真心直說 1.29

1.29

Someone asked: "Cultivating causes with mind, one does not doubt that there is merit; but cultivating causes with no-mind, whence does merit come?"
I answered: "Cultivating causes with mind yields conditioned fruits; taking no-mind as the cause reveals the virtues of one's nature. All these virtues are originally complete in oneself; obscured by delusion, they do not appear. Now that delusion is eliminated, the virtues appear before one. Therefore Yongjia says: 'The three bodies and four wisdoms are perfected within the essence; the eight liberations and six supernormal knowledges are the seal of the mind-ground.' These are the virtues of one's nature originally complete within the essence. An ancient verse says: 'If a person sits quietly for a single moment, it surpasses building seven-jeweled stūpas numerous as the sands of the Ganges; the jeweled stūpas will ultimately turn to dust, but a single thought of pure mind accomplishes right awakening.' Hence we know that the merit of no-mind is greater than that of having mind. Monk Shuiliao of Hongzhou called upon Mazu and asked: 'What is the exact intention of the coming from the west?' He was kicked down by Mazu with one kick; suddenly he attained awakening, got up, clapped his hands, and laughed heartily, saying: 'How wondrous! How wondrous! Hundreds of thousands of samādhis and immeasurable wondrous meanings—right on the tip of a single hair, in a single moment, I have recognized their source!' Then he made prostrations and withdrew. According to this, merit does not come from outside; it is originally complete in oneself. The Fourth Patriarch said to Dhyāna Master Niutou Farong: 'Indeed, the hundreds of thousands of Dharma-gates all return to the square inch [of the heart]; merit like the sands of the Ganges is entirely in the mind's source. All gates of precepts, samādhi, wisdom, and supernormal transformations are all complete of themselves and do not depart from your mind.' According to the patriarch's words, the merits of no-mind are very numerous; it is just that those who are fond of phenomenal merits do not generate faith in the merits of no-mind on their own."