景德傳燈錄 28.6.2

28.6.2

To use the mind to cultivate practice is like using slippery mud to wash away dirt. The profound mystery of prajñā is originally unborn; when its great function appears before you, it is without regard to time." [A monk] asked, "Can an ordinary person also attain it like this?" The master said, "One who sees the nature is no ordinary person. Sudden awakening to the supreme vehicle transcends both the ordinary and the sacred. Deluded people discourse on the ordinary and the sacred; awakened people transcend saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Deluded people speak of phenomena and principle; the great function of awakened people is boundless. Deluded people seek attainment and seek realization; awakened people are without attainment and without seeking. Deluded people anticipate distant kalpas; awakened people see it suddenly." A lecturer on the Vimalakīrti[-nirdeśa-sūtra] asked, "The sūtra says: 'Those six teachers of non-Buddhist paths are your teachers. Since you left home under them, where those teachers fall, you also will fall. Those who give alms to you do not find a field of merit; those who make offerings to you will fall into the three evil destinies. Slandering the Buddha, reviling the Dharma, and not entering the assembly of the Saṅgha, you will never attain extinction. If you are like this, only then may you take food.' Now I ask the Chan master to explain this clearly." The master said, "Those who are deluded and follow the six sense faculties are called the 'six teachers.' Seeking the Buddha outside the mind is called a 'non-Buddhist path.' When there is a thing to be given, it is not called a 'field of merit.' Giving rise to a mind that receives offerings causes one to fall into the three evil destinies. If you can slander the Buddha, that is not clinging to seeking the Buddha; reviling the Dharma is not clinging to seeking the Dharma; not entering the assembly of the Saṅgha is not clinging to seeking the Saṅgha; never attaining extinction means the functioning of wisdom is manifested before you. If one has such an understanding, one immediately attains the food of Dharma-delight and Chan joy." A practitioner asked, "Someone who, when asked about the Buddha, answers 'Buddha,' and when asked about the Dharma, answers 'Dharma'—this is called the 'one-word Dharma-gate.' I wonder whether that is correct?" The master said, "It is like a parrot learning human speech; it cannot speak for itself because it has no wisdom. It is like using water to wash water, or using fire to burn fire; there is no meaning or purpose in it at all." Someone asked, "Are 'speech' and 'phrase' the same or different?" The master said, "A single character is called 'speech'; when it forms a clause, it is called a 'phrase.' Now, take an eloquent speaker whose words flow on and on, like water flowing in a great river, or whose swift faculties are stacked upon one another, like pearls rolling from a round vessel. Thus, Guo Xiang was called a hanging river, and the spring oriole was called an ocean of meaning. This is 'phrasing.' 'Speech' means a single character expressing the mind: internally revealing the profound and subtle, externally manifesting wonderful forms. When ten thousand triggers agitate, it is not disturbed; when the clear and turbid are mixed together, it is always distinguished. When the King of Qi came to this point, he still felt ashamed before the minister's words; when Mañjuśrī came to this point, he still sighed in admiration at Vimalakīrti's statement. How can ordinary people nowadays understand this?" Vinaya Master Yuan asked, "The Chan master constantly speaks of 'the mind itself is the Buddha,' but this cannot be so. Even a bodhisattva of the first ground can manifest bodies in a hundred Buddha worlds, and on the second ground it increases tenfold. Let the Chan master try to display supernatural powers, and we shall see!" The master said, "Is the ācārya himself an ordinary person or a sage?" He said, "An ordinary person." The master said, "Since you are an ordinary monk, how can you ask about such a realm? A sūtra says: 'Good sir, because your mind has high and low, it does not rely on Buddha-wisdom.' This refers to just such a case." He asked again, "The Chan master always says that if one awakens to the Way in this present body, one is liberated immediately. This cannot be so." The master said, "If a person does good all his life, and suddenly steals something into his hands, is he a thief in that very body?" He said, "Certainly he is." The master