Volume Four: Neither Arising nor Ceasing, Corresponding to the Tathāgata-Garbha 卷第四 不生不灭 合如来藏
Writings of Master Yuanyin | 2018-06-10 | Download | AI assisted translation
| 尔时富楼那弥多罗尼子，在大众中，即从座起，偏袒右肩，右膝着地，合掌恭敬，而白佛言：大威德世尊！善为众生，敷演如来第一义谛。世尊常推说法人中，我为第一。 |
At that time Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, in the midst of the assembly, rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt on his right knee, joined his palms respectfully, and addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One of great awesome virtue, you have skillfully expounded for sentient beings the Tathāgata’s supreme truth of ultimate meaning. The World-Honored One has always praised me as foremost among those who expound the Dharma.” |
| 今闻如来微妙法音，犹如聋人，逾百步外聆于蚊蚋 ，本所不见，何况得闻？佛虽宣明，令我除惑，今犹未详斯义究竟，无疑惑地。世尊！如阿难辈，虽则开悟，习漏未除。 |
“Now, hearing the Tathāgata’s subtle and wondrous Dharma sound, I am like a deaf person listening to mosquitoes from more than a hundred paces away: what was originally unseen, much less can be heard. Although the Buddha has clearly proclaimed it and enabled me to dispel my delusions, I still do not fully understand how this principle is ultimately free from doubt. World-Honored One, although those such as Ānanda have awakened, their residual outflows have not yet been eliminated.” |
| 我等会中登无漏者，虽尽诸漏 ，今闻如来所说法音，尚纡疑悔。 |
“Though those among us in this assembly who have attained freedom from outflows have exhausted all outflows, upon hearing the Dharma sound spoken by the Tathāgata, we still harbor lingering doubts and regrets.” |
| 世尊！若复世间，一切根尘阴处界等，皆如来藏清净本然，云何忽生山河大地 ，诸有为相，次第迁流，终而复始？又如来说：地水火风本性圆融，周遍法界，湛然常住。世尊！若地性遍，云何容水？水性周遍，火则不生 。 |
“World-Honored One, if all the sense faculties and their objects, aggregates, sense bases, and realms in the world are all the Tathāgata-garbha, pure and originally such, how do mountains, rivers, and the great earth suddenly arise, together with all conditioned appearances, which flow and change in succession, ending only to begin again? Moreover, the Tathāgata has said that the natures of earth, water, fire, and wind are perfectly interfused, pervading the dharma realm, tranquil and ever abiding. World-Honored One, if the nature of earth pervades everywhere, how can it contain water? If the nature of water pervades everywhere, fire cannot arise.” |
| 复云何明水火二性俱遍虚空，不相陵灭？世尊！地性障碍，空性虚通，云何二俱周遍法界？而我不知，是义攸往。惟愿如来宣流大慈，开我迷云，及诸大众。作是语已，五体投地，钦渴如来无上慈诲。 |
“Moreover, how can it be understood that the natures of water and fire both pervade empty space without overpowering or extinguishing one another? World-Honored One, the nature of earth obstructs, while the nature of space is open and unobstructed. How can both pervade the dharma realm? I do not understand where this principle leads. I only pray that the Tathāgata will pour forth great compassion, dispelling the clouds of delusion for me and for the whole assembly.” Having spoken thus, he prostrated himself fully on the ground, reverently thirsting for the Tathāgata’s unsurpassed compassionate instruction. |
| 尔时世尊告富楼那，及诸会中漏尽无学诸阿罗汉：如来今日，普为此会，宣胜义中，真胜义性。令汝会中定性声闻，及诸一切未得二空，回向上乘阿罗汉等 ，皆获一乘寂灭场地，真阿练若，正修行处。汝今谛听，当为汝说！富楼那等钦佛法音，默然承听。 |
At that time the World-Honored One said to Pūrṇa and to the arhats beyond training in the assembly, who had exhausted their outflows: “Today the Tathāgata will proclaim for this assembly the true nature of the supreme meaning within the supreme meaning, so that the fixed-nature śrāvakas in this assembly, and all arhats who have not yet attained the twofold emptiness but are turning toward the higher vehicle, may all attain the ground of the One Vehicle’s quiescence—the true araṇya, the proper place for cultivation. Listen carefully now, and I shall explain it to you.” Pūrṇa and the others respectfully received the Buddha’s Dharma sound and listened in silence. |
| 佛言：富楼那！如汝所言，清净本然，云何忽生山河大地？汝常不闻如来宣说，性觉妙明，本觉明妙。富楼那言：唯然 ，世尊！我常闻佛宣说斯义。 |
The Buddha said: “Pūrṇa, as you have said, if it is pure and originally such, how do mountains, rivers, and the great earth suddenly arise? Have you not often heard the Tathāgata declare that inherent awakening is wondrous luminosity, and original awakening is luminous and wondrous?” Pūrṇa replied: “Yes, World-Honored One. I have often heard the Buddha proclaim this principle.” |
| 佛言：汝称觉明，为复性明，称名为觉？为觉不明，称为明觉？富楼那言：若此不明，名为觉者，则无所明 。佛言：若无所明，则无明觉；有所非觉，无所非明。无明又非觉湛明性，性觉必明，妄为明觉。 |
The Buddha said: “When you call awakening luminous, do you mean that inherent luminosity is called awakening? Or that awakening which is not luminous is called luminous awakening?” Pūrṇa replied: “If that which is not luminous is called awakening, then there is nothing that is luminous.” The Buddha said: “If there is nothing luminous, then there is no luminous awakening. What has an object is not awakening; what has no object is not luminosity. Moreover, ignorance is not the tranquil, luminous nature of awakening. Inherent awakening must be luminous, yet one falsely makes it into luminous awakening.” |
| 觉非所明，因明立所 ，所既妄立，生汝妄能。无同异中，炽然成异，异彼所异，因异立同。同异发明，因此复立无同无异。如是扰乱，相待生劳 。劳久发尘，自相浑浊，由是引起尘劳烦恼。起为世界，静成虚空。虚空为同，世界为异。彼无同异，真有为法。 |
