鐔津文集 3

English (machine translation) 3

Language: English

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Composed by the Śramaṇa Qisong of Dongshan in Tanjin, Tengzhou

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Treatise on Supporting the Teaching, Part Two

Preface: Filial piety is revered by all teachings, but the Buddhist teaching reveres it with particular distinction. Nevertheless, its doctrine has not been made clearly known throughout the realm, largely because our fellow monks have been unable to propagate it, a fact that has often caused me deep sighing and profound shame. Recalling when I was seven years of age, just as my late father was about to pass away, he instructed me to leave household life. As I grew slightly older, my brothers considered that as a promising child I could be educated and sought to alter that intention. My mother alone said: 'This was his father’s command; it must not be changed.' When I took up my robes to travel in search of the Way in all directions, my kinsmen tried to detain me. Again it was my mother who said: 'You have already followed the Buddha; you should dedicate yourself to his Way. How could I restrain you with affection? You must go.' Alas, it was my parents who gave me life; it was my parents who nurtured me; and it was my mother who also brought my Way to fulfillment! Vast Heaven, boundless and unending—how can I repay such great virtue? Since leaving my hometown, twenty-seven years have passed. Never was there a time when I did not wish to return south to the ancestral graves to perform Dharma rites as an invisible assistance for my parents, yet it has not come to pass. In the xinmao year (1051), I encountered adversity on account of propagating the Dharma; the following year my home district was also afflicted by great bandits. Could my parents’ tombs and cottage have escaped being plundered and ruined? Looking toward them, my tears streamed down. The next year, events brought even deeper feelings, and so I composed this Treatise on Filial Piety in twelve chapters to demonstrate my intent. It brings to light the profound principles and hidden intentions of our sage’s great filial piety, harmonizing them with the doctrines of the Confucians almost exhaustively. Those of our school who study in the future may also look upon it.

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Chapter 1: Clarifying Filial Piety

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When some disciples shave their hair and begin to serve our Way, if their parents summon them, they decline as 'disciples of the Buddha' and do not go. I once told them: 'A disciple of the Buddha must rectify sentiment, but must never abandon parents. Have you not heard that when our former Sage first arose, in formulating the great precepts, he declared: "Filial piety is called the precepts"? This is taking filial piety as the outset of the precepts. If you take the precepts while wishing to discard filial piety, they are not the precepts. Filial piety is what precedes the great precepts; the precepts are that from which all wholesome deeds arise. In doing good, without the precepts, from where could goodness arise? In observing the precepts, without filial piety, from where would the precepts originate? Thus the sutra says: "That which enabled me swiftly to accomplish the unexcelled, correct, and true Way was the virtue of filial piety."'

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Chapter 2: The Root of Filial Piety

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Among the conditioned things of the realm, none is more primary than life. I depend on my parents to be born; therefore, I put my parents first. Among the luminous virtues of the realm, none is better than instruction. I depend on my teacher for instruction; therefore, I put my teacher first. Among the wondrous matters of the realm, none is more wondrous than the Way. I depend on the Way for application; therefore, I put the Way first. The Way is the root of spiritual application; the teacher is the root of instruction and guidance; parents are the root of bodily birth. These three roots are the great roots of the realm. One may dare a naked blade; one may go without food and drink; but these cannot be forgotten. When our former sages and later sages accomplished the Way and established teachings, they never failed to give priority to these three roots. The Great Precepts say: 'Be filial and obedient to parents, teachers, and monks; be filial and obedient to the Dharma of the ultimate Way.' Is it not so? Is it not indeed so?

