Vajragarbha Bodhisattva 金刚藏菩萨
Master Wang Xianglu | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 于是金刚藏菩萨在大众中，即从座起，顶礼佛足，右绕三匝，长跪叉手，而白佛言：大悲世尊，善为一切诸菩萨众，宣扬如来圆觉清净大陀罗尼，因地法行渐次方便，与诸众生，开发蒙昧，在会法众，承佛慈诲，幻翳朗然，慧目清净。 |
Then Vajragarbha Bodhisattva, in the midst of the assembly, rose from his seat, bowed with his head at the Buddha’s feet, circumambulated him three times to the right, knelt on one knee with palms joined, and addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One of great compassion, you have skillfully proclaimed to all the bodhisattvas the Tathāgata’s great dhāraṇī of pure perfect enlightenment, the gradual expedient methods of practice at the causal stage, thereby opening up the ignorance of all sentient beings. The Dharma assembly here, receiving the Buddha’s compassionate instruction, has seen the illusory cataract clearly dispelled and the eye of wisdom purified.” |
| 世尊，若诸众生本来成佛，何故复有一切无明。若诸无明众生本有，何因缘故，如来复说本来成佛。十方异生本成佛道，后起无明，一切如来，何时复生一切烦恼。 |
“World-Honored One, if all sentient beings are originally Buddhas, why is there again all this ignorance? If sentient beings inherently possess ignorance, for what causes and conditions does the Tathāgata again say that they are originally Buddhas? If ordinary beings throughout the ten directions originally accomplished the Buddha Way and later gave rise to ignorance, when will all Tathāgatas again give rise to all afflictions?” |
| 惟愿不舍无遮大慈，为诸菩萨开秘密藏，及为末世一切众生，得闻如是修多罗教，了义法门，永断疑悔。作是语已，五体投地，如是三请，终而复始。 |
“May you, without abandoning your impartial great compassion, open the treasury of secrets for all bodhisattvas and enable all sentient beings in the final age who hear such sūtra teachings and Dharma gates of definitive meaning to cut off doubt and regret forever.” Having spoken thus, he prostrated himself with all five limbs on the ground. In this manner he made his threefold request, again and again. |
| 尔时世尊告金刚藏菩萨言：善哉善哉，善男子，汝等乃能为诸菩萨及末世众生，问于如来甚深秘密究竟方便，是诸菩萨最上教诲，了义大乘，能使十方修学菩萨，及诸末世一切众生，得决定信，永断疑悔，汝今谛听，当为汝说。时金刚藏菩萨奉教欢喜，及诸大众默然而听。 |
Then the World-Honored One said to Vajragarbha Bodhisattva: “Excellent, excellent, good man. You are able to ask the Tathāgata on behalf of all bodhisattvas and sentient beings in the final age about the profound, secret, ultimate expedient means. This is the supreme instruction for bodhisattvas, the Mahāyāna of definitive meaning. It can enable bodhisattvas practicing throughout the ten directions, as well as all sentient beings in the final age, to gain resolute faith and cut off doubt and regret forever. Listen carefully now, and I shall explain it to you.” Vajragarbha Bodhisattva joyfully received the instruction, and the entire assembly listened silently. |
| 善男子，一切世界，始终生灭，前后有无，聚散起止，念念相续，循环往复，种种取舍，皆是轮回。未出轮回，而辨圆觉，彼圆觉性即同流转，若免轮回，无有是处。 |
“Good man, in all worlds, beginning and end, arising and ceasing, before and after, existence and nonexistence, gathering and dispersing, arising and stopping, the continuous succession of thought after thought, cyclical repetition, and all kinds of grasping and rejecting are all saṃsāra. If one has not emerged from saṃsāra yet seeks to discern perfect enlightenment, that perfect-enlightenment nature itself will seem to flow and turn with saṃsāra. To escape saṃsāra in this way is impossible.” |
| 譬如动目，能摇湛水，又如定眼，犹回转火，云驶月运，舟行岸移，亦复如是。善男子，诸旋未息，彼物先住，尚不可得，何况轮转生死垢心，曾未清净，观佛圆觉而不旋复，是故汝等，便生三惑。 |
