萬善同歸集 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1

Composed by Yanshou, Chan Master Zhijue of Huiri Yongming Si in Hangzhou

Now, nature-origination is bodhi; true suchness is the myriad practices. To act all day long and yet be without action; though without practice, to practice universally. If one claims there is action, that is identical to the work of Māra; or if one clings to non-practice, that returns again to annihilation. Hence we know that outside of one's own mind, not a single phenomenon can be established; the ten bodies are fully present, and the four lands are completely encompassed. Although it generally embraces all, it does not destroy internal and external; all are designated the dharmadhātu, so how could existence and nonexistence be separated? In emptiness one possesses the wisdom of upāya, not clinging to existence; within existence one operates extraordinary practices, not falling into nonexistence. Therefore, phenomena that are identical to principle achieve practice without obstruction; principle that is identical to phenomena accords in practice with true suchness. With mark and function without deficiency, the essential nature is present here. Now, the wondrous practices for transforming others do not go beyond the gates of the ten perfections and the four means of embrace; the true cultivation for benefiting oneself has nothing prior to the path of the seven factors of awakening and the eightfold noble [path]. Gathering the four foundations of mindfulness into the one reality, summarizing the four right efforts within the one mind, one adorns and purifies the five faculties and accomplishes the five powers. If we speak of giving, both internal and external are abandoned; regarding discipline, both the great and small [vehicles] are upheld; cultivating vigor, body and mind proceed together; possessing patience, both beings and phenomena are endured; prajñā means that object and wisdom are not two; dhyāna-concentration means that motion and stillness are both equalized; upāya means universally illuminating the dust of afflictions; making vows means comprehensively encompassing the dharmadhātu; possessing power means mastering the ten powers; understanding wisdom means the complete fulfillment of all-knowledge; loving speech means adapting downward to accord with capacity; beneficial action means being able to follow others' actions; operating loving-kindness means universally rescuing enemies and kin; expounding the Dharma means gathering in both the sharp and dull; with the seven factors of awakening, torpor and restlessness do not arise; with the eightfold noble path, perverse views do not occur. One goes so far as to fully cultivate the wondrous practices of the three durabilities, be fully endowed with the Dharma-wealth of the seven noble ones, uphold the vinaya gateways of the three collections of precepts, and fulfill the true essentials of the seven purifications. Awakening to heavenly practice, one tallies with the fundamental principle of nature; cultivating brahmacarya, one severs the root source of dusty habits; manifesting sick practice, one rests in the conjured city of the śrāvakas; displaying infant practice, one guides ordinary beings to the heavenly realms. Passing through the paths of bodhi of the five positions, one enters the city of nirvāṇa of the three virtues. Refining the three karmas to form the three wheels, transcending the three feelings to perfect the three stations of mindfulness; through causes perfumed and developed from the three contemplations, the fruit possesses the five eyes perfectly clear. Only then can one roam freely in supernormal powers, entering and emerging from hundreds of thousands of samādhis, purify Buddha-lands, and tread the unimpeded bodhimaṇḍa. After that, one universally responds to all directions, manifesting the wondrous marks of the ten bodies; illuminates the entire dharmadhātu, lighting the bright lamp of the four wisdoms. Resonance and response intertwine in the Dao, following the capacities of others; without moving from the fundamental limit, traces respond in square and round. Whoever has sight or hearing of them can all obtain benefit, and so forth. What do these do from their standpoint to mine? All these are perfumed by the accumulation of good, accomplishing this great transformation devoid of conditions. The Contemplation on Returning to the Source states: 'In function, waves surge and the ocean boils, yet it operates entirely with the true essence; in essence, the mirror is clean and the water is clear, uniting completely in stillness while following conditions.' Master Zhao said: 'In governing the myriad practices, expedient wisdom is taken as the lord; in establishing the root of virtue, the six perfections are taken as the foundation; in rescuing the benighted and confused, loving-kindness and compassion are placed foremost; in speaking of the ultimate principle, nonduality is taken as the discourse. These are all the basis of the inconceivable. As for borrowing the seat from King Candana, requesting food from the land of fragrance, the room enclosing the cosmos, the hand grasping the chiliocosm, these are all traces of the inconceivable. Yet although the hidden gateway is opened, holy responses are not the same; without the basis, there is no way to manifest traces; without traces, there is no way to reveal the basis. Though basis and traces differ, in their inconceivability they are one.'"

2.3

Question: "The body is the basis of the Dao, and bondage is the cause of liberation; how can one burn fingers or burn the body, acting contrary to the Dao in cultivating the Dao? In the Biographies of Eminent Monks and the Hīnayāna vinaya, this is clearly disparaged; how can it be a sacred canonical text?"