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Chapter 3: Tracing the Origin of Filial Piety

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Filial piety has that which can be seen and that which cannot be seen. That which cannot be seen is the principle of filial piety; that which can be seen is the practice of filial piety. Principle is that from which filial piety issues forth; practice is that by which filial piety is manifested. If one cultivates the manifestation while leaving the inner mind uncultivated, then one will not serve parents with sincerity, nor show kindness to others with truthfulness. If one cultivates the inner mind while also cultivating the manifestation, not only will one serve parents and show kindness to others, but this will also move heaven and earth and touch the ghosts and spirits. Heaven and earth share the same principle with filial piety; ghosts and spirits share the same numinous quality with filial piety. Therefore, the spirits of heaven and earth cannot be sought through unfiliality, nor deceived by counterfeit filial piety. The Buddha said: 'Be filial and obedient to the Dharma of the ultimate Way.' The Confucians said: 'Set filial piety down, and it fills heaven and earth; diffuse it, and it spans the four seas; apply it to later generations, and it knows neither morning nor evening.' Thus it is said: 'Filial piety is the constant norm of Heaven, the righteousness of Earth, and the conduct of the people.' How supreme, how great is filial piety as a Way! Therefore, when our sage wished people to practice goodness, he necessarily first made their nature sincere, and only then expressed it in their conduct. Filial practice means nourishing one's parents. If practice is not guided by sincerity, then one's nourishment will at times be deficient. When one is filial with sincerity, one's service to parents is complete, and one's kindness to others and care for creatures is impartial. Filial piety (xiao) is emulation (xiao); sincerity (cheng) is accomplishment (cheng). To accomplish means to accomplish one's Way; to emulate means to emulate filial piety. To practice filial piety without emulation is not filial piety; to practice sincerity without accomplishment is not sincerity. For this reason, the filial piety of the sage values sincerity. Did not the Confucian say: 'The noble man values making himself sincere'?

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Chapter 4: Evaluating Filial Piety

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The sage, seeing that spirits ride the transformations of rebirth and interchange as humans and beasts, passing through past and present in a vast, indistinct blur while worldly people remain entirely unaware, therefore regards present oxen and sheep with apprehension, fearing only that they may be the forms to which the spirits of past parents have come. Hence he prohibits killing, not allowing the violent harm of even a single minute creature, so fervent is his cherish of parents! In admonishing present parents, he necessarily guides them to the Way, fearing only that upon rebirth their spirits might fall into different species. Therefore, in tracing parents back to the past, he reaches through seven lifetimes; in planning for parents regarding the future, he reaches to their future births. Though this may seem astonishing and shock the worldly, in the Way it is truly so. If the realm is exhorted by non-killing, the instruction to love life and abhor killing can still transform customs and mores. If the realm is concerned about spirits falling into lower realms on behalf of parents, it can still expand the filial child’s mind of attending carefully to the end and commemorating the distant past. How much more so for one who, through these transformations, has grasped the reality! Comparing this to what the world calls filial piety—confined to a single lifetime and blind to the profound vision, seeking only among humans and not among spirits—if this is not considered far-reaching, what can be considered far-reaching? If this is not considered great, what can be considered great? When the sutra says, 'One should give rise to a mind of filial obedience and protect all sentient beings with love,' it refers to this.

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Chapter 5: The Necessity of Filial Piety