“It is like moving one’s eyes and thereby seeming to set clear water in motion; or like fixing one’s gaze and still seeing a circle of fire turn. Clouds race, the moon seems to move; a boat travels, and the shore seems to shift. It is also like this. Good man, when the various rotations have not ceased, one cannot even find that the objects before one are still. How much less, when the defiled mind of revolving birth and death has never been purified, can one contemplate the Buddha’s perfect enlightenment without making it revolve in turn. Therefore, you give rise to these three delusions.” |
| 善男子，譬如幻翳，妄见空华，幻翳若除，不可说言此翳已灭，何时更起一切诸翳。何以故，翳华二法，非相待故，亦如空华灭于空时，不可说言虚空何时更空华。 |
“Good man, it is like an illusory cataract that falsely makes one see flowers in empty space. Once the illusory cataract is removed, one cannot say, ‘Now that this cataract has ceased, when will all such cataracts arise again?’ Why? Because the cataract and the flowers are not mutually dependent. It is also like flowers in empty space vanishing in space: one cannot say, ‘When will empty space again produce flowers in empty space?’” |
| 何以故，空本无华，非起灭故，生死涅槃，同于起灭，妙觉圆照，离于华翳。善男子，当知虚空非是暂有，亦非暂无，况复如来圆觉随顺，而为虚空平等本性。 |
“Why? Because empty space originally has no flowers; they neither arise nor cease. Birth and death and nirvāṇa alike belong to arising and ceasing, whereas the wondrous awakening that perfectly illumines is free from flowers and cataracts. Good man, you should know that empty space is neither temporarily existent nor temporarily nonexistent. How much less can the Tathāgata’s perfect enlightenment, which accords with and is the equal intrinsic nature of empty space, be so regarded?” |
| 善男子，如销金矿，金非销有，既已成金，不重为矿，经无穷时，金性不坏，不应说言本非成就，如来圆觉，亦复如是。善男子，一切如来妙圆觉心，本无菩提及与涅槃，亦无成佛及不成佛，无妄轮回及非轮回。 |
“Good man, it is like refining gold ore: gold does not come into being through refining. Once it has become gold, it does not become ore again. Though endless ages pass, the nature of gold is not destroyed. One should not say that it was not originally complete. The Tathāgata’s perfect enlightenment is likewise. Good man, the wondrous mind of perfect enlightenment of all Tathāgatas originally has neither bodhi nor nirvāṇa, neither becoming a Buddha nor not becoming a Buddha, neither deluded saṃsāra nor non-saṃsāra.” |
| 善男子，但诸声闻所圆境界，身心语言皆悉断灭，终不能至彼之亲证，所现涅槃。何况能以有思惟心，测度如来圆觉境界，如取萤火烧须弥山终不能著，以轮回心生轮回见，入于如来大寂灭海，终不能至。 |
“Good man, even the perfected realm of the śrāvakas, in which body, mind, and speech are all extinguished, can never attain the personally realized nirvāṇa that appears there. How much less can one use a mind that thinks and deliberates to measure the realm of the Tathāgata’s perfect enlightenment. It is like trying to burn Mount Sumeru with the light of a firefly: one will never ignite it. To give rise to views of saṃsāra with a saṃsāric mind and seek to enter the Tathāgata’s great ocean of quiescent extinction is ultimately impossible.” |
| 是故我说一切菩萨及末世众生，先断无始轮回根本。善男子，有作思惟从有心起，皆是六尘妄想缘气，非实心体，已如空华。用此思惟辨于佛境，犹如空华复结空果，辗转妄想，无有是处。善男子，虚妄浮心，多诸巧见，不能成就圆觉方便，如是分别，非为正问。 |
“Therefore I say that all bodhisattvas and sentient beings in the final age must first sever the root of beginningless saṃsāra. All thought and deliberation that is contrived arises from a conditioned mind; it is nothing but the breath of deluded thought conditioned by the six sense objects, not the substance of the true mind. It is already like flowers in empty space. To use such thought to discern the Buddha’s realm is like seeking to form fruit from flowers in empty space. Deluded thoughts multiply in succession; this is impossible. Good man, the floating mind of falsity abounds in clever views and cannot accomplish the expedient means of perfect enlightenment. Such discrimination is not a proper question.” |
