景德傳燈錄 28.6.3

28.6.3

Why speak further of ultimate and non-ultimate? There is no before and no after, neither root nor branch, neither pure nor named. It merely reveals that sentient beings' original nature is inconceivable liberation. If a person does not see their nature, to the end of their days they will not perceive this principle." A monk asked, "All dharmas are entirely empty, and the nature of consciousness is also like this. For example, once a water bubble bursts, it never recombines. When the body dies, it is never reborn; that is, it becomes empty and nonexistent. Where could there still be a nature of consciousness?" The Master said, "A bubble exists due to water. When a bubble bursts, could it be that there is no water? The body arises due to nature. When the body dies, how can one say the nature is annihilated?" [The monk] said, "Since you say there is a nature, bring it out and let me see it!" The Master said, "Do you believe there is a tomorrow?" [The monk] said, "I believe it." The Master said, "Try bringing tomorrow out for me to see!" [The monk] said, "Tomorrow truly exists, but right now it cannot be obtained." The Master said, "That tomorrow cannot be obtained does not mean there is no tomorrow. You yourself do not see your nature, but that does not mean there is no nature. Right now, wearing clothes, eating meals, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, you do not recognize what is right before your face; this can indeed be called foolish delusion! You wish to see tomorrow, yet it is no different from today. Seeking the nature with the nature, for myriad kalpas you will never see it—just as a blind man does not see the sun, which does not mean there is no sun." A lecturer presiding over the Qinglong Commentary asked, "The sūtra says: 'There being no Dharma that can be spoken is called speaking the Dharma.' How does the Chan master understand this?" The Master said, "Because the essence of prajñā is ultimately pure and not a single thing can be attained, this is called 'no Dharma'. Yet within the empty and tranquil essence of prajñā, it is endowed with functions numerous as the sands of the Ganges, so that there is nothing it does not know; this is called 'speaking the Dharma'. Therefore it is said: 'There being no Dharma that can be spoken is called speaking the Dharma.'" A lecturer on the Huayan asked, "Does the Chan master believe that insentient things are Buddha?" The Master said, "I do not believe it. If insentient things were Buddha, a living person should be inferior to a dead person, and a dead donkey or dead dog should also surpass a living person. A sūtra says: 'The Buddha-body is the Dharma-body. It is born from precepts, samādhi, and wisdom; it is born from the three clarities and six supernatural knowledges; it is born from all good dharmas.' If one says that insentient things are Buddha, then you, Venerable, should just die right now and go be a Buddha!" A Dharma master asked, "Upholding the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra produces the most merit. Does the Master believe this?" The Master said, "I do not believe it." [The lecturer] said, "If so, then the ten or more scrolls of the Tales of Efficacy are all not to be believed?" The Master said, "When a living person practices filial piety, there is naturally a sympathetic resonance; it is not that dry bones can have a sympathetic resonance. The sūtra is text, paper, and ink, whose nature is empty—where could there be efficacy? What is efficacious lies in the mental focus of the person upholding the sūtra; thus supernatural responsiveness affects things. Try placing a scroll of the sūtra on a desk: if no person receives and upholds it, could it have efficacy on its own?" A monk asked, "I wonder, regarding all names and characteristics, dharma-characteristics, speech and silence: how may they be comprehensively harmonized so that there is no before and after?" The Master said, "When a single thought arises, it is originally without characteristics and without name. How could one speak of before and after? Not understanding that names and characteristics are originally pure, one falsely posits before and after. Indeed, names and characteristics are a lock; without the key of wisdom, it cannot be unlocked. Those of the Middle Way have the disease of the Middle Way; those of the two extremes have the disease of the two extremes. They do not know that current functioning is the peerless Dharma-body. Delusion and awakening, gain and loss, are the dharmas of ordinary people. By generating arising and ceasing themselves, they bury correct wisdom; either cutting off defilements or seeking bodhi, they turn their backs on the prajñāpāramitā." Someone asked, "Why do Vinaya masters not believe in Chan?" The Master said, "The principle is profound and difficult to manifest; names and characteristics are easy to maintain. Those who do not see their nature therefore do not believe. If one sees the nature, one is termed a Buddha. Only a person who recognizes the Buddha can have faith and enter. The Buddha is not far from people, but people are far from the Buddha. The Buddha is created by the mind. Deluded people seek within words; awakened people awaken toward the mind. Deluded people cultivate causes waiting for results; awakened people realize that the mind is without characteristics. Deluded people cling to things and guard a self as their own; awakened people manifest the application of prajñā right before them. Foolish people cling to emptiness or cling to existence, generating hindrances; wise people see their nature and realize characteristics, possessing spiritual penetration. Those of dry-wisdom debate tire their mouths; those of great wisdom realize the essence and their minds are at peace. Bodhisattvas illuminate things as they encounter them; śrāvakas fear circumstances and dim their minds. The daily functioning of the awakened is without arising; what appears before the deluded is separated from the Buddha." Someone asked, "How does one obtain supernatural powers?" The Master said, "The divine nature is spiritually penetrating, pervading the sand-like realms. Mountain rivers and stone walls—coming and going without obstruction. Ten thousand li in an instant, departing and returning without a trace. Fire cannot burn it, water cannot drown it. Foolish people themselves lack the mind's wisdom and desire to make the four great elements fly through the air. A sūtra says: 'For ordinary people who grasp at characteristics, one speaks according to their capacity.' The mind is without shape or characteristic; this is itself the subtle and wondrous form-body. Being without characteristics is itself the true mark. The empty essence of the true mark is called the boundless body of space. Because it is adorned with myriad practices, it is called the merit Dharma-body. This Dharma-body is the root of the myriad practices; names are established according to its functions. Speaking in truth, it is simply the pure Dharma-body." Someone asked, "If with single-mindedness one cultivates the Way, can past karmic obstacles be extinguished?" The Master said, "For a person who does not see their nature, they cannot yet be extinguished. If one is a person who sees their nature, it is like the sun shining on frost and snow. Moreover, a person who sees their nature is like an accumulation of grass equal to Mount Sumeru that requires only a single spark of fire: karmic obstacles are like the grass, wisdom is like the fire." [The person] said, "How can one know that karmic obstacles are exhausted?" The Master said, "The mind right before you penetrates the events of past and future lives as if seeing them face-to-face. The prior Buddhas and later Buddhas, the ten thousand dharmas, are simultaneous. A sūtra says: 'In a single thought to know all dharmas is the bodhimaṇḍa, because it accomplishes all-knowledge.'" A practitioner asked, "How does one abide in the correct Dharma?" The Master said, "Seeking to abide in the correct Dharma is wrong. Why? Because the Dharma has neither wrong nor correct." [The practitioner] said, "How does one become a Buddha?" The Master said, "You need not abandon the mind of sentient beings; merely do not defile your own nature. A sūtra says: 'Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are without difference.'" [The practitioner] said, "If one understands like this, does one attain liberation?" The Master said, "Originally there is no binding; you need not seek liberation. The Dharma surpasses speech and writing; do not seek it within phrases and sentences. The Dharma is not past, present, or future; it cannot be tallied within cause and effect. The Dharma surpasses all things and cannot be compared. The Dharma-body is without form, manifesting shapes in response to things. It is not apart from the world that one seeks liberation." A monk asked, "What is prajñā?" The Master said, "Try telling me what you suspect is not it." He also asked, "How does one see the nature?" The Master said, "Seeing is itself the nature; without the nature, one cannot see." He also asked, "What is cultivation?" The Master said: