廣弘明集 14.26

14.26

conform to the real, while the prudent diverge from the Way; why should one abandon evil to advance toward good, thereby giving rise to a discriminating mind? Moreover, they resent that the Buddha's expositions of the Dharma have too many diverse strands, and that discussing emptiness while speaking of existence is mutually contradictory, claiming: 'This is merely the Buddha setting sentient beings at odds with one another. Why does he not elucidate only a single Dharma?' Such is the assertion of perverse emptiness; correct emptiness is not so. If one truly understood the principle of emptiness and existence, how could one utter such words? Since these [arguments] are based on false analogies, expressed in verbose language, and characterized by spurious eloquence, I fear they will mislead later generations and foster pernicious views; therefore, relying on what I have heard, I shall venture to discuss it, saying: Now, like a dream, like an illusion, like an echo, like a bubble—there is not a single dharma that is not so; together they encompass all the myriad phenomena. The superior person contemplates this to attain the utmost sagehood; the utmost sage embodies it and alone transcends. Great floods reaching heaven cannot drown him; great gales toppling mountains cannot sweep him away. Equipped with the six supernatural powers, he is sovereign and unfettered; surpassing the three realms, he wanders free. Yet the principle does not realize itself: it requires correct contemplation for illumination; the mind does not quiet itself: it requires calm containment for regulation; obstacles do not banish themselves: only through antidotes are they dissolved; virtues do not furnish themselves: only through diligent cultivation do they abound. Once the six hindrances are eliminated, true suchness can be manifested; while the three obstacles remain unextinguished, bodhi is exceedingly distant. Thus the ultimate truth is free from marks of defilement and purity, while the conventional truth establishes the rules of right and wrong. When pointing to affairs, one must rely on discrimination; when discussing phenomena, how could confusion be appropriate? The six perfections cannot be the cause of falling into suffering; the three poisons cannot serve as a bridge to transcend the world. Hurling oneself into a ravine, it is difficult not to fall; rushing into fire, by what means could one not be burned? Yao and Shun cannot be compared to benighted Jie; You and Li cannot be equated with sagely Yao. The loyal and virtuous cannot be banished to the barren wilds; the treacherous and flattering cannot be promoted to the enlightened court. One cannot turn white into black; one cannot make day into night; one must not allow the perverse to harm the correct; one must not compare a phoenix to an owl. How could one equate cause and effect with a rabbit's horn, or match transgression and merit with a turtle's hair? Although they quote the subtle words of the Great Vehicle, they do not grasp the true import of their subtlety. When uttered by the mouth, they appear the same; when applied in the mind, they are entirely different. How are they different? The correct Dharma uses emptiness to eliminate greed, while perverse teachings use emptiness to indulge attachments. The wise contemplate emptiness to eradicate anger; the deluded discuss emptiness while indulging in harm. The discerning practice emptiness and attain liberating wisdom; the confused seize upon emptiness and fall into wild insubordination. The great person embodies emptiness and advances in virtue; the base person speaks of emptiness and retreats from goodness. Their disparity being such, how could their realization be the same? It is truly because they inversely employ correct words to give rise to perverse attachments. When a fine steed swims, it toils without success; when an oared boat climbs a mountain, it labors without advancing. Is it that the steed and the oared boat are inadequate? It is merely that swimming and climbing are an inverted use of them. Reading the Vimalakīrti text on transcending marks while abandoning practice and cultivation, or reciting Zhuang Zhou’s words on the evening of things while indulging passions and desires, is no different from whipping four horses to swim against the current, or rowing a square barge to ascend a cliff: wishing to match the swift driving of Zaofu, or desiring to rival the adept crossings of the Yue people—is that not difficult? Now, Vimalakīrti possessed pure, lofty virtue, and Zhuang Zhou was free from the encumbrance of desires; thus we know that discussing emptiness from an annihilationist view is contrary to the Way of non-action. Now, the profound import of the