弘明集 9.5

9.5

聖主稟以玄符御茲大寶覺。先天垂則觀民設化。將恐支離詭辯搆義橫流。微敘繁絲伊誰能振。釋教遺文其將喪矣。是以著斯雅論。以弘至典績。早念身空栖心內教。每餐法音用忘寢食。而闇情難曉觸理多疑。至於佛性大義頓迷心路。既天詰遠流預同撫覿。萬夜獲開千昏永曙。分除之疑朗然俱徹。竊惟事與理亨無物不識。用隨道合奚心不辯。故行雲徘徊猶感美音之和。游魚踴躍尚賞清絲之韻。況以入神之妙發自天衷。此臣所以舞之蹈之而不能自己者也。敢以膚受謹為注釋。豈伊錐管用窮天奧。庶幾固惑所以釋焉。夫涉行本乎立信（臣績曰。夫愚心闇必發大明。明不欻起。起必由行。行不自修。修必由信。信者憑師仗理無違之心也。故五根以一信為本。四信以不違為宗。宗信既立。萬善自行。行善造果。謂之行也）信立由乎正解（臣績曰。夫邪正不辯將何取信。故立信之本資乎正解）解正則外邪莫擾（臣績曰。一心正則萬邪滅矣。是知內懷正見則外邪莫動）信立則內識無疑（臣績曰識者心也故成實論云心意識體一而異名心既信矣將何疑乎）然信解所依其宗有在（臣績曰。依者憑也。夫安心有本則枝行自從。有本之言顯乎下句）何者源神明以不斷為精。精神必歸妙果（臣績曰。神而有盡寧謂神乎。故經云吾見死者形壞體化而神不滅。隨行善惡。禍福自追。此即不滅斷之義也。若化同草木則豈精乎。以其不斷故終歸妙極。憑心此地則觸理皆明。明於眾理何行不成。信解之宗此之謂也）妙果體極。常住精神不免無常（臣績曰。妙果明理已足。所以體唯極常精神。涉行未滿故之不免遷變也）無常者。前滅後生剎那不住者也（臣績曰。剎那是天竺國音。迅速之極名也。生而即滅寧有住乎。故淨名歎曰。比丘即時生老滅矣）若心用心於攀緣前識必異後者。斯則與境俱往。誰成佛乎（臣績曰。夫心隨境動是其外用。後雖續前終非實論故知神識之性湛然不移。湛然不移故終歸於妙果也）經云心為正因終成佛果（臣績曰略語佛因其義有二。一曰緣因。二曰正因。緣者萬善是也。正者神識是也。萬善有助發之功故曰緣因神識是其正本。故曰正因。既云終成佛果斯驗不斷明矣）又言。若無明轉則變成明。案此經意理如可求。何者夫心為用本。本一而用殊。殊用自有興廢。一本之性不移（臣績曰淘汰塵穢本識則明明闇相易謂之變也。若前去後來非之謂也）一本者。即無明神明也（臣績曰。神明本闇即。故以無明為因）尋無明之稱非太虛之目。土石無情豈無明之謂（臣績曰。夫別了善惡匪心不知。明審是非。匪情莫識。太虛無情故。不明愚智。土石無心寧辯解惑。故知解惑存乎有心愚智在乎有識既謂無明則義在矣）故知識慮應明體不免惑。惑慮不知故曰無明（臣績曰。明為本性。所以應明識染外塵故內不免惑惑而不了乃謂無明。因斯致稱。豈旨空也哉）而無明體上有生有滅。生滅是其異用。無明心義不改（臣績曰。既有其體便有其用。語用非體。論體非用。用有興廢。體無生滅）將恐見其用異。便謂心隨境滅（臣績曰惑者迷其體用故不斷猜。何者夫體之與用不離不即離體無用。故云。不離用義非體。故云。不即見其不離而迷其不即迷其不即。便謂心隨境滅也）故繼無明。名下加以住地之目。此顯無明即是神明。神明性不遷也（臣績曰。無明係以住地。蓋是斥其迷識。而抱惑之徒未曾喻也）何以知然。如前心作無間重惡。後識起非想妙善。善惡之理大懸。而前後相去甚逈。斯用果無一本安得如此相續（臣績曰。不有一本則用無所依。而惑者見其類續為一。故舉大善斥其相續之迷也）是知前惡自滅惑識不移。後善雖生闇心莫改（臣績曰。未嘗以善惡生滅虧其本也）故經言。若與煩惱諸結俱者。名為無明。若與一切善法俱者。名之為明。豈非心識性一隨緣異乎（臣績曰。若善惡互起豈謂俱乎。而恒對其言而常迷其旨。故舉此要文以曉群惑也）故知生滅遷變酬於往因。善惡交謝生乎現境（臣績曰。生滅因於本業非現境使之然。善惡生於今境非本業令其爾）而心為其本。未曾異矣（臣績曰。雖復用由不同。其體莫異也）以其用本不斷故。成佛之理皎然。隨境遷謝故。生死可盡明矣（臣績曰。成佛皎然扶其本也。生死可盡由其用也。若用而無本則滅而不成。若本而無用則成無所滅矣）。

Our Sage Sovereign, endowed with the dark tally, governs this great treasure of awakening. Anticipating Heaven, he establishes standards; observing the people, he institutes transformation. Fearing that disjointed sophistry would fabricate doctrines running rampant, and that none could untangle the subtle thread of intricate silk, the bequeathed writings of the Śākya teaching would soon be lost. Therefore, he composed this elegant treatise to promote the supreme scriptures. I, Shen Ji, early contemplating the emptiness of the body, harbored my mind in the inner teaching. Whenever partaking of the Dharma sound, I forgot sleep and food. Yet dull affections are hard to enlighten, and coming upon the principle, many were my doubts. Regarding the great doctrine of Buddha-nature, the path of my heart was utterly bewildered. Now that the Heavenly Inquiry has extended afar, I participated equally in receiving and beholding it; ten thousand nights obtained opening, and a thousand darknesses turned to eternal dawn. The doubts that were dispelled piecemeal all became lucidly penetrating. I venture to reflect that when fact and principle harmonize, there is no entity not cognized; when function conforms to the Dao, what mind is not discerning? Thus moving clouds lingering still respond to the harmony of beautiful tones; swimming fish leaping still appreciate the cadence of clear strings. How much more so when the subtlety of entering the spirit issues from the Heavenly Heart! This is why your subject dances and stamps his feet, unable to contain himself. Venturing on my shallow attainments, I have respectfully made this commentary. How could a cone and tube exhaust Heaven's profundity? My hope is merely that entrenched doubts might thereby be resolved. Undertaking practice is rooted in establishing faith. (Subject Ji says: An ignorant heart in darkness must generate great brightness. Brightness does not arise abruptly; its arising must be due to practice. Practice does not cultivate itself; cultivation must be due to faith. Faith is the mind that relies on teachers and leans on principle without divergence. Therefore, the five faculties take the one faith as their root, and the four faiths take non-divergence as their principal tenet. Once principal faith is established, the myriad goods naturally proceed; practicing good creates the fruit: this is called practice.) Faith being established is due to right understanding. (Subject Ji says: If heterodoxy and orthodoxy are not distinguished, what can faith be taken in? Therefore, the root of establishing faith relies on right understanding.) When understanding is right, external heterodoxy cannot disturb it. (Subject Ji says: When the single mind is upright, the myriad heterodoxies are extinguished. Hence one knows that if right view is harbored within, external heterodoxy cannot move it.) When