| 尔时世尊欲重宣此义，而说偈言： |
Then the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke in verse: |
| 金刚藏当知，如来寂灭性， |
“Vajragarbha, you should know: the Tathāgata’s nature of quiescent extinction,” |
| 未曾有终始，若以轮回心， |
“Has never had beginning or end. If one uses a saṃsāric mind,” |
| 思惟即旋复，但至轮回际， |
“Thought itself turns again; one reaches only the limits of saṃsāra,” |
| 不能入佛海，譬如销金矿， |
“And cannot enter the Buddha’s ocean. It is like refining gold ore:” |
| 金非销故有，虽复本来金， |
“Gold does not exist because of refining. Although it is originally gold,” |
| 终以销成就，一成真金体， |
“It is only through refining that it is brought to completion. Once the substance of true gold is formed,” |
| 不复重为矿，生死与涅槃， |
“It does not again become ore. Birth and death and nirvāṇa,” |
| 凡夫及诸佛，同为空华相， |
“Ordinary beings and all Buddhas, are alike appearances of flowers in empty space.” |
| 思惟犹幻化，何况诘虚妄， |
“Thought itself is still like an illusion; how much less should one question what is false.” |
| 若能了此心，然后求圆觉。 |
“Only when you understand this mind may you then seek perfect enlightenment.” |
| 金刚藏问意，以为成佛因地法行，及顿渐二门，既闻命矣，但既云众生本来成佛，何故复起无明耶？既众生本有无明，佛何故又说本成佛耶？又十方众生，本来成佛，后起无明，如是，一切诸佛，亦当再起无明矣，然则何时复生一切烦恼耶？佛与众生，同本无生，无生之中，若同妄起，则佛与众生，义又何别，故起此三惑而问也。 |
The intent of Vajragarbha’s question was this: he had already heard of the practices at the causal stage for attaining Buddhahood, as well as the two gates of sudden and gradual attainment. Yet, if sentient beings are originally Buddhas, why do they again give rise to ignorance? If sentient beings inherently possess ignorance, why does the Buddha again say that they are originally Buddhas? Further, if sentient beings throughout the ten directions were originally Buddhas and later gave rise to ignorance, then all Buddhas should likewise again give rise to ignorance. If so, when would all afflictions arise again? Buddhas and sentient beings are alike originally unborn. If, within the unborn, both alike give rise to delusion, what distinction in meaning remains between Buddhas and sentient beings? Therefore, he gave rise to these three delusions and asked this question. |
| 此问关系信上究竟决定，此中秘妙，义却甚深，非方便开示，无由明悟，佛故许之。 |
This question concerns ultimate certainty in faith. Its hidden subtleties are exceedingly profound; without an expedient explanation, there would be no way to awaken to them clearly. Therefore, the Buddha granted the request. |
| 佛先破其三惑，谓情器各界众生，一切不离分别，如始终是非生灭前后有无聚散起止等，在情界念念相续，在器界往复循环，无一非依妄建立，皆是轮回，以轮回见，辨此圆觉，连圆觉亦同流转矣，因轮回心亦从圆觉所自出，譬 |
The Buddha first refutes these three delusions. He says that sentient beings in the realms of sentient life and material objects never depart from discrimination: beginning and end, right and wrong, arising and ceasing, before and after, existence and nonexistence, gathering and dispersing, arising and stopping, and so forth. In the sentient realm, thoughts continue one after another; in the material realm, there is cyclical coming and going. Nothing is not established in reliance on delusion; all is saṃsāra. To discern this perfect enlightenment through saṃsāric views makes even perfect enlightenment seem to turn and flow, because the saṃsāric mind itself also arises from perfect enlightenment. This is illustrated by dreaming of real objects. |
| 如梦见实物，物亦是梦，又如云动时，当作月动，舟行时，当作岸移，云与舟之动，既是生死轮垢，曾未清净，反疑月岸不动之圆觉，亦同此轮转垢秽，此由于根本未明，故先破之。 |
