出三藏記集 8.20

8.20

Now, prajñāpāramitā is the profound repository of myriad subtleties, the dark principle of all wisdoms, that from which the spiritual sovereign arises, and the illuminating potency of the Tathāgata. As a scripture, it is supremely non-existent, vacuous, expansive, and devoid of things. Being devoid of thinghood amidst things, it can equalize all things; being devoid of knowing amidst knowing, it can actuate wisdom. Therefore, it levels the three liberations in double profundity and equalizes the ten thousand things in ultimate voidness, illuminates the origin of all Buddhas, exhausts the fundamental non-existence of all sentient spirits, scales the wondrous stages of the ten abodes, and takes the direct road to non-arising. Why is this? Relying on its supreme non-existence, it is thereby capable of function. As for non-existence itself, how could it merely be non-existent? Non-existence cannot make itself non-existent, nor can the principle make itself principle. If the principle cannot make itself principle, then principle is not principle; if non-existence cannot make itself non-existent, then non-existence is not non-existence. Therefore, wondrous stages are not stages, and non-arising is not arising. The wondrous originates from the un-wondrous; non-arising originates from arising. Thus, the designations of the ten abodes arise from unfixed titles, and the wisdom of prajñā is born from the names of instructional traces. Therefore, when words are spoken, names arise; when teachings are established, wisdom subsists. Wisdom subsisting amidst things is truly traceless; names arising in that domain are inherently without words. Why so? The ultimate principle is a dark chasm returning to the nameless; being nameless and without beginning is the substance of the Way. Having nothing permissible and nothing impermissible is the sage's circumspection. If one circumspectly matches the principle to respond to movements, one cannot but resort to words. One must illuminate that whereby they are resorted to, and express that whereby they are spoken. When principle is dark, words are discarded; when awareness is forgotten, wisdom is made whole. If one preserves non-existence to seek quietude, or aspires to wisdom to forget the mind, such wisdom will not suffice to exhaust non-existence, nor will such quietude suffice to merge with the spirit. Why so? Because there remains preservation in what is preserved, and non-existence in what is made non-existent. Preserving what is preserved is not true preservation; desiring non-existence is not true non-existence. Why? One merely knows non-existence as non-existence, but does not know that whereby it is non-existent; one knows preservation as preservation, but does not know that whereby it is preserved. Desiring non-existence to forget non-existence is not the non-existence of true non-existence; relying on preservation to forget preservation is not the preservation of true preservation. Nothing compares to negating that whereby it is non-existent, and forgetting that whereby it is preserved. Forgetting that whereby it is preserved, there is no preservation in what is preserved; casting away that whereby it is non-existent, one forgets non-existence in what is non-existent. Forgetting non-existence, the subtle is preserved; the subtle being preserved, non-existence is exhausted. Exhausting non-existence, one forgets the profound; forgetting the profound, one is without mind. Only then do the two traces have no reliance, and non-existence and existence merge and exhaust. Therefore, the Buddhas rely on the beginninglessness of prajñā to clarify the spontaneous nature of the myriad things. Sentient beings forfeit the Way and drown their spirits in the abyss of desires; [the Buddhas] awaken the worldly masses with the wondrous Way, gradually diminishing desires to reach supreme non-existence, establishing dark virtue to broaden instructions, and guarding the valley spirit to preserve vacuity, equalizing all heads in dark oneness and returning all spirits to their fundamental non-existence. It is heard that the one who produced the Smaller Chapter was a master of the Way. He traveled in the outer regions for many a past year; as he is not recorded in the canons, his name remains unknown. I once heard earlier scholars pass down together: after the Buddha passed into extinction, from within the Larger Chapter, the Smaller Chapter was excerpted. As tradition has it, people only characterized him by his pure virtue and verified him through responsive events, illustrating his supreme attainment and nothing more; neither could anyone fathom his origin. Now, the consummate person encompasses all subtleties and condenses the spirit in the dark profound; responsive like an empty echo, his spiritual communion is boundlessly versatile. Establishing identical virtue to receive and transform, setting forth dark teachings to awaken the spirit, he relates past traces to investigate stagnation and expounds established regulations to open the source. Or, adapting to changes, he seeks penetration, and once the task is accomplished, transformation rests; suiting the capacities to make their allocations whole, once the allocations