36. Arising and Ceasing of the Aggregates and Sense Bases 三六、蕴处生灭
Coauthored by Teacher Qi and His Junior Disciple | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 【尔时大慧菩萨复白佛言：世尊，惟愿世尊更为我说阴界入生灭。彼无有我，谁生谁灭？愚夫者依于生灭，不觉苦尽，不识涅槃。佛言：善哉！谛听，当为汝说。大慧白佛言：唯然受教。】 |
[At that time, Mahāmati Bodhisattva again addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One, I pray that you will again explain for me the arising and ceasing of the aggregates, elements, and sense bases. Since they are without a self, who arises and who ceases? Ordinary people rely on arising and ceasing; they do not realize the end of suffering and do not know nirvāṇa.” The Buddha said, “Excellent! Listen carefully, and I shall explain it to you.” Mahāmati addressed the Buddha: “Yes, I respectfully receive your instruction.”] |
| 大慧菩萨复白佛言：世尊，愿世尊更为我说五阴、六入、十八界之生灭。一切阴界入，若是并没有实质的自性，那么到底是谁在有生有灭呢？愚痴凡夫，随生灭相轮回沉浮，无法觉悟而脱离苦海，不能实证明了涅槃的真实真相。 |
Mahāmati Bodhisattva again addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One, may you again explain the arising and ceasing of the five aggregates, six sense bases, and eighteen elements. If all aggregates, elements, and sense bases lack any substantial intrinsic nature, then who, after all, is there to arise and cease? Deluded ordinary beings drift through the cycle of birth and death, following the appearances of arising and ceasing. They cannot awaken and leave the sea of suffering, nor can they directly realize the true reality of nirvāṇa.” |
| “阴界入”、“生灭”皆为幻相。若直了自性，则百怪都歇；若流浪不息，即为愚夫。所以此关键处，大慧菩萨慈悲复请世尊为说，生灭之根元为何，以廓迷情。从而引出佛说“如来藏”为阴界入生灭之根本依，及转识藏成佛智之深法。 |
“Aggregates, elements, and sense bases,” as well as “arising and ceasing,” are all illusory appearances. If one directly realizes one’s intrinsic nature, then all the hundred strange things come to rest; if one continues to wander without cease, one is an ordinary person. Therefore, at this crucial point, Mahāmati Bodhisattva compassionately asks the World-Honored One again to explain the root source of arising and ceasing, thereby dispelling deluded attachment. This leads to the Buddha’s teaching that the tathāgata-garbha is the fundamental basis for the arising and ceasing of the aggregates, elements, and sense bases, as well as to the profound Dharma of transforming the consciousness-store into Buddha-wisdom. |
| 【佛告大慧：如来之藏是善不善因，能遍兴造一切趣生。譬如伎儿，变现诸趣，离我我所。】 |
[The Buddha told Mahāmati: “The tathāgata-garbha is the cause of good and evil and can give rise universally to the births of all destinies. It is like a performer who manifests the various destinies, free from self and what belongs to self.”] |
| 佛告大慧：如来藏是一切善恶之因，由于它的发起和推动，才有十二类众生轮回不止；也由于它的发起和推动，三贤十地等一切诸圣毕定解脱。也就是，一切凡圣诸趣，其背后根源都是由于如来藏的发起和推动。 |
The Buddha told Mahāmati: The tathāgata-garbha is the cause of all good and evil. Through its activation and impetus, the twelve classes of living beings undergo ceaseless rebirth; likewise, through its activation and impetus, all sages, including those at the three worthy stages and ten bhūmis, are ultimately liberated. That is, the underlying source of all destinies of ordinary beings and sages is the activation and impetus of the tathāgata-garbha. |
| 就像伎儿变戏法一样，由如来藏这里能幻化出一切诸法、一切凡圣。但是，所有这些现象并非真实存在，也并非实有造作和能所分别。 |
It is like a performer doing conjuring tricks: from the tathāgata-garbha, all dharmas and all ordinary beings and sages can be magically manifested. Yet none of these phenomena truly exists, nor are there truly any acts of creation or distinctions between subject and object. |
| 注意这里如来藏不仅是不善之因，也是善之因。所谓“善”，究竟解脱才为大善；“一切趣”，不仅包括六趣轮回，也包括三贤十圣之自觉圣趣。即，如来藏不仅是轮回之所依，也是解脱之所依。 |
Note that here the tathāgata-garbha is not only the cause of evil but also the cause of good. So-called “good” in its fullest sense is ultimate liberation; and “all destinies” include not only rebirth in the six destinies but also the self-awakened sacred destinies of the three worthy stages and ten noble stages. Thus, the tathāgata-garbha is not only the basis of rebirth but also the basis of liberation. |
| 《圆觉经略疏》卷上：“就因而言，称如来藏；就果而言，则称圆觉。与真如、佛性、法界、涅槃、菩提等毕竟同一。”《大乘起信论》又将如来藏分为“在缠如来藏”和“出缠如来藏”。此门后面亦提到如来藏“名为识藏”。故可知，“如来藏”体就是妙真如性，本自清净，不生不灭，周遍一切。其体虽如此，但是相用却很悬殊： |
Volume One of A Brief Commentary on the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment states: “In terms of cause, it is called the tathāgata-garbha; in terms of fruition, it is called perfect enlightenment. It is ultimately identical with suchness, Buddha-nature, the dharma realm, nirvāṇa, bodhi, and so forth.” Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna further divides the tathāgata-garbha into the “tathāgata-garbha entangled in defilements” and the “tathāgata-garbha freed from defilements.” This section later also calls the tathāgata-garbha the “consciousness-store.” Thus we may know that the essence of the tathāgata-garbha is the wondrous nature of true suchness: originally pure, neither arising nor ceasing, and pervading all things. Although its essence is such, its appearances and functions differ greatly: |
| 迷者，圆明自性被无明尘垢遮盖，如来藏被覆成为“识藏（读CANG）”而生死流浪，这也称为“在缠如来藏”；智者则了知本自圆明，本来寂灭，实无一法可得，故沧海桑田、生灭浮沉，无不是如来智慧宝藏（读ZANG）之妙显，因此能不受一切法所拘，而妙用无边，此即假名“出缠如来藏”。 |
For the deluded, intrinsically perfect luminosity is obscured by the dust and grime of ignorance. The tathāgata-garbha is covered over and becomes the “consciousness-store” (cang), resulting in wandering through birth and death; this is also called the “tathāgata-garbha entangled in defilements.” The wise, however, know that it is originally perfectly luminous and inherently quiescent, and that in truth not a single dharma can be obtained. Therefore, the transformations of seas into mulberry fields and the ebb and flow of arising and ceasing are all wondrous manifestations of the treasury (zang) of Tathāgata wisdom. Thus they are not constrained by any dharma, and their wondrous functioning is boundless. This is provisionally called the “tathāgata-garbha freed from defilements.” |
