The Function of the Great Mind 大心之用
Master Wang Xianglu | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 颠倒者，心小用之果也，人与人，族与族，国与国，皆因小见而多争，以小用则自然渐趋于恶。言善者，平之而已，未能空也。古人争论性之善恶，以未见性，故作此语。此性者，习也，心也。性无善恶，而起心以成习。 |
Delusion is the result of the mind being narrowly employed. People contend with people, clans with clans, and nations with nations, all because of narrow views. When the mind is used narrowly, it naturally and gradually tends toward evil. What is called goodness merely brings things into balance; it has not yet become empty. The ancients disputed whether human nature is good or evil, but because they had not seen their nature, they spoke in this way. This “nature” refers to habit and to mind. Nature itself is neither good nor evil; it is through the arising of mind that habits are formed. |
| 一若出乎性之本然者，遂有此偏见，不知善恶乃心上幻起之变化，非性分事。性不因此而增损，故曰：不污染。庄子逍遥篇，其旨欲人大其心而后可以入道。 |
Once something departs from the inherent suchness of nature, partial views arise. One does not know that good and evil are transformations illusorily produced in the mind; they are not matters belonging to one’s nature. Nature is neither increased nor diminished by them; hence it is said to be “unpolluted.” The purport of Zhuangzi’s chapter “Free and Easy Wandering” is that one must first enlarge one’s mind before one can enter the Way. |
| 华严之旨，佛以此经付大心凡夫，心大则志趣远大，承当力强，于觉为近。此君子小人之分，而大心之中，复有澈与未澈之比。未见性者，心未空寂，其用虽大而不圆，或圆而不遍。每从心上计心，心日趋于小。 |
The purport of the Avataṃsaka is that the Buddha entrusted this sūtra to ordinary beings of great resolve. When the mind is great, one’s aspirations are lofty, one’s capacity to undertake responsibility is strong, and one is close to awakening. This distinguishes the noble person from the petty person. Yet among those of great resolve, there are degrees of thoroughness and lack of thoroughness. Those who have not seen their nature have not yet made the mind empty and quiescent. Though their functioning may be great, it is not complete; or though complete, it is not all-pervading. Whenever one calculates within the mind by means of the mind, the mind grows smaller day by day. |
| 为精为专，以相对也。必先内证空寂之本性，然后起诸心用，则妙观一切本空之理。我心之所执持者不坚，故能广而大，圆而遍，通而不住。善且不取，何有于恶，此大心之用，非乐小法者堪知。 |
To be refined and focused is still relative. One must first inwardly realize the empty and quiescent original nature, and only then activate the various functions of mind. In this way, one marvelously contemplates the principle that all things are originally empty. What my mind grasps is not firmly held; therefore it can be broad and great, complete and all-pervading, penetrating yet non-abiding. If one does not even grasp at goodness, how could there be any evil? This is the functioning of a great mind, beyond the understanding of those who delight in lesser dharmas. |
| 人之生焉，以秉五欲而来。所谓因淫欲而正性命。五欲者，财、色、食、名、睡是其根也。既有其根，则必滋生枝叶花果，遇缘而发，无有穷期，此自然之势也。以演变之无穷，遂有六道之妄立。 |
Human beings are born endowed with the five desires. It is said that, because of sexual desire, one establishes one’s life. The five desires have their roots in wealth, sensuality, food, fame, and sleep. Once the roots exist, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit necessarily grow. They arise upon meeting conditions, without end; this is their natural tendency. From their endless unfolding came the illusory establishment of the six realms. |
| 发挥其幻心，求畅其五欲，本性由是迷昧。所用之心，不觉由大而小，枉自受苦，不知所止。此先觉者之所悲悯，而大悲之愿所启发也。管子曰：心之中又有心也。此始觉者也。知以心摄心，用减其欲。 |
As people give free rein to their illusory minds and seek to indulge the five desires, their original nature becomes obscured. Unawares, the mind they employ changes from great to small. They suffer in vain and do not know where to stop. This is what awakens the compassion of those who awakened before them, and what gives rise to the vow of great compassion. Guanzi said, “Within the mind there is yet another mind.” This is one who has begun to awaken. Such a person knows to use the mind to gather in the mind and thereby lessen desires. |
