景德傳燈錄 28.6.5

28.6.5

"When sentient beings enter hell, the Buddha-nature is also like this." [The questioner] said: "How is it that all sentient beings have the Buddha-nature?" The Master said: "Functioning as a Buddha, it is the Buddha-nature; functioning as a thief, it is the thief-nature; functioning as a sentient being, it is the sentient-being-nature. The nature has no shape or form; names are established according to its function. A sutra says: 'All worthy ones and sages are distinguished by unconditioned dharmas.'" A monk asked: "What is the Buddha?" The Master said: "Apart from the mind, there is no Buddha." [The monk] asked: "What is the Dharmakāya?" The Master said: "The mind is the Dharmakāya. Because it can give rise to the myriad dharmas, it is called the body of the Dharma realm. The Awakening of Faith says: 'What is called "dharma" refers to the mind of sentient beings; relying on this mind, the meaning of Mahāyāna is revealed.'" Again it was asked: "What is meant by 'there is a great scroll of scripture contained within a single speck of dust'?" The Master said: "Wisdom is the scroll of scripture. A sutra says: 'There is a great scroll of scripture equal in measure to the great trichiliocosm, contained within a single speck of dust.' The single speck of dust is the dust of a single thought-moment of the mind. Therefore it is said: 'Within the dust of a single thought-moment, verses as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are proclaimed, but people of the time do not know it themselves.'" Again it was asked: "What is called the city of great meaning? What is called the king of great meaning?" The Master said: "The body is the city of great meaning; the mind is the king of great meaning. A sutra says: 'One who has heard much is skillful in meaning, not skillful in spoken words.' Spoken words are the meaning of arising and ceasing; the meaning of non-arising and non-ceasing has no shape or mark and is outside spoken words. The mind is the great scroll of scripture; the mind is the king of great meaning. If one does not clearly recognize the mind, one is not called skillful in meaning, but merely an imitator of words." Again it was asked: "The Prajñāpāramitā Sutra says: 'I cause the nine classes of sentient beings to all enter nirvāṇa without remainder.' It also says: 'In reality, no sentient being attains extinction.' How can these two passages of scripture be reconciled? People before and after have all said: 'One truly liberates sentient beings without grasping at the marks of sentient beings.' I have always doubted this without resolution. Please, Master, explain it for me." The Master said: "The nine classes of sentient beings are fully present in a single body, arising according to what is created. Therefore, ignorance is egg-born; being wrapped in afflictions is womb-born; being soaked by the water of craving is moisture-born; sudden arising of afflictions is apparitionally born. Awakening is the Buddha; delusion is called sentient beings. Bodhisattvas regard the mind from thought to thought as sentient beings. If one understands that the substance of the mind from thought to thought is empty, this is called liberating sentient beings. A wise person, at the root boundary of oneself, liberates them before they have taken form. Since what has not taken form is already empty, one knows that in reality no sentient being attains extinction." A monk asked: "Are words the mind?" The Master said: "Words are conditions, not the mind." [The monk] asked: "Apart from conditions, what is the mind?" The Master said: "Apart from words, there is no mind." [The monk] asked: "Since apart from words there is no mind, how is it the mind?" The Master said: "The mind has no shape or mark; it is neither apart from words nor not apart from words. The mind is constantly clear and serene, responding and functioning with autonomy. The ancestral master said: 'Only when one understands that the mind is not mind does one begin to understand the dharma of the mind's mind.'" A monk asked: "What is the equal cultivation of concentration and wisdom?" The Master said: "Concentration is the substance; wisdom is the function. From concentration arises wisdom, and from wisdom one returns to concentration. Like water and waves, they are of one substance with no before or after; this is called the equal cultivation of concentration and wisdom. You who have left home, do not chase words and follow phrases. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all the function of your nature. Where does it not accord with the Way? Just rest for a while. If you do not follow the wind of external objects, the water of the mind-nature will always be clear and serene. There is nothing more; take care."