廣弘明集 27.40

27.40

如來愍念眾生愛同一子。何常不以善權方便弘濟益之津乎。所以垂形丈六表現靈儀。隨方應感法身匪一。及其金容託體相好莊嚴。顯發眾生欣樂瞻覩。行則大千震動眾魔慴伏。住則洞達諸定外道歸化。坐則演示方等釋梵諮仰。臥則開一實道三乘稟德。言則三塗靜苦。笑則四生受樂。聞聲者證道。見形者解脫。當此之時。豈不盛哉。今者雖稟精靈昏惑障重。進不覩分衛國城。退不聞八音辯說。將由罪業深厚煩惱牢固。非惟恐不見前佛後佛來聖近賢。深憂惡道無由可絕。發如此意。實有切情之悲。運如是想。不覺痛心之苦。豈容順默使流晏安苦海沈淪沸火而不自拔者乎。當須慷慨懍厲挫情折意生增上心。懺悔滅罪去諸塵累。乃可歸信。自不堅強其志亡身捨命捍勞忍苦銜悲惻愴者。將恐煩惱熾火無由而滅。無明重闇開了未期。譬如牢獄重囚具嬰眾苦抱長枷穿大械。帶金鉗負鐵鎖捶撲其軀。膿瘡穢爛周遍形骸。臭惡纏匝而欲以此狀求見國主貴臣。雖復一心無怠懇誠嘉到。恐升高殿踐玉筵。亦無由而果。假令愍念欲覩為難。何以故。以其具諸罪惡不離苦具故。若去枷脫鎖洗垢嚴服。王不我礙自然而現。今欲歸信亦復如斯。將見如來相好光明者。先當淨身口意洗除心垢。六塵愛染永滅不起。十惡重障淨盡無餘。業累既除表裏俱淨。方可運明想於迦維。標清心於寶剎。去諸塵勞入歸信門。必然仰覩法身無礙。如囚脫枷鎖自然見於王。我今除煩惱亦必覩諸佛。若不如是雖復殷勤倍切。直恐障礙難通。豈可不五體投地如太山崩一心歸信無復疑想。奉為至尊皇太子七廟聖靈龍神八部一切劇苦眾生。敬禮十方一切三世諸佛。求哀懺悔。既悔已後。常行柔軟調和心堪受心不放逸心寂滅心真正心不雜心無貪悋心勝心大心慈悲安樂心善歡喜心度一切心守護眾生心無我所心如來心。發如是等廣勝妙心。專求多聞修離欲定。奉戒清淨念報恩德。常懷悅豫不捨眾生。

The Tathāgata pities and thinks of sentient beings, loving them equally as an only child. How could he ever fail to use skillful means to broadly deliver them at the crossing of benefit? Therefore, he manifested a sixteen-foot form to display his numinous deportment. In accord with the directions he responded to affinities, yet his Dharma-body was not merely one. When his golden countenance assumed physical form, adorned with the major marks and minor characteristics, he caused sentient beings to rejoice and gaze upon him. When he walked, the great chiliocosm shook and all māras were awed into submission; when he stopped, he penetrated all samādhis and non-Buddhists turned to his conversion; when he sat, he expounded the vaipulya teachings and Śakra and Brahmā inquired and looked up to him; when he reclined, he revealed the One True Path and the three vehicles received his virtue. When he spoke, the torments of the three evil paths were stilled; when he smiled, the four forms of birth experienced bliss. Those who heard his voice realized the Path; those who saw his form attained liberation. At that time, was it not magnificent? Now, though endowed with a spirit, our confusion and delusion form heavy obstacles. Going forward, we do not behold the kingdom and cities of his alms-gathering; turning back, we do not hear the explanations of his eightfold voice. This must be because our sinful karma is profound and thick, and our afflictions are entrenched. Not only do we fear not seeing the past and future Buddhas, the coming sages, and the present worthies, but we also deeply dread that there will be no way to cut off the evil paths. Giving rise to such thoughts brings truly piercing grief; harboring such reflections causes an unconscious, heart-rending agony. How could we yield in silence, allowing ourselves to drift and rest in ease upon the ocean of suffering, sinking into the boiling fire without extricating ourselves? One must become resolute and stern, subduing one's feelings and curbing one's desires, giving rise to an elevated mind to repent, extinguish sins, and cast off all defiling encumbrances; only then can one return to faith. If one does not fortify one's resolve, sacrifice body and life, withstand toil and endure bitterness, and harbor sorrow and grief, one fears that the blazing fire of afflictions will have no way to be quenched, and the heavy darkness of ignorance will have no prospect of clearing. It is like a heavily burdened prisoner in a dungeon who suffers all manners of pain, bearing a long cangue and wearing heavy fetters, bound with iron tongs, laden with iron chains, his body beaten and flogged, purulent sores and foul rot covering his limbs, surrounded by stench and filth—yet who desires in this condition to seek an audience with the ruler or noble ministers of the state. Even if he were single-minded without slackening and showed the most genuine, supreme sincerity, if he wished to ascend the high palace and step upon the jade mat, there would still be no way to realize it. Even if [the king] felt pity, wanting to see him would be difficult. Why is this? Because he is burdened with all manner of sins and evils, and has not separated from his instruments of torment. If he removes the cangue, casts off the chains, washes away the dirt, and dresses in fine robes, the king will not bar him, and naturally he will appear. Now, wanting to return to faith is also just like this: if one is to see the major marks, minor characteristics, and radiance of the Tathāgata, one must first purify body, speech, and mind, and wash away the defilements of the mind. Loving attachment to the six sense objects must be eternally quenched without arising, and the heavy obstacles of the ten evils must be completely cleared away without remainder. Once karmic entanglements are removed and both inside and outside are pure, only then can one direct one's clear contemplation toward Kapilavastu and plant a pure mind in the precious lands. Leaving behind all defilements and entering the gate of returning to faith, one will inevitably look up to the unhindered Dharma-body. Just as a prisoner who casts off his cangue and chains naturally sees the king, so if I now eliminate afflictions, I will certainly behold all the Buddhas. If it is not thus, even if one is doubly diligent and earnest, one fears that the obstacles will be hard to pass through. How could one not throw the five limbs to the ground like Mount Tai collapsing, single-mindedly returning to faith without any further doubt? On behalf of the Sovereign, the Crown Prince, the sagely spirits of the Seven Imperial Temples, the dragon gods and the eight classes, and all beings in severe suffering, I pay reverent homage to all the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, begging for pity and repenting. After having repented, one should constantly practice a pliable and harmonious mind, an accepting mind, a non-negligent mind, a quiescent mind, a true and correct mind, an unmixed mind, an uncovetous and unstinting mind, a superior mind, a great mind, a compassionate and peaceful mind, a good and joyful mind, a mind that delivers all, a mind that protects sentient beings, a mind free of self-possession, and the mind of the Tathāgata. Giving rise to such vast, superior, and wondrous minds, one should single-mindedly seek broad learning, cultivate samādhi free of desire, maintain the precepts purely, be mindful of repaying kindness and virtue, constantly harbor delight, and never abandon sentient beings.