| 自古先哲，莫不本此义以救世。于是倡为学说，曰：先正其心，心正于内而后所行不妄。立善防恶者，礼也。禁非立是者，法也。和其情意者，乐也。兴发其志趣者，诗歌也。皆谋所以调伏其心。亦无非引之由小而大，自除其苦而已。 |
Since ancient times, all sages and philosophers have based themselves on this principle in seeking to save the world. Thus they advanced teachings: first rectify the mind; when the mind is rectified within, one’s conduct will not be deluded. What establishes goodness and guards against evil is ritual propriety. What prohibits wrong and establishes right is law. What harmonizes feelings and intentions is music. What stirs and inspires aspirations is poetry and song. All these seek to tame the mind. They do no more than guide it from smallness to greatness, so that it may cast off its own suffering. |
| 心为万物之主，而易为奴。心系于欲，为欲之奴矣。父子昆弟夫妇朋友之情，皆依于欲，而真义以亡。社会人类之相处，无不尚利以资其欲，此义之所以不敌，而道之日丧也。 |
The mind is master of the myriad things, yet it easily becomes a slave. When the mind is bound to desire, it becomes desire’s slave. The affections between father and son, brothers, husband and wife, and friends all depend upon desire, and their true meaning is thereby lost. In human society, all esteem profit in order to support desire. This is why righteousness cannot prevail and the Way declines day by day. |
| 欲者，非人力所可化除者也，亦非空言天理所可制止者也。礼教者，亦防之于一时，其根仍在也。虽有贤父兄之导化，亦比较稍善，其根仍在也。即能自动制止，亦只止于一时，外诱之力若强，仍可循故道而发挥，其根仍在也。 |
Desire cannot be eliminated by human effort, nor can it be restrained by empty talk of heavenly principle. Ritual teachings can only guard against it temporarily; its root remains. Even with the guidance and moral influence of worthy fathers and elder brothers, one may be somewhat better, but its root remains. Even if one can restrain oneself, this lasts only for a time. If external temptations are powerful, one may still follow the old path and give desire free rein; its root remains. |
| 何也？无始以来积习深厚，岂半生之力所可化除者哉！故虽百圣千贤训导之导，礼教法治督责之严，终不能使其究竟者也。心者幻也，以言乎幻，知不可究竟矣。徒能暂救于一时，以为方便，乃假名曰究竟耳。 |
Why is this so? Habits accumulated since beginningless time are deeply entrenched. How could the effort of half a lifetime eliminate them? Therefore, despite the instruction of hundreds of sages and thousands of worthies, and despite the strict supervision of ritual teaching and law, no one can bring this to ultimate completion. Mind is illusory; once one speaks of illusion, one knows that ultimate completion is impossible. One can only provide temporary relief as an expedient, and merely gives it the provisional name “ultimate.” |
| 佛无法以度无缘之人，其他可知。众生之类，何止八万四千，其中知了脱生死者，百万中不得一也。怖生死而肯痛切求了者，百万中不得一也。能自了生死，又为他人谋者，又百万中不得一也。何也？人生以了生死为究竟。 |
The Buddha has no way to liberate people lacking the requisite affinities; the rest may be inferred. Among the many kinds of sentient beings, those who know to be liberated from birth and death are not even one in a million. Those who fear birth and death and are willing to seek liberation from it with utmost urgency are not even one in a million. Of those able to free themselves from birth and death, those who also make plans for the sake of others are again not even one in a million. Why is this so? For human life, liberation from birth and death is the ultimate matter. |
| 今于颠倒中求了生死，终难得也。生死者，幻心也，惟离幻心以见真性，由真性中自起大用，方为彻底。神会大师云：知空寂而了法身，了法身而真能脱，是名正宗。今不明心见性，徒从幻上计幻，竞相颠倒，有何究竟之可言哉。 |
Now, to seek liberation from birth and death amid delusion is ultimately difficult to achieve. Birth and death are the illusory mind. Only by leaving the illusory mind and seeing one’s true nature, then spontaneously bringing forth great functioning from that true nature, can one be thoroughgoing. Chan Master Shenhui said: “Knowing empty quiescence and understanding the dharmakāya, understanding the dharmakāya and truly being able to be liberated—this is called the correct principle.” If one does not now realize the mind and see one’s true nature, but merely calculates illusion upon illusion and competes in mutual delusion, what ultimate completion can be spoken of? |