| 《六祖坛经》云：“自性能含万法，名含藏识。若起思量，即是转识，生六识、出六门、见六尘，如是一十八界，皆从自性起用。自性若邪，起十八邪；自性若正，起十八正。若恶用即众生用，善用即佛用。”即是形容此理。 |
The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch states: “The intrinsic nature can contain the myriad dharmas; this is called the containing-store consciousness. When thought arises, it becomes transformed consciousness, giving rise to the six consciousnesses, issuing through the six gates, and perceiving the six sense objects. Thus the eighteen elements all function from the intrinsic nature. If the intrinsic nature is deviant, it gives rise to eighteen deviant states; if the intrinsic nature is correct, it gives rise to eighteen correct states. Evil functioning is the functioning of sentient beings; wholesome functioning is the functioning of Buddhas.” This describes precisely this principle. |
| 虽然如来藏之理如此深广不可思议，但是也是假有虚幻，实则并不存在真正的所谓根源，不存在发起，造作和推动。也即，如来藏之“有”，实则当体即“空”——“譬如伎儿，变现诸趣，离我我所。” |
Although the principle of the tathāgata-garbha is so profound, vast, and inconceivable, it too is provisionally existent and illusory. In reality, there is no truly so-called root source, nor any activation, creation, or impetus. In other words, the “existence” of the tathāgata-garbha is, in its very nature, “emptiness”—“It is like a performer who manifests the various destinies, free from self and what belongs to self.” |
| 【不觉彼故，三緣和合方便而生。外道不觉，计著作者，为无始虚伪恶习所熏，名为识藏，生无明住地，与七识俱。如海浪身，常生不断。离无常过，离于我论，自性无垢，毕竟清净。】 |
[“Because they do not realize this, the three conditions combine, by expedient means, to produce them. Non-Buddhists do not realize this and conceive of a creator. Perfumed by beginningless false and evil habitual tendencies, it is called the consciousness-store; it gives rise to the ground of abiding ignorance and is together with the seven consciousnesses. Like waves in the ocean, it constantly arises without interruption. It is free from the fault of impermanence, free from theories of self, intrinsically undefiled, and ultimately pure.”] |
| “无明住地”：就是“无明”的意思。无明是一切烦恼的根本因，虽号无明，却是认明而起，以至昏昧妄动。《胜鬘经宝窟》中说：无明住地者，“为彼恒沙起惑所依，名之为住。能生恒沙，故称为地。” |
“The ground of abiding ignorance” simply means ignorance. Ignorance is the fundamental cause of all afflictions. Though called ignorance, it arises through mistaking something for clarity, leading to benighted and deluded activity. A Treasury of the Śrīmālā Sūtra states: Regarding the ground of abiding ignorance, “Because it is the basis on which afflictions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges arise, it is called ‘abiding.’ Because it can produce as many as the sands of the Ganges, it is called a ‘ground.’” |
| “名为识藏，生无明住地，与七识俱”—— 在十卷本《入楞伽》里这句译为：“大慧。阿梨耶识者，名如来藏而与无明七识共俱”，因此这里“识藏”就是第八阿赖耶识。这句话翻译过来就是：如来藏由于无明作祟，就会第八阿赖耶识和前七识俱生。 |
“It is called the consciousness-store; it gives rise to the ground of abiding ignorance and is together with the seven consciousnesses”—in the ten-volume version of the Laṅkāvatāra, this is translated: “Mahāmati, the ālaya consciousness is called the tathāgata-garbha and is conjoined with ignorance and the seven consciousnesses.” Thus, “consciousness-store” here means the eighth, ālaya consciousness. This means that, when the tathāgata-garbha is troubled by ignorance, the eighth ālaya consciousness arises together with the preceding seven consciousnesses. |
| 外道不觉一切如幻、实无能所造作之理，认为是根、尘、识，三者和合而生诸世界，他们妄计实有能造作者，创造出了一切诸法。这都是因为愚痴凡夫无始劫来认假作真，被执虚为实的恶习所熏。愚痴凡夫由于这样的无明之过，从而将大好的如来藏误会裹挟而成为了第八阿赖耶识之“识藏”。既成识藏，则其他七识功能也随之具成。 |
Non-Buddhists do not realize that all is illusory and that there is truly no agent of creation or distinction between subject and object. They believe that faculties, objects, and consciousness combine to produce the various worlds, and falsely posit a real creator who has created all dharmas. This is because deluded ordinary beings, from beginningless kalpas onward, have mistaken the false for the true and have been perfumed by the evil habit of taking the unreal as real. Through the fault of such ignorance, deluded ordinary beings misunderstand and obscure the excellent tathāgata-garbha, turning it into the “consciousness-store” of the eighth ālaya consciousness. Once it has become the consciousness-store, the functions of the other seven consciousnesses also arise with it. |
| 即，因无明之过，而八识俱生，则一切生灭变异，互为关联，此起彼伏，就像大海里的浪花一样，一浪接一浪，无休无止，不能停歇。 |
That is, through the fault of ignorance, the eight consciousnesses arise together. Then all arising, ceasing, and transformation are mutually connected, each arising as another subsides, like waves in the ocean—one wave following another, without rest or end. |
| “离无常过，离于我论，自性无垢，毕竟清净”——然而其体大海却从未增减，谈不上动摇。如来藏也是如此，如来藏本来无垢，毕竟清净，并不是变幻无常，也不存在能、所主宰和造作。 |
“Free from the fault of impermanence, free from theories of self, intrinsically undefiled, and ultimately pure”—yet the body of the ocean itself has never increased or decreased, and cannot be said to be disturbed. The tathāgata-garbha is likewise: originally undefiled and ultimately pure, it is not subject to changing impermanence, nor does there exist any agent or object that rules or creates. |
| 【其诸余识，有生有灭。意意识等，念念有七。因不实妄想，取诸境界，种种形处计著名相，不觉自心所现色相，不觉苦乐，不至解脱。名相诸缠，贪生生贪，若因若攀缘。】 |
[“The other consciousnesses arise and cease. The mental faculty and mental consciousness, and the like, are seven at every moment. Because of unreal deluded thoughts, they grasp at objects, becoming attached to names and appearances in their various forms and locations. They do not realize the forms and appearances manifested by their own minds; they do not realize suffering and pleasure and do not attain liberation. Entangled by names and appearances, craving gives rise to further craving, whether as cause or as condition.”] |