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The Way of the sage takes goodness as its function; the goodness of the sage takes filial piety as its inception. To practice goodness without giving priority to its inception is to have no goodness; to practice the Way without dwelling in its function is to have no Way. Function is that by which the Way is verified; inception is that by which goodness is practiced. If one practices goodness but that goodness has not yet reached one’s parents, can it be universal goodness? If one verifies the Way but does not see that its Way is universal goodness, can it be the Way? For this reason, when the sage practices the Way, there is nothing that is not good; when the sage practices goodness, he has never abandoned his parents. Parents are the great root of bodily birth and the great debt of kindness in human relations. Only the Great Sage is able to venerate this great root and repay this great debt of kindness. Now, among those in the world who practice the Way, who can compare with the sage? The sage's Way is supremely great: towering lofty and uniquely venerated among humans and devas, neither capable of being born nor capable of dying. Yet when responding to things and demonstrating identity with humans and devas, he still necessarily conformed to the human way, not daring to forget his mother after her death, nor daring to disobey his father's summons. Thus, at the very beginning of his attainment of the Way, he ascended to heaven to first instruct his mother in his Way; after three months he returned to the world, and in response to the command returned to his native kingdom, instructing his father in the Way so that the entire kingdom was transformed. When his father died, the Sage personally carried the coffin together with the Śākyas to hasten to the burial. The Sage can indeed be said to have accorded greatly with the human way! Now, those who have just become his followers are merely latecomers and elementary students compared to the Sage. Yet they wish not to dedicate themselves to filial piety, claiming, 'I have left the household to concentrate on the Way.' How could I dare [to accept this]? How could this be understanding the mind of leaving the household? Leaving the household is meant to universalize goodness through the Way; if one universalizes goodness while failing to treat one's parents with goodness, how can that be called the Way? Not only does this fail to understand that mind, but it also isolates one from the Dharma of the Sage. The sutras state that parents are equal to a bodhisattva bound to one last birth, and therefore ought to be served and provided for. Hence the Vinaya instructs his disciples that they may reduce the provisions of their robes and bowls to sustain their parents; if the parents have correct faith, one may give to them freely, and if they lack faith, one may give to them in small measure. There is indeed an instruction for this!

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Chapter 6: Broadening Filial Piety

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The world takes Confucianism to be filial piety, but does not take Buddhism to be filial piety, saying, 'Since it is already filial, what could be added to it?' Ah, this is to see Confucianism yet not to have seen Buddhism! Buddhism is the ultimate of it. Guard it with Confucianism; broaden it with Buddhism. Humanize it with Confucianism; spiritualize it with Buddhism. Filial piety will then be supreme and great! Water naturally flows downward; if one channels and opens a breach for it, does it not reach its destination all the more swiftly? Fire naturally blazes upward; if one blows and fans it, does it not rise all the farther? Yuan Dexiu was a worthy of the Tang. In mourning his mother, his grief was extreme; unable to express his full devotion, he pierced his flesh and dripped blood to paint an image of the Buddha and write out Buddhist sutras, and the historians praised him. Li Guan was a prominent figure of the Tang. While observing mourning for his father, he pricked his blood to copy the Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sutra and distributed copies to others to aid his father in the unseen world; suddenly a rare fragrance arose from his dwelling, intensely lingering for successive days and reaching his neighbours. Goodness certainly has what is great and what is small. The Way certainly has what is shallow and what is profound. The profound Way is wondrously attuned to life, death, and transformation; the great goodness penetrates heaven, earth, and the divine spirits. Is not the goodness of the Buddha the great goodness? Is not the Way of the Buddha the profound Way? A noble person must set their aim upon what is great and profound. Does not the Analects say: 'Hear much, select what is good and follow it'?

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Chapter 7: Precepts and Filial Piety

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The five precepts begin with the first: not killing; next, the second: not stealing; next, the third: not engaging in sexual misconduct; next, the fourth: not speaking falsely; next, the fifth: not drinking alcohol. Now, not killing is humaneness (ren); not stealing is righteousness (yi); not engaging in sexual misconduct is propriety (li); not drinking alcohol is wisdom (zhi); not speaking falsely is trustworthiness (xin). If these five are cultivated, one perfects one's person and brings glory to one's parents—is this not filial piety? If even one of these five is not cultivated, one ruins one's person and brings disgrace upon one's parents—is this not unfilial? Indeed, within the five precepts lies the essence of filial piety, yet worldly people do not see it and neglect it, never having comprehended it. Thus blessings do not arrive throughout the world, and filial piety is not encouraged. The Great Precept says: 'Filial piety is named precept'—this is precisely what it means. Now, if the world desires blessings, nothing is better than earnest filial piety; and for earnest filial piety, nothing is better than cultivating the precepts. The precepts are the upright and supreme Dharma of the Great Sage. If one guards them with a pure mind, blessings will come as easily as reaching to one's left and right. Does not the Book of Rites of the Confucians say: 'When I wage war, I conquer; when I offer sacrifice, I receive blessings'? This is because they have attained the proper Way. Does not the Book of Odes say: 'The genial and courteous noble person seeks blessings without deviousness'? These all speak of acting with rectitude. If the rectitude of the worldly is like this, how much more so the rectitude of that which transcends the world!

