鐔津文集 3.30

3.30

贊者告也。發經而溥告也。壇經者。至人之所以宣其心也。何心邪佛所傳之妙心也。大哉心乎。資始變化而清淨常若。凡然聖然幽然顯然。無所處而不自得之。聖言乎明凡言乎昧。昧也者變也。明也者復也。變復雖殊而妙心一也。始釋迦文佛以是而傳之大龜氏。大龜氏相傳之三十三世者。傳諸大鑒（六祖諡號大鑒禪師）大鑒傳之而益傳也。說之者抑亦多端。固有名同而實異者也。固有義多而心一者也。曰血肉心者。曰緣慮心者。曰集起心者。曰堅實心者。若心所之心益多也。是所謂名同而實異者也。曰真如心者。曰生滅心者。曰煩惱心者。曰菩提心者。修多羅其類此者。殆不可勝數。是所謂義多而心一者也。義有覺義有不覺義。心有真心有妄心。皆所以別其正心也。方壇經之所謂心者。亦義之覺義。心之實心也。昔者聖人之將隱也。乃命乎龜氏教外以傳法之要。意其人滯迹而忘返。固欲後世者提本而正末也。故涅槃曰。我有無上正法。悉已付囑摩訶迦葉矣。天之道存乎易。地之道存乎簡。聖人之道存乎要。要也者至妙之謂也。聖人之道以要則為法界門之樞機。為無量義之所會。為大乘之椎輪。法華豈不曰。當知是妙法諸佛之祕要。華嚴豈不曰。以少方便疾成菩提。要乎其於聖人之道利而大矣哉。是故壇經之宗尊其心要也。心乎若明若冥若空若靈若寂若惺。有物乎無物乎。謂之一物固彌於萬物。謂之萬物固統於一物。一物猶萬物也。萬物猶一物也。此謂可思議也。及其不可思也不可議也。天下謂之玄解。謂之神會。謂之絕待。謂之默體。謂之冥通。一皆離之遣之。遣之又遣。亦烏能至之。微其果然獨得與夫至人之相似者。孰能諒乎。推而廣之則無往不可也。探而裁之則無所不當也。施於證性則所見至親。施於修心則所詣至正。施於崇德辯惑則真妄易顯。施於出世則佛道速成。施於救世則塵勞易歇。此壇經之宗所以旁行天下而不厭。彼謂即心即佛淺者。何其不知量也。以折錐探地而淺地。以屋漏窺天而小天。豈天地之然邪。然百家者雖苟勝之弗如也。而至人通而貫之。合乎群經斷可見矣。至人變而通之。非預名字不可測也。故其顯說之。有倫有義。密說之。無首無尾。天機利者得其深。天機鈍者得其淺。可擬乎可議乎。不得已況之則圓頓教也。最上乘也。如來之清淨禪也。菩薩藏之正宗也。論者謂之玄學。不亦詳乎。天下謂之宗門。不亦宜乎。壇經曰。定慧為本者。趨道之始也。定也者靜也。慧也者明也。明以觀之靜以安之。安其心可以體心也。觀其道可以語道也。一行三昧者。法界一相之謂也。謂萬善雖殊皆正於一行者也。無相為體者尊大戒也。無念為宗者尊大定也。無住為本者尊大慧也。夫戒定慧者三乘之達道也。夫妙心者戒定慧之大資也。以一妙心而統乎三法。故曰大也。無相戒者戒其必正覺也。四弘願者願度度苦也。願斷斷集也。願學學道也願成成寂滅也。滅無所滅。故無所不斷也。道無所道。故無所不度也。無相懺者懺非所懺也。三歸戒者歸其一也。一也者三寶之所以出也。說摩訶般若者謂其心之至中也。般若也者聖人之方便也。聖人之大智也。固能寂之明之權之實之。天下以其寂。可以泯眾惡也。天下以其明。可以集眾善也。天下以其權。可以大有為也。天下以其實。可以大無為也。至矣哉般若也。聖人之道非夫般若不明也不成也。天下之務非夫般若不宜也不當也。至人之為以般若振。不亦遠乎。我法為上上根人說者宜之也。輕物重用則不勝。大方小授則過也。從來默傳分付者密說之謂也。密也者非不言而闇證也。真而密之也。不解此法而輒謗毀。謂百劫千生斷佛種性者。防天下亡其心也。偉乎壇經之作也。其本正其迹効。其因真其果不謬。前聖也後聖也。如此起之如此示之如此復之。浩然沛乎若大川之注也。若虛空之通也。若日月之明也。若形影之無礙也。若鴻漸之有序也。妙而得之之謂本。推而用之之謂迹。以其非始者始之之謂因。以其非成者成之之謂果。果不異乎因謂之正果也。因不異乎果謂之正因也。迹必顧乎本謂之大用也。本必顧乎迹謂之大乘也。乘也者聖人之喻道也。用也者聖人之起教也。夫聖人之道莫至乎心。聖人之教莫至乎修。調神入道莫至乎一相止觀。軌善成德莫至乎一行三昧。資一切戒莫至乎無相。正一切定莫至乎無念。通一切智莫至乎無住。生善滅惡莫至乎無相戒。篤道推德莫至乎四弘願。善觀過莫至乎無相懺。正所趣莫至乎三歸戒。正大體裁大用莫至乎大般若。發大信務大道莫至乎大志。天下之窮理盡性莫至乎默傳。欲心無過莫善乎不謗。定慧為始道之基也。一行三昧德之端也。無念之宗解脫之謂也。無住之本般若之謂也。無相之體法身之謂也。無相戒戒之最也。四弘願願之極也。無相懺懺之至也。三歸戒真所歸也。摩訶智慧聖凡之大範也。為上上根人說直說也。默傳傳之至也。戒謗戒之當也。夫妙心者非修所成也。非證所明也。本成也本明也。以迷明者復明所以證也。以背成者復成所以修也。以非修而修之。故曰正修也。以非明而明之。故曰正證也。至人暗然不見其威儀。而成德為行藹如也。至人頹然若無所持。而道顯於天下也。蓋以正修而修之也。以正證而證之也。于此乃曰罔修罔證罔因罔果。穿鑿叢脞競為其說繆乎至人之意焉。噫放戒定慧而必趨乎混茫之空。則吾末如之何也。甚乎含識溺心而浮識。識與業相乘循諸嚮而未始息也。象之形之人與物偕生。紛然乎天地之間。可勝數邪。得其形於人者。固萬萬之一耳。人而能覺。幾其鮮矣。聖人懷此雖以多義發之。而天下猶有所不明者也。聖人救此雖以多方治之。而天下猶有所不醒者也。賢者以智亂。不肖者以愚壅。苹平之人以無記惛。及其感物而發喜之怒之哀之樂之。益蔽者萬端。曖然若夜行而不知所至。其承於聖人之言則計之博之。若蒙霧而望遠。謂有也謂無也。謂非有也謂非無也。謂亦有也謂亦無也。以不見而却蔽。固終身而不得其審焉。海所以在水也。魚龍死生在海而不見乎水。道所以在心也。其人終日說道而不見乎心悲夫。心固微妙幽遠難明難湊。其如此也矣。聖人既隱。天下百世雖以書傳而莫得其明驗。故壇經之宗舉乃直示其心。而天下方知即正乎性命也。若排雲霧而頓見太清。若登泰山而所視廓如也。王氏以方乎世書曰。齊一變至於魯。魯一變至於道。斯言近之矣。涅槃曰。始從鹿野苑終至跋提河。中間五十年。未曾說一字者。示法非文字也。防以文字而求其所謂也。曰依法不依人者。以法真而人假也。曰依義不依語者。以義實而語假也。曰依智而不依識者。以智至而識妄也。曰依了義經不依不了義經者。以了義經盡理也。而菩薩所謂即是宣說大涅槃者。謂自說與經同也。聖人所謂四人出世（即四依也）護持正法應當證知者。應當證知。故至人推本以正其末也。自說與經同。故至人說經如經也。依義依了義經故。至人顯說而合義也合經也。依法依智故。至人密說變之通之而不苟滯也。示法非文字故。至人之宗尚乎默傳也。聖人如春淘。淘而發之也。至人如秋濯。濯而成之也。聖人命之而至人効之也。至人固聖人之門之奇德殊勳大也。夫至人者始起於微。自謂不識世俗文字。及其成至也。方一席之說而顯道救世。與乎大聖人之云為者。若合符契也。固其玄德上智生而知之。將自表其法而示其不識乎。死殆四百年。法流四海而不息。帝王者聖賢者。更三十世求其道而益敬。非至乎大聖人之所至。天且厭之久矣。烏能若此也。予固豈盡其道。幸蚊虻飲海亦預其味。敢稽首布之以遺後學者也。

To 'eulogize' (zan) means to proclaim; it means to unfold the scripture and proclaim it everywhere. The Platform Sutra is that by which the perfected person proclaimed his mind. What mind? The wondrous mind transmitted by the Buddhas. How great is this mind! It serves as the source of all transformation and change, yet remains ever pure as it is. Whether ordinary or sage, hidden or manifest, there is nowhere it abides where it is not self-attained. Spoken of in terms of the sage, it is luminous; spoken of in terms of the ordinary person, it is obscure. Obscurity is change; luminosity is return. Although change and