釋氏要覽 3.251

3.251

The Dazhidulun states: "In the language of Qin, it is called 'cultivation of thought' (dhyāna)." The Abhidharma treatises state: "Because it severs the defilements, it is called dhyāna." The Preface to the Essentials of Meditation states: "Without meditation, there is no wisdom; without wisdom, there is no meditation. Thus, meditation does not illuminate without wisdom, and illumination is not achieved without meditation. How great is the enterprise of meditation and wisdom—can one not apply oneself to it?" The Vibhāṣā treatise states: "'Dhyāna' is translated here as universal wisdom; it means that one can attain the Way through it and also abandon the defilements. This is the function of meditation. If one has the name of meditation without the function of meditation, it is called mire." The Great Master Huiyuan of the Liang, in his Preface to the Sūtra on the Expedient Means of Practicing Meditation, states: "Now the arising of the three actions takes meditation and wisdom as its fundamental principle. Although the refined and coarse are of different portions, there is method in their progressive reliance. For this reason, when the axle starts along diverging thoroughfares, there are no tangled ruts upon the way. Transforming worldly ways to accomplish affairs, merit does not wait upon long accumulation. When one quietly returns to that from which they originate, the hidden threads announce the subtle; vast and broad, they are hard to fathom. Yet the principle is not obscured, and all its points may generally be known. Let me state it in brief: meditation without wisdom cannot fathom its stillness; wisdom without meditation cannot deepen its illumination. Thus, the essential point of meditation and wisdom is that which is termed illumination and stillness. Their mutual assistance is such that illumination does not separate from stillness, and stillness does not separate from illumination. When there is stimulus, they travel together; where there is response, they inevitably join in the same bent. Their profound merit lies in their reciprocal function; they nourish all phenomena together, and their wonder is unified. Moving the manifold agitations to arrive at oneness without being existent; opening wide the great image before form without being non-existent; being without thought and without action, yet leaving nothing unacted. Therefore, those who wash their minds and quiet confusion use it to grind their contemplation; those who awaken thoroughly and penetrate the subtle use it to fathom the spirit." The Sengshi lüe states: "Meditation (chan) is the general designation for concentration and wisdom, the purport of illuminating the mind and penetrating the principle. In ancient times, Bodhidharma observed that the dispositions and conditions in this land were at that time confused and disordered; he therefore said, 'not establishing words and letters,' in order to dispel their grasping at words and clinging to marks. 'Directly pointing to the human mind, seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha' clarified the immediate realization of non-arising. Because his capacity was lofty and the principle profound, those who practiced gradual cultivation vehemently added their slander."