出三藏記集 6.26

6.26

十二門者。要定之目號。六雙之關徑也。定有三義焉。禪也。等也。空也。用療三毒綢繆重病。嬰斯幽厄其日深矣。貪囹恚圄癡城至固。世人遊此猶春登臺。甘處欣欣如居華殿。嬉樂自娛蔑知為苦。甞酸速禍困憊五道。夫唯正覺乃識其謬耳。哀倒見之苦。傷蓬流之痛。為設方便防萌塞漸。闢茲慧定令自澣滌。挫銳解紛返神玄路。苟非至德。其道不凝也。夫邪僻之心。必有微著。是故禪法以四為差焉。貪淫囹者。荒色悖烝不別尊卑。渾心耽愐習以成狂。亡國傾身莫不由之。虛迷空醉不知為幻。故以死尸散落自悟漸斷。微想以至于寂味乎無味。故曰四禪也。瞋恚圄者。爭纖介之虛聲。結歷世之重咎。恩親絕於快心。交友腐於縱忿。含怒徹髓不悛滅族。聖人見強梁者不得其死。故訓之以等。丹心讎親至柔其志。受垢含苦治之未亂。醇德邃厚呪不措角。況人害乎故。曰四等也。愚癡城者誹古。聖謗真諦慢二。親輕師傅斯。病尤重矣。以慧探本知從癡愛。分別末流了之為惑。練心攘慝狂病瘳矣。故曰四空也。行者挹禪海之深醴。溉昏迷之盛火。激空淨之淵流。盪癡塵之穢垢。則皎然成大素矣。行斯三者。則知所以宰身也。所以宰身者。則知所以安神也。所以安神者。則知所以度人也。然則經無巨細出自佛口。神心所制言為世寶。慧日既沒三界喪目。經藏雖存淵言難測。自非至精孰達其微。於是諸開士應真。各為訓解。釋其幽賾辯其差貫。則爛然易見矣。窮神知化何復加乎。從十二門已後。則是訓傳也。凡學者行十二門。却盡神足滅外止麁。謂成五道也。三向諸根進消內結。謂盡諸漏也。始入盡漏名不退轉。諸佛嘉歎記其成號。深不可測獨見曉焉。神不可量獨能精焉。陵雲輕舉淨光燭幽。移海飛嶽風出電入。淺者如是。況成佛乎。是乃三乘之大路。何莫由斯定也。自始發跡逮于無漏。靡不周而復始。習茲定也。行者欲崇德廣業而不進斯法者。其猶無柯而求伐。不飯而徇飽。難以獲矣。醒寤之士得聞要定。不亦妙乎。安宿不敏。生值佛後。又處異國。楷範多闕仰希古烈。滯而未究寤寐憂悸。有若疾首每惜茲邦禪業替廢。敢作注于句末。雖未足光融聖典。且發曚者。儻易覽焉。安世高善開禪數。斯經似其所出故錄之于末。

