法苑珠林 8.7

8.7

蓋聞。九土區分四生殊俗。昏波易染慧業難基。久復愛河長流苦海。不生意樹未啟心燈。故三明大聖八解至人。總法界而為智。竟虛空以作身。形無不在。量極規矩之外。智無不為。用絕思議之表。不可以人事測。豈得以處所論。將欲啟愚夫之視聽。須示真人之影迹。其猶谷風之隨嘯虎。慶雲之逐騰龍。感應相招。抑惟常理。自鹿樹表光金河匿曜。故像法眾生歸向有徵。雖千佛異迹一智同途。大悲平等。隨性欲而利生。弘誓莊嚴。運慈舟而濟溺。眾生有感。機緣契會也。

We have heard that the nine regions are differentiated, and the four modes of birth have diverse customs. The waves of delusion are easily defiled, while the karma of wisdom is difficult to establish. Long sunk in the river of craving, one drifts endlessly in the ocean of suffering; the tree of intention does not sprout, and the lamp of the mind has not been ignited. Therefore, the Great Sages of the three knowledges and the Perfected Persons of the eight liberations comprehend the entire dharmadhātu to constitute their wisdom, and span the entirety of empty space to form their body. Their form is nowhere absent, its measure far beyond all compass and square; their wisdom acts in all things, its function transcending the realm of thought. They cannot be fathomed by human affairs; how could they be restricted to location? If one wishes to open the hearing and seeing of the foolish, one must display the traces and shadows of the True Persons. It is like the valley wind answering the roar of the tiger, or the auspicious clouds following the soaring dragon; sympathetic resonance summoning each other is indeed a constant principle. Since the light was displayed at the deer tree and the radiance concealed at the Golden River, the beings of the Semblance Dharma have had a verification for their refuge. Although the thousand Buddhas have different traces, they share the single wisdom in the same path: their great compassion is impartial, benefiting living beings according to their natures and desires; their vast vows are magnificent, piloting the boat of compassion to rescue the drowning. When sentient beings have resonance, capacity and condition meet and unite.