Such objects, too, are a dream. It is also like taking the moon to move when clouds move, or taking the shore to shift when a boat travels. The movement of clouds and boats is itself the defilement of the wheel of birth and death, which has never been purified; yet one instead doubts that the perfect enlightenment, still like the moon and the shore, is likewise subject to the defilement of this revolving motion. This is because the fundamental principle has not been understood, and so it is first refuted. |
| 次言由此幻翳，妄见空华，非有实体，幻翳若除，不可说言何时再起幻翳，何以故，幻翳与空华，非属相联对待，翳不与华合，华不随翳生，因翳而立妄见，非华实生，二法各不相知，正如空华，灭于空时，不可说言虚空何时更起空华。 |
Next, he says that because of this illusory cataract, one falsely sees flowers in empty space; they have no real substance. Once the illusory cataract is removed, one cannot say when it will arise again. Why? The illusory cataract and flowers in empty space are not things joined together in mutual dependence. The cataract does not join with the flowers, nor do the flowers arise in accordance with the cataract. Deluded seeing is posited because of the cataract; the flowers do not actually arise. The two phenomena do not know one another. It is precisely like flowers in empty space vanishing in space: one cannot say when empty space will again give rise to such flowers. |
| 何以故，空本无华，非起灭故，今此妙觉圆照，离于华翳，原本不动，如月如岸，而无明生死涅槃，不过一幻起幻灭，一迷一悟，究与觉性何关，既以虚空而论，属于世法，以暂有暂无之物，尚不随华起灭，何况湛寂真常之圆觉 |
Why? Empty space originally has no flowers, and so flowers neither arise nor cease. This wondrous awakening that perfectly illumines is now free from flowers and cataracts and is originally unmoving, like the moon and the shore. Ignorance, birth and death, and nirvāṇa are no more than the arising and ceasing of an illusion—a single delusion and a single awakening. What relation do they ultimately have to the nature of awakening? Even empty space, considered as a worldly dharma, does not arise or cease with flowers, though it is spoken of in terms of temporary existence and nonexistence. How much less can perfect enlightenment, serene, quiescent, eternally abiding, and equal in its intrinsic nature, do so? |
| ，本性平等乎，是故果位既不再迷，成佛决不再起无明，众生本来成佛者，如金矿，不得谓为非金，而金杂于砂，不能起用，但砂非本合于金，金亦非销熔而始得，以金本有故，既已成金，开悟成佛，决不重入为矿，经无穷时，金性不变，不应说言如来圆觉本非成就，必待修而后得，与得而再妄等谬见也。 |
Therefore, once one has reached the fruition stage, one does not again become deluded; having become a Buddha, one certainly does not again give rise to ignorance. That sentient beings are originally Buddhas is like gold ore: it cannot be said not to be gold. Yet gold is mixed with sand and cannot function. The sand was not originally united with the gold, nor is gold first obtained through smelting, for gold is inherently present. Once it has become gold—once one has awakened and become a Buddha—one certainly does not again enter the state of ore. Though endless ages pass, gold’s nature does not change. One should not maintain the mistaken view that the Tathāgata’s perfect enlightenment was not originally complete and must await cultivation to be attained, or that after attaining it one again becomes deluded. |
| 次言一切如来妙圆觉心，是本来成就，就说不到菩提涅槃，成佛不成佛，轮回非轮回矣，然以声闻境界，未入亲证，法见未除，落于断灭，尚不明此旨，何况众生劣见，以小如萤火之有思维我见心，测度大如须弥之圆觉境耶，故以轮回心生轮回见，入如来大寂灭海，终不能至。 |
Next, he says that the wondrous mind of perfect enlightenment of all Tathāgatas is originally complete. Thus there is no basis even for speaking of bodhi or nirvāṇa, becoming a Buddha or not becoming a Buddha, saṃsāra or non-saṃsāra. Yet those in the realm of the śrāvakas, who have not entered personal realization, have not eliminated views of dharmas, and fall into annihilationism, still do not understand this principle. How much less can sentient beings with inferior views, using a self-attached mind of thought and deliberation as small as a firefly, measure the realm of perfect enlightenment as vast as Mount Sumeru? Therefore, with a saṃsāric mind they give rise to saṃsāric views, and though they seek to enter the Tathāgata’s great ocean of quiescent extinction, they can never reach it. |