| “其诸余识，有生有灭。意意识等，念念有七”——虽然如来藏体本不生灭，但是其余诸识（也就是前七识）生灭不息。这七种识，就如大海的浪花，此起彼伏，展转不息。 |
“The other consciousnesses arise and cease. The mental faculty and mental consciousness, and the like, are seven at every moment”—although the essence of the tathāgata-garbha neither arises nor ceases, the other consciousnesses, namely the first seven consciousnesses, arise and cease without interruption. Like waves in the ocean, these seven consciousnesses rise and fall in unceasing succession. |
| “因不实妄想，取诸境界，种种形处计著名相，不觉自心所现色相，不觉苦乐，不至解脱。名相诸缠，贪生生贪，若因若攀缘。 |
“Because of unreal deluded thoughts, they grasp at objects, becoming attached to names and appearances in their various forms and locations. They do not realize the forms and appearances manifested by their own minds; they do not realize suffering and pleasure and do not attain liberation. Entangled by names and appearances, craving gives rise to further craving, whether as cause or as condition.” |
| ”——迷惑众生，内被邪见妄想所转，外认诸境界为实，由此相续计著分别种种境界，或执其名，或执其相。他们不了这一切境界都是自心所现，不觉一切苦乐的本质无非是梦幻泡影，随业流转而不得解脱。众生就是这样被名、相缠缚，既由贪而生诸取舍之业行，种种外境又复助生自心之贪欲，如此因缘果报相续展转循环，无有止息。 |
That is, deluded sentient beings are inwardly driven by distorted views and deluded thoughts, while outwardly taking all objects to be real. They consequently continue to discriminate and become attached to the various objects, clinging sometimes to their names and sometimes to their appearances. They do not realize that all these objects are manifestations of their own minds; nor do they realize that the nature of all suffering and pleasure is no more than dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows. Carried along by karma, they cannot attain liberation. In this way, sentient beings are bound by names and appearances. Craving gives rise to karmic actions of grasping and rejecting, while the various external objects in turn further foster the mind’s craving. Thus causes, conditions, and karmic results continue in an endless, revolving cycle. |
| 这是说，愚痴凡夫认假作真，如来宝藏被妄识覆藏而成八识，所以颠倒妄想，执取计著。以至于种子生现行，现行复熏种子，八识之间互为因缘，辗转不息，而因果相续，轮回不息。 |
This means that deluded ordinary beings mistake the false for the true. The treasury of the Tathāgata is covered over by deluded consciousness and becomes the eight consciousnesses; thus they entertain inverted deluded thoughts and grasping attachments. Seeds give rise to manifest activity, and manifest activity in turn perfumes seeds. The eight consciousnesses become mutual causes and conditions, revolving without rest; cause and effect continue, and rebirth never ceases. |
| 【彼诸受根灭，次第不生，餘自心妄想，不知苦乐，入灭受想正受第四禅，善真谛解脱,修行者作解脱想，不离不转名如来藏识藏，七识流转不灭。所以者何？彼因攀缘，诸识生故。非声闻缘觉修行境界，不觉无我，自共相摄受，生阴界入。】 |
[“When the faculties of sensation cease and thereafter do not arise in sequence, the remaining deluded thoughts of one’s own mind do not know suffering or pleasure. Entering the cessation of sensation and perception, the proper absorption, or the fourth dhyāna, practitioners conceive this to be liberation through the good true reality. Yet, not having departed from or transformed the consciousness-store called the tathāgata-garbha, the seven consciousnesses continue to flow and do not cease. Why is this? Because the consciousnesses arise through mutual conditioning. This is not a realm of practice accessible to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas: they do not realize no-self; through grasping their own and common characteristics, they give rise to the aggregates, elements, and sense bases.”] |
| “善真谛解脱”：离开了苦、集，而证得寂灭道谛，取此为解脱（实则是狭隘的有余涅槃）。 |
“Liberation through the good true reality” means leaving behind suffering and its arising and realizing the truth of the path of quiescent cessation, taking this to be liberation—though it is in fact the narrow nirvāṇa with remainder. |
| “不离不转名如来藏识藏”：没有离开识藏，并没有将识藏转为如来宝藏。 |
“Not having departed from or transformed the consciousness-store called the tathāgata-garbha” means that one has not left the consciousness-store or transformed it into the treasury of the Tathāgata. |
| 又有一种修行者，他们认为伏诸受根不动，逐渐的，种种粗、细识想全都不生了，不知一切苦乐，这样入灭受想定，或得入第四禅天，他们认为这样就是“善真谛”者，这样就是解脱了。实则这不过是他们自以为是的解脱，这并未彻底离开颠倒妄想，并没有转识藏为如来圣智。法华曾斥云：“但尽生死，名为解脫，其实未得一切解脱也！” |
There is another kind of practitioner who believes that, by subduing the faculties of sensation so that they do not move, all coarse and subtle conscious thoughts gradually cease to arise and one no longer knows any suffering or pleasure. Such practitioners enter the concentration of cessation of sensation and perception, or attain rebirth in the fourth dhyāna heaven, and believe that this is the “good true reality” and that they have thereby attained liberation. In fact, this is merely a liberation they imagine for themselves. They have not completely left behind inverted deluded thoughts, nor have they transformed the consciousness-store into Tathāgata wisdom. The Lotus Sūtra reproves this, saying: “Merely exhausting birth and death is called liberation, but in truth it is not yet complete liberation!” |
| 这样的修法，并不能转第八识为大圆镜智，其他七种妄识就依然还会流转不息，为什么这样呢？因为八识之间，彼此互为因缘，互相辗转攀缘而相生相灭。 |
Such a method of practice cannot transform the eighth consciousness into great perfect mirror wisdom. The other seven deluded consciousnesses therefore continue to flow without cease. Why is this? Because the eight consciousnesses are mutually causes and conditions for one another, mutually conditioning one another as they arise and cease. |
| 也就是说，这样修行只能压伏心念，至多可以不起六识，但是第八阿赖耶识未转，第七末那识也依旧恒审思量，则轮回根源还在。所以一旦什么时候出定再接触外境，八识田的种子就会遇缘而起现行，则又会再次认假作真，滋生贪嗔痴了。由此而种子起现行、现行熏种子，依旧轮回往复了。 |