“Awakening is not an object of illumination; because of illumination, an object is established. Once the object is falsely established, your false subjective capacity arises. Within what is neither the same nor different, difference blazes forth; in contrast to that difference, sameness is established through difference. Sameness and difference become manifest, and thus what is neither the same nor different is further established. Such confusion gives rise to toil through mutual dependence. When this toil persists, it produces dust; the dust becomes mutually turbid, and thus brings forth the afflictions of worldly toil. Movement becomes the world; stillness becomes empty space. Empty space is sameness; the world is difference. That which is neither the same nor different is truly conditioned dharma.” |
| 觉明空昧，相待成摇，故有风轮执持世界。因空生摇，坚明立碍，彼金宝者，明觉立坚，故有金轮保持国土。坚觉宝成，摇明风出，风金相摩，故有火光为变化性。宝明生润，火光上蒸，故有水轮含十方界。 |
“When awakened luminosity and the obscurity of emptiness mutually oppose each other, they become motion; thus there is the wheel of wind that sustains the world. Because emptiness gives rise to motion, solid luminosity establishes obstruction. As for gold and treasure, luminous awakening establishes solidity; thus there is the wheel of metal that maintains the lands. When solid awakening forms treasure and moving luminosity produces wind, wind and metal rub against one another, and thus fire arises as the nature of transformation. Treasure-luminosity produces moisture, and the fire’s light steams upward; thus there is the wheel of water containing the ten directions.” |
| 火腾水降，交发立坚，湿为巨海，乾为洲潬。以是义故，彼大海中，火光常起 ；彼洲潬中，江河常注。水势劣火，结为高山，是故山石，击则成焰，融则成水。土势劣水，抽为草木，是故林薮 ，遇烧成土，因绞成水。交妄发生，递相为种，以是因缘，世界相续。 |
“Fire rises and water descends; their interaction produces solidity. Moisture becomes great seas, and dryness becomes continents and islands. For this reason, fire often arises within the great seas, while rivers constantly flow upon continents and islands. Where water’s force is weaker than fire’s, it congeals into high mountains; therefore, when mountain rocks are struck, they emit sparks, and when melted, they become water. Where earth’s force is weaker than water’s, it draws forth grasses and trees; therefore, forests and groves become earth when burned, and produce water when twisted. Deluded interactions arise from one another and serve successively as seeds. Through these causes and conditions, worlds continue.” |
| 复次富楼那！明妄非他，觉明为咎。所妄既立，明理不逾。以是因缘，听不出声，见不超色。色香味触，六妄成就，由是分开见觉闻知。同业相缠，合离成化。见明色发，明见想成 ，异见成憎，同想成爱。 |
“Furthermore, Pūrṇa, this false luminosity is not something else: the fault lies in making awakening luminous. Once the false object is established, the illuminating principle cannot go beyond it. For this reason, hearing does not go beyond sound, and seeing does not go beyond form. Form, smell, taste, and touch complete the six false objects, and thus seeing, awareness, hearing, and knowing become divided. Those sharing the same karma become entangled; union and separation bring about transformation. When seeing is clarified, forms arise; when brightness is seen, thoughts form. Differing views produce aversion, while like thoughts produce love.” |
| 流爱为种，纳想为胎，交遘发生，吸引同业，故有因缘，生羯罗蓝、遏蒲昙等。胎卵 湿化，随其所应，卵惟想生，胎因情有，湿以合感，化以离应。情想合离，更相变易，所有受业，逐其飞沉 。以是因缘，众生相续。 |
“Flowing love becomes a seed, and receptive thought becomes a womb. Sexual union produces development and draws beings of like karma together; therefore, through causes and conditions, kalala, arbuda, and the like come into being. Womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born beings arise according to what is appropriate: egg-born beings arise solely from thought; womb-born beings arise through emotion; moisture-born beings are affected by union; transformation-born beings respond to separation. Emotion, thought, union, and separation transform one another, and beings undergo karma according to whether they fly or sink. Through these causes and conditions, sentient beings continue.” |
| 富楼那！想爱同结，爱不能离，则诸世间，父母子孙相生不断，是等则以欲贪为本。贪爱同滋，贪不能止，则诸世间 ，卵化湿胎，随力强弱，递相吞食，是等则以杀贪为本。 |
“Pūrṇa, when thought and love bind together, and love cannot be separated, then in all worlds parents, children, and descendants are born from one another without end. Such continuity has desire and greed as its root. When greed and love nourish one another, and greed cannot cease, then throughout all worlds, egg-born, transformation-born, moisture-born, and womb-born beings devour one another according to the strength of their power. Such continuity has the greed to kill as its root.” |
| 以人食羊，羊死为人，人死为羊，如是乃至十生之类，死死生生，互来相啖 ，恶业俱生，穷未来际，是等则以盗贪为本。汝负我命，我还汝债，以是因缘，经百千劫，常在生死。汝爱我心，我怜汝色 ，以是因缘，经百千劫，常在缠缚。唯杀盗淫三为根本，以是因缘，业果相续。 |
“Because people eat sheep, sheep die and become people, and people die and become sheep. Thus, throughout the ten classes of beings, they die and are born, again and again, mutually devouring one another. Evil karma arises with them and continues to the end of future time. Such continuity has the greed to steal as its root. You owe me a life; I repay you a debt. Through these causes and conditions, we remain in birth and death for hundreds of thousands of kalpas. You love my mind; I cherish your form. Through these causes and conditions, we remain bound for hundreds of thousands of kalpas. Killing, stealing, and sexual desire alone are the fundamental roots. Through these causes and conditions, karmic results continue.” |
| 富楼那！如是三种颠倒相续，皆是觉明，明了知性，因了发相，从妄见生山河大地诸有为相，次第迁流。因此虚妄终而复始。 |
“Pūrṇa, these three kinds of inverted continuity all arise from making awakening luminous—the knowing nature made aware. Because awareness gives rise to appearances, mountains, rivers, the great earth, and all conditioned appearances arise from false seeing and flow and change in succession. Because of this falsity, they end only to begin again.” |