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Chapter 8: The Source of Filial Piety

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Filial piety stems from goodness, and all people possess a good heart. If one does not broaden it with the Buddha's Way, then the goodness will not be great and the filial piety will be small. As for the Buddha's Way: it regards the parents of others as one's own parents, and guards the lives of other creatures as one's own life. Therefore, when he practices goodness, even wriggling insects are embraced; when he practices filial piety, all ghosts and spirits are encouraged. If one draws upon this filial piety to dwell in the world, one will be peaceful with the world and free of anger and contention. If one draws upon this goodness to transcend the world, one will extend great compassion to the world and encourage the world. Therefore, in pursuing the Way, a noble person must make clear distinctions; in pursuing goodness, a noble person cannot be without gradation. The Doctrine of the Mean says: 'If there is not supreme virtue, the supreme Way will not crystallize.' This is what it means.

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Chapter 9: Requital through Virtue

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Material support is insufficient to requite one's parents, so the Sage requited them with virtue. Virtue is insufficient to bring parents to ultimate realization, so the Sage brought them to realization through the Way. This 'Way' is not what the world calls the Way: it is wondrously attuned to the divine spirits and transcends life and death; it is the ultimate Way of the Sage. This 'virtue' is not what the world calls virtue: it encompasses all myriad goods and cloaks the unseen and the manifest; it is the ultimate virtue of the Sage. Do not the Confucians say: 'What the noble person calls filial piety is anticipating [their parents'] intentions, supporting their will, and guiding parents to the Way. Shen merely provides direct material support; how can that be considered filial piety?' It is said: 'What the noble person calls filial piety is when the people of the state sigh with admiration, saying: "How fortunate to have such a son!" This is what is called filial piety.' That may be so, but while the intention is similar, the meaning is different. As for those in the world who requite kindness, our Sage may be called the ultimate requiter of kindness; as for those in the world who practice filial piety, our Sage may be called purely filial. The sutra says: 'It is better to deliver one's parents in this single life through the teachings of the Three Venerable Ones.' The Book of Documents says: 'The millet and sacrificial grains are not fragrant; it is luminous virtue alone that is fragrant.' Is it not so? Is it not so? If I follow after the Sage, yet my virtue is uncultivated and my Way is not clarified, I will merely fail my parents and bring shame before the Sage!

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Chapter 10: Omission and Adaptation in Filial Piety

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To bring goodness to the world, the Way is greatest; to bring glory to one's parents, virtue is superior. If [the Buddha] had announced [his departure to his parents], he would not have attained the Way and its virtue; by not announcing it, he attained the Way and perfected virtue. Therefore the Sage slipped away to the mountain forests. When he returned with the Way, his virtue cloaked those above and below, and the world praised him, saying, 'Having a son like this!' and honoured his parents, saying, 'The parents of the Great Sage!' The Sage can be said to have omitted the beginning to achieve the end, being skilful at exercising expedient adaptation. Among the noble persons of antiquity who acted like this, Taibo of Wu was such a man. One must have great resolve to unfold great righteousness; one must have great purity to maintain great rectitude. The Sage extended supreme virtue to humans and devas, and made manifest ultimate rectitude throughout the nine directions; therefore the Sage's Dharma does not look back to worldly heirs. Among the noble persons of antiquity who acted like this, Boyi and Shuqi were such men. The Way is inherently more venerable than the person; therefore, even though the Way resides in a son, the parents may bow to him. The 'Meaning of the Capping Ceremony' comes close to this; the Book of Rites says: 'Once capped, he is given an adult courtesy name; this is the way of adulthood. When presented to his mother, the mother bows to him.' The conventional is originally rooted in the true. Once the true has been cultivated, then even a monk may treat kings and marquises as equals. Military practice comes close to this; the Book of Rites says: 'An armoured warrior does not bow,' because if he bowed, it would be an awkward bow. Not bowing accords weight to discipline; a mother bowing accords weight to propriety. When the former kings still accorded weight to ritual discipline, how could one not accord weight to the Great Way? The worldly say, 'The Sage had no father'—how obstinate are petty men in their love of slander! In their blindness, how could they ever see how deep and profound the Sage's practice of filial piety was?