In other words, this kind of practice can only suppress thoughts. At most, the six consciousnesses may fail to arise; but as long as the eighth ālaya consciousness has not been transformed and the seventh manas consciousness still continually and scrutinizingly deliberates, the root of rebirth remains. Thus, once one emerges from meditative absorption and again encounters external objects, the seeds in the field of the eight consciousnesses manifest when they meet conditions. One again mistakes the false for the true and gives rise to greed, anger, and ignorance. Seeds then give rise to manifest activity, and manifest activity perfumes seeds; rebirth continues to repeat itself. |
| “非声闻缘觉修行境界，不觉无我，自共相摄受，生阴界入”——所以如来藏真实义谛，非声闻缘觉修行境界所能了知。声闻缘觉法执未断，依然存在执取分别，厌生慕灭。因此他们的修行只是暂时的压制调伏前六识，第八阿赖耶识根本未转，本质上仍未脱离五阴、六入、十八界。 |
“This is not a realm of practice accessible to śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas: they do not realize no-self; through grasping their own and common characteristics, they give rise to the aggregates, elements, and sense bases”—therefore, the true ultimate meaning of the tathāgata-garbha cannot be known through the realm of practice of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have not severed attachment to dharmas; grasping and discrimination still remain, and they loathe birth while longing for cessation. Their practice therefore only temporarily restrains and subdues the first six consciousnesses. The eighth ālaya consciousness remains fundamentally untransformed, and in essence they have not yet escaped the five aggregates, six sense bases, and eighteen elements. |
| 【见如来藏、五法自性、人法无我，则灭。地次第相续转进，余外道见不能倾动。是名住菩萨不动地，得十三昧道门乐，三昧觉所持，观察不思议佛法自愿，不受三昧门乐及实际，向自觉圣趣。不共一切声闻缘觉及诸外道所修行道，得十贤圣种性道及身智意生，离三昧行。】 |
[By seeing the tathāgatagarbha, the intrinsic nature of the five dharmas, and the selflessness of persons and dharmas, the store of consciousness is extinguished. The stages then proceed and advance in succession, and no heterodox views can shake them. This is called abiding on the immovable ground of a bodhisattva. They attain the joy of the ten gateways of samādhi, are sustained by the realization of samādhi, contemplate their own inconceivable vows concerning the Buddha Dharma, do not accept the joy of the gateways of samādhi or ultimate reality, and turn toward the noble course of self-realization. This path of practice is not shared by any śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, or non-Buddhist paths. They attain the path of the ten stages of worthy and noble spiritual disposition, and the mind-born body of body, wisdom, and intention, departing from the practice of samādhi.] |
| “十三昧道门乐”：指十种三昧法乐。佛在华严经中继十信、十住、十行、十回向、十地后，而说十种三昧之法，简称“十三昧”，分别是：普光大三昧、妙光大三昧、次第遍往诸佛国土大三昧、清净深入行大三昧、知过去庄严藏大三昧、智光明藏大三昧、了知一切世界佛庄严大三昧、众生差别身大三昧、法界自在大三昧、无碍轮大三昧。 |
“The joy of the ten gateways of samādhi” refers to the Dharma joy of ten kinds of samādhi. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, after teaching the ten faiths, ten abidings, ten practices, ten dedications, and ten grounds, the Buddha taught ten kinds of samādhi, abbreviated as the “ten samādhis.” They are: the Great Samādhi of Universal Light; the Great Samādhi of Wondrous Light; the Great Samādhi of Successively Traveling Throughout the Buddha Lands; the Great Samādhi of Pure and Deep Practice; the Great Samādhi of Knowing the Treasury of Past Adornments; the Great Samādhi of the Treasury of Wisdom-Light; the Great Samādhi of Fully Knowing the Adornments of the Buddhas in All Worlds; the Great Samādhi of the Differentiated Bodies of Sentient Beings; the Great Samādhi of Sovereignty in the Dharma Realm; and the Great Samādhi of the Unobstructed Wheel. |
| “不思议佛法自愿”：自己所发的救度众生无上弘愿。因大乘菩萨创始皆发无上大愿，诸佛子等亦学四弘誓愿。 |
“Their own inconceivable vows concerning the Buddha Dharma” refers to the unsurpassed great vows they themselves have made to liberate sentient beings. When Mahāyāna bodhisattvas first set out, they all make unsurpassed great vows; all children of the Buddha likewise learn the Four Great Vows. |
| （无上弘愿也不离自心，如《六祖坛经》曾教人：“自心众生无边誓愿度！自心烦恼无边誓愿断！ 自性法门无尽誓愿学！ 自性无上佛道誓愿成！”此明言心外无法，见性为本，是为顿教所发初心，和本经义旨相侔。我们心密学人千座所发之愿：“愿此生速开智慧成佛，救度众生，不求余果。”斯愿如此，“此生”又何限此生也……） |
(Unsurpassed great vows, too, do not depart from one’s own mind. The Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch once taught people: “I vow to liberate the boundless sentient beings of my own mind! I vow to cut off the boundless afflictions of my own mind! I vow to study the inexhaustible Dharma gates of my own intrinsic nature! I vow to accomplish the unsurpassed Buddha Way of my own intrinsic nature!” This explicitly states that there is no dharma outside the mind and that seeing one’s nature is fundamental. This is the initial resolve aroused in the sudden teaching, and it closely accords with the intent of this sūtra. We practitioners of heart esotericism make the following vow after a thousand meditation sessions: “May I swiftly open wisdom and attain Buddhahood in this life, liberate sentient beings, and seek no other fruition.” Such is this vow; and how could “this life” be limited to this life alone…) |
| “得十贤圣种性道”：即菩萨十地位。 |
“Attaining the path of the ten stages of worthy and noble spiritual disposition” means the ten grounds of a bodhisattva. |
| “身智意生”：指法、报、化三身。“身”即报身，“智”即法身，“意生”即化身。 |
“Body, wisdom, and intention-born” refers to the dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya. “Body” means the sambhogakāya; “wisdom” means the dharmakāya; and “intention-born” means the nirmāṇakāya. |
| 大慧，如果能够彻见如来藏和五法（名、相、妄想、正智、如如）的本质真相，亲证人法二无我，八识识藏才能永为熄灭。（其实真相就是：如来藏者，当体即空，本自圆明，无可取舍；一旦打破窠臼，大梦觉醒就会省悟，所谓八识识藏者，元是虚妄误会，八识本就是四智，识藏和如来藏本就无二无别。） |
Mahāmati, if one can thoroughly see the true reality of the tathāgatagarbha and the five dharmas—name, appearance, deluded thought, right wisdom, and suchness—and directly realize the twofold selflessness of persons and dharmas, only then can the store of the eight consciousnesses be forever extinguished. (In fact, the true reality is this: the tathāgatagarbha is empty in its very essence, originally complete and luminous, with nothing to grasp or reject. Once one breaks through the old mold and awakens from the great dream, one realizes that what is called the store of the eight consciousnesses was originally a false misunderstanding: the eight consciousnesses are themselves the four wisdoms, and the store of consciousness and the tathāgatagarbha have never been two or different.) |