| 虽然，众生佛性固自平等也，但为五欲所朦，一时迷惘，其本性原无杂无坏也。今一时沉溺于海，菩萨以大悲力而施广度。 |
Nevertheless, the Buddha-nature of sentient beings is inherently equal. Yet, obscured by the five desires, they become confused and lost for a time; their original nature itself is without admixture and without corruption. Now that they are temporarily submerged in the sea, bodhisattvas apply the power of great compassion to liberate them extensively. |
| 惟因缘不同，有居水面者，有沉海底者，有近有远者，有肯出不肯出者，乃至有疑谤反对者，顾此则失彼，虽不胜其劳苦，而菩萨本愿不退也。惟佛知其因缘，不事强求，随缘而度，亦无喜恼。 |
Yet because causes and conditions differ, some remain on the water’s surface, some sink to the ocean floor; some are near, some far; some are willing to emerge, while others are unwilling; there are even those who doubt, slander, and oppose. To attend to this one is to neglect that one. Though the labor and hardship are beyond measure, the bodhisattva’s original vow does not retreat. Only the Buddha knows their causes and conditions. He does not compel them, but liberates them according to conditions, without either joy or vexation. |
| 暂以一时方便为究竟，言于不可究竟中，如是方便为究竟耳，故有度之成佛、成菩萨、成圣贤、天人者，亦皆幻化而已。且曰：彼非众生，此言彼皆佛也，不得以众生目之。 |
Temporarily treating an expedient for the moment as ultimate means only that, within what cannot be made ultimate, such an expedient is called ultimate. Thus there are those liberated who become Buddhas, bodhisattvas, sages, worthies, or devas and humans; yet all these too are merely transformations of illusion. It is also said, “They are not sentient beings.” This means that they are all Buddhas and must not be regarded as sentient beings. |
| 又曰：非不众生，此言即今一时幻心颠倒，又不得不名为众生矣。惟以不明自性，故所用之心，小而不大。一切贤圣，其未见性者，所用之心，亦大而不圆。均未究竟，惟大小善恶邪正高下之分而已。 |
It is further said, “It is not that they are not sentient beings.” This means that, at this present time, their illusory minds are inverted and deluded, so they cannot but be called sentient beings. Precisely because they do not understand their own nature, the minds they employ are small rather than great. Among all sages and worthies, those who have not seen their nature employ minds that may be great but are not complete. None has reached ultimate completion; there are only distinctions of greater or lesser, good or evil, deviant or correct, high or low. |
| 古先哲之所用其心以救世者，曰：使其自救，其方针与佛不异，而法用不同。彼曰：制心、伏心、正心、摄心，皆以心外之心相对治者也。管子所云心之中又有心者，此心亦依心而起，但知以心制心，非见性后所用之心。 |
The ancient sages and philosophers used their minds to save the world by causing people to save themselves. Their guiding principle was no different from the Buddha’s, though their methods differed. They spoke of restraining the mind, subduing the mind, rectifying the mind, and gathering in the mind—all as countermeasures in which one mind treats another mind. When Guanzi said, “Within the mind there is yet another mind,” that mind too arises in dependence on mind. It knows only to use mind to restrain mind; it is not the mind employed after seeing one’s nature. |
| 故不外对治，对治之果，为去恶而存善，若有所存，非究竟也。如非礼勿视，其初心为非礼，其再起心为觉知非礼而勿视，而勿视之心未泯。故曰：犹有所存。至于圣人，则知心之上，独有一物也，故曰：慎独。 |
Therefore it does not go beyond counteraction. The result of counteraction is to remove evil and preserve goodness. Wherever something is preserved, there is no ultimate completion. Take the injunction, “Do not look at what is contrary to ritual propriety.” The initial thought is that something is contrary to ritual propriety; the thought that follows is the awareness that it is contrary to ritual propriety and should not be looked at. Yet the mind that does not look has not disappeared. Hence it is said that something still remains. As for sages, they know that above the mind there is only the one, and therefore speak of “being watchful when alone.” |
| 彼曰：清心、曰净心、曰无心，于此中已悟见有声无臭者，隐微莫显者，推之以名曰性、曰道，是去见性已近。已知有至高无上独一无二之本性，而未澈见者也。故其心用，皆不敢离于本位。 |