faith is established, internal consciousness has no doubt. (Subject Ji says: Consciousness is the mind. Therefore, the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra states: 'Mind, thought, and consciousness are one in essence but different in name.' When the mind has believed, what doubt can there be?) Yet that upon which faith and understanding rely has its guiding principle. (Subject Ji says: 'To rely' means to lean upon. When settling the mind has a root, the branch practices naturally follow. The statement that there is a root is revealed in the sentence below.) What is it? The source, spirit-illumination, takes non-interruption as its essence; pure spirit must return to the wondrous fruit. (Subject Ji says: If spirit had an end, how could it be called spirit? Therefore, the sūtra says: 'I see that when the dead have their corporeal form broken and their material substance transformed, their spirit is not extinguished. Following good and evil actions, misfortune and fortune pursue them naturally.' This is precisely the meaning of non-extinction and non-interruption. If it transformed identically with grass and trees, how could it be pure? Because it is uninterrupted, it ultimately returns to the wondrous culmination. Relying with the mind on this ground, touching upon principle all is clear. Clear in the multitude of principles, what practice is not accomplished? This is what is meant by the guiding principle of faith and understanding.) The wondrous fruit's essence is ultimate and eternally abiding; pure spirit cannot avoid impermanence. (Subject Ji says: The wondrous fruit's understanding of principle is already complete, so its essence alone is extremely eternal; pure spirit has not yet fulfilled its practice, hence it cannot avoid shifting and changing.) Impermanence is that which perishes before and arises after, not abiding for a kṣaṇa. (Subject Ji says: Kṣaṇa is the sound of the country of Tianzhu, the name for the utmost rapidity. Arising and instantly perishing, how could it abide? Thus Vimalakīrti lamented: 'Monks, right at this moment there are birth, aging, and cessation!') If the mind, using the mind to climb upon conditioning, necessarily has its preceding consciousness differ from the succeeding one, this would depart together with the object; who then would become a Buddha? (Subject Ji says: The mind moving in accord with objects is its external function. Although the succeeding continues the preceding, it is ultimately not the real discourse. Hence one knows that the nature of the spirit-consciousness is clear, still, and unmoving. Because it is clear, still, and unmoving, it ultimately returns to the wondrous fruit.) The sūtra says: 'The mind is the direct cause, ultimately achieving the fruit of Buddhahood.' (Subject Ji says: Speaking briefly of the cause of Buddhahood, its meaning has two aspects: the first is called the conditioning cause; the second is called the direct cause. The conditioning cause is the myriad goods; the direct cause is the spirit-consciousness. The myriad goods possess the efficacy of assisting and eliciting, hence they are called the conditioning cause; the spirit-consciousness is its direct root, hence it is called the direct cause. Since it says 'ultimately achieving the fruit of Buddhahood', this verifies that non-interruption is evident.) It also says: 'If ignorance transforms, it turns into illumination.' Examining the intent of this sūtra, the principle can be sought. How so? The mind is the root of function; the root is one, while the functions are distinct. Distinct functions naturally have flourishing and decline, while the nature of the one root does not move. (Subject Ji says: Rinsing away dust and defilement, the root consciousness then is bright. Brightness and darkness exchanging is what is called 'transforming'. It is not to say that the former goes and the latter comes.) The one root is ignorance, [which is] spirit-illumination. (Subject Ji says: Spirit-illumination is fundamentally dark, hence it takes ignorance as its cause.) Inquiring into the appellation 'ignorance', it is not the name for great void; insentient earth and stones, how could they be called 'ignorance'? (Subject Ji says: Discerning good and evil, without mind it cannot be known; clearly examining right and wrong, without affection it cannot be recognized. Great void is insentient, hence it does not distinguish folly and wisdom; earth and stones have no mind, how could they discern understanding and