The twelve gates are the titles of the essential samādhis, the passes and paths of the six pairs. Samādhi has three senses: dhyāna, equanimity, and emptiness. They are used to cure the severe and complicated diseases of the three poisons. Plunged into these dark plights, the affliction has grown deep with each day. The prison of greed, the jail of anger, and the castle of ignorance are exceedingly firm; people of the world roam within them like going up a terrace in spring, happily dwelling in delight as if in a splendid palace, amusing and entertaining themselves without knowing it to be suffering. Tasting bitterness and hastening disaster, they are exhausted in the five destinies; only the Perfectly Awakened One recognizes their errors. Pitying the suffering of inverted views and grieving at the pain of drifting like tumbleweed, he established expedient means to prevent the sprouts and stop the beginnings, opening these wise concentrations to let them cleanse themselves, blunting sharpness, unraveling entanglements, and returning the spirit to the mysterious path. Truly, without utmost virtue, this Way does not crystallize. Now, the perverted mind inevitably has subtle and manifest aspects; therefore, the methods of dhyāna are graduated by four. The prison of greed and lust means running wild with sensual desire, rebelling against propriety without distinguishing the noble from the lowly, confounding the mind in debauchery, becoming mad through habit; the ruin of states and the destruction of persons never fail to stem from this. Deluded by vanity and intoxicated with emptiness, they do not know it is an illusion. Hence, by contemplating corpses scattered in decay, they gradually cut it off through self-awakening, from subtle thoughts reaching quietude, relishing the tasteless; therefore they are called the four dhyānas. The jail of anger and hatred means contending over trifles of empty reputation, tying knots of severe faults across lifetimes; familial love is severed for momentary gratification, and friendships rot through indulging rage, bearing grudges to the marrow and destroying clans without remorse. The sages saw that the violent do not die a natural death, and thus instructed them with equanimity, being sincere toward enemies and kin alike, rendering the intention utmost gentle, enduring defilement and bearing suffering, subduing it before it erupts into disorder. When mellow virtue is deep and rich, even incantations cannot plant their horns—how much less can human harm affect them! Therefore they are called the four equanimities. The castle of ignorance means slandering ancient sages, vilifying the ultimate truth, disrespecting both parents, and looking down on teachers and masters; this disease is especially grave. Using wisdom to probe the root, one knows that it derives from ignorance and craving; distinguishing the subsidiary branches, one understands them to be confusion. Refining the mind and driving out evil, the madness is cured; therefore they are called the four emptinesses. When practitioners draw from the deep nectar of the ocean of dhyāna, it waters the raging fire of bewilderment; when they stir the deep currents of pure emptiness, it washes away the filthy grime of the dust of ignorance, and thereupon they become purely and brightly aligned with the great simplicity. Practicing these three, one knows how to govern the body; knowing how to govern the body, one knows how to settle the spirit; knowing how to settle the spirit, one knows how to deliver people. Now then, sūtras, whether grand or subtle, emerge from the Buddha's mouth; composed by his divine mind, his words are treasures for the world. After the sun of wisdom sank, the three realms lost their eyes. Although the treasury of sūtras remains, its profound words are hard to fathom; unless one is of utmost refinement, who can reach its subtleties? Thereupon the various bodhisattvas and arhats each composed explanations and glosses, elucidating the hidden mysteries and distinguishing the degrees and coherence, so that it became brilliantly clear and easy to see. Exhausting the spirit and knowing transformation—what could be added to this? From the twelve gates onward, it is indeed an explanatory commentary. In general, when students practice the twelve gates, they eliminate supernatural powers and extinguish external coarse stops; this is called completing the five paths. Advancing along the faculties of the three aspirants, they melt away inner fetters; this is called exhausting all contaminations. When one first enters the exhaustion of contaminations, one is named non-retrogressing. The Buddhas praise them and prophesy their titles of fruition; profoundly unfathomable, they alone see and comprehend; immeasurably divine, they alone can master it. Rising above the clouds and ascending lightly, their pure light illumines the obscure; moving oceans and flying peaks, they issue like wind and enter like lightning. If this is so for the shallow ones, how much more so for attaining Buddhahood! This is indeed the great highway of the three vehicles; what does not stem from this samādhi? From the first setting forth of footsteps to the state of uncontaminated purity, all, without exception, go round and begin anew, practicing this concentration. If practitioners wish to exalt their virtue and expand their tasks without advancing in this method, it is like seeking to chop down a tree without an axe-handle, or seeking fullness without eating: it will be difficult to attain. Is it not wonderful for awakened gentlemen to hear of this essential concentration? Dao'an was naturally unperceptive, born after the Buddha, and situated in a foreign land. Standard models are largely lacking; looking up in longing to the achievements of the ancients, blocked and not yet having penetrated, waking and sleeping I am anxious and startled, as if suffering a headache, constantly lamenting that the dhyāna practice of this country has fallen into decay. I have ventured to write a commentary at the ends of the phrases; although it is not sufficient to illuminate the sacred canon, it may enlighten the ignorant, and perhaps make it easier to read. An Shigao was skilled at opening up the categories of dhyāna; this sūtra seems to be what he produced, so I have recorded it at the end.