2.4

Answer: "Giving up one's life and discarding one's body to repay debts of gratitude for the sake of the Dharma deeply tallies with the Mahāyāna and profoundly accords with the correct teaching. The Mahāyāna Brahmā Net Sūtra states: 'If a disciple of the Buddha should act with a good mind, he should first study the deportment sūtras and vinaya of the Mahāyāna, broadly opening up and understanding their meanings. When he sees later, newly studying bodhisattvas who have come from a hundred or a thousand miles seeking the Mahāyāna sūtras and vinaya, he should, according to the Dharma, explain all austerities to them: such as burning the body, burning the arm, or burning the fingers. If one does not burn the body, arm, or fingers as an offering to all Buddhas, one is not an ordained bodhisattva. Even toward hungry tigers, wolves, lions, and all hungry ghosts, one should give up one's own flesh, hands, and feet to offer them. After that, step by step in sequence, explain the correct Dharma for them, causing their minds to open and their intentions to understand. If one does not act thus, one commits a light defilement offense.' The Mahāyāna Śūraṅgama Sūtra states: 'The Buddha told Ānanda: "If after my parinirvāṇa there is a bhikṣu who makes a resolute vow to cultivate samādhi, and is able before an image of the Tathāgata to light a lamp on his body, burn a finger joint, or burn an incense stick on his body, I say that this person's beginningless past debts are all repaid at once; taking long leave of the world, he forever escapes all defilements. Although he has not yet immediately understood the unexcelled path of awakening, this person has already determined his mind regarding the Dharma. If he does not perform this minor cause of renouncing the body, even if he attains the unconditioned, he must return to be born as a human to repay his past debts, no different from my [past karma of eating] horse barley."' Therefore, the Hīnayāna clings to outward marks and prohibits it without exception; the great teaching is completely unimpeded, fundamentally without fixed rules. The Bodhisattva-bhūmi-śīla Sūtra states: 'Śrāvaka precepts are strict, while bodhisattva precepts are flexible; śrāvaka precepts block, while bodhisattva precepts open.' Another sūtra also states: 'The śrāvaka's upholding of precepts is the bodhisattva's breaking of precepts.' This is what it means. If one relies on the definitive sūtras, all Buddhas rejoice; if one clings to expedient discourses, all the noble ones grieve. One should only praise the great and extol the round, benefiting both self and others; how can one permit clinging to the provisional and getting stuck in the small, remaining confused about both the basis and the traces?"

2.5

Question: "Scorching the body with the five fires, jumping from cliffs and throwing oneself into flames—these are of the ninety-six kinds [of non-Buddhist ways], which a thousand noble ones condemn together. When happily there is a correct course, why throw oneself into a heterodox rut?"

2.6

Answer: "The Treatise on the Great Prajñāpāramitā states: 'The Buddha's teachings comprise two paths: first, the path of ultimate emptiness; second, the path of distinguishing good and evil.' As for the path of ultimate emptiness: the tathatā of an ordinary being is identical with the tathatā of liberation through the destruction of outflows; the speech of the Tathāgata is identical with the speech of Devadatta—there is no duality and no distinction, being one single path and one single source. Therefore, in the hells arises the mind of wondrous awakening, and in the fruit of Buddhahood manifests the realm of Niraya. If one abandons the heterodox to pursue the orthodox, both heterodox and orthodox are negated; if one departs from evil and attaches to good, both good and evil are lost. As for the path of distinguishing good and evil: the foolish and the wise are unequal; the ultimate and conventional are distinctly separate; jade and stone must be distinguished, and gold and brass can be discerned. Now, within the gate of practice, amidst the ranks of ascent and descent, there naturally exist internal and external adherents, and heterodox and orthodox causes and effects; one must carefully differentiate them and not conflate them as identical. Furthermore, when the scriptures set forth passages of censure and praise, they indeed have the intent of denigration and elevation. If one clings, one falls into stagnation; if one understands, nothing fails to penetrate. The four siddhāntas provide cures, with allowances and disallowances carefully analyzed. If one claims all are correct, then the Nirgranthas would have attained the true and upright path, and the Buddhas would have mistakenly censured them; if one says all are wrong, then Bhaiṣajyarāja would have fallen into the fault of inversion, and the Buddhas would have mistakenly praised him. Therefore, promoting the heterodox results in useless practices; abolishing the orthodox cuts off the gate of expedient means. One must understand what is permitted and what is prohibited; how could there be no choosing and rejecting? Moreover, there are two intentions each when those of the inner teaching and those outside the Dharma relinquish their bodies. The two of the inner teaching are: first, realizing that self and other are empty of intrinsic nature, having neither the attachment to phenomena nor the attachment to self, seeing no realm that is offered to, nor having any mind that burns [itself]; second, offering solely to the Three Jewels and deeply repaying the four debts of gratitude to aid unsurpassable bodhi, not seeking the karmic rewards of humans and gods. The two of the non-Buddhists are: first, the view of self is not extinguished, which further increases arrogance; blind to the wisdom-eye of unconditioned action, they give rise to an acquisitive and self-aggrandizing mind; second, they solely crave present renown and merely plan for future blessings and benefits, either wishing to become rulers of the kṣatriyas, or seeking birth in the Heaven of Abundant Fruits. Therefore, the Tiantai teaching explains the 'Chapter on the Burning of the Body by Bhaiṣajyarāja': 'Object and wisdom are non-dual; subject and object thus vanish. With non-dual contemplation, one contemplates the non-dual object, fulfills non-dual practice, and converges with non-dual emptiness. When performing this contemplation, if it benefits those in the dharmadhātu who see and hear of it, it is therefore called the vehicle of vehicles. Hence, throwing oneself from a cliff incurs no critique of non-Buddhist practice, and entering fire meets no mockery from the inner assembly. This is truly because internally there is the contemplation of principle, and externally there is an understanding of the aspired intent. Thus Jayoṣṇīṣa dispelled Sudhana's doubts, and the Nirgrantha produced the understanding of solemn radiance. Strictly speaking of their path, practice will then be achieved; if the mind is orthodox, the practice is orthodox; if the wisdom is heterodox, the phenomena are heterodox. Practice cannot be abolished, and wisdom cannot be discarded; students of later generations will thus not lose the benefit of the Dharma.' The Mañjuśrīparipṛcchā Sūtra states: 'When a bodhisattva relinquishes the body, it is not an indeterminate act; they obtain only merit. Because the body of defilements is extinguished, they obtain a pure body. It is like soiled clothes washed with lye: the dirt is removed, but the clothes remain.' If one grasps the complete purport, the clear judgment is evident. Please examine these texts and take them as a clear mirror."