subtle Way lies in pointing to the manifold existences to clarify emptiness: having touched the real, one knows the provisional; also approaching differences, one illuminates sameness. What is it like? For instance, facing a broad mirror and looking in from the side, or approaching a jade pool and gazing down at one's reflection: the myriad forms appear clearly before the eyes, visible yet lacking substantial reality. Through conditions, existence arises and forms are shaped; when existence is separated from conditions, material form is lost. When water meets cold, ice hardens; when ice encounters warmth, solidity is lost. All things that exist through conditions, though termed great existences, what reality do they have? Therefore heaven, earth, and I are all empty; I and the myriad things are one. Bodhi cannot be called an existence, how much less so the multitude of sentient beings and diverse arts! Therefore, observing things, they are not things; examining oneself, it is not a self. What shines conspicuously in heaven is entirely illusory; what stands towering on earth is by no means real. Discourse exhausts principles, yet there is nothing explained; guests fill the hall, yet there is no person. Exquisite beauty surpasses the world, yet there is no loveliness; magnificent jewels dazzle the eyes, yet there is no preciousness. Good and evil tread different paths, yet are non-dual; sage and ordinary being are of different ranks, yet constantly equal. Inquiring into the overarching theme of the sūtras and treatises: from conditions they clarify non-existence, and through dependent arising they discern non-vacuity. In terms of affairs, there is existence, yet without subtle substance; in terms of principle, there is emptiness, yet it is not sheer voidness. 'No person' does not mean the seclusion of a bolted door; 'no seeing' does not mean the folly of facing a wall; 'no speaking' does not mean the mouth of a golden statue; 'no substance' does not mean the carved body of a thorn monkey; 'no motion' does not mean the stillness of a mountain peak; 'no differentiation' does not mean the flattery of blind agreement; 'no truth' does not mean the value of a fish's eye; 'no reality' does not mean a letter tied to a wild goose's foot. Wealth is not different from wealth in a dream; material form is no different from illusory form. The fortune of Yidun equals the poverty of Yuan Xian; the beauty of Songli rivals the woman of Pingcheng. The wisdom of the Way comprehends emptiness and cuts off bondage; mundane feelings cling to existence and are constantly confined. Persons and karmic retribution are not inherently existent, yet karmic retribution follows persons and is not non-existent. The heavenly realms resemble the sky, yet are not illusory; the hells are equal to the earth, yet are empty. This is not like Yang Xiong's pretending to describe a jade tree, or Mandu's falsely claiming to have seen a divine dwelling. Why then seize upon empty words and turn your back on the essential teaching, citing plants and trees for comparison? Now, the treasures of Ye Guang and Jielü, and the beauty of Nanwei and Maoqiang: all people see their presence and give rise to lust; who can embody their emptiness and remain unstained? The slights of an angry glare or a scorpion's sting, the enmity of bluebottles or woven brocade: everyone clings to their marks and gives rise to resentment; few can assimilate them to emptiness and bear no grudge. You claim only that vile actions are empty and need not be restrained, and good dharmas are empty and need not be observed; the three delusions ought to be abandoned, yet are not repented; the five virtues ought to be cultivated, yet are instead cast aside. Failing to contemplate emptiness to cast off entanglements, you merely seize upon emptiness to discard goodness. How could this be the profound import of Vimalakīrti's non-duality, or the subtle teaching of Zhuang Zhou's evening of things? Great indeed is the utmost person's embodiment of emptiness! He realizes the fundamental quiescence of the myriad things, and knows the four great elements to be provisional. He regards Xi Shi as a walking privy, and compares southern gold to broken tiles. The five desires cannot disturb his mind; the four māras have no means to alter his elegance. The sun of wisdom shines ever brighter, and virtue abounds; delusions are daily eliminated, and faults become few. Having hands and feet severed, he bears no resentment; when his head and eyes are begged for, he is able to give them away. Toward the eight worldly concerns, he does not give rise to dualistic perceptions; he contemplates the myriad things as equal to a single horse. Therefore, he can realize unexcelled wisdom and