| 诸菩萨都是由这样的修行路径而得入菩萨地，进而次第升进的。也是由于这样的根除无明，洞开知见，亲证无相实相，才能不被一切外道见解所倾动，是名住菩萨不动地。 |
All bodhisattvas enter the bodhisattva grounds through this path of practice and then advance stage by stage. It is also by uprooting ignorance in this way, opening insight, and directly realizing the signless true reality that they cannot be shaken by any non-Buddhist views. This is called abiding on the immovable ground of a bodhisattva. |
| 再由此安然不动之大定，继续深入修证而证得世出世间一切禅定三昧境界；但是大乘菩萨由于秉持智慧正见，不会住着于禅定三昧的种种法乐；同时也观察忆念：自己往昔曾发救度众生之不可思议誓愿，所以不应该耽沉于禅定境界的暂时安乐。大乘菩萨有此觉悟和忆念，必会地地升进，最终直取如来自觉圣智究竟之果。 |
Then, on the basis of this great samādhi of peaceful immovability, they continue to deepen their cultivation and realization, attaining all worldly and supramundane states of dhyāna and samādhi. Yet Mahāyāna bodhisattvas, because they uphold the wisdom of right view, do not abide in or cling to the various Dharma joys of dhyāna and samādhi. At the same time, they contemplate and recollect the inconceivable vows they made in the past to liberate sentient beings; therefore, they should not become engrossed in the temporary ease of meditative states. With this realization and recollection, Mahāyāna bodhisattvas will surely advance from ground to ground and ultimately attain directly the final fruition of the Tathāgata’s noble wisdom of self-realization. |
| 大乘菩萨如是修证，不同一切声闻、缘觉及诸外道所修行之道。大乘菩萨从初地到圆证十地，最终彻底圆满法、报、化三身妙用，而始终不住于诸三昧行。 |
Mahāyāna bodhisattvas cultivate and realize in this way, unlike the path practiced by all śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and non-Buddhist paths. From the first ground until they fully realize the ten grounds, Mahāyāna bodhisattvas ultimately bring the wondrous functions of the dharmakāya, sambhogakāya, and nirmāṇakāya to complete fulfillment, while never abiding in the practices of the various samādhis. |
| 相比上段佛说的，二乘人压伏六识，取暂时寂静为涅槃的错误修行，这段佛指出了大乘佛法则不住着、不留恋三昧境界。 |
In contrast to what the Buddha said in the preceding passage about the mistaken practice of adherents of the two vehicles, who suppress the six consciousnesses and take temporary quiescence as nirvāṇa, this passage indicates that Mahāyāna Buddhadharma neither abides in nor clings to states of samādhi. |
| 并指出如来究竟果地的修行方法：“见如来藏、五法自性、人法无我，则灭”这句是核心，也就是说，若要真正灭除八识妄想，必须开佛知见，明心见性，亲证根本的究竟实相。而实相是无相无不相，如此全体毕现，凡圣情空，就能既不受世间假相昧惑、也不受出世间三昧安乐假相昧惑，进而于实无众生可度处，灭度无数无量无边众生。 |
It also points out the method of practice for attaining the Tathāgata’s ultimate fruition: “By seeing the tathāgatagarbha, the intrinsic nature of the five dharmas, and the selflessness of persons and dharmas, the store of consciousness is extinguished.” This sentence is the core. That is to say, if one is truly to extinguish the deluded thoughts of the eight consciousnesses, one must open the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, realize the mind and see one’s true nature, and directly realize the fundamental ultimate reality. Yet true reality is signless and not without signs. Thus, when the whole is fully revealed and the feelings of ordinary beings and sages alike are emptied, one is neither deluded by the illusory appearances of the world nor by the illusory appearances of supramundane bliss in samādhi. One may then liberate innumerable, boundless sentient beings where, in truth, there are no sentient beings to be liberated. |
| 【是故大慧，菩萨摩诃萨欲求胜进者，当净如来藏及藏识名。大慧，若无识藏名，如来藏者则无生灭。大慧，然诸凡圣悉有生灭，修行者自觉圣趣，现法乐住，不舍方便。】 |
[Therefore, Mahāmati, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish to seek further advancement should purify the tathāgatagarbha and the designation “store of consciousness.” Mahāmati, if the designation “store of consciousness” did not exist, then the tathāgatagarbha would have neither arising nor ceasing. Mahāmati, yet all ordinary beings and sages have arising and ceasing. Practitioners enter the noble course of self-realization and abide in the bliss of the Dharma as presently realized, without relinquishing skillful means.] |
| “现法乐住”： 这里并非指小乘的暂时禅定或者有余涅槃。“现法乐住”即，示现为安住于解脱真法之乐的状态，也就是示现得大自在的究竟解脱。当然，大自在也不可得，所以是“现”法乐住。 |
“Abiding in the bliss of the Dharma as presently realized” does not here refer to the temporary dhyāna of the Lesser Vehicle or to nirvāṇa with remainder. It means manifesting a state of abiding in the bliss of the true Dharma of liberation—that is, manifesting ultimate liberation endowed with great freedom. Of course, great freedom itself cannot be grasped; therefore it is called “manifesting” abiding in the bliss of the Dharma. |
| 因此大慧，诸菩萨若求究竟道果者，应该令如来藏或者另名为藏识者，恢复其本自的清净。但是清净如来藏或阿赖耶识者，并不意味着断灭。假如断灭清除了第八阿赖耶识，那也就没有了种种的生灭变异。 |
Therefore, Mahāmati, bodhisattvas seeking the ultimate fruition of the Way should restore the tathāgatagarbha—also called the store of consciousness—to its original purity. Yet a pure tathāgatagarbha or ālaya consciousness does not imply annihilation. If the eighth ālaya consciousness were annihilated and removed, there would likewise be no various arising, ceasing, and transformations. |
| 然而我们所见，一切凡圣都有生有灭：凡夫依第八阿赖耶识而生死轮回，圣者也籍之借假修真，示现发心修行、究竟证果的过程。而如果证得究竟自觉圣智，现大自在解脱，就必定不舍一切生灭变异之方便。 |
Yet, as we see, all ordinary beings and sages have birth and cessation. Ordinary beings undergo the cycle of birth and death in reliance on the eighth ālaya consciousness, while sages likewise use it provisionally to cultivate the true, manifesting the process of arousing the resolve, practicing, and ultimately realizing fruition. If one realizes the ultimate noble wisdom of self-realization and manifests liberation in great freedom, one certainly does not relinquish the skillful means of all arising, ceasing, and transformations. |