They speak of clearing the mind, purifying the mind, and no-mind. In these they have already awakened to see that which has sound yet no odor, that which is most hidden yet most manifest. Extending this, they give it the names nature and Way; thus they are close to seeing their nature. They already know there is a supreme, unsurpassable, unique, and incomparable original nature, but they have not seen it through completely. Therefore, in their use of mind, they dare not depart from the original ground. |
| 然比较为圆为大，第以见之未澈，遂有存养之意，以惧其亡失也。 |
Compared with others, their understanding is more complete and their minds greater. Yet because their seeing is not thorough, they retain the intention to preserve and nurture it, fearing that it may be lost. |
| 且亦无人明言心为绝对之幻化者，性之相貌究为何者，但曰：我天然本有者曰性（天命之谓性），随性而起之心，合乎自然者曰道（率性之谓道），道亡而教以复其本曰修（修道之谓教），此数语，实已见到性分上事，惜下文未有归性之法，仍不离乎心用，但曰诚而已矣。 |
Moreover, no one has clearly stated that mind is absolutely illusory, or what the features of nature ultimately are. They merely say: what I naturally possess is called nature (“what Heaven mandates is called nature”); the mind that arises in accordance with nature, when it accords with what is natural, is called the Way (“to follow one’s nature is called the Way”); when the Way is lost, teaching that restores one to one’s root is called cultivation (“the cultivation of the Way is called teaching”). These few phrases have in fact already seen something pertaining to nature. Regrettably, what follows provides no method for returning to nature, and still does not depart from the functioning of mind, but speaks only of sincerity. |
| 至如何而曰明心、曰空心，用以证入此真性者，则未之闻也。心性未可分也，愚者强分为二，更不知明心见性为何事。又如外道小得定相，幻见月轮于青眼者，自谓已明心见性矣，岂不怪哉！ |
As for how one realizes the mind or empties the mind in order to enter and verify this true nature, nothing has been heard. Mind and nature cannot be divided, yet foolish people forcibly divide them into two, and know even less what realizing the mind and seeing one’s true nature mean. Again, non-Buddhists who gain a minor meditative experience and illusorily see a moon-disc before blue eyes claim that they have already realized the mind and seen their nature. Is this not strange? |
| 礼教者，菩萨顺度之慈化也。治者，金刚逆化之方便也。必二者同出于大悲之愿，则无或滥或峻之偏。政滥则民慢法，峻则民残。故曰宽猛相济，政是以和。彼之欲求万世不易之法，以为究竟者，多见其不知量也。 |
Ritual teaching is the compassionate transformation by which bodhisattvas guide beings in accordance with circumstances. Governance is the expedient of Vajra-like adverse transformation. Only when both arise from the vow of great compassion will there be neither the bias of laxity nor that of severity. If government is lax, the people disregard the law; if severe, the people become brutalized. Therefore it is said: “Leniency and severity should complement each other; thus government is harmonious.” Those who seek an immutable method for ten thousand generations, regarding it as ultimate, are mostly seen not to know their own limits. |
| 救度众生幻心，终不得究意之法也，亦暂时维系而已。法有时而穷，恶无时而或绝。故有一时一世之究竟者，十世百世之究竟者，以论乎时间，则终非究竟可知矣。佛故曰方便以为究竟，正以参透世界众生，但能如是维系。 |
In saving the illusory minds of sentient beings, one can never obtain a method of ultimate intent; one can only maintain them temporarily. Methods have times when they are exhausted, but evil has no time when it is ever entirely cut off. Thus there is what is ultimate for one time or one age, and what is ultimate for ten or a hundred ages. Judged in terms of time, it is clear that these are ultimately not ultimate. Therefore the Buddha called expedients ultimate, having thoroughly understood the world and sentient beings: they can only be sustained in this way. |
| 若求根本解决，惟有使其明心见性之一法。教以六度万行三十七助道品者，皆明心前之方便幻法。苟能自觉自度，则不劳一切法治而自普化，能起觉照，因果自然洞明。所谋者远，五欲自能制止。 |