become omniscient (sarvajña). When one grasps its principle, liberation is like this; when one loses its import, faults and perils are like that. How could one do wrong without fear, and esteem the perverse as the correct? Seeing a boat and seeing water are neither of them the ultimate truth, yet when about to cross a great river, without a boat one cannot cross. The sick body and the nature of medicine are both empty, yet human beings perish from disease and disease is cured by medicine. Rhinoceros horn and chen bird feathers are both like bubbles, yet one who drinks chen wine dies, while one who takes rhinoceros horn lives. Pure water and rich wine are neither of them truly existent, yet broth does not intoxicate people, while wine brings about misdeeds. Loyalty and rebellion are both like mountain echoes, yet the rebellious suffer execution, while the loyal receive reward. The natures of guilt and blessing are equal and non-dual, yet blessing arrives through goodness, and calamity is brought about by evil. Good and evil dharmas are equally empty and without marks, yet good dharmas aid the Way, and evil dharmas generate hindrances. Thus we know that the true nature of the myriad dharmas is uniformly one suchness; yet this does not obstruct the existence of myriad distinctions within conditioned dharmas. The two gates of emptiness and existence do not contradict each other; the two truths of the ultimate and conventional share the same convergence. If one says that the Small Vehicle speaks of guilt and blessing while the Great Vehicle has no words of right and wrong, this is like the divergent paths of the Hu and the Yue, or the mutual opposition of spear and shield. Even a child is ashamed of being fickle; how could a sage be indecisive? This is truly because hearing it on the road and speaking it on the way has led to erroneous assumptions and malignant attachment. If one examines broadly and reflects deeply, doubts will surely be resolved and delusion cured. Revering the Ten Powers, the Hero of the World, the Unexcelled Compassionate Father: his words are never untrue, his compassion is never not universal; there is no mark he has not transcended, no sight he has not beheld; his virtue is nowhere incomplete, his faults are all eradicated; there is no good he does not encourage, no evil he does not discourage; anointed with fragrant paste he feels no joy, cut with knives he bears no wrath; he loves not those who comply, nor hates those who defy. Merit and wisdom are perfected without remainder; defilements are utterly exhausted without residue. Rescuing those submerged in the three realms, opening the ears of the deaf and eyes of the blind among the four forms of birth: emptiness and existence are both illuminated to assist each other; the ultimate and conventional are synthesized and jointly upheld. His practice consists in assessing the disease to administer the medicine; one must not transgress the middle way to dwell in bias. As for the Vaipulya, the One Vehicle, and the eight sections of Prajñā—the pinnacle of sagely wisdom and head of the Great Vehicle—none fails to describe at length the benefit of upholding them, or profoundly state the fault of slandering them. The sūtra also says: 'Deeply believe in cause and effect, and do not slander the Great Vehicle.' How could it be said that the principle of the Great Vehicle entirely lacks cause and effect? Now, performing good while grasping at marks makes that good unrefined; eliminating evil while clinging to marks causes it to arise again after being cut off. If one realizes that the nature of good is quiescent and unconditioned, and if one understands that the substance of evil is empty, what is there to cut off? It causes the three obstacles to melt away like ice into quiescence, and the myriad virtues to gather like clouds in abundance. Wisdom is like the ocean—it cannot be measured with a single conch shell; the Way surpasses humans and gods—how could it be peeped at through an inch-wide tube? To make analogies using the blockheaded and to assess it with foolish pettiness—is that not mistaken? Now, one who speaks of emptiness while indulging his desires cannot be free from suffering. When sickness and pain trouble him, his sleep is uneasy; when knives and saws wound him, his body is broken; going without food all day, he suffers hunger; lacking furs to ward off winter, he is afflicted by cold. Therefore, how can the actions that bring about suffering be treated lightly and not avoided? As for the five blessings and the six adversities, human feelings cannot equalize them. Therefore, dwelling in poverty, one longs for success; situated in danger, one seeks security; beset by illness, one wishes to be cured; being in