2.7

Question: "Giving while abiding in signs bears the fruit of impermanence; it increases the conditioned mind and turns away from the unconditioned path. How can it compare to the contemplation of principle, whose merit equals space? Hence a sūtra states: 'The Buddha said: "It is not self, yet it conforms to principle."' Why stubbornly cling to phenomena and external dusts instead of contemplating the mind and penetrating the path?"

2.8

Answer: "If speaking of contemplating the mind, wherever the eyes rest, all is it; since you speak of penetrating the path, when lifting a foot, how could it not be so? A bodhisattva arouses the myriad practices simultaneously, and the four means of embracing are broadly extended; one must not cling to emptiness and harm existence, nor hold to the one and doubt the many. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra states: 'Accepting one and rejecting the rest is what Māra sustains.' Therefore, abandoning the extremes to pursue the middle still turns into a heterodox view. One must not rely merely on sectarian tenets and directives, identifying with the wondrous and profound, while cognitive imagination acts out and the skandhas and dhātus fabricate. One ought to adjust negating and illuminating in accordance with capacities, allowing wisdom to unfold and fold at will; regarding the two gates of emptiness and existence, neither exiting nor remaining; regarding the two truths of the ultimate and conventional, neither identical nor separate. How could movement and stillness conflict? They are completely fused and unimpeded. In general, for the gates of cultivation and advancement of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, there are the primary and the auxiliary, the real and the expedient; principle and phenomena are cultivated together; vehicle and precepts are both urgent; compassion and wisdom are doubly exercised; the internal and external support each other. If one rigidly establishes a single tenet, that is the seed of the Demon King; or if one annihilates everything, that becomes the folly of one's own views. Thus the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra states: 'There are two practices: entering directly by relying on emptiness is called wisdom practice; cultivating together with phenomena is called action practice.' The Bodhibhūmi Treatises speak of two paths: first, the path of expedient means, knowing all wholesome phenomena; second, the path of wisdom, not apprehending any phenomena. Also, a sūtra states: 'The two suchnesses: in the cause, suchness is without defilement; in the fruit, suchness is without blemish. Also, the two minds: the inherently pure mind is the meaning of original possession; the mind purified of defilements is the meaning of ultimate realization.' The Awakening of Faith establishes two aspects: first, the aspect of sameness, the meaning of the nature of equality; second, the aspect of difference, the meaning of illusory distinction. The Tiantai teaching has two kinds of goodness: penetrating the emptiness of subject and object is called the goodness of cessation; using expedient means to encourage cultivation is called the goodness of action."

2.9

Question: "The Dharma essentials of patriarchs and Buddhas establish only the One Vehicle. Some say: 'The Bhagavans of the ten directions have one single path to the gate of nirvāṇa.' Others say: 'All unobstructed persons transcend birth and death by a single path.' Why do you extensively set forth distinctions and establish two Dharma gates, confusing the orthodox tradition and giving rise to various heterodox views?"

2.10

Answer: "Although the Dharma gates of the Buddhas form a single kind, divided in terms of function they are two, yet their essence is always identical. Just as in the Dharma of the One Mind the two gates of true suchness and arising-and-ceasing are established, these are simply the path of the two truths and the One Vehicle. It has always been so from antiquity to the present, without increase or decrease. Therefore, the general and the particular illuminate each other, and the root and the branch support each other. Without the general, there is no way to bring forth the particular; without the particular, there is no way to complete the general. Without the root, there is no way to bestow the branches; without the branches, there is no way to manifest the root. Thus we know that a single wing struggles to soar, and a single wheel cannot move; the pure real alone cannot be established, and the mere false alone cannot be formed. In terms of essence, they are differentiated yet without differentiation; regarding function, they are non-different yet differentiated. Only when the one and the two are unobstructed does one enter the gate of non-duality; only when emptiness and existence do not conflict does one tread upon the realm of true emptiness."

2.11

Question: "Phenomena are distinct in positions and differences; principle is solely of one flavor, clear and tranquil. Since nature and characteristics are not the same, how can they be unobstructed?"

2.12

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."

2.13

Question: "A sūtra states: 'Giving one's body and life as many times as the sands of three Ganges Rivers is not as good as upholding a four-line gāthā.' Therefore we know that the merit of prajñā is profound, while the power of the gate of giving is inferior. How can you violate the tradition and transgress principle, uselessly exerting effort and fatiguing the spirit? This can truly be called encountering delusion when hoping for awakening, and falling instead when seeking to ascend!"