| 富楼那言：若此妙觉，本妙觉明，与如来心，不增不减，无状忽生山河大地诸有为相。如来今得妙空明觉，山河大地有为习漏，何当复生？ |
Pūrṇa said: “If this wondrous awakening, originally wondrous and luminously awakened, neither increases nor decreases in comparison with the mind of the Tathāgata, how do mountains, rivers, the great earth, and all conditioned appearances suddenly arise without cause? Now that the Tathāgata has attained wondrous, empty, luminous awakening, when will the conditioned habitual outflows of mountains, rivers, and the great earth arise again?” |
| 佛告富楼那：譬如迷人，于一聚落，惑南为北。此迷为复因迷而有？因悟而出？富楼那言：如是迷人，亦不因迷，又不因悟。 |
The Buddha told Pūrṇa: “It is like a person who has lost his way in a village and mistakes south for north. Does this confusion arise because of confusion, or does it arise from awakening?” Pūrṇa replied: “Such a confused person is not confused because of confusion, nor is he confused because of awakening.” |
| 何以故？迷本无根，云何因迷？悟非生迷，云何因悟？佛言：彼之迷人，正在迷时 ，倏有悟人，指示令悟。富楼那！于意云何？此人纵迷于此聚落，更生迷不？不也！世尊！富楼那！十方如来亦复如是。此迷无本，性毕竟空。昔本无迷，似有迷觉；觉迷迷灭，觉不生迷。 |
“Why is this so? Delusion originally has no root, so how could it arise from delusion? Awakening does not produce delusion, so how could it arise from awakening?” The Buddha said: “While that person is lost, someone who understands suddenly points out the way and enables him to awaken. Pūrṇa, what do you think? If this person, having once been lost in that village, is lost there again, would that be possible?” “No, World-Honored One.” “Pūrṇa, the Tathāgatas of the ten directions are likewise. This delusion has no basis; its nature is ultimately empty. Originally there was no delusion, though there seemed to be awareness of delusion. When awareness of delusion arises, delusion ceases; awakening does not give rise to delusion.” |
| 亦如翳人见空中华，翳病若除，华于空灭。忽有愚人，于彼空华所灭空地，待华更生。汝观是人，为愚为慧？富楼那言：空元无华，妄见生灭。见华灭空，已是颠倒 ，敕令更出，斯实狂痴。 |
“It is also like a person with an eye disease who sees flowers in empty space. When the diseased condition is cured, the flowers vanish from space. Suppose a foolish person were to wait in the empty place where those flowers vanished for them to arise again. Would you consider this person foolish or wise?” Pūrṇa replied: “There originally are no flowers in empty space; their arising and vanishing are falsely seen. To see flowers vanish from empty space is already inverted; to demand that they appear again is truly madness and stupidity.” |
| 云何更名，如是狂人为愚为慧？佛言：如汝所解，云何问言：诸佛如来妙觉明空，何当更出山河大地？又如金矿，杂于精金 ，其金一纯，更不成杂；如木成灰，不重为木。诸佛如来，菩提涅槃，亦复如是！ |
“How could one further ask whether such a mad person is foolish or wise?” The Buddha said: “As you understand it, why do you ask when mountains, rivers, the great earth, and all conditioned appearances will again arise from the wondrous awakened luminous emptiness of the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas? It is like gold ore mixed with pure gold: once the gold is refined to purity, it will not again become mixed. Or like wood reduced to ashes: it cannot become wood again. The bodhi and nirvāṇa of the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, are likewise.” |
| 富楼那！又汝问言：地水火风本性圆融，周遍法界，疑水火性，不相陵灭。又征虚空及诸大地俱遍法界，不合相容。富楼那 ！譬如虚空，体非群相，而不拒彼诸相发挥。 |
“Pūrṇa, you also asked why the natures of earth, water, fire, and wind, being perfectly interfused and pervading the dharma realm, do not overpower and extinguish one another. You also questioned how empty space and all the lands can both pervade the dharma realm without being incompatible or unable to contain one another. Pūrṇa, it is like empty space: its essence is not the various appearances, yet it does not prevent those appearances from manifesting.” |
| 所以者何？富楼那！彼太虚空，日照则明，云屯则暗，风摇则动，霁澄则清，气凝则浊，土积成霾，水澄成映。于意云何？如是殊方诸有为相，为因彼生？为复空有？若彼所生，富楼那 ！且日照时，既是日明，十方世界同为日色，云何空中更见圆日？若是空明，空应自照，云何中宵云雾之时不生光耀？当知是明，非日非空，不异空日。 |
“Why is this so? Pūrṇa, in the great empty space, sunlight makes it bright; gathered clouds make it dark; wind makes it move; clear weather makes it pure; condensed vapors make it turbid; accumulated dust becomes haze; and settled water becomes a reflection. What do you think? Do these various conditioned appearances arise from those causes, or do they arise from space? If they arise from those causes, then, Pūrṇa, when sunlight shines, since the brightness comes from the sun, the worlds in the ten directions should all take on the sun’s color. Why then is a round sun still seen in the sky? If the brightness came from space, space itself should shine. Why then does it not emit radiance in the middle of the night when clouds and mist prevail? You should know that this brightness is neither from the sun nor from space, yet it is not separate from space and the sun.” |
| 真妙觉明，亦复如是！汝以空明，则有空现。地水火风各各发明，则各各现；若俱发明，则有俱现。云何俱现？富楼那 ！如一水中，现于日影，两人同观水中之日，东西各行，则各有日随二人去，一东一西，先无准的。不应难言 ，此日是一，云何各行？各日既双，云何现一？宛转虚妄，无可凭据。 |
“True, wondrous, awakened luminosity is likewise. If you make emptiness luminous, emptiness appears. If earth, water, fire, and wind are each made luminous, each appears. If all are made luminous together, all appear together. How can they all appear together? Pūrṇa, it is like the reflection of the sun in a single body of water. Two people observe the sun in the water and walk separately, one east and one west; each sees a sun following him. One goes east and one west, with no fixed direction. One should not ask, ‘If this sun is one, how can it go separately?’ Nor should one ask, ‘If each person has a sun, how can one sun appear?’ Such questions are endlessly false and have no basis.” |