return differ, the wondrous mind is one. Originally, Śākyamuni Buddha transmitted this to the Great Turtle Clan (Mahākāśyapa). From the Great Turtle Clan it was transmitted down through thirty-three generations to Dajian (the posthumous title of the Sixth Patriarch is Chan Master Dajian). Dajian transmitted it, and it was transmitted all the more. Those who explain it do so in manifold ways: some use identical names for different realities, while others use multiple meanings for the one mind. When speaking of the 'flesh-and-blood mind', the 'mind of cognitive conditions', the 'mind of accumulation and arising', and the 'firm and solid mind', these mental factors of mind become ever more numerous; these are what is called 'identical names for different realities'. When speaking of the 'mind of true suchness', the 'mind of arising and ceasing', the 'mind of afflictions', and the 'mind of bodhi', instances of this kind in the sūtras can scarcely be counted; these are what is called 'multiple meanings for the one mind'. Among meanings, there is the meaning of enlightenment and the meaning of non-enlightenment; among minds, there is the true mind and the deluded mind—all serving to distinguish the correct mind. As for what the Platform Sutra refers to as 'mind', it is the meaning of enlightenment among meanings, and the true mind among minds. Anciently, when the Sage was about to pass into concealment, he commanded the Turtle Clan to transmit the essentials of the Dharma outside the teachings, suspecting that people would cling to traces and forget to return, and genuinely desiring that later generations would grasp the root and rectify the branches. Thus the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] says: 'I have the unsurpassed true Dharma; all of it has already been entrusted to Mahākāśyapa.' The Way of Heaven resides in the simple; the Way of Earth resides in the easy; the Way of the Sage resides in the essential. 'The essential' means the utmost wondrous. When the Way of the Sage is taken in its essentials, it serves as the pivot for the gates of the Dharma realm, the convergence of immeasurable meanings, and the primitive cart of the Great Vehicle. Does not the Lotus [Sūtra] say: 'You should know that this wondrous Dharma is the secret essential of all Buddhas'? Does not the Avataṃsaka [Sūtra] say: 'With few skillful means, one swiftly attains bodhi'? How beneficial and great are essentials for the Way of the Sage! Therefore, the lineage of the Platform Sutra reveres its mind-essential. This mind: as if bright, as if dark, as if empty, as if luminous, as if tranquil, as if alert. Is there an entity, or is there no entity? Call it a single entity, and it pervades all things; call it all things, and it is unified in a single entity. The single entity is like all things; all things are like the single entity. This may be called conceivable. When it comes to its being inconceivable and ineffable, the world calls it 'profound understanding', calls it 'spiritual meeting', calls it 'transcending duality', calls it 'silent embodiment', calls it 'dark communion'. Yet all these are discarded and banished; banished and banished again, how could one reach it? Were it not truly obtained on one's own, matching that of the perfected person, who could believe it? Extended and broadened, there is nowhere it cannot go; plumbed and applied, there is nothing it does not suit. Applied to witnessing one's nature, what is seen is most intimate; applied to cultivating