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Chapter 11: Filial Conduct

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Daoji served his mother: whenever his mother traveled, he personally carried her on his back. If someone offered assistance, Daoji would always say, 'My mother is not your mother; the burden of her bodily form is my affair. How could I trouble you?' He can truly be called devoted to his parent. Huineng was fond of selling firewood to support his mother; when he was about to follow his teacher, he worried that he had no provisions stored for his mother and almost wished to hire himself out as a laborer to secure funds. By the time he returned, his mother had already passed away; lamenting that he could not see her with the Way, he turned his family home into a monastery to dedicate merit to her, and ultimately also returned to die there. Thus it is said, 'Fallen leaves return to their roots.' Master Neng was an extraordinary man; how could one measure his unique virtue? Yet he still demonstrated to people that he did not forget his roots. Daopi encountered the turmoil of his age, so he carried his mother on his back and fled into the Huayin Mountains, begging for food to support her. His father died in service, so Daopi went to seek his remains; when he arrived, the scattered bones could not be distinguished, so Daopi immediately prayed over them, and suddenly a skull leapt forward before him—it was indeed his father's remains! Daopi may be said to have practiced complete filial piety. Zhizang was an unbending and upright monk of antiquity: he served his master with greater reverence than he served his father, and when his master died, he observed inner mourning for three years. Changchao served his master in accordance with proper rites, and when he died, served him as if he were still alive; therefore the people of Yan praised his filial piety and fraternal respect. Thus the Vinaya ordains that disciples of the Buddha must reduce the funds for their robes and bowls to support their parents; these masters did not neglect their parents, and truly grasped the intention of the Sage. Zhizang and Changchao were meticulous in serving their teachers, which also accords with the Great Precepts from which the teaching arose; they can indeed serve as models.

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Chapter 12: Ultimate Filial Piety

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The death of parents is also a matter of sorrow. Sacking and hemp mourning garments are not appropriate [for a monk]; coarse cloth in the form of monastic robes is suitable. In all circumstances, one must sit in a place distinct from worldly sons. Once encoffining has passed, one goes to the family home at the proper times. When escorting the funeral procession, one may either help carry [the bier] or guide it. For three years one must observe inner mourning, dwelling in quietude to cultivate our Dharma, assisting one's parents in the unseen realm. Once the mourning period has passed, only on the anniversary of the parents' death and on the sixteenth day of the seventh month must one arrange a vegetarian feast, lecture, and recite [sutras] according to the Ullambana method—this can be called the completion of filial piety. In ancient times, the ancient sovereign teacher of India, when observing mourning for his father, stood with a solemn countenance before the funeral, using inner mourning to omit weeping and leaping in grief. He was indeed the Great Sage! When escorting him, he helped carry [the bier] or guided it. He was indeed the Great Sage! When Maudgalyāyana lost his mother, he wept bitterly for her and offered food to ghosts and spirits. Maudgalyāyana was also a sage, yet he still could not extinguish feelings; should our assembly wish to be unfeeling? Therefore, when a disciple of the Buddha is in mourning for parents, their sorrowful longing may be like that of Maudgalyāyana, and their inner mourning may take the Great Sage as a standard. When in mourning for a teacher, one must treat it like mourning for one's parents, though among the ten ordination preceptors the mourning period has gradations. Only for the master from whom one received the Dharma and precepts is inner mourning for three years appropriate. Fayun, when mourning his parents, grieved and yearned exceedingly, letting no food or drink pass his lips for successive days; Fayun was an eminent monk of antiquity. Was not Huiyue practically an extraordinary man? When his parents were on the verge of death, parting from them, he wailed and wept as if unable to bear his own existence. Yet, although our teaching omits weeping and wailing in mourning regulations, this is because it wishes people to extinguish love and hate and advance toward purity. If love and hate are not yet forgotten and one's mind roams among external things, yet in the presence of death one feels no sorrow, that is mere cold-heartedness. Therefore at the time of the Nirvāṇa, the assembly beat their breasts and cried out aloud, blood appearing like palāśa flowers—this was because they could not bear it. The Vinaya school says: 'Not expressing grief and distress is a common disgrace to both monks and laypeople.' In the face of death, can our assembly fail to mourn?