2.14

Answer: "When principle is attained, the myriad practices are accomplished; when the essential tenet is known, the thousand paths are unobstructed. One must not reject that and grasp this, clinging to the right while dismissing the wrong; one must tread the gate of non-obstruction and skillfully enter the path of universal practice. For this reason, the past Buddhas and our fundamental teacher Śākyamuni, throughout measureless kalpas, relinquished countless bodies and lives: either to seek the Dharma by extracting marrow and gouging their flesh, or to practice compassion by offering [their body] to a hawk and feeding a tiger. The Prajñā-śāstra states: 'For measureless kalpas the Tathāgata relinquished body, life, and wealth in order to uphold the saddharma. The saddharma is without limit; thus from an inexhaustible cause one attains an inexhaustible fruit, and that fruit is the three bodies.' Furthermore, from antiquity to the present in both India and this land, not a few bodhisattvas and eminent monks have relinquished their bodies, all abiding by Śākyamuni's authentic scriptures and fully emulating the bequeathed model of Bhaiṣajyarāja. The Biographies of Eminent Monks records that Master Ai entered Mount Zhongnan, carved off his own flesh and spread it upon the rocks, pulled out his intestines and hung them upon the trees, and passed away holding his own heart. Writing a verse upon a stone, he said: 'May I, having renounced this body, soon cause my body to attain sovereignty. / Having attained sovereignty in the dharmakāya, may I appear everywhere across all destinies; / Wherever there is benefit to be brought, may I protect the Dharma and rescue sentient beings. / Moreover, karmic retribution must come to an end; all conditioned dharmas are like this. / The traidhātuka is entirely impermanent; when the time arrives, there is no sovereignty. / Slain by others or dying of oneself, one ultimately returns to such a place; / This is what the wise find no joy in; my karma comes to an end today.' Also, the Bodhisattva Sengya, burning his body, said: 'To substitute for the suffering of all sentient beings, I first burn my hand.' The assembly asked: 'The bodhisattva burns himself, while sentient beings' sins are ripe and each must undergo their own suffering; how can you substitute for them?' He answered: 'Just as in burning a hand, a single thought of good roots can extinguish evil, is this not a substitution?' He further addressed the assembly: 'After my passing, take good care in making offerings to the sick. It is difficult to fathom their origin: most are Buddhas and sages who have manifested through provisional means. Unless one has a great and impartial mind, how could one show them reverence? This is true practice.' In the Tiantai lineage, Chan Master Man spent his life reciting the Lotus Sūtra; this moved a divine being to manifest in bodily form to correct and determine the characters of the sūtras and dhāraṇīs. Later, he burned his body as an offering to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra. Furthermore, the disciple of Zhizhe, Chan Master Jingbian, burned his body in front of the repentance hall as an offering to the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. Great Master Fu of Shuanglin wished to burn his body to relieve the suffering of sentient beings; forty-eight of his disciples in succession burned their own bodies in place of their master, requesting him to remain in the world to teach and transform sentient beings. Biographies expound upon this at length; they cannot all be cited. If one were to say, 'These are realms of the sages, actions performed as provisional manifestations,' then the sages would bear the fault of deceiving people, and ordinary persons would have no share in reaching sagehood; the net of the teachings would be laid out in vain, and upāya would be empty. The original intent was to guide those who come after and adapt to those in the present so that ordinary people may truly realize [the fruit]; even if they are provisional manifestations, they are also meant to be emulated by later generations. One must not deceive people into practicing perverse and inverted dharmas; the true compassion of the Great Sage is ultimately never false or deceptive. For this reason, the eighty-four thousand Dharma gates are all nothing other than liberation; a single thought of slight goodness all tends toward tathatā. There are inherently the initial stage and the subsequent stage, the tolerance of beings and the tolerance of dharmas; one should not simply use the superior to disparage the inferior, nor the inferior to overstep the superior. One must properly know the right time and assess one's own faculties and strength; one must not evaluate others as good or bad and forcibly establish right and wrong. Words are the seed of calamity, bringing future karma upon oneself. Moreover, bodhisattvas who have attained tolerance, although realizing the dual emptiness of beings and dharmas, still burn their arms and immolate their bodies—like Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja and Sengya—for the sake of benefiting others and destroying the defilement of stinginess. As for those who have not yet perfected tolerance, though knowing how to use the fire of wisdom to burn the fuel of affliction and clearly understanding the dual emptiness without producing a view of the self, if their active obstructions are heavy and they have not yet attained accord, yet they give rise to a courageous mind and put into motion genuine practice—repaying kindness, making offerings to the Buddha, taking on suffering, and practicing compassion—wishing to accomplish an auxiliary gate to the path without producing grasping desires, then provided they are not deceiving themselves, their deeds will not be in vain. If, perchance, their eye of wisdom is not yet clear and self-grasping still arises, such that they merely seek cause and effect and their resolution is not steadfast, then attempting to emulate the precedents of past sages does not fall under this case. Sentient beings' capacities differ, and what they value is diverse. Thus the sūtra states: 'The Buddha said: "If sentient beings could be liberated through falsehood, I would also speak falsehood."' Therefore we know that while phenomena arise from a thousand contrivances, principle returns to a single source. They are all the Great Compassion and skillful upāya. Some, by abandoning body and life, suddenly enter the tolerance of dharmas; some, through single-minded dhyāna-concentration, suddenly