the mind, where one arrives is most upright; applied to elevating virtue and dispelling doubt, the true and the deluded are easily manifested; applied to world-transcendence, the Buddha Way is swiftly completed; applied to saving the world, worldly toil is easily stilled. This is why the lineage of the Platform Sutra travels far and wide throughout the world without encountering weariness. Those who say that 'mind itself is Buddha' is shallow—how little do they know its measure! Probing the earth with a broken awl and deeming the earth shallow, or peering at the sky through a roof-chink and deeming the sky small—is that how heaven and earth truly are? Even if the hundred schools were somehow to surpass it, they would not equal it. That the perfected person comprehended and unified it, harmonizing with the multitude of scriptures, is clearly evident. That the perfected person transformed and mastered it, not abiding in names and words, cannot be fathomed. Therefore, his explicit preaching had order and coherence, while his esoteric preaching had neither beginning nor end. Those of sharp natural faculties attained its depth; those of dull natural faculties attained its shallowness. Can it be simulated? Can it be debated? If one has no choice but to characterize it, it is the Perfect and Sudden Teaching, the supreme vehicle, the pure Chan of the Tathāgata, the orthodox lineage of the Bodhisattva Piṭaka. When commentators call it profound learning, is that not thorough? When the world calls it the ancestral lineage, is that not appropriate? The Platform Sutra says that taking concentration and wisdom as the basis is the beginning of proceeding toward the Way. Concentration is tranquility; wisdom is illumination. Using illumination to observe it and tranquility to settle it—by settling the mind, one can embody the mind; by observing the Way, one can speak of the Way. The one-practice samādhi refers to the single mark of the Dharma realm; it means that although the ten thousand good deeds differ, they are all rectified within the single practice. Taking formlessness as the substance reveres the great precepts. Taking non-thought as the lineage reveres the great concentration. Taking non-abiding as the basis reveres the great wisdom. Indeed, precepts, concentration, and wisdom are the thoroughfare of the three vehicles. And the wondrous mind is the great resource of precepts, concentration, and wisdom. Using the one wondrous mind to unify the three dharmas—therefore it is called 'great'. The formless precepts vow that one must attain right awakening. The four universal vows mean: vowing to liberate is liberating from suffering; vowing to cut off is cutting off the origin; vowing to study is studying the Way; vowing to accomplish is accomplishing cessation. When cessation has nothing to cease, there is nothing that is not cut off; when the Way has nothing to be trodden, there is nothing that is not liberated. The formless repentance repents what cannot be repented. The three refuge precepts take refuge in the One; the One is that from which the Three Jewels emerge. Preaching the Mahāprajñā refers to the utmost center of the mind. Prajñā is the skillful means of the sage and the great wisdom of the sage. It can indeed quiet it, illuminate it, make it provisional, and make it real. With its quietude, the world can extinguish all evils; with its illumination, the world can gather all goods; with its provisionality, the world can achieve great purposeful