| 观相元妄，无可指陈，犹邀空华，结为空果，云何诘其相陵灭义？观性元真，唯妙觉明，妙觉明心，先非水火，云何复问不相容者？ |
“The contemplation of appearances is originally false and cannot be pointed out or described. It is like hoping for flowers in empty space to bear the fruit of emptiness. How then can one question how appearances overpower or extinguish one another? The contemplation of nature is originally true; it is solely wondrous awakened luminosity. The mind of wondrous awakened luminosity is not originally water or fire. How then can one further ask how they fail to contain one another?” |
| 富楼那！汝以色空，相倾相夺于如来藏。而如来藏，随为色空，周遍法界。是故于中，风动空澄，日明云暗。众生迷闷，背觉合尘 ，故发尘劳，有世间相。我以妙明不灭不生合如来藏，而如来藏唯妙觉明，圆照法界。 |
“Pūrṇa, you see form and emptiness as mutually inclining toward and contending with one another within the Tathāgata-garbha. Yet the Tathāgata-garbha accords with becoming form and emptiness, pervading the dharma realm. Therefore, within it, wind moves, space clears, the sun shines, and clouds darken. Sentient beings, deluded and confused, turn away from awakening and unite with dust; thus worldly toil arises and the appearances of the world come into being. I unite the Tathāgata-garbha with wondrous luminosity that neither ceases nor arises, and the Tathāgata-garbha is solely wondrous awakened luminosity, perfectly illuminating the dharma realm.” |
| 是故于中，一为无量，无量为一；小中现大 ，大中现小。不动道场遍十方界，身含十方无尽虚空，于一毛端现宝王刹，坐微尘里转大法轮。灭尘合觉，故发真如妙觉明性。 |
“Therefore, within it, one is limitless and limitless is one; the great appears within the small, and the small appears within the great. Without moving from the bodhimaṇḍa, one pervades the dharma realms of the ten directions; one’s body contains the boundless empty space of the ten directions. At the tip of a single hair, one manifests jeweled king-lands; seated within a mote of dust, one turns the great Dharma wheel. By extinguishing dust and uniting with awakening, one brings forth the wondrous awakened luminous nature of suchness.” |
| 而如来藏，本妙圆心。非心、非空，非地、非水、非风、非火。非眼、非耳鼻舌身意，非色、非声 香味触法，非眼识界，如是乃至非意识界。 |
“Yet the Tathāgata-garbha, the originally wondrous perfect mind, is neither mind nor emptiness, neither earth nor water, neither wind nor fire; neither eye nor ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; neither form nor sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma; neither the realm of eye-consciousness nor, thus, any of the realms up to and including the realm of mind-consciousness.” |
| 非明无明、明无明尽，如是乃至非老非死、非老死尽，非苦、非集 、非灭、非道，非智、非得。非檀那、非尸罗、非毗梨耶、非羼提、非禅那、非般刺若、非波罗蜜多；如是乃至非怛闼阿竭 、非阿罗诃、非三耶三菩、非大涅槃，非常、非乐、非我、非净。 |
“It is neither ignorance nor the ending of ignorance; neither aging and death nor the ending of aging and death; neither suffering, origination, cessation, nor the path; neither wisdom nor attainment. It is neither dāna, śīla, vīrya, kṣānti, dhyāna, prajñā, nor pāramitā; nor, thus, is it the Tathāgata, the Arhat, samyak-saṃbuddha, or great nirvāṇa; neither permanence, bliss, self, nor purity.” |
| 以是俱非，世出世故，即如来藏妙明心元。即心、即空、即地、即水、即风、即火，即眼、即耳鼻舌身意 ，即色、即声香味触法，即眼识界，如是乃至即意识界。 |
“Because it is all of these negations—worldly and supramundane—the Tathāgata-garbha is the original source of the wondrous luminous mind. It is mind, it is emptiness, it is earth, water, wind, and fire; it is eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind; it is form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma; it is the realm of eye-consciousness and, thus, all the way up to and including the realm of mind-consciousness.” |
| 即明无明、明无明尽，如是乃至即老即死、即老死尽 ，即苦、即集、即灭、即道，即智、即得，即檀那、即尸罗、即毗梨耶、即羼提、即禅那、即般刺若、即波罗蜜多；如是乃至即怛闼阿竭 、即阿罗诃、三耶三菩、即大涅槃，即常、即乐、即我、即净。 |
That is, ignorance is itself enlightenment, and enlightenment exhausts ignorance; and so on, even to old age and death being themselves old age and death exhausted; suffering, origination, cessation, and the Path being themselves so; wisdom and attainment being themselves so; dāna, śīla, vīrya, kṣānti, dhyāna, prajñā, and pāramitā being themselves so. And so on, even to the Tathāgata, the Arhat, perfect and complete enlightenment, great nirvāṇa, permanence, bliss, self, and purity being themselves so. |
| 以是俱即，世出世故，即如来藏元明心妙。离即离非，是即非即。 |
Because all these are identical, they encompass both the mundane and the supramundane; this is the wondrous, primordial, luminous mind of the Tathāgata-garbha. To depart from identity is to depart from nonidentity; identity itself is nonidentity, and nonidentity itself is identity. |
| 如何世间三有众生，及出世间声闻缘觉，以所知心测度如来无上菩提，用世语言入佛知见？譬如琴、瑟、箜篌、琵琶，虽有妙音，若无妙指，终不能发 ，汝与众生亦复如是。宝觉真心各各圆满，如我按指，海印发光；汝暂举心，尘劳先起。由不勤求无上觉道，爱念小乘，得少为足。 |
How can sentient beings of the three realms of worldly existence, together with the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas of the supramundane path, use the mind of what they know to measure the Tathāgata’s unsurpassed bodhi, or use worldly language to enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision? It is like a zither, a lute, a harp, or a pipa: although each has exquisite tones, without skillful fingers it can never give them forth. You and all sentient beings are likewise. The precious awakened true mind is complete and perfect in each and every one of you. When I press my finger, the ocean-seal emits light; when you merely stir your minds, the toil of the dusts first arises. This is because you do not diligently seek the unsurpassed path of awakening, but cherish the Lesser Vehicle and are content with a small attainment. |
