大方廣圓覺修多羅了義經 1.89

1.89

於是淨諸業障菩薩在大眾中即從座起，頂禮佛足右繞三匝，長跪叉手而白佛言：「大悲世尊！為我等輩廣說如是不思議事一切如來因地行相，令諸大眾得未曾有，覩見調御歷恒沙劫勤苦境界，一切功用猶如一念，我等菩薩深自慶慰。世尊！若此覺心本性清淨，因何染污，使諸眾生迷悶不入？唯願如來廣為我等開悟法性，令此大眾及末世眾生作將來眼。」說是語已五體投地，如是三請終而復始。

Then Purifying Karmic Obstructions Bodhisattva arose from his seat within the great assembly, bowed with his head at the feet of the Buddha, circumambulated him three times, knelt before him with hands clasped at his breast, and addressed the Buddha, saying, “Great Compassionate World-honored One, you have fully set forth for us such inconceivable things as the characteristics of the causal practice of all Tathāgatas and have caused the great assembly to gain something that it had never had before. We have seen all the efforts of the charioteer ( puruṣadamyasārathi; i.e., the Buddha) in the sphere of toilsome endeavor over the course of eons as innumerable as the sands in the Ganges River as if they were a moment of thought, and we bodhisattvas are profoundly consoled. World-honored One, if the enlightened mind is intrinsically pure by its very nature, how is it sullied so that sentient beings in their delusion and distress cannot enter into it? I pray that the Tathāgata will extensively awaken our understanding of the Dharma-nature and cause this assembly as well as sentient beings in the final age to generate the eye that sees the future.” Having spoken these words, he prostrated himself fully. He made his request in this way three times in succession.

At that time the World-honored One addressed Purifying Karmic Obstructions Bodhisattva, saying, “Excellent! How excellent, son of good family, that, for the sake of the great assembly as well as sentient beings in the final age you have thus asked the Tathāgata about such expedients. Now listen carefully to what I shall expound to you.” Then Purifying Karmic Obstructions Bodhisattva, delighted to receive the teaching, listened silently along with the great assembly.

“Son of good family, from beginningless time all sentient beings through their delusive conceptualization grasp the self, person, sentient beings, and life as existing. Mistaking these four, they invertedly take them to constitute the substance of a real self. Consequently they generate the duality of like

and dislike, becoming further attached to unreality in regard to what is unreal

in substance. These two delusions in dependence on one another generate

the paths of delusive karma. Because of delusive karma, they delusively per-

ceive the ever-flowing cycle. Repulsed by the ever-flowing cycle, they delu-

sively perceive nirvana. Consequently there are those who cannot enter pure

enlightenment. It is not that enlightenment prevents their being able to enter

it; rather, it is that those who are able to enter it oppose their own entrance

to enlightenment. Therefore activating thought and suppressing thought both

lead to delusion and distress.

“Why? Because of the presence of the ignorance that primordially arises

without beginning, they take the self as the controlling agent [in the activa-

tion and suppression of thought]. Hence all sentient beings are born without

the eye of wisdom. The nature of their bodies and minds is entirely igno-

rance. For example, it is like someone not wanting to put an end to his own

life. Therefore you should know that when things please the self, they accord

with the self, and when things do not accord [with the self], resentment is

born. Because the mentality of like and dislike fosters ignorance, they per-

petuate each other, and beings do not succeed in their pursuit of the Way.

“Son of good family, what is the mark of self (ātman)? It refers to what

is recognized by the mind of sentient beings. Son of good family, when a

person’s body is in good health he naturally forgets about himself, but if his

four limbs are sluggish and he applies some acupuncture or moxibustion to

restore himself, then he knows that there is a self. Therefore, in that recog-

nition and grasping the self is made to appear as substantial. Son of good

family, everything from that state of mind to the recognition of pure nirvana

as the final knowledge of the Tathāgata bears the mark of self.