action; with its reality, the world can achieve great non-action. How supreme is prajñā! Without prajñā, the Way of the Sage is neither clear nor complete; without prajñā, worldly affairs are neither fitting nor proper. Is not the conduct of the perfected person, stirred by prajñā, far-reaching? That my Dharma is spoken for people of the highest faculties is because it is suitable. Putting heavy burdens on light things leads to failure; granting great standards to the small is an error. What has traditionally been silently transmitted and conferred refers to esoteric preaching. 'Esoteric' does not mean non-verbal, dark realization; it means being genuine and secret. Those who fail to understand this Dharma and hastily slander it, saying that for a hundred kalpas and a thousand lives one will sever the Buddha-nature, do so to prevent the world from losing its mind. How grand is the composition of the Platform Sutra! Its root is upright, its traces effective; its cause is genuine, its fruit unerring. Former sages and later sages arose like this, revealed like this, and returned like this—vast and surging like the pouring of a great river, unobstructed like empty space, luminous like the sun and moon, unhindered like form and shadow, orderly like the wild geese advancing. Attaining it wondrously is called the root; extending and applying it is called the traces. Beginning what has no beginning is called the cause; accomplishing what has no accomplishment is called the fruit. When the fruit does not differ from the cause, it is called the right fruit; when the cause does not differ from the fruit, it is called the right cause. The traces necessarily reflecting the root is called the great function; the root necessarily reflecting the traces is called the Great Vehicle. The 'vehicle' is the Sage's metaphor for the Way; the 'function' is the Sage's establishment of the teachings. In the Way of the Sage, nothing reaches higher than the mind; in the teachings of the Sage, nothing reaches higher than cultivation. In harmonizing the spirit and entering the Way, nothing reaches higher than the single-mark calming and insight. In standardizing goodness and completing virtue, nothing reaches higher than the one-practice samādhi. In resourcing all precepts, nothing reaches higher than formlessness. In rectifying all concentration, nothing reaches higher than non-thought. In penetrating all wisdom, nothing reaches higher than non-abiding. In generating goodness and eliminating evil, nothing reaches higher than the formless precepts. In dedicating to the Way and advancing virtue, nothing reaches higher than the four universal vows. In skillfully observing faults, nothing reaches higher than formless repentance. In rectifying where one heads, nothing reaches higher than the three refuge precepts. In rectifying the great substance and regulating the great function, nothing reaches higher than great prajñā. In giving rise to great faith and committing to the great Way, nothing reaches higher than great resolve. In exhausting principle and fulfilling nature in the world, nothing reaches higher than silent transmission. In wishing that the mind have no fault, nothing is better than not slandering. Concentration and wisdom as the beginning are the foundation of the Way. The one-practice samādhi is the beginning of virtue. The lineage of non-thought is called liberation. The basis of non-abiding is called prajñā. The substance of formlessness is called the Dharma body. The