有情、無情，凡聖境界，虛空萬像，悉為其本。亦云：『無住為本。』本立道生，斯之謂矣。」

Answer: "All principle and phenomena take the mind as their basis. In terms of principle, the sūtra says: 'Contemplate all phenomena as the nature of one's own mind; the attainment of the body of wisdom does not depend on an awakening through another.' This takes the contemplation of suchness, the true mind, as the basis. In terms of phenomena, the sūtra says: 'The mind is like a skilled painter, able to paint all the worlds; the five skandhas all arise from it, and there is no phenomenon that it does not create.' This takes the contemplation of consciousness, the deliberating mind, as the basis. The true mind is the substance; the deliberating mind is the function. The function is the gate of arising and ceasing of the mind; the substance is the gate of suchness of the mind. In terms of substance and function, two are distinguished, but they are only the one mind. Function is the function of the substance, and function is never apart from substance; substance is the substance of the function, and substance is never apart from function. Though opening and closing differ, the true nature does not stir. The mind can make a buddha; the mind can make a sentient being. The mind makes heaven; the mind makes hell. When the mind differs, a thousand distinctions compete to arise; when the mind is level, the dharmadhātu is vast and calm. When the mind is ordinary, the three poisons entangle it; when the mind is noble, it is free within the six destinies. When the mind is empty, the single path is pure; when the mind has [grasping], the myriad objects proliferate in chaos. Just as a valley echoes a sound—where the speech is loud, the reverberation is great—and just as a mirror reflects an image—where the form is bent, the shadow is crooked. Because the myriad practices stem from the mind, everything lies within oneself. If the inner is empty, the outer will never be solid; if the inner is fine, the outer will never be coarse. A wholesome cause will ultimately encounter wholesome conditions; an evil action can hardly escape evil realms. Treading on clouds and drinking sweet dew is not bestowed by another; lying in flames and devouring pus and blood are entirely of one's own making. They are not born of heaven, nor do they spring from earth; it is merely the very first thought that brings about this ascent or descent. If you desire peace and harmony without, simply remain tranquil within: when the mind is empty, objects are tranquil; when thoughts arise, phenomena are born; when the water is turbid, the waves are murky; when the pool is clear, the moon shines bright. The essentials of cultivation do not go beyond this. It may be called the gate of all wonders, the palace of all spirits, the root of rising and falling, and the source of calamity and fortune. Just rectify your own mind; why doubt external objects? The sūtra says: 'Doing good, blessings follow; committing evil, calamity pursues. Just as an echo responds to a sound, good and evil are like the tone. They are not bestowed by devas, nāgas, ghosts, or spirits; they are not caused by ancestors or descendants.' That which creates them is only the mind; that which completes them is body and speech. The Buddha spoke in verse, saying: / 'Mind is the forerunner of all phenomena; mind is chief, mind is the master. / When one thinks evil in one's mind, speaking or acting accordingly, / Guilt and suffering follow oneself, as the wheel grinds in the rut. / Mind is the forerunner of all phenomena; mind is chief, mind is the master. / When one thinks good in one's mind, speaking or acting accordingly, / Blessings and joy follow oneself, as a shadow follows the form.' / The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'Bodhisattva Jñānapradhāna asked Mañjuśrī: "How does one obtain body, speech, and mind karma free from fault, up to being superior, unexcelled, equal, and unequaled?" Mañjuśrī answered: "Son of the Buddha, if bodhisattvas skillfully use their minds, they will attain all supreme and wondrous merits."' The Ghanavyūha Sūtra says: 'Just as the earth is without discrimination, yet all things arise relying upon it, the storehouse consciousness is also like this, being the support of all objects. Just as a person uses his own hand to touch his own body, and just as an elephant uses its trunk to draw water to wash itself, and again like infants who put their own fingers in their mouths, so within one's own mind the manifested objects are grasped in turn by oneself. The objects of this mind universally pervade the three realms of existence. Those who have long cultivated the practices of contemplation are able to skillfully penetrate this: all the inner and outer worlds are merely manifestations of the mind.' Based on these words, is it merely the root of the myriad good practices? Even the realms of sentient and insentient, ordinary and noble, space and the myriad forms, all take it as their root. It is also said: 'Non-abiding is the root.' When the root is established, the Way arises—this is what it means."