| 也即，净如来藏并不是隔绝、断除。证得自觉圣智的诸佛菩萨，恰巧借着种种生灭变异的假相而大作梦中佛事，示现游戏三昧。 |
That is, purifying the tathāgatagarbha does not mean isolating or cutting it off. Buddhas and bodhisattvas who have realized the noble wisdom of self-realization make great Buddha-work in the dream through the various illusory appearances of arising, ceasing, and transformation, manifesting samādhi as play. |
| 【大慧，此如来藏识藏，一切声闻缘觉心想所见，虽自性净，客尘所覆故，犹见不净，非诸如来。大慧，如来者，现前境界犹如掌中视阿摩勒果。】 |
[Mahāmati, this tathāgatagarbha, the store of consciousness, is what all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas perceive through their conceptual minds. Although its intrinsic nature is pure, because it is covered by adventitious defilements, they still see it as impure; this is not so for the Tathāgatas. Mahāmati, for the Tathāgatas, the realm before them is as clear as seeing an āmalaka fruit in the palm of the hand.] |
| 大慧，所以此如来藏识藏一法不立而并不断灭的义理甚深。一切声闻、缘觉，心中犹有法尘分别、情识见解，所以他们的知见见解并不彻底，也就是说，他们在知见上偏空，在修证上堕入断灭，实际并没有彻底转识藏阿赖耶识为如来宝藏。 |
Mahāmati, therefore the principle that this tathāgatagarbha, or store of consciousness, neither establishes a single dharma nor falls into annihilation is profoundly deep. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas still have discriminations based on dharma objects and views arising from affective consciousness. Their understanding and views are therefore not thorough. That is, their views incline toward biased emptiness, and their cultivation and realization fall into annihilation; in actuality, they have not completely transformed the store of consciousness, the ālaya consciousness, into the treasury of the Tathāgata. |
| 诸佛如来则现证大圆镜智朗照境界。如来观一切境界，犹如看手掌中阿摩勒果一样分明。这是比喻如来彻证一切诸法唯自心现量，实无可得，故于一切法性能够究竟明澈，“善于分别诸法相，于第一义而不动”。 |
The Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, directly realize the realm illumined by great perfect mirror wisdom. The Tathāgata sees all realms as clearly as an āmalaka fruit in the palm of the hand. This is a metaphor for the Tathāgata’s thorough realization that all dharmas are only manifestations directly present from one’s own mind and are, in truth, unobtainable. Therefore, the Tathāgata sees the nature of all dharmas with ultimate clarity: “Skilled at distinguishing the characteristics of all dharmas, yet unmoved in the highest truth.” |
| 注意这里批驳小乘：“客尘所覆故，犹见不净”——二乘行人有法可证，有圣可成，如此便是昧却主人公，将自己割裂于客人境地，是为“客尘所覆”。 |
Note that this passage criticizes the Lesser Vehicle: “Because it is covered by adventitious defilements, they still see it as impure.” Practitioners of the two vehicles regard dharmas as attainable and sainthood as realizable. In this way, they obscure the master within and separate themselves into the position of guests; this is what it means to be “covered by adventitious defilements.” |
| 【大慧，我于此义，以神力建立，令胜鬘夫人及利智满足诸菩萨等，宣扬演说如来藏及识藏名与七识俱生。声闻计著，见人法无我。故胜鬘夫人承佛威神，说如来境界，非声闻缘觉及外道境界。如来藏识藏，唯佛及余利智依义菩萨智慧境界。是故汝及余菩萨摩诃萨，于如来藏识藏，当勤修学，莫但闻觉作知足想。】 |
[Mahāmati, by establishing this teaching through my spiritual power, I enabled Queen Śrīmālā and bodhisattvas endowed with keen wisdom to proclaim and expound the tathāgatagarbha, the designation “store of consciousness,” and their co-arising with the seven consciousnesses. Śrāvakas are attached to conceptualization and perceive the selflessness of persons and dharmas. Therefore Queen Śrīmālā, receiving the Buddha’s majestic spiritual power, taught the realm of the Tathāgata, which is not the realm of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, or non-Buddhist paths. The tathāgatagarbha, the store of consciousness, is a realm of wisdom only for Buddhas and other bodhisattvas of keen wisdom who rely on the definitive meaning. Therefore, you and the other bodhisattva mahāsattvas should diligently study and cultivate the tathāgatagarbha, the store of consciousness; do not be satisfied merely with hearing and intellectual understanding.] |
| 藏中有《胜鬘狮子吼一乘大方便方广经》以及《大宝积经》（第119卷胜鬘夫人会），记载佛与胜鬘夫人等说法，其中有“如来藏”章义。这里佛说的就是此事： |
The canon contains The Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Ekayāna Mahāvaipulya Sūtra and the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra (fascicle 119, the Assembly of Queen Śrīmālā), which record teachings given by the Buddha to Queen Śrīmālā and others, including the meaning of the chapter on the tathāgatagarbha. What the Buddha says here refers to this matter: |
| 大慧，对于如来藏识藏，我曾以不可思议智慧力加持，令胜鬘夫人及大智慧菩萨等，代我宣说清净如来藏以及阿赖耶识和七识相生相灭的义理。这是为了令计著声闻远离人、法二种执着。所以当时胜鬘夫人承佛威神而说如来智慧究竟境界，并驳斥了声闻缘觉及外道的邪见。 |
Mahāmati, concerning the tathāgatagarbha and the store of consciousness, I once blessed Queen Śrīmālā and bodhisattvas of great wisdom through inconceivable wisdom-power, enabling them to proclaim on my behalf the principles of the pure tathāgatagarbha and of the arising and ceasing of the ālaya consciousness together with the seven consciousnesses. This was to enable attached śrāvakas to leave behind the two attachments to persons and dharmas. Thus Queen Śrīmālā, receiving the Buddha’s majestic spiritual power, taught the ultimate realm of the Tathāgata’s wisdom and refuted the erroneous views of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and non-Buddhist paths. |
| 大慧，如来藏识藏的深义，唯诸佛及利智了义的菩萨能够洞彻。所以诸菩萨等，应于此如来藏识藏，精勤学习和修证，莫但听闻觉知，便生知足之想。 |
Mahāmati, only the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of keen wisdom who comprehend the definitive meaning can penetrate the profound meaning of the tathāgatagarbha and the store of consciousness. Therefore, all bodhisattvas should diligently study, cultivate, and realize this tathāgatagarbha and store of consciousness. Do not merely hear and intellectually understand it, then give rise to the thought that this is enough. |