said, "If right now one clearly sees the nature, why should one not attain liberation?" He said, "Right now it is certainly impossible; one must pass through three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas before one can attain it." The master said, "Are there still counts to an asaṃkhyeya kalpa?" Yuan raised his voice and said, "Can the principle of comparing a thief to liberation hold up?" The master said, "The ācārya himself does not understand the Way, yet you must not hinder everyone else from understanding it. Your own eyes do not open, yet you are angry that everyone else sees things." Yuan's face changed color and he left, saying, "Though he is old, he is completely without the Way." The master said, "That which just walked away is your Way." Lecturer Hui, who taught cessation and contemplation (zhiguan), asked, "Can the Chan master distinguish Māra?" The master said, "When a mind arises, that is the heavenly Māra; when no mind arises, that is the skandha Māra; whether arising or not arising, that is the kleśa Māra. In my true Dharma, there is no such thing." He asked, "What about the meaning of the three contemplations in one mind?" The master said, "The past mind has already passed; the future mind has not yet arrived; the present mind does not abide. In between these, with what mind will you give rise to contemplation?" He said, "The Chan master does not understand cessation and contemplation." The master said, "Does the lecturer understand it?" He said, "I understand it." The master said, "Like the Great Master Zhiyi, when speaking of cessation, he refuted cessation; when speaking of contemplation, he refuted contemplation. Abiding in cessation, one sinks into saṃsāra; abiding in contemplation, the mental spirit is confused. Now then, should you use the mind to stop the mind, or give rise to the mind to contemplate? If contemplation has a mind, it is the view of eternalism; if contemplation has no mind, it is the view of annihilationism. Being both existent and non-existent becomes the view of dualism. Would the lecturer please explain in detail so we can see?" He said, "If asked like this, neither can be spoken of." The master said, "When was there ever cessation and contemplation?" Someone asked, "Is prajñā large?" The master said, "Large." He asked, "How large?" The master said, "Boundless." He asked, "Is prajñā small?" The master said, "Small." He asked, "How small?" The master said, "Invisible." He asked, "Where is it?" The master said, "Where is it not?" A lecturer on the Vimalakīrti[-nirdeśa-sūtra] asked, "The sūtra says: 'Each of the bodhisattvas entered the Dharma-gate of non-duality; Vimalakīrti was silent.' Is this ultimate?" The master said, "It is not yet ultimate. If the intention of the sage were exhausted, what would the third fascicle speak of?" The lecturer was silent for a long time, then said, "Please, Chan master, explain for me the meaning of its not yet being ultimate." The master said, "In the first fascicle of the sūtra, it leads the assembly and scolds the ten great disciples for fixating their minds. In the second, each of the bodhisattvas speaks of entering the Dharma-gate of non-duality, using words to reveal wordlessness. Mañjuśrī uses wordlessness to reveal wordlessness. Vimalakīrti uses neither words nor wordlessness, and therefore is silent, in order to gather in the preceding speech. The third fascicle arises to speak from silence, further revealing the functioning of supernatural powers. Does the lecturer understand?" He said, "How wonderful it is like this!" The master said, "It is not like this either." He asked, "Why is it not like this?" The master said, "I only spoke like this to break people's attachments. According to the meaning of the sūtra, it only speaks of the emptiness and quiescence of form and mind, to let one see the original nature, teaching one to abandon false practices and enter true practice. Do not seek to measure its meaning upon words and ink on paper. Just understand the two characters 'Jingming' (Vimalakīrti) and that will suffice. 'Jing' (pure) is the original essence; 'ming' (name) is the trace and function. From the original essence arise the trace and function; from the trace and function one returns to the original essence. Essence and function are not two; original and trace are not distinct. Therefore the ancients said: 'Although the original and trace are different, they are an inconceivable unity.' Yet unity is also not unity. If you recognize the two characters 'Jingming' as a provisional designation..."