The Tenth Section: Abiding in the Endurance of Suffering 住忍苦分第十
Master Wang Xianglu | 2018-06-23 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 【分义】 精进深入者，不仅一布施已也，必忍辱以赴之，若有心动，即非忍辱，安名清净。歌利王表贪，凡见色而盲目，闻声而迷耳，是名割截身体，节节支解，心若住于色声六尘，即不名觉，非住于菩提矣。 |
[Explanation of the Meaning] Those who diligently penetrate more deeply do not merely practice giving; they must also meet it with forbearance. If the mind stirs, it is not forbearance—how could it be called pure? King Kali symbolizes greed: whenever one sees forms, one is blinded by the eyes; whenever one hears sounds, one is deluded by the ears. This is called having one’s body cut apart and dismembered joint by joint. If the mind abides in forms, sounds, and the six sense objects, it cannot be called awakening; it does not abide in bodhi. |
| 此降心第一妙诀，先忍幻身受苦之我相，再忍幻心缘起之法相，言离一切相者，不仅此幻身受苦之相也。否则以恒沙身命布施相衡，此尚不得名为忍辱耳，故必除妄生慧。斯名真忍苦，真波罗蜜也。 |
This is the foremost essential instruction for subduing the mind: first endure the self-image of this illusory body undergoing suffering, then endure the dharma-image arising dependently from the illusory mind. To speak of leaving all appearances does not refer only to the appearance of this illusory body undergoing suffering. Otherwise, measured against giving away bodies and lives as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, this would still not deserve to be called forbearance. Therefore, one must dispel delusion and give rise to wisdom. This is called truly enduring suffering, true pāramitā. |
| 须菩提，忍辱波罗蜜，如来说非忍辱波罗蜜，是名忍辱波罗蜜。何以故？须菩提，如我昔为歌利王割截身体，我于尔时，无我相，无人相，无众生相，无寿者相。 |
“Subhūti, the pāramitā of forbearance, the Tathāgata says, is not the pāramitā of forbearance; thus it is called the pāramitā of forbearance. Why? Subhūti, when in the past King Kali dismembered my body, at that time I had no appearance of self, no appearance of person, no appearance of sentient being, and no appearance of life span.” |
| 何以故？我于往昔节节支解时，若有我相、人相、众生相、寿者相，应生嗔恨。须菩提，又念过去于五百世作忍辱仙人，于尔所世，无我相，无人相，无众生相，无寿者相。 |
“Why? When I was dismembered joint by joint in the past, had I possessed the appearances of self, person, sentient being, or life span, I would have given rise to anger and hatred. Subhūti, moreover, I recall that in five hundred past lives I was an ascetic practicing forbearance. Throughout those lives, I had no appearance of self, no appearance of person, no appearance of sentient being, and no appearance of life span.” |
| 是故须菩提，菩萨应离一切相，发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心。不应住色生心，不应住声、香、味、触、法生心，应生无所住心。若心有住，即为非住。是故佛说菩萨心，不应住色布施。须菩提，菩萨为利益一切众生故，应如是布施。如来说一切诸相，即是非相。又说一切众生，即非众生。 |
“Therefore, Subhūti, bodhisattvas should leave all appearances and arouse the mind of anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi. They should not give rise to mind while abiding in forms, nor should they give rise to mind while abiding in sounds, smells, tastes, touch, or dharmas. They should give rise to a mind that abides nowhere. If the mind abides anywhere, it is not abiding. Therefore, the Buddha says that a bodhisattva’s mind should not abide in forms when giving. Subhūti, bodhisattvas should give in this way for the benefit of all sentient beings. The Tathāgata says that all appearances are in fact non-appearances. He also says that all sentient beings are in fact not sentient beings.” |
| 【注释】 经文处处说般若，人将疑不必勤苦行度，但持说般若可矣。是将偏于理解而忘却事修也，故云布施，然非单说布施一门也。凡六度万行，无一不相通，无一能离般若，还当住于忍苦处。 |
[Commentary] The sūtra speaks of prajñā everywhere, and people may come to doubt that there is any need diligently to practice the perfections; they may think it sufficient merely to uphold and expound prajñā. This would incline them toward conceptual understanding while forgetting actual cultivation. Thus the sūtra speaks of giving, though it does not refer to giving alone. Among the six perfections and myriad practices, none is disconnected from the others, and none can be separated from prajñā. One must still abide in the place of enduring suffering. |
| 世尊自表往昔所修之苦行，意谓若无般若，即不能行忍而起嗔恨矣。若以节节支解为苦，即有我人四相矣。因世尊此时，已离一切人相也，并离一切布施忍辱诸法相也。 |