| （注：《大宝积经》（第119卷胜鬘夫人会）中节选关于“如来藏”经文如下：“世尊。如来藏者是法界藏。是法身藏。出世间藏。性清净藏。此本性净。如来藏者如我所解。纵为客尘烦恼所染。犹是不可思议如来境界。 |
(Note: The following passages concerning the tathāgatagarbha are excerpted from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, fascicle 119, the Assembly of Queen Śrīmālā: “World-Honored One, the tathāgatagarbha is the treasury of the dharma realm, the treasury of the Dharma body, the treasury beyond the world, and the treasury of intrinsic purity. As I understand it, this tathāgatagarbha is intrinsically pure. Even when stained by adventitious defilements and afflictions, it remains the inconceivable realm of the Tathāgata. |
| 何以故。世尊。刹那刹那善不善心。客尘烦恼所不能染。何以故。烦恼不触心。心不触烦恼。云何不触法而能得染心。世尊。由有烦恼有随染心。随烦恼染难解难了。唯佛世尊为眼为智为法根本为尊为导。为正法依。如实知见。 |
Why is this so, World-Honored One? In each moment, wholesome and unwholesome mental states cannot be stained by adventitious defilements and afflictions. Why is this so? Afflictions do not touch mind, and mind does not touch afflictions. How can a dharma that does not touch it nevertheless stain the mind? World-Honored One, because afflictions exist, there is a mind that is subsequently stained. Such staining by accompanying afflictions is difficult to understand and difficult to know. Only the Buddha, the World-Honored One, is the eye, wisdom, root of Dharma, venerable one, guide, support of the true Dharma, and one who knows and sees reality as it is. |
| 尔时世尊叹胜鬘夫人言。善哉善哉。如汝所说。性清净心随烦恼染。难可了知。复次胜鬘。有二种法难可了知。何等为二。谓性清净心难可了知。彼心为烦恼染。亦难了知。如此二法。汝及成就大法菩萨。乃能听受。” |
At that time, the World-Honored One praised Queen Śrīmālā, saying: ‘Excellent, excellent. As you have said, that the intrinsically pure mind is stained by accompanying afflictions is difficult to comprehend. Furthermore, Śrīmālā, there are two dharmas difficult to comprehend. What are these two? The intrinsically pure mind is difficult to comprehend, and that this mind is stained by afflictions is also difficult to comprehend. Only you and bodhisattvas who have accomplished the great Dharma can receive and accept these two dharmas.’” |
| 也即，虽然众生无明作祟，将大好如来藏裹挟、遮覆而成识藏，继而客尘烦恼和随染心来回往复，轮回不息。然而识藏本质还是净如来藏，如来藏性本自清净，非垢非净，不增不减。） |
That is, although sentient beings, through the mischief of ignorance, enshroud and conceal the excellent tathāgatagarbha, making it into a store of consciousness, and then move back and forth between adventitious defilements, afflictions, and the subsequently stained mind without end in saṃsāra, the essential nature of the store of consciousness remains the pure tathāgatagarbha. The nature of the tathāgatagarbha is originally pure: neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing.) |
| 【尔时世尊欲重宣此义，而说偈言：甚深如来藏。而与七识俱。二种摄受生。智者则远离。】 |
[At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke these verses: The profoundly deep tathāgatagarbha is together with the seven consciousnesses. It arises through two kinds of grasping; the wise keep far from them.] |
| 如来藏是一切染、净之所依。此理深妙，不可测度。迷惑众生认假作真，所以清净如来藏覆为识藏，而能、所对立，攀缘执取，继而造业受报，轮回不息。智者则远离能、所二边，远离一切妄想分别。 |
The tathāgatagarbha is the basis of all defilement and purity. This principle is profound and wondrous, beyond measure. Deluded sentient beings take the false for the true; thus the pure tathāgatagarbha becomes obscured as the storehouse consciousness. Subject and object then stand in opposition, giving rise to grasping, attachment, karma, and karmic retribution, and the cycle of rebirth continues without end. The wise, however, remain apart from the two extremes of subject and object and from all deluded thoughts and discriminations. |
| 【如镜像现心。无始习所薰。如实观察者。诸事悉无事。】 |
[Like images appearing in a mirror, / Perfumed by habits from beginningless time. / For one who observes things as they are, / All affairs are no affairs.] |
| 一切诸法，无非自心所现。迷惑众生被无始虚伪习气所熏，而见实有根、身、器世间一切万有。然而这一切无非幻现。就如同圆镜，可以现众异色，不管是声色犬马之欢娱，还是流离刑徒之困顿，通是镜面光景，虽然来往分明，但是于镜子本身，并无一分的增减。所以，若能如实观察便了知，此一切诸事皆如镜中物，一切事皆是无事。 |
All dharmas are nothing but manifestations of one’s own mind. Deluded sentient beings, permeated by false habitual tendencies from beginningless time, perceive the sense faculties, the body, the material world, and all things as truly existing. Yet all of these are merely illusory appearances. It is like a round mirror, which can reflect many different forms and colors: whether the pleasures of music, beauty, dogs, and horses, or the hardships of wandering exiles and prisoners, all are scenes upon the mirror’s surface. Though they clearly come and go, they neither add to nor diminish the mirror itself in the slightest. Therefore, if one can observe things as they are, one knows that all these affairs are like objects within a mirror: all affairs are no affairs. |
| 【如愚见指月。观指不观月。计著名字者。不见我真实。】 |
[Like a fool who sees the finger pointing to the moon / And looks at the finger rather than the moon. / Those who cling to names / Do not see my true reality.] |
| “修多罗教，如标月指”，如来之语本为托义，如活泉生水洗濯垢污；奈何愚者见指不见月，穿凿文义者如麻似粟。应知究竟真实，毕竟不落言诠思量。所谓“利智依义菩萨智慧境界”，又岂是计较名相之徒所能梦见！ |
“The teachings of the sūtras are like a finger pointing to the moon.” The words of the Tathāgata are originally intended to convey meaning; like living spring water, they wash away defilement. Yet how can it be that fools see the finger but not the moon, while those who pedantically analyze verbal meanings are as numerous as sesame seeds and millet grains? One should know that ultimate reality never falls within the scope of verbal explanation or conceptual thought. This is what is meant by “the realm of wisdom of bodhisattvas of keen intelligence who rely on meaning.” How could those who haggle over names and appearances even dream of it? |
| 【心为工伎儿。意如和伎者。五识为伴侣。妄想观伎众。】 |
[The mind is like a skilled performer; / Intellect is like one who accompanies the performance. / The five consciousnesses are its companions; / Deluded thoughts are like the audience watching the show.] |
