出三藏記集 10.5

10.5

Now, the grounds of the path are the arcane halls of the arhats, the inner chambers of ascending to transcendence. The city of rootlessness is so boundless that it is hard to scale; the walls of unconditioned action are so distant that they are hard to surpass. With subtle gates and wondrous portals, few are those who enter its courtyard. As an instrument, it is like the sea to travelers: daily dipped from without being exhausted, [receiving] countless of those who return their spirits without becoming full. As an image, it embraces greatness and is quiet and serene, continuous as if everlasting. Silent and without words, few can discern it. Traceless and intangible, seek it and it is so vast that it is difficult to fathom. The Sage saw that a flower could yield fruit and perceived that through branches one could reach the root; thus, he promulgated wordless teachings and displayed rutless tracks. He expounded calm and initiated contemplation, establishing the samādhi-truths; the finest talents, the six pairs, all proceeded along this road, returning their spirits to the Valley Spirit. How admirable it is! As for the ground, it enfolds moisture and bestows nurture so that the crops of planting and harvesting may grow; fine silver and jade treasures are all borne by it. No analogy for calm and contemplation is closer than this; hence it is called the “Grounds of the Path”. Formerly, when the Host of Blessings was present, his threefold knowledge had far-reaching insight, and with the eight sounds and four analytical knowledges, he gloriously spread the transformation. Recognizing illnesses, he cured them, and the spoken scriptures were countless. But when the Tathāgata, the Sugata, passed away, the great instructions ceased; when the five hundred unattached ones departed, the spiritual teachings diverged. Thereupon, there was a tripiṭaka śramaṇa named Sangharakṣa. Looking upward, he reflected that the various practices were scattered among the multitude of texts; looking downward, he took pity on beginners who could not fully master them. Inheriting and compiling the various sūtras, he selected the essentials to summarize the practices, organizing their sequence into one work of twenty-seven chapters. Regarding practice, it is as essential as a person's head, which must be carried for a lifetime and cannot be cast down for a moment; it is like the breath, which must circulate for a lifetime and cannot be blocked for a moment. If the breath is blocked, life is lost; if the head is cast down, the body perishes. If a practitioner abandons this teaching for even a moment, treachery and depravity will enter. There was the great being Shigao, the eldest son of the King of Parthia. He relinquished the kingdom in noble abdication, forsaking the position of myriad chariots; brilliantly manifesting lofty virtue, he changed his appearance to cultivate the Path. Crossing borders to spread transformation, he arrived in this realm. The instructions he transmitted were profound, subtle, superior, and deep. Furthermore, he selected seven chapters compiled by Sangharakṣa and translated them into the Chinese language. The phonetics were close to the refined and simple, unhewn as uncarved wood: sometimes changing plainness to follow literary style, sometimes retaining plainness without embellishment. Magnificent was Shigao; he truly grasped their essentials! For cutting off the source of cravings, extinguishing desires for glory, and calming restless striving, nothing precedes calm. For clearing away delusion, understanding the nine realms, and seeing the illusory nature of the body, nothing comes before contemplation. The Great Sage thereby developed the five faculties and ascended to the undefiled state; for propagating fine transformation and altering stubborn customs, nothing takes precedence over rectitude. None fail to arise from this. This may truly be called abundant virtue and great accomplishment, reaching the utmost! The practices from the five aggregates up to formation and dissolution are the traces of the truth of suffering and the extinction of defilements. The chapter on the bases of miraculous power is the essential for meditative contemplation and the five superknowledges. The fifty-five contemplations are the root of crossing beyond the four impermanences and abandoning the three fetters. When people dwell in the world, their ignorance is not yet dispelled; they rejoice in sensual pleasure as if feasting on a great sacrifice, having dwelt in the filthy sea and endured the dark plight for nine months. Once born, they face hardships and encounter a hundred misfortunes; turning around, old age and death arrive, entangling them in myriad sufferings, drifting and drowning in the five flows without being able to return. The Sage saw deeply and took this as the realization of suffering, letting his spirit roam the eightfold path and ascending forever to eternal peace. When one concentrates single-mindedly and studies antiquity, leisure and joy are like this; when one gives rein to emotions and indulges desires, the bitter poison is like that. The two paths are clear; one should comply with what ought to be followed. Stones are used for tempering to crush, peel away the hard, and cut through the rigid; when the plain substance is refined and deep, the five colors shine brightly. Judging from this, can one not strive? I was born at an ill-fated time, encountering the unraveling of the royal order. The northern barbarians caused disorder in the central land, and the region east of the mountains was swept away. Fleeing hardship to Huoze, my teachers perished and my companions fell away. Looking around for counsel, there was nowhere to turn. At that time, there were the śramaṇa Zhi Tanjiang of Yanmen and the śramaṇa Zhu Sengfu of the capital of Ye. These two benevolent men possessed bright intelligence, had faith, and loved antiquity. Braving hazards from afar, they arrived, and I was able to exchange views with them. Examining the chapters and scrutinizing the phrases, we composed this explanatory commentary, so that the fearful and those striving to advance might temporarily gain a slight awakening. For a mosquito or gnat to flap its wings to assist the great wind, or for an ant mound to add an earthen layer to the peak of Mount Song—how could they increase their height or force? To fathom the subtle and fathomless is difficult even for the eight classes of sages; how much more so for a late-learning youngster like me to aspire to this? However, the sacred land of Tianzhu has rugged roads and lies far away; obscure are the eminent scholars, and few come to spread transformation throughout. The former sages have passed away, and future sages have not yet arrived; advancing or retreating, I stumble like a trapped wolf, sighing with tears. Therefore, I composed these chapter-and-phrase commentaries to manifest my sincere devotion, hoping that the divine ones with supernatural powers will shine their light upon my longing gaze, and surely deign to bend their spiritual feet to illuminate errors and rectify deficiencies.