delusion? Hence one knows that understanding and delusion abide in possessing a mind, and folly and wisdom reside in possessing consciousness. Since it is called 'ignorance', the meaning lies herein.) Therefore, one knows that while thought-deliberation ought to be illuminated, the essence cannot avoid delusion; delusion-deliberation not knowing is therefore called 'ignorance'. (Subject Ji says: Illumination is the original nature, so it ought to be illuminated. Consciousness defiled by external dust, internally it cannot avoid delusion; deluded and not understanding, it is thereupon called 'ignorance'. Arising from this, it received the name; how could the purport be empty?) Yet upon the essence of ignorance there is arising and perishing; arising and perishing are its distinct functions, while the meaning of the mind of ignorance does not alter. (Subject Ji says: Once there is its essence, there is its function. Speaking of function is not the essence; discussing essence is not the function. Function has flourishing and decline; essence has no arising or perishing.) Fearing that seeing its functions differ, one would immediately say the mind is extinguished along with the object, (Subject Ji says: The confused are deluded about its essence and function, hence they constantly harbor suspicions. Why? Essence and function are neither separated nor identical. Divorced from essence, there is no function, hence it is said to be 'not separated'; the meaning of function is not essence, hence it is said to be 'not identical'. Seeing their non-separation, they are deluded about their non-identity; deluded about their non-identity, they immediately say the mind is extinguished along with the object.) therefore, following the name 'ignorance', the designation of 'abiding stage' is added below it. This reveals that ignorance is precisely spirit-illumination; the nature of spirit-illumination does not shift. (Subject Ji says: Ignorance being tied to 'abiding stage' is surely to reprimand their deluded consciousness; yet the multitude embracing delusion have never understood it.) How is this known to be so? For instance, the preceding mind commits the weighty evil of the Uninterrupted [hell], and the succeeding consciousness raises the wondrous good of Neither-Conception[-nor-Non-Conception]. The principles of good and evil are vastly distant, and the preceding and succeeding are extremely apart from one another. If these functions truly lacked a single root, how could they be continuous like this? (Subject Ji says: If there were not a single root, function would have nothing to rely upon. Yet the confused see that their categories continue as one, hence great good is cited to reprimand their delusion about continuation.) Thus one knows that the preceding evil perishes of itself while the deluded consciousness does not move; the succeeding good, though arisen, does not alter the dark mind. (Subject Ji says: It has never diminished its root through the arising and perishing of good and evil.) Therefore, the sūtra states: 'If it is accompanied by all defilements and fetters, it is named ignorance; if it is accompanied by all wholesome dharmas, it is named illumination.' Is this not the nature of mind-consciousness being one while differing according to conditions? (Subject Ji says: If good and evil arise reciprocally, how could they be called 'accompanied'? Yet people constantly face these words while continually misunderstanding their purport. Therefore, he cites this essential passage to instruct the confused multitude.) Hence one knows that arising, perishing, shifting, and changing requite past causes, while good and evil alternatingly decline and arise from present objects. (Subject Ji says: Arising and perishing are caused by past karma, not made so by present objects; good and evil arise from present objects, not made so by past karma.) Yet the mind is their root, never differing. (Subject Ji says: Although the reasons for function are not the same, their essence does not differ.) Because its root of function is uninterrupted, the principle of becoming a Buddha is radiant; because it shifts and declines according to objects, that birth-and-death can be exhausted is evident. (Subject Ji says: Becoming a Buddha being radiant supports its root; birth-and-death being exhaustible is due to its function. If there were function without a root, it would be extinguished and not succeed; if there were a root without function, success would have nothing to extinguish.)