are sufficient, the teaching is set aside. Thus, principle is not the change, nor is change the principle; the teaching is not the substance, nor is substance the teaching. Therefore, among the thousands of changes and myriad transformations, none is outside the principle. How could the spirit be stirred? By remaining unstirred, it responds to changes without end. Endlessly changing, it is not the sage who resides in things; things change, yet not the sage; the sage has never begun to change. Thus, remaining teachings arise from changes, and theoretical stagnations are born of expedient means. Responsive reception preserves things; their principles converge in the same return, yet their words and numbers differ from the original, and their events are complete in their divergence. The efficacy of divergence arises because among the myriad kinds, the spiritual awakening may be slow or swift, always depending on their allocations. When the allocation is dim, the effort must be heavy: words accumulate and only then does awakening come. When the nature is clear, the spirit is luminous: upon encountering principle, it is profoundly free. Light and heavy have never failed to correspond to allocations. Therefore, in the sage's imparting of teachings, he does not abandon an allocation because the effort is heavy, nor does he retain lightness when an allocation is facile. Thus, that by which all kinds awaken and that by which allocated effort succeeds must require weight to carry through, relying on what is fitting to receive their allocations. This is the heavy effort of the awakened, not a redundancy in the sage's teaching. Now, the reason for abridging the general outline and completing the instructional efficacy is that one must wait for the outline to suit the capacity and condense the text to grasp the profound. Grasping the profound, penetration is easy; relying on capacity, compliance is easy. Yet beings do not realize that the two versions are not different, and that their overall intent converges upon the same ancestral principle; instead, they immediately consider the count of words as 'larger' or 'smaller,' and the lineage as refined or coarse. A concise text they call 'small'; an abundant text they call 'large.' They regard holding to the constant as penetration, and adapting to changes as frivolous; guarding numbers they regard as gain, and grasping the general outline as loss. Those followers who adhere to the literal letter are fettered in their views and bound by teachings; they place the Āgamas atop their heads, their spirits limited by narrow allocations; shallow in talent and unversed in classics, they venerate Confucianism and Mohism. Within the bounded domains of the great way, the intentions of sages, textual recordings, and phrases are interrogated, and teachings are obstructed. They consider venerating essentials as thorough understanding, and grasping the general outline as harming the ancestral principle. They require empirical verifications to clarify reality, and only when responsive proofs appear are their doubts subdued. Thus, the consummate person, according to the sentiments of the multitude, tested the principle, drawing proof from boiling oil, to clarify the fundamental substance of the Smaller Chapter and block the deep stagnation of the multitude's doubts; because of things requiring verification, he displayed proof to respond to them. Now, one cannot hastily rely on a single verification, designating him as one of pure virtue, or, if efficacy were lost in events, calling him an ordinary person, thus failing to comprehend the expedience of spiritual transformation, which commands dark responses for the future, unfolds liberating efficacy along disparate paths, and actuates boundless unity; instead, observing divergent tracks as differing systems, viewing provisional conversions as contrary to principle, taking the seat of the great treasure as delighting in kingship, and gathering relief goods as the beginning of desire. One merely knows that the consummate sage teaches, but knows not that whereby he teaches. Therefore, the sage establishes the boundaries of the Three Realms and darkly determines the myriad kinds. His teachings are not confined to a single path; he responds to things in myriad directions. Sometimes he diminishes teachings and deviates from non-existence, resorting to penetration to suit the occasion; sometimes he embraces the One to control existence, adhering to texts to clarify the ancestral principle, exalting the sacred scriptures as the standard for the world. Now, one who embodies the Way and exhausts the spirit cannot be interrogated through verbal teachings; one who roams in non-existence and treads in vacuity cannot be sought in physical vessels. Thus, the consummate person merely achieves penetration with respect to things. Clarifying that small and large are not different, he unfolds the profound signposts that have reliance, accommodating what is appropriate to things without being bound by petty obstacles. Perhaps with the Larger Chapter, the wording is luxuriant, the events extensive, and the metaphors vast and profound; though exhausting principle to its limit, it ultimately returns to dark