| 富楼那言：我与如来宝觉圆明，真妙净心，无二圆满。而我昔遭无始妄想，久在轮回，今得圣乘，犹末究竟。世尊诸妄一切圆灭，独妙真常。 |
Pūrṇa said, “The precious awakening, perfect luminosity, true wondrous purity of mind possessed by the Tathāgata and by me are equally complete, without duality. Yet I have long been in saṃsāra because I encountered beginningless deluded thoughts in the past. Now, though I have attained the holy vehicle, I have not yet reached ultimate realization. The World-Honored One has completely extinguished all delusions and alone abides in wondrous, true permanence.” |
| 敢问如来 ，一切众生何因有妄，自蔽妙明，受此沦溺？佛告富楼那：汝虽除疑，余惑未尽。吾以世间，现前诸事，今复问汝。汝岂不闻 ，室罗城中，演若达多？忽于晨朝，以镜照面，爱镜中头，眉目可见。瞋责己头，不见面目，以为魑魅，无状狂走。于意云何？此人何因 无故狂走？富楼那言：是人心狂，更无他故！ |
“I venture to ask the Tathāgata: Why do all sentient beings have delusion, thereby obscuring their own wondrous luminosity and undergoing this drowning in saṃsāra?” The Buddha told Pūrṇa, “Though you have dispelled your doubts, your remaining delusions are not exhausted. I shall now ask you again about matters presently before us in the world. Have you not heard of Yajñadatta in Śrāvastī? One morning, he looked at his face in a mirror. Delighting in the head in the mirror, whose eyebrows and eyes he could see, he angrily reproached his own head because he could not see its face and features. Thinking it was a goblin, he ran about madly for no reason. What do you think? Why did this man run about madly for no reason?” Pūrṇa said, “The man’s mind was mad; there was no other reason.” |
| 佛言：妙觉明圆，本圆明妙，既称为妄，云何有因？若有所因，云何名妄？自诸妄想展转相因，从迷积迷，以历尘劫 ，虽佛发明，犹不能返。如是迷因，因迷自有。识迷无因，妄无所依。 |
The Buddha said, “Wondrous awakening is perfectly luminous, and fundamental perfect luminosity is wondrous. Once it is called delusion, how can it have a cause? If it has a cause, how can it be called delusion? Deluded thoughts generate one another as causes in continual succession; delusion accumulates upon delusion through dust-filled kalpas. Even though the Buddha reveals this, they still cannot return. Such a cause of delusion exists because of delusion itself. Once one recognizes that delusion has no cause, delusion has nothing on which to depend.” |
| 尚无有生，欲何为灭？得菩提者，如寤时人说梦中事 。心纵精明，欲何因缘取梦中物？况复无因，本无所有。如彼城中演若达多，岂有因缘，自怖头走？忽然狂歇，头非外得 。 |
“When even arising does not exist, what could there be to cease? One who attains bodhi is like a person, once awake, speaking of matters in a dream. Even if the mind is exceptionally lucid, by what causes and conditions could it retrieve things from the dream? How much less could there be anything where there is no cause and fundamentally nothing exists. Like Yajñadatta in that city, could he possibly have had some cause or condition for being frightened of his head and running away? When his madness suddenly ceased, his head was not obtained from outside.” |
| 纵末歇狂，亦何遗失？富楼那！妄性如是，因何为在？汝但不随分别，世间、业果、众生三种相续，三缘断故，三因不生。则汝心中演若达多 ，狂性自歇，歇即菩提。 |
“Even if his madness had not ceased, what would he have lost? Pūrṇa, such is the nature of delusion; where could its cause be? You need only refrain from following discrimination. When the three continuities of the world, karmic fruition, and sentient beings cease because their three conditions are cut off, their three causes do not arise. Then the Yajñadatta within your own mind will have his madness naturally cease. When it ceases, that is bodhi.” |
| 胜净明心，本周法界，不从人得，何藉劬劳，肯綮修证？譬如有人，于自衣中系如意珠，不自觉知 ，穷露他方，乞食驰走。虽实贫穷，珠不曾失。忽有智者，指示其珠，所愿从心，致大饶富，方悟神珠，非从外得。 |
“The supreme, pure, luminous mind pervades the dharma realm from the beginning. It is not obtained from anyone else. Why, then, rely on arduous toil and painstaking cultivation and realization? It is like someone who ties a wish-fulfilling jewel inside his own garment but does not know it. Wandering impoverished and exposed in another land, he runs about begging for food. Though he is truly poor, the jewel has never been lost. Suddenly, a wise person points out the jewel to him; whatever he wishes is fulfilled, and he becomes greatly wealthy. Only then does he realize that the spiritual jewel was not obtained from outside.” |
| 即时阿难在大众中，顶礼佛足，起立白佛：世尊！现说杀盗淫业，三缘断故，三因不生，心中达多，狂性自歇 ，歇即菩提，不从人得。斯则因缘，皎然明白。云何如来顿弃因缘？我从因缘，心得开悟。 |
At that time, Ānanda, amid the great assembly, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, rose, and addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One, you have just explained that when the three conditions of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct are cut off, the three causes do not arise; the madness of Dattā in one’s mind naturally ceases, and when it ceases, that is bodhi, which is not obtained from another. Thus causes and conditions are plainly evident. Why does the Tathāgata suddenly reject causes and conditions? Through causes and conditions, my mind attained awakening.” |
| 世尊！此义何独我等年少有学声闻 ？今此会中，大目犍连及舍利弗、须菩提等，从老梵志闻佛因缘，发心开悟，得成无漏。今说菩提不从因缘 ，则王舍城拘舍梨等，所说自然，成第一义。惟垂大悲，开发迷闷！ |
“World-Honored One, is this principle applicable only to younger śrāvakas still in training such as ourselves? In this assembly, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Śāriputra, Subhūti, and others heard the Buddha teach causes and conditions from the elder brahmins; they aroused the resolve, awakened, and attained the undefiled state. If you now say that bodhi does not arise from causes and conditions, then the naturalism taught by Kośalī and others in Rājagṛha would become the highest truth. I beg you, in your great compassion, to dispel our bewilderment!” |