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Praise of the Platform Sutra (Calling it a 'sutra' arose from later generations honouring its Dharma, not from the intention of the Sixth Patriarch. I now follow the old practice and dare not alter it; that it may also be termed a sutra is discussed at the end of the lower fascicle of the text itself.)

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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.

3.31

Treatise on the Ultimate Truth Having No Sages

3.32

What is ultimate truth? It means supreme subtlety and absolute transcendence. What is a sage? It means divine wisdom and conditioned activity. Conditioned activity speaks to expedients; absolute transcendence reaches the real. The real is that by which the mind is preserved whole and traces are extinguished; expedients are that by which the branches are gathered in to return to the root. If so, then how could ultimate truth allow for deliberations and discussions within it? I merely try using metaphorical words to clarify its inner repository. Ultimate truth is the original mind of the multitude of minds, the actual limit of all the sages. It is thusness, not thusness, and not not thusness. It is hidden within the multitude of minds without being dimmed; it manifests within sage wisdom without being glaring. Divine intelligence cannot fathom it; ingenious reckoning cannot exhaust it. Therefore the Prajñā[-pāramitā] states: "The primary ultimate truth has no realization and no attainment." Speaking of its essence as it exists, it is pure, empty, and vast, with sage and ordinary completely obliterated. Speaking of its illumination in its functioning, it encompasses all that exists and animates all activities. If so, then its essence as it exists seems to be its root, does it not? Its illumination in its functioning seems to be its branches, does it not? When the mind is merged in the ultimate root, to remain silent in purity and discard sageliness and abandon wisdom is indeed fitting. As for what is called the primary truth being vast, empty, and quiescent, with no sage existing—who would call this an error? Yet people of Qin took this to be too excessive, wide of the mark, and contrary to human sentiment, saying: "If there is no sage, then who is it that knows this nothingness?" This is also failing to understand its subtle meaning. As for the perception of ordinary and sage, these are merely the reflections of ultimate truth and the grasping conditions of the deluded mind. Remaining within reflections, one becomes stuck in names and categories; through grasping conditions, one is bewildered by distinctions. Thus, not being a sage and yet being a sage is how a sage is a great sage; having no knowledge and yet knowing is how true knowledge is all-knowing. Ancient people once asked an ancient person, saying: "What is the primary truth?" The answer was: "Vastly empty, with no sageliness." The questioner then said: "Who is facing Us?" The answer was: "I do not know." Yet this person was not dim about sageliness and obstinately ignorant; rather, he did not want people to seek the ultimate truth through forms and words. But the questioner did not understand, and went on speaking further. This is like notching the boat to find the sword—far indeed from the mark! Pointing a finger at the moon, the finger exists for the sake of the moon; using words to explain the Dao, the words exist for the sake of the Dao. To look at the words and not look at the Dao is not knowing the Dao; to look at the finger and not look at the moon is not knowing the moon. Therefore, the utmost person always subtly awakens beyond words and images, and exclusively grasps what lies outside the physical body. Vimalakīrti was silent and Mañjuśrī praised him; Subhūti preached without speaking, and the Lord of the Devas heard without hearing. Is this not so?

3.33

Collected Writings of Tanjin, Fascicle 3

Linked texts (1)

鐔津文集 — Classical Chinese