formless precepts are the utmost of precepts. The four universal vows are the pinnacle of vows. The formless repentance is the highest repentance. The three refuge precepts are the true refuge. Mahā-wisdom is the great model for both sages and ordinary people. Preaching for those of the highest faculties is direct preaching. Silent transmission is the utmost transmission. Forbidding slander is a proper warning. The wondrous mind is not accomplished through cultivation, nor illuminated through verification; it is fundamentally accomplished and fundamentally illuminated. Using the recovery of illumination by those confused about illumination is why it is called verification; using the recovery of accomplishment by those who turned their backs on accomplishment is why it is called cultivation. Cultivating it through non-cultivation is therefore called right cultivation; illuminating it through non-illumination is therefore called right verification. The perfected person is dim and unremarkable, showing no outward majesty, yet his accomplished virtue and conduct are abundant; the perfected person is relaxed as if holding to nothing, yet his Way is manifested to the world. This is because he cultivates through right cultivation and verifies through right verification. Here, some now say there is no cultivation, no verification, no cause, and no fruit, forcing far-fetched interpretations and competing with trivial theories, thus erring against the intent of the perfected person. Alas! If one abandons precepts, concentration, and wisdom and insists on plunging into the void of chaos, then I know not what to do with them. How severe it is that sentient beings drown their minds and float along with consciousness! Consciousness and karma ride upon one another, revolving along their echoes without end. Embodying physical form, humans and creatures are born together, chaotic between heaven and earth—can they be numbered? Those who obtain a human form are merely one in ten thousand. And among humans, those who can awaken are exceedingly few! Harboring this, although the Sage unfolded it with manifold meanings, there are still those in the world who do not understand; although the Sage treated it with manifold methods, there are still those in the world who do not awaken. The worthy are confused by their cleverness, the unworthy are obstructed by their stupidity, and ordinary people are clouded by neutrality. When stimulated by external things, they give rise to joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, and their delusions become ten thousandfold, murky as if walking in the night without knowing where they are going. Receiving the words of the Sage, they calculate and debate them, like gazing afar through a thick fog, declaring it existent, declaring it nonexistent, declaring it neither existent nor nonexistent, declaring it both existent and nonexistent. Blinding themselves through not seeing, they go their whole lives without attaining clarity. The sea is where water resides, yet fish and dragons live and die in the sea without seeing the water. The Way is where the mind resides, yet people speak of the Way all day long without seeing the mind—how sorrowful! The mind is indeed subtle, profound, and distant, difficult to understand and difficult to access; such is its nature. After the Sage passed into concealment, although the world over a hundred generations transmitted it through texts, none could obtain its clear verification. Therefore, when the