| 佛告阿难：即如城中演若达多，狂性因缘若得灭除，则不狂性自然而出，因缘自然，理穷于是。 |
The Buddha told Ānanda, “Take the case of Yajñadatta in the city. If the causes and conditions of his madness were eliminated, his state of not being mad would naturally emerge. Thus, causes and conditions and naturalism reach their logical end here.” |
| 阿难！演若达多头本自然，本自其然，无然非自 ，何因缘故，怖头狂走？若自然头，因缘故狂，何不自然因缘故失？本头不失，狂怖妄出，曾无变易，何藉因缘？本狂自然，本有狂怖 ，未狂之际，狂何所潜？不狂自然，头本无妄，何为狂走？若悟本头，识知狂走，因缘自然，俱为戏论。是故我言：三缘断故，即菩提心。 |
“Ānanda, Yajñadatta’s head was originally natural; it was naturally so in itself. If what is natural were not itself, then why would causes and conditions make him fear his head and run about madly? If the head is naturally present and madness arises because of causes and conditions, why would the head not naturally be lost because of causes and conditions? His original head was not lost, yet his mad fear arose falsely. Since it had undergone no change at all, what need was there for causes and conditions? If original madness were natural, then fearful madness would have been there from the start. Before he became mad, where was the madness concealed? If not being mad were natural, then the head was originally without delusion; why did he run about madly? If one awakens to the original head and recognizes the mad running, then causes and conditions and naturalism are both mere idle speculation. Therefore I say: when the three conditions are cut off, that itself is the bodhi mind.” |
| 菩提心生，生灭心灭，此但生灭，灭生俱尽，无功用道。若有自然，如是则明自然心生，生灭心灭，此亦生灭。无生灭者，名为自然 。犹如世间诸相杂和，成一体者，名和合性；非和合者，称本然性。本然非然，和合非合。合然俱离，离合俱非 ，此句方名无戏论法。 |
“When the bodhi mind arises, the mind of arising and ceasing is extinguished. Yet this is merely arising and ceasing. When both cessation and arising are exhausted, this is the path of effortless functioning. If there is a natural state, then one would say that the natural mind arises and the mind of arising and ceasing is extinguished; but this too is arising and ceasing. That which has neither arising nor ceasing is called natural. Just as the various phenomena of the world combine to form one entity, this is called the nature of combination; that which is not combined is called original nature. Original nature is not natural, and combination is not combination. Leave behind both combination and naturalness; regard both separation and combination as false. Only this can be called the dharma free from idle speculation.” |
| 菩提涅槃，尚在遥远，非汝历劫辛勤修证。虽复忆持，十方如来十二部经，清净妙理，如恒河沙，祗益戏论。汝虽谈说因缘自然，决定明了，人间称汝多闻第一。以此积劫多闻熏习，不能免离摩登伽难。何须待我佛顶神咒 ，摩登伽心淫火顿歇，得阿那含，于我法中，成精进林，爱河乾枯，令汝解脱。 |
“Bodhi and nirvāṇa are still far distant for you, not something attained through your diligent cultivation and realization over kalpas. Though you can memorize and retain the pure and wondrous principles of the twelve divisions of the teachings of the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, they merely add to idle speculation. Though you speak clearly and decisively of causes and conditions and naturalism, and people call you foremost in learning, the habitual influence of your vast learning over accumulated kalpas could not save you from the ordeal of Mātaṅgī. There was no need to wait for my Buddha’s crown-uṣṇīṣa mantra: Mātaṅgī’s fire of sexual desire immediately ceased; she attained the state of an anāgāmin and, in my Dharma, became a vigorous grove of practice. The river of her attachment dried up, and this enabled your liberation.” |
| 是故阿难！汝虽历劫，忆持如来，秘密妙严，不如一日修无漏业，远离世间憎爱二苦。如摩登伽宿为淫女，由神咒力，销其爱欲，法中今名性比丘尼。与罗睺母耶输陀罗，同悟宿因 ，知历世因，贪爱为苦。一念薰修无漏善故，或得出缠，或蒙授记。如何自欺，尚留观听？ |
“Therefore, Ānanda, though over kalpas you memorize and retain the Tathāgata’s secret, wondrous, and majestic teachings, this is not as good as cultivating undefiled karma for a single day and distancing yourself from the two sufferings of worldly hatred and love. Mātaṅgī was formerly a prostitute, but through the power of the spiritual mantra her craving and desire were dissolved; she is now called Bhikṣuṇī Prakṛti in the Dharma. Together with Yaśodharā, Rāhula’s mother, she awakened to her past causes and understood that through lives upon lives, greed and attachment are suffering. Through the undefiled goodness cultivated in a single thought, some are freed from their bonds and some receive a prophecy of Buddhahood. How can you deceive yourself and still remain attached to seeing and hearing?” |
| 阿难及诸大众，闻佛示诲，疑惑销除，心悟实相，身意轻安，得未曾有。重复悲泪，顶礼佛足，长跪合掌 ，而白佛言：无上大悲清净宝王，善开我心！能以如是种种因缘，方便提奖，引诸沉冥，出于苦海。 |
When Ānanda and the entire assembly heard the Buddha’s instruction, their doubts dissolved. Their minds awakened to the true reality, their bodies and minds became light and at ease, and they attained what they had never known before. Again they wept with sorrowful gratitude, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, knelt on both knees with palms joined, and addressed the Buddha: “Unsurpassed, greatly compassionate King of Pure Treasure, you have skillfully opened our minds! Through such various causes and conditions and skillful means, you encourage and guide those sunk in darkness out of the sea of suffering.” |
| 世尊！我今虽承如是法音，知 如来藏妙觉明心遍十方界，含育如来十方国土，清净宝严妙觉王刹。如来复责，多闻无功，不逮修习。我今犹如旅泊之人，忽蒙天王赐以华屋 。虽获大宅，要因门入。 |