If one seeks a fundamental solution, there is only the one method of causing people to realize the mind and see their true nature. Teaching the six perfections, the myriad practices, and the thirty-seven aids to awakening are all expedient, illusory methods before realizing the mind. If one can awaken and liberate oneself, there is no need for any governance by dharmas; one will naturally transform all universally. One can give rise to awakened illumination, and cause and effect will naturally become wholly clear. One’s plans will reach far ahead, and the five desires will naturally be restrained. |
| 觉于心者，虽觉未澈也，恶根未拔也。觉于本者，虽一时未觉，而根已松也。由觉本而再觉于心，则大用以起，其根必可拔除而彻底解决矣。此中过程，非一言所可决定，亦非一时之修所可造诣，亦曰习而已矣。 |
To awaken to the mind, though one’s awakening may not yet be thorough, means that the root of evil has not yet been pulled out. To awaken to the root, though one may not be awakened for the moment, means that the root has already been loosened. When, having awakened to the root, one further awakens to the mind, great functioning arises; the root can certainly be removed, and the matter thoroughly resolved. The process cannot be determined in a few words, nor can it be attained by cultivation for a short time. It too is simply a matter of practice. |
| 以心反观者，内证之德也。以心起用者，外修之功也。前为入道，为本。后为法用，为末。内证之德以自问，外修之功以对人。必先由内而外，方为有体有用之学。但人习于务外，不知内证为何事。 |
Using the mind to turn back and contemplate is the virtue of inner realization. Using the mind to bring forth functioning is the work of outer cultivation. The former is entry into the Way and is fundamental. The latter is the application of dharma and is secondary. The virtue of inner realization is directed toward examining oneself; the work of outer cultivation is directed toward dealing with others. One must proceed from within to without; only then is one’s learning possessed of both essence and function. Yet people are accustomed to attending to externals and do not know what inner realization is. |
| 故自鉴者鲜，不自鉴则责于人者深，求其究竟，其亦难矣。况人之贤愚，高下不等。凡稍才之出众者，又自执以为是，众生又从而推尊之，使其执我益强，而反观内证之道益疏。 |
Therefore, those who examine themselves are few. If one does not examine oneself, one places heavy blame upon others; to seek ultimate completion in this is difficult indeed. Moreover, people differ in worth and folly, in high and low capacity. Anyone even slightly outstanding in talent will cling to himself as being right. Sentient beings then extol him, making his attachment to self still stronger and causing the way of inward reflection and realization to grow ever more remote. |
| 若复更有智者，即起而与之相竞，各倡为说，各执理由。众生之心，本习于浮动，于是分党立派，入于意气用事，祸患且不可测。淮南子曰：体道者，逸而不穷。任教者，劳而无功。善游者溺，善骑者堕，各以其所好，反自为祸。是故，好事者未尝不中，争利者未尝不穷云云。此无他，心向外驰，忘其本也。使人人知此，则能所以自处矣。 |
If there is another intelligent person, he rises to compete with him. Each advances his own doctrine, and each clings to his own reasons. The minds of sentient beings are originally habituated to restlessness; thus factions and schools are formed, people act from partisan feeling, and calamities become incalculable. The Huainanzi says: “Those who embody the Way are at ease and never exhausted. Those who merely rely on teaching labor without achievement. Those skilled in swimming drown; those skilled in riding fall. Each turns what he delights in into his own disaster. Therefore, those fond of undertaking affairs are never free from affliction, and those who contend for profit are never free from distress.” This is for no other reason than that the mind races outward and forgets its root. If everyone understood this, they would know how to conduct themselves. |
| 自古先哲所言救世之道，无不曲尽其理，惜未尝有进行之方法。内证之道，亦未见指示，几令人无下手处。遂使诸外道肆其邪说，人转趋之若狂。足见人人未尝不思求道，苦无入门之路。自误者七，误于人者三，岂其福德因缘耶 |