unity. Yet its clarification of the ancestral principle and its overarching unification converge without divergence. This is likewise the timely instruction of the Great Sage, the differentiated allocation of the common people. If their allocated capacities are not the same, how could one seek simplicity from the sage? If simplicity does not stem from the sage, does it not rely on the words given to the common people? Now, as myriad sounds strike a bell, the echo holds them in unity; as the myriad things move the sage, the sage also responds in stillness. Therefore, the sound is not the echo, and words are not the sagely illumination. Furthermore, it is through the spirit that the future is known. One who knows the future is none other than the spirit itself. When the hidden dynamic stirs, the spirit is luminous; when the spirit is luminous, it anticipates and mirrors. It is clear that the coming and going are always within the mirror. For this reason, the consummate person foresaw that few in the future would compile it, and understood that talents and capacities would not be equal; thus, he simplified the instructional traces to exalt compliance, matching the allocations of all wisdoms, so that those who turn to it find it easy to synthesize, and those who know its rarity find it easy to practice. Yet the Larger Chapter has an abundance of words and enumerations, with rich, overflowing phrases and outlines, its questions and dialogues profound, its overarching principle vast and deep. Though the dark ancestral principle is easy to study, its detailed events are difficult to master fully. Therefore, it is clear that those who study must trace the footprints to find their destination, exhaustively grasp the ancestral intent, and demarcate its rise and resolution; only then will they awaken to what is obstructed and synthesize its dark essentials. Or they may need to examine all queries and clarify the dialogues, delving into the abstruse and researching the hidden to exhaust its wondrous intent. Or, because the teachings and enumerations are so vast that chanting and mastering them is hard to complete, when wanting to copy, venerate, and make offerings, their ability provides no means. Cases like these are manifold: the multitude looks up with narrow capacities, and those who truly pass through are exceedingly few. Therefore, the one who produced the Smaller Chapter drew upon the overarching thread, selected the various headings, corralled the numbers of events, and marked their origins in the ancestral principle, creating the Smaller Chapter; its diction and metaphors are pure and concise, and the unfolding of its import is unflagging. However, here and there it clarifies the ancestral principle and marks its convergence, causing the grand synthesis to have places [omitted] without harming the principle. Were it not for the supremely refined, who could understand this? Furthermore, observing its pathways and seeking its wondrous convergence, he grasped the beginning and pursued the end, thoroughly probing the profound import, mastering the royal signposts of the Larger Chapter, and fully providing the dark intent of the Smaller Chapter. Tirelessly, he drew nourishment from the dark flavor—refined indeed! Exhaustive indeed! Nothing could be added to it. This man's spirit surely reigned over the dark crossings, and his physical form was numbered among the myriad things; his measure is unfathomable. One should seek him beyond the fishing-trap and place him outside the profound. In the past, I heard it said: The Larger and Smaller Chapters both derived from the Root Chapter. The text of the Root Chapter contains six hundred thousand words. At present, it circulates in India and has not yet reached the Jin. These two excerpts also arose from the great root, but their translators were different, and the Smaller Chapter was produced first. However, although these two sūtras both derive from the Root Chapter, there are occasional differences: sometimes what the Smaller Chapter possesses is not recorded in the Larger Chapter, and what the Larger Chapter is equipped with is lacking in the Smaller Chapter. Why is this? Perhaps because the events in both are identical, they rely upon each other to clarify that their root is one; thus, they were not both set down. The Smaller Chapter is extremely brief, darkly summarizing essential matters and raising the ancestral principle; the Larger Chapter, though graceful and intricate in its phrasing, does not lose the root return. As for the commentators, some use isolated phrases to deduce events without seeking the figurative meaning; or many cut according to their own ideas without relying on the scripture's root. Consequently, the lineages of texts contradict each other, and their doctrinal points diverge alike. The various rites are practiced in a one-sided manner, losing the dark intent; or they lose the guiding framework, erroneously adducing events, using clever words to argue falsity as the scriptural body. Although their literary style is clear and free, their theoretical synthesis deviates from the ancestral principle. Therefore, when earlier sages produced scriptures, they took the foreign text as the root; though