出三藏記集 6.17

6.17

陰持入者。世之深病也。馳騁人心變德成狂。耳聾口爽耽醉榮寵。抱癡投冥酸號三趣。其為病也。猶癩疾焉。入骨徹髓。良醫拱手。猶癲蹶焉。來則冥然。莫有所識。大聖悼茲痛心內發忘身安赴荼炭含厚德忍舞擊。觀羅密於重雲。止罝網于八極。洪癡不得振其翼。名愛不得逞其足。採善心於毫芒。拔兇頑於虎口。以大寂為至樂。五音不能聾其耳矣。以無為為滋味。五味不能爽其口矣。曜形濁世拯擢難計。陟降教終潛淪無名。諸無著等尋各騰逝。大弟子眾。深懼妙法混然廢沒。於是令迦葉集結阿難所傳凡三藏焉。該羅幽廓難度難測也。世雄授藥必因本病。病不能均。是故眾經相待乃備非彥非聖罔能綜練。自茲以後。神通高士各為訓釋。或覽撰諸經以為行式。譬瓔璣歟。擇彼珠珍以色相發。佩之冠之。為光為飾。喻繪事歟。調別眾采以圖暉烈。諸明叡者所撰亦然。此經則是其數也。有捨家開士。出自安息。字世高大慈流洽播化斯土。譯梵為晉。微顯闡幽。其所敷宣專務禪觀。醇玄道數。深矣遠矣。是經其所出也。陰入之弊人莫知苦。是故先聖照以止觀。陰結日損成泥洹品。自非知機。其孰能與於此乎。從首至于九絕都是四十五藥也。以慧斷知入三部者。成四諦也。十二因緣訖淨法部者。成四信也。其為行也。唯神矣。故不言而成。唯妙矣。故不行而至。統斯行者。則明白四達。立根得眼。成十力子。紹胄法王。奮澤大千。若取證則拔三結住壽成道。徑至應真。此乃大乘之舟擑。泥洹之關路。于斯晉土禪觀弛廢。學徒雖興蔑有盡漏。何者。禪思守玄練微入寂。在取何道猶覘于掌。墮替斯要而悕見證。不亦難乎。安未近積罪生逢百羅戎狄孔棘。世之聖導。潛遯晉山孤居離眾。幽處窮壑竊覽篇目。淺識獨見滯而不達。夙宵抱疑諮諏靡質。會太陽比丘竺法濟。并州道人支曇。講陟岨冒寇重爾遠集。此二學士高朗博通。誨而不倦者也。遂與折槃暢礙造茲注解。世不值佛又處邊國。音殊俗異規矩不同。又以愚量聖。難以逮也。冀未踐緒者。少有微補。非敢自必析究經旨。

The aggregates, sense-fields, and elements are a profound malady of the world. They gallop through human minds, transforming virtue into madness: ears become deaf and mouths lose taste; beings are drunk on glory and favor, embracing ignorance and plunging into darkness, weeping bitterly in the three destinies. This disease is like leprosy: it penetrates the bones and reaches the marrow, leaving good physicians to fold their hands in despair. It is like an epileptic fit: when it strikes, all is plunged into darkness, with no awareness of anything. The Great Sage, mourning this, felt grief arising from within; forgetting his own body, he serenely stepped into the charcoal embers, bearing thick virtue and enduring wild attacks. He observed the snares dense as heavy clouds and halted the hunting nets across the eight directions. Great ignorance could no longer flap its wings, and the love of fame could no longer sprint ahead. He gathered good thoughts from the tip of a fine hair, and plucked the ferocious and stubborn from the tiger's mouth. Taking great tranquility as supreme joy, the five notes could not deafen his ears; taking non-action as the true flavor, the five flavors could not corrupt his palate. Shining his physical form in the defiled world, those he rescued were beyond count; when his descents to instruct reached their end, he sank secretly into the nameless. The various unattached ones [the arhats] soon each took flight and passed away. The assembly of great disciples deeply feared that the wondrous Dharma would become confounded, abandoned, and lost. Thereupon, they had Kāśyapa compile what Ānanda had transmitted into a total of three baskets [the Tripiṭaka], which encompass the dark and vast, difficult to fathom and measure. When the Hero of the World administers medicine, he must base it on the original illness. Illnesses cannot be uniform; for this reason, the various scriptures depend on one another to be complete, and none but the talented and holy can synthesize and master them. From then onward, eminent masters of spiritual penetrations each composed interpretations, or surveyed and compiled various scriptures to serve as models of practice. Are they not like a pearl necklace? One selects those precious pearls to set off their forms and colors, wearing them on the chest or crown as radiance and ornament. Is it not like painting? One blends and distinguishes the various pigments to depict glorious splendor. What the wise and discerning have compiled is just like this. This scripture is of that very sort. There was a renunciant enlightened being hailing from Parthia, courtesy name Shigao, whose great compassion flowed everywhere, spreading transformation to this land. Translating Fan into Jin, he revealed the subtle and elucidated the profound. What he expounded and disseminated was exclusively devoted to dhyāna contemplation; pure and abstruse numerical doctrines were deep and far-reaching. This scripture is among those he brought forth. Of the evils of the aggregates and sense-fields, people do not know the suffering; therefore, the ancient sages illuminated them with calming and insight. The knots of the aggregates are diminished day by day, completing the chapter on nirvāṇa. Unless one recognizes the crucial juncture, who could take part in this? From the beginning to the nine eliminations, there are forty-five medicines in all. Cutting off and understanding through wisdom to enter the three divisions completes the four truths. From the twelve links of conditioned arising to the division on purifying dharmas completes the four confidences. As for its practice, it is solely spiritual, hence accomplished without words; it is solely wondrous, hence reached without traveling. One who unifies this practice is clear and unobstructed in all four directions, establishes the roots and attains the eye, becomes a son of the Ten Powers, succeeds to the lineage of the Dharma King, and sheds moisture over the great thousand worlds. If one seeks realization, one uproots the three fetters, maintains life to accomplish the Path, and directly reaches the arhat. This is indeed the boat and oar of the Great Vehicle, the vital gateway to nirvāṇa. In this land of Jin, dhyāna contemplation has grown lax and abandoned; though students have arisen, scarcely any have exhausted their outflows. Why is this? Dhyāna contemplation preserves the abstruse, smelts the subtle, and enters tranquility; whatever stage of the Path one seeks to attain, it is like looking into the palm of one's hand. Neglecting and abandoning this essential, yet hoping to witness realization—is that not difficult? I, Dao'an, having accumulated sins from the recent past, was born to encounter the hundredfold snares, with the barbarians causing severe distress. The holy guides of the world secretly fled to the Jin mountains; living in solitude apart from the community, hidden away in a deep ravine, I stole time to read these texts. With shallow knowledge and solitary views, I was blocked and could not penetrate them; night and day I harbored doubts, with nowhere to consult or verify them. Just then, the bhikṣu Zhu Faji of Taiyang and the man of the Path Zhi Tanjiang of Bingzhou, scaling precipitous heights and braving bandits, gathered from afar with great devotion. These two scholars were lofty, clear, broadly learned, and untiring in instruction. Thereupon, together with them, I solved perplexities, smoothed impediments, and composed this commentary. Living in an age without the Buddha and residing in a frontier realm, sounds and customs are different, and standards are not the same. Moreover, measuring the holy with foolishness, it is difficult to reach it. I only hope that for those who have not yet stepped on the path, this may offer a slight, humble aid; I do not dare presume to have definitively analyzed and fathomed the scripture's meaning.