緇門警訓 1.43

1.43

涅槃經云。凡有心者皆當得成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。何以故。蓋為一切眾生皆有佛性。此性虛通靈明常寂。若謂之有無狀無名。若謂之無聖以之靈。群生無始不覺自迷。煩惱覆蔽遺此本明。能生諸緣枉入六趣。由是大覺憫物迷盲。設戒定慧三學之法。其道恢弘示從真以起妄。軌範群品令息妄以歸真。若能信受佛語。隨順師學。乃駕苦海之迅航。則登聖道之梯隥。誰能出不由戶。何莫由斯道焉。

The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Whoever has a mind shall without exception attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.' Why is this? Because all sentient beings possess the buddha-nature. This nature is empty, penetrating, numinously luminous, and ever quiescent. If one calls it existent, it has neither shape nor name; if one calls it nonexistent, the sage uses it to be numinous. The multitudes of beings from beginningless time unconsciously delude themselves; defilements cover and conceal it, abandoning this fundamental clarity. Able to generate various conditions, they vainly enter the six destinies. Thereupon the Great Awakened One, pitying the deluded and blind beings, established the methods of the three trainings of śīla, samādhi, and prajñā. Their path is vast and magnificent, showing how the deluded arises from the true, and serving as a model for the various types of beings so that they put an end to delusion and return to the true. If one can faithfully accept the Buddha's words and follow the master's study, one will board the swift vessel across the sea of suffering and ascend the stairway to the noble path. Who can go out without passing through the door? Why does no one follow this path?