awaken to non-arising; some realize their original purity and verify the gate of dharmatā; some practice the contemplation of impurity and ascend the path of detachment; some dwell in seven-jeweled mansions and advance to the sage's fruit; some abide in charnel grounds and beneath trees, heading toward nirvāṇa. Thus the gates of liberation, numerous as dust and sand, all lead to deliverance when entered; the boundless net of teachings, when understood, returns to truth. The words bequeathed by the Great Sage are never set forth in vain. It is like traveling to a distant place: arrival is the only goal; one does not stop midway to dispute about what is difficult and easy. Therefore we know that a physician does not rely solely on powders, and the sky is not perpetually clear; one must harmonize pills and powders, and balance both yin and yang; then all illnesses are cured together, and the myriad things flourish in unison. All these are provisional applications; in reality there is no fixed dharma. Adapting to their inclinations, he meets what is suitable. One takes only the realization of the Way as one's aim, without discriminating whether the entry gate is coarse or subtle. If one forms attachments to the four gates of the perfect teaching, they are still something to be cured by the initial gate of the tripiṭaka teaching. Therefore, the gate of the perfection of giving practiced by bodhisattvas is like a prisoner escaping through a latrine hole, or a sick person recovering by consuming foul medicine. Without contemplation, there is no way to pull out the root of the illness of the three poisons; without practice, there is no way to transcend the prison of existence in the traidhātuka. The Classic of History says: 'What captures a bird is a single mesh of the net, but one cannot make a net out of a single mesh. The governing of a state depends on the merit of one person, but one person cannot constitute the state.' Thus, when all practices are fully provided and the myriad good practices are cultivated together, a single practice returns to the source and the thousand gates naturally become upright. The sūtras explain: the twelve links of dependent origination are one dharma; when contemplated with the four equanimous minds, one attains four kinds of bodhi. If one were only to accept people of the highest capacities, those of medium and lower faculties would be completely excluded. Therefore, propagating the partial teaching possesses the merit of bringing things to completion; reaching the treasure abode depends on the power of the conjured city. How could one abandon this and grasp that, cling to the real and slander the provisional, suddenly discard beings' karmic capacities, and extinguish the Buddha's upāya? Thus it is said: 'Dividing the provisional from the real, the provisional is the real's provisional; opening the provisional to reveal the real, the real is the provisional's real.' If one is confused about the two gates of the provisional and the real, one's wisdom will lack sovereignty. The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: 'Sentient beings are liberated through various causes and conditions in differing ways: some are liberated through dhyāna-concentration; some are liberated through keeping precepts and expounding the Dharma; some are liberated through light touching their bodies. It is like a city having many gates: the places of entry are distinct, but the place arrived at is the same.' As for the statement that the power of prajñā is profound: indeed, prajñā conceives the sages and nurtures the worthy, containing spirituality and holding subtlety. When highlighted, it is the tenet, the head, the guide, and the reliance; when fused, it contacts every realm to encompass emptiness, and there is nothing that is not prajñā. Thus the sūtra states: 'Because form is boundless, prajñā is boundless.' The Treatise of Sengzhao says: 'The three poisons and the four inversions are all pure; why should purity be honored in prajñā alone?' Why now make choices of grasping and rejecting, seeking to flee from emptiness and avoid shadows? Furthermore, the esoteric intention of all Buddhas and the purports of their teachings are difficult to delimit; like deceiving young children with an empty fist, they entice and deliver all beings; having no fixed dharma, it is named Great Bodhi. Failing to understand that prajñā has the function of breaking through attachments and is therefore praised especially in the teachings, you instead generate views based on words, and thus become confused because of the directions. Therefore, prajñā can guide the myriad practices; if there were no myriad practices, how could prajñā be applied? Exclusively eating sauce and drinking salt water spoils the flavor and causes harm; exclusively clinging to emptiness and seizing upon annihilation destroys wisdom and produces transgression. The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: 'Śakra had the thought: "If prajñā is the ultimate dharma, practitioners should just practice prajñā; what use is there for other dharmas?" The Buddha answered: "The six pāramitās of a bodhisattva, because the prajñāpāramitā harmonizes them through the dharma of non-attainment, are themselves the prajñāpāramitā. If one only practices prajñā and does not practice the other dharmas, then one's merits will not be complete, neither fine nor wondrous. It is like a foolish person who does not understand the various ingredients of food, and hearing that sauce is the master of all flavors, simply drinks plain sauce, losing the flavor and causing harm. The practitioner is also like this: wishing to eliminate attachments of mind, he only practices prajñā, and consequently falls into wrong views, unable to advance in good dharmas. If it is harmonized with the five pāramitās, then merits will be complete and the flavor of the meaning will be balanced and suitable."' The Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra states: 'The swift paths of a bodhisattva are two: first, the path of upāya, which can serve as causes and conditions; second, the path of prajñā, which can reach quietude.' Therefore, prajñā without upāya drowns in the pit of the unconditioned; upāya without prajñā sinks into the net of illusions. When both wheels are unobstructed, the Single Path is without flaw; when the provisional and real are practiced together, the correct tenet is revealed. Abiding in non-abiding, the Buddha's works are thereby cultivated together; attaining non-attainment, the mind of wisdom is thereby eternally quiescent."