| “心”即第八阿赖耶识，第八识受熏持种，变现根、身、器世间，如同伎儿随缘变造诸幻。“意”即第七末那识之意根，第七识恒审思量，我执难舍，恒持传递，就如同唱和的人，与戏相伴最为紧密。前五转识对尘取境，展转为侣。第六意识情尘计较，“妄想”分别，如同观众。 |
“Mind” is the eighth, ālaya consciousness. The eighth consciousness receives impressions and retains seeds, transforming them into the sense faculties, the body, and the material world, just as a performer creates various illusions according to circumstances. “Intellect” is the mind faculty of the seventh, manas consciousness. The seventh consciousness constantly and closely deliberates; attachment to self is difficult to relinquish, and it continually maintains and transmits. It is like one who sings in accompaniment, most closely associated with the performance. The first five active consciousnesses take hold of their objects in response to sensory objects, successively becoming companions. The sixth consciousness calculates over feelings and sensory objects, while deluded thoughts and discriminations are like the audience. |
| 如此而成一部轮回大戏，自是演者，自是观者，岂不悲乎。 |
Thus the great drama of rebirth is formed: one is oneself the performer and oneself the spectator. Is this not tragic? |
| 本门概要： |
Outline of This Dharma Gate: |
| 由大慧菩萨启问阴、界、入生灭的根源，佛开示了如来藏之理。由于“如来藏”理，教下历来解释纷纭。故根据本门所示，现归纳“如来藏”如下： |
In response to Mahāmati Bodhisattva’s question concerning the source of the arising and ceasing of the aggregates, realms, and sense bases, the Buddha expounded the principle of the tathāgatagarbha. Interpretations of the principle of the tathāgatagarbha have long varied widely among doctrinal schools. Therefore, according to what is taught in this Dharma gate, the tathāgatagarbha may now be summarized as follows: |
| 1、如来藏是染净所依，也是发起和推动凡圣诸趣的根本。 |
1. The tathāgatagarbha is the basis of defilement and purity, and it is also the root that gives rise to and propels the various destinies of ordinary beings and sages. |
| 2、但是，如来藏的本质就是妙真如性，本自清净，圆明周遍，不生不灭。 |
2. Yet the essential nature of the tathāgatagarbha is wondrous suchness-nature: originally pure, perfectly luminous and all-pervading, neither arising nor ceasing. |
| 3、于凡夫界言：因无明误会，而将大好如来藏隐覆而成“识藏”之名(所谓“名”者，即本质未变之义，本质如来藏依旧不增不减)，进而七识随之俱生，八识之间互为因果而辗转不息，贪生生贪，这就是阴界入生灭轮回之理。 |
3. Speaking from the perspective of ordinary beings: through the misunderstanding of ignorance, this excellent tathāgatagarbha is concealed and called the “storehouse consciousness.” The term “called” means that its essential nature has not changed; the tathāgatagarbha itself remains neither increased nor decreased. The seven consciousnesses then arise together with it. The eight consciousnesses mutually serve as cause and effect, turning ceaselessly in succession. Craving gives rise to birth, and birth gives rise to craving. This is the principle by which the aggregates, realms, and sense bases arise and cease in rebirth. |
| 4、小乘修者：虽然依如来藏而于轮回苦海中发心出离，但是法见未除，压诸受根不起而求入涅槃，实则也未转识藏之名，根本上说还是没有脱离阴界入。 |
4. Practitioners of the Lesser Vehicle: although relying on the tathāgatagarbha, they arouse the resolve to leave the bitter sea of rebirth, their view of dharmas has not yet been removed. They suppress the arising of the sensory faculties and seek entry into nirvāṇa. In truth, they have not transformed the designation “storehouse consciousness”; fundamentally, they have still not gone beyond the aggregates, realms, and sense bases. |
| 5、唯大乘菩萨及诸佛：洞见如来藏、识藏非一非异之实相，既不被生灭轮回所缚，也不住于偏真涅槃寂静。虽然了知一切虚幻，又不舍方便，恰好借如来藏示现生灭变异，随缘救度众生，是为如来藏用全体毕现。 |
5. Only Mahāyāna bodhisattvas and the Buddhas: they penetrate the true reality that the tathāgatagarbha and the storehouse consciousness are neither one nor different. They are neither bound by the arising and ceasing of rebirth nor abide in the quiescence of one-sided nirvāṇa. Although they know that all is illusory, they do not abandon skillful means. Precisely by means of the tathāgatagarbha, they manifest arising, ceasing, and transformation, and, in accord with conditions, liberate sentient beings. This is the complete manifestation of the functioning of the tathāgatagarbha. |
| 所以当知，如来藏者，就是妙明佛性。若迷，便成“阿赖耶识”，依之则推动轮回，“汝暂举心，尘劳先起”；若悟，则不妨大圆镜智朗照，一切本就是如来宝藏毕现，“我若按指，海印放光”。然而如来藏也不可得，不可立之。正如怀让禅师所说：“心地含诸种，遇泽悉皆萌。三昧华无相，何坏复何成？” |
Therefore, you should know that the tathāgatagarbha is the wondrous, luminous Buddha-nature. When deluded, it becomes the “ālaya consciousness,” which propels rebirth: “As soon as you stir your mind, the dusts of affliction arise first.” When awakened, however, the great perfect mirror wisdom may shine forth brightly, for all things have always been the full manifestation of the treasury of the Tathāgata: “When I press my finger down, the ocean-seal emits light.” Yet the tathāgatagarbha, too, is unobtainable and cannot be established. As Chan Master Huairang said: “The mind-ground contains all seeds; when they encounter moisture, all sprout. The flower of samādhi is formless—what can decay, and what can come into being?” |
| 故知佛法乃随方便而立言，“如来藏”之方便说，本为引迷惑众生，息却妄想，彰显本具之真如智慧。但近世以来，多被好文者执以为实，甚至各立宗派，争论不休。如此便是屑上又落一层泥，而离解脱义越来越了。故本门最后颂曰：“计著名字者，不见我真实”,“如实观察者，诸事悉无事”。 |
Thus we know that the Buddha Dharma establishes words only through skillful means. The expedient teaching of the “tathāgatagarbha” was originally intended to guide deluded sentient beings, bring deluded thoughts to rest, and reveal the wisdom of suchness inherently possessed. Yet in recent times, many lovers of literary elaboration have taken it as real, even establishing separate schools and arguing without end. This merely adds another layer of mud, and takes them ever farther from the meaning of liberation. Therefore, the final verse of this Dharma gate says: “Those who cling to names do not see my true reality”; “For one who observes things as they are, all affairs are no affairs.” |
