佛祖統紀 11.38

11.38

Dharma Master Rugao was a native of Qiantang. He studied under Fabao. Dharma Master Fuli of the Tang had posed a verse to scholars, saying: “The true nature of phenomena is fundamentally pure; / Whence do deluded thoughts arise? / If from the true delusion is born, / Where does this delusion cease? / If there is no beginning, there is no end; / If there is an end, there should be a beginning. / Without beginning and without end, / I constantly harbor confusion over this principle. / I pray you will disclose the profound mystery, / And analyze it so that I may transcend birth and death.” The Master considered this question to have two meanings. The first four lines ask: If the true phenomena are fundamentally pure, whence is delusion born? Once delusion has arisen, how is delusion stopped so that it can be identical to the true? This covers the meaning of delusion arising from the true and the reversal of delusion to return to the true. The next four lines ask about the existence or non-existence of beginning and end: Since it is called beginningless, how can there be an end? If there is no end, how can there be a beginning? The last two lines request an answer. From antiquity, Master She, Qingliang, and Guifeng each had verses in reply, but what Hong Juefan recorded (in the Forest Record) claimed that none of them matched the intent of the question. When he asked whence delusion arises if true phenomena are fundamentally pure, they now merely say that one is confused about the true and unaware; who could not give such an answer? The Master therefore gave a different reply, saying: “The true does not abide by its own nature; / When illumination divides, subject and object arise. / Perfumed by defilement and purity in accordance with conditions, / Only upon returning to the nature can it cease. / The true and the deluded are identical in one substance; / Therefore it is said there is neither end nor beginning. / Delusion and awakening are distinguished by mental feelings; / Beginning and end are an apparent principle. / Penetrating this source of the true and the deluded, / Who would again undergo birth and death?” Those with understanding considered that this reply was finally able to exhaust the question’s intent. The Master’s work on doctrinal meaning was titled Zhiyuan ji (Collection Pointing to the Source; his own preface states it was composed in the twelfth year of Shaoxing [1142]).