The World-Honored One himself illustrates the ascetic practices of suffering he cultivated in the past. His meaning is that without prajñā, one could not practice forbearance and would instead give rise to anger and hatred. If one regarded being dismembered joint by joint as suffering, one would possess the four appearances of self, person, sentient being, and life span. For at that time the World-Honored One had already left all appearances of persons, as well as all dharma-appearances of giving and forbearance. |
| 是故心不应有住，以根本心不可得，此不可得者，即是菩提。若有所住，即为有心，即立色声香味触法，而不能住于菩提矣。住菩提者，住于无所住也。 |
Therefore, the mind should not abide anywhere. Since the fundamental mind is unobtainable, this unobtainability is itself bodhi. If there is anything in which one abides, then there is a mind; one thereby establishes forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and dharmas, and cannot abide in bodhi. To abide in bodhi is to abide in non-abiding. |
| 若心有个阿耨菩提可发可成者，即已住色，以其有心也；若心以为无阿耨菩提可发可成者，亦已住色，以其有法也；二者同属于法我，不名离相。然则如何而可？曰先明根本，证得本空。立亦得，不立亦得，立不立都得。 |
If one thinks there is an anuttara-bodhi that can be aroused and attained, one has already abided in form, because one has a mind. If one thinks there is no anuttara-bodhi that can be aroused and attained, one has likewise already abided in form, because one has a dharma. Both belong to the dharma-self and cannot be called freedom from appearances. How, then, can this be accomplished? First understand the root and realize original emptiness. To posit is also acceptable; not to posit is also acceptable; to posit or not to posit—both are acceptable. |
| 如不明根本，但达理解，未证于事，则立不是，不立亦不是，立不立都不是。此妙用处，不可思议，今我说者，只可言用，无可言妙，以妙在汝边，非关我说。 |
If one does not understand the root, but merely reaches conceptual understanding without actual realization, then to posit is wrong, not to posit is also wrong, and both positing and not positing are wrong. This sphere of wondrous functioning is inconceivable. What I am saying now can speak only of its functioning; there is no way to speak of its wonder, for the wonder lies on your side and has nothing to do with what I say. |
| 又所说离相者，别无他法，曰即诸相离诸相，即众生离众生可耳，倘不会斯义，必死执割股救鸽，投崖饲虎，为即是般若智用矣。世尊为菩萨时，以先有般若，后成忍行，否则忍于一时而非究竟，无慧苦行，仍不离诸相。 |
Moreover, leaving appearances is no other method: it is simply to leave appearances amid all appearances, and to leave sentient beings amid sentient beings. If one does not understand this meaning, one will surely cling rigidly to cutting off one’s thigh to save a dove or leaping from a cliff to feed a tiger, believing these acts themselves to be the functioning of prajñā wisdom. When the World-Honored One was a bodhisattva, he first possessed prajñā and afterward perfected the practice of forbearance. Otherwise, one may endure for a time, but it is not ultimate; ascetic practice without wisdom still does not leave all appearances. |
| 行者当知佛说一切法，每用以表智，歌利王所以表贪，贪动时，见色则坏眼，闻声则坏耳，即名节节支解，故一有我人四相，即已支解而生嗔矣。 |
Practitioners should know that whenever the Buddha speaks of all dharmas, he uses them to illustrate wisdom. King Kali thus symbolizes greed: when greed stirs, seeing forms ruins the eyes and hearing sounds ruins the ears. This is called being dismembered joint by joint. Therefore, as soon as the four appearances of self, person, sentient being, and life span arise, one has already been dismembered and gives rise to anger. |
| 应生无所住心句，行者切勿误为有心可生，当知实是无心可生，惟幻起之功用耳，更进而知其幻者，则不著功用而成妙用矣。无著大士分此段为忍苦住处，举忍辱以证离相也。忍有三种：一明能忍，谓通达法无我者；二忍相，即引歌利王事；三忍之种类，有极苦忍与相续忍二者是也。 |
Regarding the phrase “they should give rise to a mind that abides nowhere,” practitioners must not mistakenly think that there is a mind that can be generated. Know that in truth there is no mind to be generated; there is only the function that illusorily arises. Going further, if one knows its illusory nature, one does not become attached to its function, and it becomes wondrous functioning. Asaṅga Bodhisattva divides this passage as the place of abiding in enduring suffering, citing forbearance to demonstrate freedom from appearances. There are three kinds of forbearance: first, understanding the one who can endure, namely one who comprehends that dharmas are without self; second, the appearance of forbearance, illustrated by the story of King Kali; and third, the categories of forbearance, namely forbearance of extreme suffering and continuous forbearance. |
