廣弘明集 15.42

15.42

夫滯於近習。不達希世之聞。撫常永日。罕懷事外之感。是使塵想制於玄襟天羅網其神慮。若以之窮齡則此生豈過。以之希心則開徹靡期。於是發憤忘寢。情百其慨。靜慮閑夜。理契其心。爾乃思沾九澤之惠。三復無緣之慈。妙尋法身之應。以神不言之化。化不以其所感。慈不以其所緣。宴懷自得。譬日月麗天光影彌暉。群品熙榮。有情同順。咸欣懸映之在己。罔識曲成之攸寄。妙物之談功盡於此。將欲擬夫幽極。以言其道髣髴存焉。而不可論。何以明之。法身之運物也。不物物而兆其端。不圖終而會其成。理玄於萬化之表。數絕乎無名者也。若乃語其筌寄則道無不在。是故如來或晦先跡以崇基。或顯生塗而定體。或獨發於莫尋之境。或相待於既有之場。獨發類乎形。相待類乎影。推夫冥寄為有待耶。為無待耶。自我而觀則有間於無間矣。求之法身原無二統。形影之分孰際之哉。而今之聞道者。咸摹聖體於曠代之外。不悟靈應之在茲。徒知圓化之非形。而動止方其跡。豈不誣哉。遠昔尋先師奉侍歷載。雖啟蒙慈訓。託志玄籍。每想奇聞以篤其誠。遇西域沙門輒餐遊方之說。故知有佛影而傳者尚未曉然。及在此山值罽賓禪師南國律學道士。與昔聞既同。並是其人遊歷所經。因其詳問乃多先徵。然後驗神道無方觸像而寄。百慮所會非一時之感。於是悟徹其誠應深其位。將援同契發其真趣。故與夫隨喜之賢。圖而銘焉。

Those stuck in familiar ways do not comprehend rare tidings; keeping to the ordinary day after day, they seldom harbor feelings that transcend worldly affairs. This causes dust-like thoughts to constrain their profound minds, and the celestial net to ensnare their spiritual contemplation. If one uses this to exhaust one's lifespan, how could this life be surpassed? If one uses this to hope for understanding, there will be no time of breakthrough. Thereupon, aroused to indignation, one forgets sleep, one's sighs multiplied a hundredfold. In quiet contemplation during the peaceful night, principle accords with one's mind. One then contemplates being moistened by the benevolence of the nine marshes, and recites threefold the compassion that is unconditioned. One subtly traces the response of the dharmakāya, regarding as divine its wordless transformation. The transformation does not depend on what stimulated it; the compassion does not depend on what conditioned it. Harboring peace and finding self-contentment, it is like the sun and moon shining upon heaven, their light and shadow ever more luminous. The various kinds [of beings] flourish in joy, and all sentient beings follow alike. All rejoice that the hanging reflection is upon themselves, yet none realize where the subtle completion is lodged. Discourses on subtle things exhaust their merit here. Intending to simulate that obscure ultimate, so as to speak of its Way, it seems to exist vaguely, yet cannot be discussed. How is this to be clarified? When the dharmakāya moves things, it does not treat things as things to presage its beginnings, nor does it plan endings to achieve its completions. Principle is profound beyond the myriad transformations; numbers are cut off from the nameless. If one speaks of its lodging in the trap, then the Way is nowhere absent. Therefore, the Tathāgata sometimes obscured his previous traces to exalt the foundation, or manifested the path of birth to establish his form; sometimes he uniquely arose in a realm that cannot be traced, or stood in mutual dependence in an already existing place. Rising uniquely is akin to the form; mutual dependence is akin to the shadow. Examining that dark lodging, is it dependent, or is it non-dependent? Looking at it from ourselves, there is a gap within the gapless. Seeking it in the dharmakāya, originally there are no two systems. Who can demarcate the division between form and shadow? Yet those who hear the Way today all model the sacred body in an age long past, without realizing that the spiritual response is right here. In vain do they know that the complete transformation is not form, yet in their movements they liken it to its traces—is this not a distortion? In the past, when I followed my former master and served him for many years, although I received his compassionate instruction and entrusted my aspiration to profound texts, whenever I thought of rare tidings to consolidate my sincerity, I would listen to the accounts of wandering whenever I met śramaṇas from the Western Regions. Thus I knew that there was a Buddha's shadow, though the accounts were not yet clear. When I was at this mountain, I met a dhyāna master from Kashmir and a Vinaya-studying daoshi from the southern countries; their accounts agreed with what I had heard in the past, and both were places those persons had traveled through. Questioning them thoroughly in turn, there were many previous omens. Only then was it verified that the divine path has no fixed direction, lodging wherever it encounters an image. What a hundred thoughts converged upon was not the feeling of a single moment. Thereupon, my understanding penetrated its sincerity, and my response deepened its station. Intending to lead those of like accord to develop their true inclination, I therefore, together with the worthy ones who rejoiced in accord, painted it and composed an inscription.