“World-Honored One, although I have now received such Dharma sounds and know that the wondrously awakened, luminous mind of the Tathāgata-garbha pervades the dharma realms of the ten directions and contains and nurtures the pure, precious, wondrously adorned Buddha lands of the Tathāgatas in the ten directions, the Tathāgata has again reproached me that extensive learning is ineffective and inferior to cultivation. I am now like a traveler lodging abroad who suddenly receives a magnificent house from a heavenly king. Though he has acquired a great dwelling, he must still enter through its door.” |
| 惟愿如来不舍大悲，示我在会诸蒙暗者，捐舍小乘，毕获如来无余涅槃，本发心路。令有学者，从何摄伏畴昔攀缘，得陀罗尼，入佛知见 ？作是语已，五体投地。在会一心，伫佛慈旨。 |
“May the Tathāgata, without abandoning great compassion, show those in this assembly who remain shrouded in darkness the path by which they may relinquish the Lesser Vehicle and fully attain the Tathāgata’s nirvāṇa without remainder—the fundamental path for arousing the resolve. By what means may those still in training gather in and subdue their former grasping on conditions, attain dhāraṇī, and enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision?” Having said this, he prostrated himself with all five limbs on the ground. The entire assembly waited with one mind for the Buddha’s compassionate instruction. |
| 尔时世尊，哀愍会中缘觉声闻，于菩提心未自在者，及为当来佛灭度后，末法众生发菩萨心，开无上乘妙修行路。宣示阿难 ，及诸大众：汝等决定发菩提心，于佛如来妙三摩提不生疲倦，应当先明，发觉初心二决定义。云何初心二义决定？ |
At that time, the World-Honored One, pitying the pratyekabuddhas and śrāvakas in the assembly who were not yet at ease in the bodhi mind, and also wishing to reveal, for sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa who arouse the bodhisattva resolve, the wondrous path of cultivation of the unsurpassed vehicle, declared to Ānanda and the entire assembly: “If you have decisively aroused the bodhi mind and do not grow weary of the Tathāgata Buddha’s wondrous samādhi, you should first clearly understand the two decisive principles for initially arousing awakening. What are these two decisive principles for the initial resolve?” |
| 阿难！第一义者，汝等若欲捐舍声闻，修菩萨乘，入佛知见。应当审观因地发心，与果地觉，为同为异，阿难 ！若于因地，以生灭心为本修因，而求佛乘不生不灭，无有是处！以是义故，汝当照明，诸器世间，可作之法，皆从变灭。阿难 ！汝观世间，可作之法，谁为不坏？然终不闻烂坏虚空。何以故？空非可作，由是始终无坏灭故。 |
“Ānanda, the first principle is this: if you wish to relinquish the śrāvaka vehicle, cultivate the bodhisattva vehicle, and enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, you must carefully examine whether the mind that arouses the resolve at the causal stage and the awakening at the stage of fruition are the same or different. Ānanda, if at the causal stage you take a mind of arising and ceasing as the fundamental cause of practice and seek the Buddha vehicle’s unborn and undying state, this cannot be. For this reason, you should observe clearly that all fabricated dharmas in the material world are subject to change and destruction. Ānanda, look upon the world: among fabricated dharmas, which does not decay? Yet one never hears that empty space decays and is destroyed. Why? Because space is not fabricated; therefore, from beginning to end, it does not perish.” |
| 则汝身中，坚相为地，润湿为水，暖触为火，动摇为风。由此四缠，分汝湛圆妙觉明心，为视为听为觉为察 。从始入终，五叠浑浊。云何为浊？阿难！譬如清水，清洁本然。即彼尘土灰砂之伦，本质留碍。二体法尔，性不相循。有世间人，取彼土尘，投于净水 ，土失留碍，水亡清洁，容貌汨然，名之为浊。汝浊五重，亦复如是。 |
“Within your body, solidity is earth, moisture is water, warmth is fire, and movement is wind. Through these four bindings, your still, perfect, wondrously awakened luminous mind is divided into seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing. From beginning to end, there are five layers of turbidity. What are these turbidities? Ānanda, it is like clear water, which is naturally clean and pure. Earth, dust, ashes, and sand, by their very nature, obstruct and remain. These two substances are inherently of different natures and do not accord with one another. If someone takes earth and dust and casts them into pure water, the soil loses its obstructive stability and the water loses its purity; its appearance becomes turbid, and this is called turbidity. Your five layers of turbidity are likewise.” |
| 阿难！汝见虚空遍十方界，空见不分，有空无体，有见无觉，相织妄成，是第一重，名为劫浊。汝身现抟四大为体 ，见闻觉知，壅令留碍；水火风土，旋令觉知相织妄成；是第二重，名为见浊。 |
“Ānanda, you see that empty space pervades the dharma realms of the ten directions. Space and seeing are not differentiated: where there is space there is no substance, and where there is seeing there is no awareness. Interwoven, they falsely form the first layer, called the turbidity of the kalpa. Your body now takes the four elements as its substance; seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing are obstructed and made to remain confined, while water, fire, wind, and earth whirl about and cause knowing and awareness to interweave falsely. This is the second layer, called the turbidity of views.” |
| 又汝心中忆识诵习，性发知见，容现六尘；离尘无相，离觉无性，相织妄成 ；是第三重，名烦恼浊。又汝朝夕生灭不停，知见每欲留于世间，业运每常迁于国土，相织妄成，是第四重，名众生浊。汝等见闻元无异性 ，众尘隔越，无状异生；性中相知，用中相背，同异失准，相织妄成；是第五重，名为命浊。 |
“Further, in your mind, recollection, cognition, and learning give rise to knowledge and views, while the six sense objects appear within its scope. Apart from the sense objects there are no appearances; apart from awareness there is no nature. Interwoven, they falsely form the third layer, called the turbidity of afflictions. Again, from morning to evening, arising and ceasing never stop. Your knowledge and views ever seek to remain in the world, while karmic forces ever move you from land to land. Interwoven, they falsely form the fourth layer, called the turbidity of sentient beings. Your seeing and hearing originally have no distinct nature, but the various sense objects separate and obstruct them, giving rise to distinctions without any real form. Within their nature they know one another, yet in function they oppose one another. The standard of sameness and difference is lost; interwoven, they falsely form the fifth layer, called the turbidity of life.” |