2.15

Question: "The teaching merely instructs one to contemplate the body as devoid of self and to realize its original non-arising. Once one has comprehended the emptiness of nature, how can there remain any view of the self, so that one would engage in false thinking and still need to relinquish [the body]?"

2.16

Answer: "In principle it does not exist, yet in phenomena it is not absent. Arising magically from conditions, though there is no creator, and though good and evil have no self-nature, karmic fruits are distinctly present. From the beginningless limit, [sentient beings] have lost countless bodies, merely continuing innate [delusions] and dying without benefit. Now, as for relinquishing the body bequeathed by one's parents—how could this be one's true body? Only if, in a single thought-moment, one fully cultivates morality, concentration, wisdom, and so forth, in a subtly marvelous good mind, is it truly one's own body. What is relinquished now is merely what is produced by conditions. Yet among phenomena, it is at least to die for the sake of benefit. How much more so when one is right now entangled by ignorance and afflictions, the three obstacles, and the two kinds of death—why speak [only] of emptiness, and who would believe and accept it? Therefore, in the Buddhadharma, the value lies in practice; it does not seize upon fleeting eloquence of the mouth. This is like an insect eating wood that accidentally forms characters, or like a bird speaking of 'emptiness' with no grasp of its purport at all. When afflictions do not diminish while arrogance instead increases, this is a pernicious clinging to perverse emptiness, not a good comprehension of the saddharma. One must personally realize the truth, so that words and deeds correspond. If one merely indulges in false speech and a coarse mind, how could one discern hidden practice and secret application? An ancient worthy said: 'In practice, aim for a thousand feet or ten thousand feet; in speech, aim for an inch or half an inch.' A sūtra also says: 'Though words speak of emptiness, conduct resides in being.' The Ratnakūṭa Sūtra says: 'The Buddha said: "If one could attain bodhi without practice, then sounds and spoken words should also realize supreme bodhi. By uttering such words as 'I shall become a Buddha, I shall become a Buddha,' limitless sentient beings ought to attain correct awakening solely through these words."' Thus we know that practice precedes words, and the path is not outside the mind. A sūtra also says: 'The Buddha said: "Those who learn my Dharma know it only through realization."' Therefore, severe evil is not as good as slight goodness; much emptiness is not as good as little reality. Those who are truly capable of practice do not abandon minor minds; those who indulge in empty talk merely profess the grand purport in vain. If one has not accorded with the function of suchness and acted in accordance with the dharmatā, but merely attains a mind of haughtiness, one will bring upon oneself the fault of falsehood and deception. Therefore, the Benevolent King Sūtra lays out the stages of the five patiences, and Master Zhiyi fully provided the text of the six identities. The stages of practice are distinct—how could one usurp them presumptuously? Why not enter the contemplation of equality, arouse the mind of rejoicing, accumulate the roots of myriad goods, and bring to fruition the seed of great compassion? A sūtra says: 'Burning a single finger joint or lighting a single stick of incense can still extinguish the faults and blemishes accumulated over kalpas; scattering a single flower or momentarily reciting the name of a single Buddha will ultimately lead to the fruit of the ultimate stage.' The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'In adopting the same deeds, bodhisattvas even act as thieves and rogues, butchers and peddlers, harlots and widows—there is nothing they do not do.' The Meaning of Non-Arising says: 'Practitioners who are detached from signs and non-abiding do not abide in nirvāṇa; they can universally manifest physical bodies, and amidst conditioned things they can be noble, base, ordinary, or holy, practicing the way of benevolence and righteousness and compassionately rescuing [beings throughout] the ten directions to the end of future kalpas.' It also says: 'At the stage of an ordinary person, one cultivates holy practices; at the fruit stage, one engages in ordinary causes. Not yet endowed with the Buddhadharma, one does not extinguish sensation to attain realization either.' Thus we clearly know that the ultimate is the conventional ultimate, and the conventional is the ultimate conventional. Clinging to them is worldly defilement, while penetrating them constitutes Buddha-work. Entering the samādhi of dharmatā, there is not a single dharma to be despised; realizing the gateway of boundless concentration, there is not a single dharma to be discarded. Once victory and defeat are lost, taking and leaving are completely mistaken; one must not obstruct the bodhi of others or destroy one's own root of goodness. Furthermore, even if one understands that there is no body, deeply penetrates the dharmatā, and is not obstructed by mind or objects, being decisively free of doubt—though one knows that all conditioned things are like the tracks of a bird in the sky, one must still, from bhūmi to bhūmi, cultivate, train, and apply antidotes; karmic propensities are not absent. How much more so for the foolish who rigidly cling to the four inversions and are deeply trapped in the net of the eight perversities, who maintain this foul body to broadly engage in greed and lust, who are ensnared by the net of illusion and intoxicated by passion and form, sinking into birth and death and submerged in the wheel of suffering! Therefore the Great Awakened One sighed deeply and widely rebuked and rejected it; whenever the holy ones relinquished their bodies, there was none who did not first reprimand it. It is like exchanging poison for clarified butter, or like trading an earthenware vessel for rare jewels. Hence the Ratnakūṭa Sūtra states that contemplating the body reveals forty kinds of faults: sometimes it is called a prison of greed and desire, perpetually bound by afflictions; a pit of foul stench, constantly nibbled and devoured by worms. It is like a walking latrine with five kinds of impurity; like a leaking bag with nine holes continually piercing it. The poisonous snake of anger gives rise to a malicious mind, injuring and crippling the life of wisdom; the rākṣasa of folly clings to the view of self, swallowing and devouring the body of wisdom. Like an evil bandit, the whole world abhors it; like a dead dog, all the virtuous cast it aside. It is impermanent like a plantain tree or water foam; fleeting like a mirage or a flash of lightning. Though one washes and feeds it, it turns into an enemy; though one constantly nurtures it, it knows no gratitude. The extensive reproaches are manifold; it is difficult to describe them completely. If one does not examine these deep faults and consequently engages broadly in evil karma, mistakenly taking this to be right and failing to advance in cultivation, then both wisdom and practice will suffer, and both principle and phenomena will be lost. One must first become disgusted with it and apply severe antidotes; by knowing what is wrong, the fire of desire will secretly subside, and by understanding the origin, the true source will naturally appear. Therefore the Lotus Sūtra says: 'Just like the three realms, burned by the burning house, how could they understand the wisdom of the Buddha?'"