the Smaller Chapter is an excerpt, it takes the Larger as its ancestral principle. Deducing from the foreign text can illuminate the principle; verifying against the Larger can regulate the Smaller. If one stubbornly abides in what is grasped within one's mind, turning one's back on the root intent of the sacred teaching, shifting from the constant to novel sounds, contending merely for anomaly—anomaly is insufficient to verify the root, and novel sounds cannot govern the ancestral principle. Yet they abandon anomaly as mere talk, not realizing that injuring the root is severe. Injuring the root leads to losing the synthesis; losing the synthesis leads to theoretical stagnation; theoretical stagnation leads to perilous confusion. If in such peril one does not reflect on its source, and in such exhaustion one does not search for its root, then externally one has no recourse to teachers, and internally it does not stem from allocated attainment. Is this not relying on knowledge [one presumes to have] while blocking what should be sought, becoming ensnared in what is obstructed, and bringing exhaustion upon what is open? Advancing, one does not understand the constant; retreating, one does not examine the new. Explanations do not rely on the root, and principles do not align with the ancestral teaching; yet they disparage former traditions and slander ancient figures. Is this the way to study and assist one's spontaneous nature? Now, when things are endowed with life, none is without an ancestor; when events have an origin, none is without a root. The ancestor and the root are the source of the myriad principles. When the root is lost, principle is severed; when the root rots, the branches fall. This is the destiny of nature; late successors are not otherwise. At this juncture, there are those who possess natural talent and profound knowledge towering above the age, yet have not seen the Larger Chapter to grasp its origin and lineage and clarify its theoretical framework; wishing to express their thoughts through the Smaller Chapter, they invent doctrines arbitrarily. Wishing to present their allocated attainments, they conspicuously set them forth, aspiring to surpass the common crowd, merely valuing fame and guesthood, exhausting their talents and intellects to construct abstruse frameworks for the sacred words, catering to the pleasure of the multitude while turning away from the root and violating the ancestral principle. How could they compare to the Larger Chapter? If they do not awaken, I fear they will follow their delusions and deceive future generations. For this reason, I have examined similarities and differences to test their emptiness and reality, tracing the stream to its source, each having its own destination. The Smaller Chapter's citation of the ancestral principle occasionally contains various discrepancies: sometimes the wording and events are identical without violating the purposive destination; sometimes it takes the opening essential and omits the subsequent elaboration; sometimes it arranges the order of topics, aligning head and tail; sometimes scattered across various chapters, it briefly captures the dark essentials. At times, such discrepancies and differences occur. Furthermore, the matters and enumerations in the Larger Chapter are extremely numerous and its phrasing vast and expansive; if one initially wishes to search for the root ancestral principle and clearly verify the import of events, it requires immense thought, and the labor of investigation yields little success. Moreover, examining and verifying delays affairs and cannot provide quick results. Therefore, I have now aligned dark matters side by side and set the two chapters in mutual contrast, clarifying where each belongs and distinguishing the brilliance of both the large and small. Although the principle may not be profoundly hidden, the alignment of matters is different; hence, I have selected what has been investigated, combining both the refined and the coarse, thoroughly researching the events and traces so that verification has a basis. Thus, I seek the source to find the reality, aiming to fix the principle's ancestral core. In this way, I examine the grand purport of the Larger Chapter, verify the summarized essentials of the Smaller Chapter, search for where the hidden and submerged subsist, and seek where similarities and differences reside; having a track to follow, it is precisely so. Linking head and tail, tracing the dark outlines, probing tangled knots, and discriminating stagnations, I ensure the text does not violate the purport, the principle does not betray the ancestral core, dwellings of verification have reliance, and discrimination does not lose subtlety. Furthermore, for those who aspire to chant and study, giving free rein to the spirit in the ancestral core, cultivating themselves in the dark realm, tracing the origins, checking falsity and testing reality—will it not be easy and level? If my demarcations violate the ultimate substance or my comparisons do not align with the principle's signposts, or wherever they rely—I hope to await future mahāsattvas who will graciously examine it thoroughly and supply what is not yet fully detailed.