| 再次佛说此有思维心，都是六尘妄想缘气，非实心体，要用虚妄心，冀有所成就，正同空华求结空果，辗转成妄，徒增巧见，决不能成就圆觉方便也。 |
The Buddha further says that this mind of thought and deliberation consists entirely of the conditioned breath of deluded thoughts arising from the six sense objects; it is not the substance of the true mind. To use a false mind in the hope of accomplishing something is precisely like seeking to form fruit from flowers in empty space. Delusion only multiplies in succession, adding useless clever views in vain; one can never accomplish the expedient means of perfect enlightenment. |
| 再次说到本题决定办法，谓妄见分别，终无实益，只有先断无始轮回根本，即是以智破妄，明心见性，亲证圆觉，即无退转，若以分别心，立此三惑，即属邪见，非为正问，总之此惑，即修后之所知障。 |
He further states the decisive method relevant to the main subject: deluded views and discrimination ultimately bring no real benefit. One must first sever the root of beginningless saṃsāra—that is, use wisdom to dispel delusion, realize the mind and see one’s true nature, and personally realize perfect enlightenment. Then there is no regression. If one establishes these three delusions with a discriminating mind, they are erroneous views, not a proper question. In sum, this delusion is the cognitive obstruction that arises after practice. |
| 此分正破所知障，以未明金刚藏本体，每起种种妄虑，粗者我见，细者法见，近世人未证圆觉，妄评是非，考据比量，自增我慢，即是此病，盖于将明未明之时，白雪之白，与白鸟之白，似同实异，最易淆乱，此修行中一大关键，不可不知，今当先知本来，再求深入，故偈云，若能了此心，然后求圆觉，无非除所知障耳。 |
This section directly refutes the cognitive obstruction. Because Vajragarbha’s fundamental nature has not been understood, all kinds of deluded anxieties arise: coarser ones are views of self, while subtler ones are views of dharmas. People today who have not realized perfect enlightenment rashly judge right and wrong, engage in textual verification and inference, and increase their own arrogance; this is precisely this illness. At the point between understanding and not understanding, the whiteness of snow and the whiteness of a white bird may appear the same yet are in fact different, and confusion is easiest. This is a major critical point in cultivation and must be understood. One must first know the original nature and then seek deeper penetration. Therefore the verse says, “Only when you understand this mind may you then seek perfect enlightenment.” This is nothing other than removing the cognitive obstruction. |
| 此分内疑悔二字，应注意，疑因修而起，悔因疑而生，皆不定之法，极言其惑也，凡修至中途，忽起所知，由自己知见不正而起疑，又无善知识为之决定而生悔，非求佛开示秘密，不能破此迷闷，故曰无遮大悲。 |
The two words “doubt and regret” in this section require attention. Doubt arises through practice, and regret is born from doubt; both are unstable dharmas, which strongly emphasizes the depth of this delusion. Whenever practitioners reach the middle of their course and suddenly give rise to cognitive views, doubt arises from their own incorrect understanding and views. When there is no good spiritual teacher to give them certainty, regret arises. Unless they seek the Buddha’s revelation of the secret teaching, they cannot dispel this bewilderment and oppression. Hence the phrase “impartial great compassion.” |
| 佛正答时，不先破其三惑，只说轮回之根在于何处，即尔自生疑悔之根也，以颠倒妄心，未出轮回，用糊涂眼，辨于圆觉，是自心取自心，非幻而亦幻，反使圆觉性亦随之而糊涂流转，如云与月，舟与岸，谁动谁止，转难分别，其终不能出此轮回也矣，此破其疑悔之根也。 |
