出三藏記集 6.29

6.29

夫婬息在乎解色。不係防閑也。有絕存乎解形。不係念空也。色解則冶容不能轉。形解則無色不能滯。不轉者。雖天魔玉顏窈窕艶姿。莫足傾之之謂固也。不滯者。雖遊空無識泊然永壽莫足礙之。之謂真也。何者。執古以御有。心妙以了色。雖群居猶芻靈。泥洹猶如幻。豈多制形而重無色哉。是故聖人以禪防淫。淫無遺焉。以四空滅有。有無現焉。淫之有息要在明乎萬形之未始有。百化猶逆旅也。怨憾之興興於此彼。此彼既興遂成仇敵。仇敵適成勃然赫怒。赫怒已發無所不至。至不可𭎆神幽想獄。乃毒乃辛欣之甘之。是以如來訓之以等。等所難等何往不等。等心既富怨本息矣。豈非為之乎未有圖難於其易者乎。夫然則三事凶耽廢然息矣。十二重關廓然闕矣。根立而道生。覺立而道成。莫不由十二門立乎定根以逆道休也。大人揮變榮光四塞。彈撇安明吹沫千刃默動異剎必先正受。明夫匪禪無以統乎。無方而不留。匪定無以周乎。萬形而不礙。禪定不愆於神變乎何有也。至矣盡矣。蔑以加矣。此經世高所出也。辭旨雅密正而不艶。比諸禪經最為精悉。案經後記云。嘉禾七年在建鄴周司隷舍寫。緘在篋匱。向二百年矣。冥然不行。無聞名者。比丘竺道護於東垣界賢者經中得。送詣濩澤乃得流布。得經之後。俄而其家遇火。護若不覩為灰炭矣。自然將喪斯禪也。後死者不得與聞此經也。此經也。八音所誨四道作訓約無。之文重無簡矣精義。入禪何以上乎前世又為懸解一家之傳。故全而次之。然世高出經。貴本不飾天竺古文。文通尚質。倉卒尋之。時有不達。今為略注繼前人之末。非敢亂朱。冀有以寤焉。

Now, the cessation of lust lies in understanding form; it does not depend on barriers and restraints. The termination of existence lies in understanding physical shape; it does not depend on mindfulness of emptiness. When form is understood, alluring beauty cannot sway one; when physical shape is understood, the formless realm cannot detain one. As for not being swayed: even if celestial demons display jade-like faces and alluring, voluptuous charms, nothing can overthrow one—this is what is called firmness. As for not being detained: even roaming in emptiness without consciousness, serene and of eternal lifespan, nothing can hinder one—this is what is called truth. Why so? One grasps antiquity to master existence; with a wondrous mind, one understands form. Though dwelling among the multitudes, they are like straw dogs; nirvāṇa is like an illusion. How could one merely control the physical shape and value the formless? Therefore, the sages used dhyāna to guard against lust, and lust left no trace; they used the four emptinesses to extinguish existence, and existence ceased to appear. That lust ceases depends on clarifying that the myriad forms never began to exist, and that the hundreds of transformations are like an inn. Resentment and grudge arise from 'this' and 'that'; once 'this' and 'that' arise, enemies are formed; when enemies are formed, roaring wrath blazes forth; when blazing wrath erupts, it stops at nothing, reaching the point where the spirit cannot be preserved in the prison of dark thoughts, suffering bitter and harsh poisons yet delighting in them as sweet. Therefore, the Tathāgata instructed them with equanimity: when one equalizes what is hard to equalize, where can one go without equalizing? Once the mind of equanimity is abundant, the root of resentment ceases. Is this not doing it before it exists, planning for the difficult while it is still easy? Thus the three wicked indulgences cease entirely, and the twelvefold heavy gates are broadly opened. When the root is established, the Way arises; when awakening is established, the Way is completed. None fails to rely on the twelve gates to establish the root of concentration so as to welcome the excellence of the Way. Great persons effect transformations: their glorious light covers the four quarters, they flick Mount Sumeru, blow upon spray across a thousand fathoms, and quietly shake other realms; but they must first enter proper reception. It is clear that without dhyāna there is nothing to unite with the boundless without lingering, and without concentration there is nothing to encompass the myriad forms without obstruction. When dhyāna and concentration are unflagging, what is there to spiritual transformations? Utmost! Exhaustive! Nothing can be added to it! This sūtra was produced by Shigao. Its phrasing and purport are elegant and dense, correct and not ostentatious; compared to other dhyāna sūtras, it is the most refined and detailed. Checking the record after the sūtra, it says: in the seventh year of Jiahe, it was copied in Jianye at the residence of Director of Retainers Zhou, and locked away in a bamboo hamper for nearly two hundred years. In obscurity, it was not circulated, and no one had heard its title. The monk Zhu Daohu found it among the scriptures of a worthy person in the territory of Dongyuan and sent it to Huoze, where it was finally circulated. Soon after he obtained the sūtra, his house caught fire; had Daohu not seen it, it would have been turned to ashes and charcoal. Naturally, this dhyāna would have been lost, and later mortals would not have been able to hear this sūtra. As for this sūtra: instructed by the eight sounds and serving as a model for the four paths, it is concise without superfluous words, and repeated without unnecessary brevity; in refined principles entering into dhyāna, what could surpass it? Earlier generations also regarded it as an independent tradition of intuitive understanding; therefore, I have preserved it in full and placed it in sequence. When Shigao produced sūtras, he valued the original and did not ornament the ancient Indian phrasing; the writing was thoroughly plain. Browsing through it in haste, one sometimes fails to comprehend. Now I have made brief notes following after the predecessors, not daring to confound red with purple, in the hope that it may bring awakening.