sorrow, one envies joy; loving long life, one dreads an untimely death; taking pride in worldly emoluments, one is ashamed of physical deformity; when happiness arrives, one rejoices with laughter; when suffering reaches one, one worries with sighs. How can one conflate good and evil and not cultivate the causes of blessing? Observing the disparate endowments of the myriad people, there are indeed a thousand kinds and distinct ranks: some surpass the highest longevity with years to spare; some fall short of the earliest death, not reaching it; some wear single hemp garments without falling ill; some wear heavy padded silk yet the cold enters; some lie on straw and earth yet are peaceful and well; some remain in comfortable beds yet suffer wind and dampness; some recover without treatment; some cannot survive despite treatment; some have no health practices yet their bodies are hale; some take good care of themselves yet ailments gather. On the outside of their forms, all equally have hair and skin; inside their skin, how do their viscera differ? All contain blood, wrap flesh, are connected by sinews, and supported by bones. Why is one long-lived and another short-lived? Why is one robust and another emaciated? Endowed with what spirit is one uniquely sturdy? Imbued with what qi is one particularly frail? The frail do not exclusively make a body of dust and dirt; do the sturdy uniquely fashion a frame of metal and stone? It is not necessarily that the long-lived possess medical arts, nor that the short-lived lack books on the Way. Why say it is solely due to regimen and not due to karma? There are also those whose lives are cut short in the womb, or who contract diseases as infants, before joy and anger have arisen, before cravings and desires have unfolded; they have not braved the cold or summer heat; they have not been emaciated by grief and sorrow. Why is their life cut short? Whence does the disease come? The reason why it is so—how could it not be due to past karma? As for the two sovereigns Zhao and Ai of the Han, or the two emperors Wen and Ming of the Wei: some passed away before three times nine (twenty-seven), or departed the world at barely five times eight (forty). Occultists gathered like clouds, but merely summoned Lady Li's spirit; practitioners of arts were like a forest, but could not save Cangshu from death. The monarchs did not lack medicine, and how could the shamans and physicians have kept their arts secret? Why did they lie sick without recovery? Why could their shortened spans not be extended? How could it not be that they received recompense according to their karma, which the arts of the Way could not save? Yet the sūtras praise the merit of donating medicine, and the Buddha extols the virtue of the King of Medicine; Master Kong clarified the norms for caution regarding illness, and Laozi gave rules for preserving life. Those who do not believe in karma are already deluded; those who do not comply with physicians are also confused. Only one who can discern the depth of cause and effect can distinguish the efficacy of medicines and stone needles. This can be investigated with wisdom, but is difficult to express fully in writing. As for Gongming diagnosing pestilence, and Que curing disease, Guo Pu of Hedong, Hua Tuo of Qiao commandery, Wu Pu of Guangling, and Fan A of Pengcheng: some dispelled misfortune and brought good fortune, or halted disease and restored harmony. How can one not believe that medical arts have efficacy? Yet Jingchun knew the day punishment would be inflicted upon him, but could not prevent the punishment from falling; Gongming knew the year his life would end, but could not cause that year not to end; Bian Que and Hua Tuo could not keep their own kin from dying; Wu Pu and Fan A could not prevent their own bodies from perishing. How could one not believe that longevity and shortness of life are determined by karma? The physician gathers through karma; medicine is assembled through conditions. The physician truly has efficacy, and medicine is not without value. An incurable disease cannot be dispelled even by a sage; a curable illness awaits a physician to be healed. When the soul returns through karma, a stiff corpse encounters the medicine of resurrection; when life expires through karma, a sagely physician becomes mere earth over a coffin. Longevity and brevity of life, comfort and suffering of the body, experiencing misfortune or good fortune, beauty and ugliness, straightness and deformity—in thousands of varieties and myriad forms, karma is always the master. In the three realms and six destinies, one dwells according to karma. The myriad plants are insentient; therefore beauty and ugliness have nothing to do with karmic