The ways of saving the world spoken of by ancient sages and philosophers all exhaust their principles in subtle detail. Regrettably, they have never provided methods for putting them into practice. Nor have they indicated the way of inner realization, leaving people almost without a point at which to begin. This has allowed non-Buddhists to spread their erroneous doctrines freely, and people rush toward them as though mad. This fully shows that everyone has never ceased to seek the Way, but suffers from having no path of entry. Seven parts of the error are self-inflicted, and three parts mislead others—could this be a matter of blessings, virtue, and causes and conditions? |
| 佛教人布施者，所以发大心也。布施至去其我见，为最大之法布施。布施之意，为发大悲心也。为人者多，则为己者少。然必依菩提心为因，言因地必证入性空，而大悲之根本以植。 |
The reason Buddhism teaches people to give is to arouse the great resolve. Giving to the point of relinquishing the view of self is the highest Dharma-giving. The meaning of giving is to arouse great compassion. The more one acts for others, the less one acts for oneself. Yet bodhicitta must be taken as the cause: at the causal stage, one must realize the emptiness of intrinsic nature, thereby planting the root of great compassion. |
| 以由性空所发，故能具方便之妙用，然后可言究竟。此大心之初步法用，亦为入佛之根本。如华严经云：此经不付菩萨等乎，乃付予大心凡夫。可见大心乃成佛之关键，亦自度之根本。 |
Because it arises from the emptiness of intrinsic nature, it can possess the wondrous functioning of skillful means; only then can one speak of ultimate attainment. This is also the initial application of the great resolve and the fundamental basis for entering Buddhahood. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: “This sūtra is not entrusted to bodhisattvas and the like, but to ordinary beings of great resolve.” Thus it can be seen that the great resolve is the key to becoming a Buddha and the basis of liberating oneself. |
| 今不于性内转，而于心外求，其基已小，决难成就。故曰：依于众生而起大悲，依大悲发菩提心，依菩提心成等正觉。如是佛法处处不离众生，即不离世法人事。可谓积极之至矣。且视自他不二。发菩提心者，自利也，亦为利他。方便者，应付世事也。必依菩提为本，乃能发大心之用。能处处方便者，大心之果位也。否则徒托空言而已。 |
Now, rather than turning within to one’s intrinsic nature, people seek outside the mind. Their foundation is already narrow, and accomplishment will certainly be difficult. Therefore it is said: “Relying on sentient beings, one gives rise to great compassion; relying on great compassion, one gives rise to bodhicitta; relying on bodhicitta, one attains perfect enlightenment.” Thus the Buddhadharma is everywhere inseparable from sentient beings, and therefore inseparable from worldly dharmas and human affairs. It may be called supremely active. Moreover, one sees self and others as nondual. To arouse bodhicitta benefits oneself, and also benefits others. Skillful means are the means of dealing with worldly affairs. Only by taking bodhi as one’s foundation can one bring forth the function of the great resolve. To be skillful everywhere is the fruition of the great resolve. Otherwise, it is merely empty talk. |
| 佛经之来中国，在中古之世。古人有未及见者，更以门户之见过深，不取而融会之，遂不得其用。有晋人牟子一书，言佛最详，世人稍知佛学之广大。若渊明一流，意境实迫于佛，其超然物外，深具般若之机用。 |
Buddhist scriptures came to China in the medieval period. Some people of ancient times had not yet had the opportunity to encounter them; moreover, their sectarian views were too deeply entrenched for them to accept and integrate them, and thus they were unable to make use of them. In the writings of Mouzi of the Jin dynasty, Buddhism is discussed in the greatest detail, and people gradually came to understand the breadth of Buddhist learning. Figures such as Yuanming, in their spiritual vision, were in fact very close to Buddhism; their transcendence of the worldly and their profound capacity for prajñā are especially evident. |
| 后之大儒，晚年亦无不取法于佛以作根基。至明之王阳明先生，则能起佛之妙用矣，以体大则用大也。今之学者，如欲了生死起大机大用者，于见性一道，其痛切加之意哉！ |
Later great Confucian scholars likewise, in their later years, all took the Buddha’s teachings as their foundation. By the time of Master Wang Yangming of the Ming dynasty, he was able to bring forth Buddhism’s wondrous functioning, for when the essence is great, its function is great. Scholars today who wish to transcend birth and death and bring forth great potential and great function should apply themselves with utmost earnestness to the path of seeing their true nature. |