2.17

Question: "Although the body is illusory and entangled by many afflictions, nonetheless, through this illusory form one can accomplish the fruits of the path. A sūtra says: 'Without entering the great ocean of afflictions, one cannot obtain the priceless jewel.' If one wishes to relinquish it, I fear that regrets will ensue."

2.18

Answer: "Now, birth is unceasing, and all that possesses marks is empty. If, within the triratna, one turns toward it with utmost sincerity and arouses a single mind of relinquishment, it still surpasses the vain births and wasted deaths of the worldly realm. One is then able to obtain an adamantine body through an impermanent body, and exchange an unstable body for a firm body. The two paths of taking and relinquishing must rely on the illumination of wisdom."

2.19

Question: "Settling the mind to enter the path must accord with true emptiness; generating practices to liberate sentient beings completely returns to conventional truth. One need only comprehend the dharmatā to discern the orthodox tradition. Why then repudiate the real to rely on the unreal, forsaking the root to race after the branches? Conditioned activities cause disturbance, and complicated fabrications throw the true source into turmoil and muddy the water of the mind."

2.20

Answer: "Within the ultimate truth, even the true is not established; in the equanimous dharmadhātu, there are neither buddhas nor sentient beings. Within the gate of conventional truth, not a single dharma is abandoned; whenever anything conditioned is undertaken, it is gathered within the gate of Buddha-activities. For this reason, the buddhas constantly rely on the two truths to teach the Dharma. If one does not attain the conventional truth, one cannot attain the ultimate truth. The Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi says: 'To repudiate both truths is a wrongly grasped emptiness, which the buddhas declare untreatable.' The Vajracchedikā Sūtra says: 'Those who set their minds on anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi do not speak of phenomena as having marks of annihilation.' National Preceptor Xianshou says: 'True emptiness does not destroy the karmic fruition of dependent arising; therefore superior and inferior remain distinct.' The Commentary on the Vajrasamādhi says: 'The true and conventional are not two, yet they do not abide as one. Because they are not two, they are one mind; because they do not abide as one, the entire essence forms two.' The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'Just as space, in the ten directions, whether in the past, future, or present, cannot be found when sought, yet space is not non-existent; so too does the bodhisattva contemplate all dharmas as completely unobtainable, yet all dharmas are not non-existent. In accord with reality without deviation, they do not lose what is to be done; they universally demonstrate practice and the myriad bodhisattva practices; they do not abandon their great vows to tame and subdue sentient beings; they turn the wheel of the saddharma and do not destroy cause and effect.' It also says: 'Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas thoroughly comprehend their own bodies and sentient beings to be fundamentally quiescent, experiencing neither alarm nor fear; yet they diligently cultivate merit and wisdom without satiety. Although they know all dharmas are devoid of deliberate action, they still do not abandon the specific characteristics of dharmas. Although they are forever free from greed and desire regarding all sense spheres, they constantly delight in beholding and serving the form-bodies of the buddhas. Although they know awakening and entering into the Dharma is not dependent on another, they employ various upāyas to seek omniscience. Although they know all buddha-lands are like empty space, they constantly delight in adorning all buddha-kṣetras. Although they constantly contemplate that there is no person and no self, they teach and transform sentient beings without wearying or fatigue. Although fundamentally unmoving within the dharmadhātu, they manifest myriad transformations through the power of supernormal wisdom. Although they have already accomplished the wisdom of omniscience, they cultivate bodhisattva practices without rest. Although they know all dharmas cannot be expressed in words, they turn the pure wheel of the Dharma to make sentient beings rejoice. Although they are able to manifest the divine powers of the buddhas, they do not weary of or abandon the body of a bodhisattva. Although they visibly enter great nirvāṇa, they manifest taking birth in all places. To be able to perform such a practice in which the provisional and the real operate together is the work of a buddha.' Therefore, if one repudiates fruition and rejects cause, one is an outsider with views of emptiness; if one clings to the essence and cuts off functioning, one is a śrāvaka who heads for quiescence. Furthermore, if one establishes an authentic lineage, what dharma is not the lineage? Since one speaks of the dharmatā, what thing is not the nature? Breaking through attachments from the standpoint of delusion, one provisionally establishes right and wrong; distinguishing unity from the standpoint of enlightenment, there is truly neither grasping nor rejection. What is discussed here is not like the phenomena grasped by ordinary persons, nor is it like the Tripiṭaka bodhisattvas who lean towards the provisional and depart from the true, nor the shared-teaching śrāvakas who grasp only emptiness and the mark of cessation. If there is existence separated from emptiness, it is the cause of delusive form; if there is emptiness separated from existence, it leads to the fruition of ash and annihilation. Now, nature is the nature of marks, hence it does not obstruct the manifold arising; marks are the marks of nature, hence they do not diminish pure stillness. The sphere is an inconceivable sphere; the emptiness is ultimate emptiness. Expanding and contracting at the same time, it is empty yet constantly exists; preserved and eliminated without mutual destruction, it exists yet is constantly empty. Thus the Tiantai teaching says: 'Just as a mirror has images, whereas rubble manifests none, [the mirror] inwardly contains all marks; if it were merely empty, there would be none. The subtle and wonderful pure dharmakāya is fully endowed with the thirty-two marks.' National Preceptor Qingliang says: 'Ordinary beings and sages interpenetrate; right within the ordinary mind one sees the buddha-mind. Cultivating both principle and phenomena, one relies on innate wisdom to seek