retribution. Sentient beings of the four forms of birth possess life; therefore their causes and conditions are not identical to those of wild vegetation. When axes fell a tree, it feels no fright; when knives and staves are applied to a person, he is filled with fear. The gourd is attached and not eaten; birds and beasts eat and run about. To compare the sentient to the insentient: how could one draw an analogy from that which is not of the same kind? Now, speaking briefly of emptiness and existence, they both stem from the karma of the mind. Previously, we described worldly constants; now we reveal the correct Dharma. The Small Vehicle regards the environmental reward as existing through karma; the Great Vehicle regards the myriad realms as created by consciousness. Accordant with illusory karma, they are arrayed across heaven and earth; following the deluded mind, they appear in the seeds of consciousness. Just as a cataract-clouded eye sees flowers in the sky, or a sleeping dream manifests birth and old age. If one awakens to them through the karma of the mind, one will hear only the Buddha Way. In origin, the relationship between the Small Vehicle and the Great Vehicle is like that between primary learning and the Great Learning. When young, one is taught only writing and arithmetic; when grown, one is broadened with rites and music. In the beginning, one is benighted and numerous like ox hairs; in the end, one stands out like a unicorn's horn. This is the sequence of instruction; what difference or discord is there to be rejected? Because sentient beings have sharp or dull faculties, the teachings of the sage are either gradual or sudden, either leading them to the profound and distant, or advancing them inch by inch. Although there are a hundred thoughts, they lead to a single outcome; though paths differ, they diverge in discourse. There are those who grasp the gate of emptiness to oppose the teachings, and discuss the Great Vehicle while slandering the Small. The Buddha does not set sentient beings at odds with one another; sentient beings fail to understand on their own. It is like a dark room without a candle, or wandering by night before dawn. Hence they reject one another with clamor, competing over right and wrong in confusion. How is this different from plucking lotus flowers from treetops, or seeking Wu and Chu in Yan and Zhao? Is that not mistaken? A single drop of water cannot blend soup; a single piece of wood cannot construct a room; a single garment does not fit all bodies; a single medicine cannot cure diverse diseases; a single color cannot make embroidery; a single tone cannot harmonize lutes and harps; a single word cannot encourage all good deeds; a single precept cannot prevent many faults. How can one marvel at the divergence of the gradual and sudden, and demand that the Dharma doors be singular? The many varieties of Dharma doors are like the distinct efficacies of medicines and stone needles: to remedy cold, warming substances are employed; to clear heat, cooling medicines should be abundant; some are especially suited for repelling dampness; some are specifically required to stop wind. One must not give different medicines for the same disease, nor give the same medicine for different diseases. If one sticks to a single stance, one will surely be obstructed; only when one can adapt to changes can one be unobstructed. How can one be confined to a single path, rejecting others and giving rise to strife among them? The Buddha does not deceive regarding cause and effect across the three periods of time; hearing the admonitions and precepts of the Ten Powers, one should not doubt. What he encourages should be cultivated; what he forbids should be avoided. Restrain what mundane passions indulge in; practice what sagely wisdom aspires to. How can one contravene what is elucidated in the sūtras and treatises, making decisions based on one's own whim, and claim that good and evil are entirely empty, without harm or benefit? Now, the Dharma-eye is bright and clear—there is no dharma it does not know; the broad and long tongue—there is no word that is not true. In analyzing existence, a single hair becomes ten thousand; in equalizing emptiness, the myriad forms are all one. Preventing the faults of annihilationism and eternalism from arising, it combines emptiness and existence to cure diseases. That subtle principle of bodhi is indeed exceedingly deep and subtle. Turning away from worldly toil to seek liberating wisdom, one should be prudent and not dissolute. Those who oppose the sage will surely meet with misfortune; those who accord with the Way will ultimately find good fortune. Do not say this is not to be believed; it is as clear as the bright sun.