lineage of the Platform Sutra arose, it directly pointed to this mind, and only then did the world realize that nature and life are directly rectified. It is like parting the clouds and mist to suddenly see the clear sky, or ascending Mount Tai so that one's view becomes expansive. When Master Wang compared it to worldly books, he said: 'Qi with one change reached Lu; Lu with one change reached the Way.' These words are close to it. The Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] says: 'From the Deer Park at the beginning to the river Bhadrikā at the end, in the fifty years between, I never preached a single word.' This shows that the Dharma is not words and letters, guarding against seeking what it refers to through words and letters. When it says 'rely on the Dharma, not on the person', it is because the Dharma is real and the person is provisional. When it says 'rely on the meaning, not on the words', it is because the meaning is solid and words are provisional. When it says 'rely on wisdom, not on consciousness', it is because wisdom is ultimate and consciousness is false. When it says 'rely on sūtras of definitive meaning, not on sūtras of non-definitive meaning', it is because sūtras of definitive meaning exhaust the principle. And what the Bodhisattva called 'this is preaching the Great Nirvāṇa' means that one's own words are identical with the scripture. What the Sage called the four persons appearing in the world (that is, the four reliances) who protect and uphold the true Dharma and should be verified and known—because they should be verified and known, the perfected person traced the root to rectify the branches. Because his own words were identical with the scripture, the perfected person preached the scripture as scripture. Because he relied on meaning and relied on sūtras of definitive meaning, the perfected person's explicit preaching conformed to meaning and conformed to scripture. Because he relied on Dharma and relied on wisdom, the perfected person's esoteric preaching transformed and penetrated without blindly clinging. Because he showed that the Dharma is not words and letters, the lineage of the perfected person esteemed silent transmission. The Sage is like spring washing, washing and bringing forth; the perfected person is like autumn scouring, scouring and bringing to completion. The Sage commanded it, and the perfected person fulfilled it. The perfected person was truly of extraordinary virtue and outstanding merit within the Sage's gate. The perfected person initially arose from humble beginnings and claimed he did not know worldly writing. When he attained completion, in just a single sitting of preaching he illuminated the Way and saved the world, tallying with what the Great Sage said and did like two halves of a tally. Was his profound virtue and superior wisdom something he was born knowing, or did he deliberately manifest his Dharma by displaying his lack of book-learning? Though he has been dead for nearly four hundred years, the Dharma flows through the four seas without ceasing; sovereigns, emperors, sages, and worthies across thirty generations have sought his Way with ever-increasing reverence. Had he not reached what the Great Sage reached, Heaven would long since have discarded him; how could it be like this? How could I fully encompass his Way? Fortunate to be like a mosquito drinking from the sea, partaking also of its taste, I dare to bow my head and set this forth to leave it for later students.