When the Buddha gives his direct answer, he does not first refute the three delusions. He merely explains where the root of saṃsāra lies: it is precisely the root from which you yourself give rise to doubt and regret. With an inverted and deluded mind that has not emerged from saṃsāra, and with confused eyes, one seeks to discern perfect enlightenment. It is the mind taking its own mind—though not an illusion, it becomes an illusion. It instead makes the nature of perfect enlightenment itself seem to turn and flow in confusion. Like clouds and the moon, a boat and the shore, which moves and which remains still becomes ever harder to distinguish. In the end, one cannot emerge from this saṃsāra. This refutes the root of doubt and regret. |
| 中段文最重要，只说本来不有，只是无明为因，幻想为果，文内如空本无华，非起灭故，金非销有，金性不坏等句，显如来圆觉，本来成就，无杂无坏，有何菩提涅槃轮回非轮回诸妄见耶？但二乘断见，凡夫常见，如何能测，正同萤火烧须弥，空华求空果矣。 |
The middle passage is most important. It says only that there was originally no such thing; ignorance is merely the cause, and fantasy the result. Statements such as “empty space originally has no flowers, and so they neither arise nor cease,” “gold does not exist because of refining,” and “the nature of gold is not destroyed” reveal that the Tathāgata’s perfect enlightenment is originally complete, without admixture or decay. How could there be such deluded views as bodhi, nirvāṇa, saṃsāra, or non-saṃsāra? Yet how could the annihilationist views of the two vehicles or the eternalist views of ordinary beings measure this? It is exactly like trying to burn Mount Sumeru with a firefly or seeking fruit from flowers in empty space. |
| 次说不应辗转妄想，徒增巧见，成为邪问，只有先断无始无明，则三惑不破自破，此遮说法也，惟钝根人未必能了，当代答曰，众生本来成佛，是言其体，无明是幻垢，体本不坏，垢则不无，体不因垢而坏，明则依旧，以本来不动故，此圣凡之别也。 |
Next, it says that one should not indulge in successive deluded thoughts, vainly adding clever views and thereby turning them into misguided questions. One need only first cut off beginningless ignorance; then, even without deliberately destroying them, the three delusions will destroy themselves. This is a teaching by way of exclusion. Yet people of dull faculties may not necessarily understand it. The present reply says: sentient beings are originally Buddhas—this refers to their essence. Ignorance is like illusory grime: the essence is fundamentally indestructible, though the grime is not nonexistent. The essence is not damaged by the grime, and its luminosity remains as before, because it has been unmoving from the very beginning. This is the distinction between sages and ordinary beings. |
| 此经但说平等本际，就根本说，故一切众生皆是佛，非关无明之有无也，至于佛，则金已出矿，不重为矿，断不致再起无明，尔今所问，是以有思维心，妄测如来境界，故非正问，此表说法也。 |
This sūtra speaks only of the equal original ground, speaking from the fundamental standpoint. Therefore, all sentient beings are Buddhas; it is not a matter of whether ignorance is present or absent. As for a Buddha, gold has already been extracted from the ore and will not become ore again; therefore, ignorance will certainly not arise again. Your present question uses a mind of conceptual thought to vainly speculate about the Tathāgata’s realm, and is therefore not a proper question. This is an affirmative teaching. |
| 【翳】 眼病也。 |
[Speck] An eye disease. |
| 【蒙昧】 昏朦也。 |
[Obscurity] Dimness and indistinctness. |
| 【遮】 障碍也。 |
[Obstruct] To hinder. |
| 【悔】 不定之惑也。 |
[Hesitation] Uncertain delusion. |
| 【销】 熔化也。 |
[Melt] To liquefy. |
| 【须弥山】 妙高山也，山顶为忉利天，四腰为四天王天。 |
[Mount Sumeru] Also called Mount Meru or Mount Sumeru. At its summit is the Heaven of the Thirty-Three; on its four slopes are the heavens of the Four Heavenly Kings. |