buddha-wisdom.' An ancient worthy explained: 'Those followers of the Chan school who have missed the meaning cling to principle and are confused about phenomena, saying: "The nature is fundamentally replete, so why rely on cultivation and seeking? One need only extinguish sentiment, and the true Buddha will naturally manifest." Those who study the Dharma cling to phenomena and are confused about principle, [asking]: "Why diligently cultivate the teaching of principle?" Uniting them, both are fine; separating them, both are harmed. Cultivating both principle and phenomena manifests the perfect and subtle. Quieting the mind and cutting off thoughts is called the practice of principle; initiating work and engaging with existence is called the practice of phenomena. Relying on innate wisdom means the wisdom of original enlightenment, which is the causal wisdom; this empty clarity and uncloudedness is called wisdom, which accomplishes the aforementioned practice of principle. Extinguishing sentiment to reveal principle and seeking buddha-wisdom means the unobstructed wisdom of liberation, which is the fruition wisdom; taking perfect clarity and decisive judgment as wisdom, this accomplishes the aforementioned practice of phenomena, because initiating practice brings about fruition. Thus, because the nature of the essence is identical, one relies upon it; because marks and functions are distinct, one seeks them. One merely seeks marks and functions, not the nature of the essence. The former practice of principle that extinguishes sentiment is the removal of defiled dependent arising in order to reveal the nature of the essence; the practice of phenomena that initiates work is the activation of pure dependent arising in order to accomplish marks and functions.' The School of Marklessness says: 'As stated above, marks and functions may be so; however, if one merely relies on innate wisdom and sentiment is extinguished, then marks and functions will naturally manifest, because they are fundamentally replete. Why is it necessary to specially initiate the practice of phenomena?' The Perfect School says: 'The nature fundamentally contains them; at the time sentiment is extinguished, one merely removes defiled marks and functions, naturally revealing the true essence. If there were no practice of phenomena, there would be no cause for those pure marks and functions to arise. For example, although many vessels are [contained] within gold, removing the ore only reveals the gold; if one does not apply labor and craft, there is no cause for those vessels to be produced. Can it be that once gold comes out of the ore, without crafting and making, it will naturally become vessels? If extinguishing sentiment meant one did not need the practice of phenomena, why would the Buddha have commanded their complete cultivation—would this not be futile labor for practitioners? For this reason, on the eighth bhūmi, one is already able to be free from thought, yet the Buddha encouraged them to initiate the practice of phenomena, knowing that liberation from thought is not yet complete. Therefore the text says: "The dharmatā is truly constant and free from mental thoughts; the two vehicles can also attain this; it is not on this account that one is a World-Honoured One, but only by virtue of profound unobstructed wisdom." Because the seven admonitions are all practices of phenomena. One must know that the fruition-Buddha must be complete in both nature and marks; the causal practice must cultivate both phenomena and principle. Relying on innate wisdom is like obtaining gold; cultivating the practice of principle is like removing the ore; cultivating the practice of phenomena is like crafting; seeking buddha-wisdom is like completing the vessels.' The Records of Tripiṭaka Master Cimin says: 'If it were said that when the World-Honoured One spoke of all conditioned things, they were definitely like sky-flowers, without a single thing, and termed illusory; then since the illusory has no form, it is not a cause for liberation. How could the World-Honoured One have ordered his disciples to diligently cultivate the wonderful causes of the six pāramitās and the myriad practices to realize the fruit of bodhi and nirvāṇa? Would any wise person praise a city of the gandharvas as solid, sublime, and lofty, and further encourage people to use rabbit horns as a ladder to climb it? By this principle, although one is an ordinary person, generating the bodhimind and practicing the bodhisattva path, even though it is cultivation with outflows, it is real, correct, and has substantial illusion; it is not like turtle hair, empty of any entity, that is called illusory. All are dependent on other [causes], magically existing through dependent origination; they are not like non-existence that is falsely conceived. If one understands in this way, one constantly acts amidst marks, yet marks cannot obstruct, and one quickly attains liberation. When deluded sentiments are narrowly fixed and do not penetrate the teaching, although they seek to be free from marks, they are constantly bound by marks, devoid of liberation.' It also says: 'If the practices of the buddhas of the three periods are grasped as false thoughts, on what could one rely for study and practice to attain liberation? Not relying on the practices of the buddhas, having some other lineage, all are the practices of outsiders.' An ancient worthy said: 'If one wholly folds one's hands, taking ease for oneself, and does not practice benevolence and righteousness, the Way will lack adornment and will not be accomplished even in many kalpas.' However, the ultimate reality does not admit a single dust mote, yet the Buddha-activities do not abandon a single dharma. The Contemplation on Returning to the Source says: 'The real encompasses the tip of delusion, so there is no practice not cultivated; delusion penetrates to the source of the real, so there is no mark that is not quiescent.' It also says: 'The nature of suchness naturally accords with conditions; as the myriad dharmas all arise, they naturally return to the nature.' The transmission verse of the Patriarch says: 'The mind-ground is spoken of in accord with the time; bodhi is likewise just thus. Principle and phenomena are both unobstructed; that which is arising is immediately non-arising.' Therefore we know that the true does not abide by its nature; according with quiescence, the myriad existences constantly arise. Conditions do not lose the essence; leaving movement alone, the single emptiness remains constantly quiescent."

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萬善同歸集 — Classical Chinese