| 阿难！汝今欲令见闻觉知，远契如来常乐我净，应当先择死生根本，依不生灭圆湛性成。以湛旋其虚妄灭生，伏还元觉；得元明觉无生灭性为因地心 ，然后圆成果地修证。如澄浊水，贮于净器，静深不动，沙土自沉，清水现前，名为初伏客尘烦恼。去泥纯水，名为永断根本无明。明相精纯，一切变现不为烦恼，皆合涅槃清净妙德。 |
“Ānanda, if you now wish your seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing to accord from afar with the Tathāgata’s permanence, bliss, self, and purity, you must first choose the root of birth and death and rely on the perfect, still nature that neither arises nor ceases. With this stillness, turn back the false arising and ceasing, subdue it, and return to the original awakening. Take the unborn and undying nature of original luminous awakening as the mind at the causal stage; only then can you perfectly fulfill cultivation and realization at the stage of fruition. It is like clarifying turbid water: place it in a clean vessel and let it stand still and undisturbed. The sand and soil settle naturally, and clear water appears before you. This is called the initial subduing of adventitious defilements and afflictions. When the mud is removed and only pure water remains, this is called the permanent cutting off of fundamental ignorance. When the luminous characteristics are utterly pure, all manifestations are no longer afflictions; all accord with the pure, wondrous virtues of nirvāṇa.” |
| 第二义者，汝等必欲发菩提心，于菩萨乘生大勇猛，决定弃捐诸有为相。应当审详烦恼根本，此无始来发业润生，谁作谁受？阿难 ！汝修菩提，若不审观烦恼根本，则不能知虚妄根尘，何处颠倒。处尚不知，云何降伏，取如来位？阿难 ！汝观世间解结之人，不见所结，云何知解？不闻虚空被汝隳裂，何以故？空无形相，无结解故。 |
“The second principle is this: if you are determined to arouse the bodhi mind, to give rise to great courage in the bodhisattva vehicle, and decisively to abandon all conditioned characteristics, you must carefully investigate the root of afflictions: since beginningless time, who creates the karma that gives rise to and moistens rebirth, and who receives it? Ānanda, if in cultivating bodhi you do not carefully examine the root of afflictions, you cannot know where the false inversion of sense faculties and sense objects lies. If you do not even know where it lies, how can you subdue it and attain the Tathāgata’s stage? Ānanda, look at those in the world who untie knots. If they do not see the knots, how can they know how to untie them? Nor has anyone heard that space can be torn apart by you. Why? Space has no form or characteristics; therefore, there is neither binding nor release.” |
| 则汝现前眼耳鼻舌及与身心，六为贼媒，自劫家宝。由此无始，众生世界，生缠缚故，于器世间不能超越。 |
Thus your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind before you now—the six—serve as thieves’ accomplices, robbing your household treasure themselves. From beginningless time, because sentient beings are bound by birth, they have been unable to transcend the material world. |
| 阿难！云何名为众生世界？世为迁流，界为方位。汝今当知，东西南北、东南西南、东北西北，上下为界 。过去未来现在为世。方位有十，流数有三。一切众生织妄相成，身中贸迁，世界相涉。 |
Ānanda, what is meant by the world of sentient beings? “World” means change and flow; “realm” means directions and locations. You should now know that east, west, south, north, southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest, above, and below are realms. Past, future, and present are worlds. There are ten directions and three divisions of time. All sentient beings are woven together through delusion; within the body there is mutual alternation and transformation, and the worlds interpenetrate one another. |
| 而此界性，设虽十方，定位可明。世间 祇目东西南北，上下无位，中无定方。四数必明，与世相涉，三四四三，宛转十二。流变三叠，一十百千 ，总括始终，六根之中，各各功德有千二百。 |
Although the nature of these realms may extend in ten directions, their locations can be clearly determined. In the mundane world, however, only east, west, south, and north are counted; above and below have no fixed location, and the center has no fixed direction. The four directions are necessarily clear. Interwoven with the three divisions of time, three times four and four times three revolve into twelve. The threefold flow and transformation are repeated: ten, a hundred, a thousand. In sum, from beginning to end, each of the six sense faculties has twelve hundred merits and functions. |
| 阿难。汝复于中克定优劣。如眼观见，后暗前明，前方全明，后方全暗，左右旁观，三分之二。统论所作，功德不全 ，三分言功，一分无德，当知眼唯八百功德。 |
Ānanda, you must further determine among them which are superior and which inferior. With the eyes, when one sees, the rear is dark and the front is bright. The front is fully bright, the rear wholly dark; to either side one sees two-thirds. Considered as a whole, their function is incomplete: three parts are counted as merit, while one part has no merit. You should know that the eye faculty has only eight hundred merits. |
| 如耳周听，十方无遗，动若迩遥，诤无边际，当知耳根圆满一千二百功德。如鼻 嗅闻，通出入息，有出有入，而阙中交。验于鼻根，三分阙一，当知鼻唯八百功德。 |
With the ears, one hears all around without omission in the ten directions. Whether sounds are moving, near, or far, there are no boundaries. You should know that the ear faculty is complete, with twelve hundred merits. With the nose, one smells through inhalation and exhalation: there is outgoing and incoming, but the interval between them is lacking. Examining the nose faculty, one part out of three is missing. You should know that the nose has only eight hundred merits. |
| 如舌宣扬，尽诸世间出世间智 ，言有方分，理无穷尽，当知舌根圆满一千二百功德。如身觉触，识于违顺，合时能觉，离中不知，离一合双。验于身根 ，三分阙一，当知身唯八百功德。如意默容，十方三世一切世间出世间法，唯圣与凡，无不包容，尽其涯际 ，当知意根圆满一千二百功德。 |
With the tongue, one proclaims all worldly and supramundane wisdom. Speech has directional distinctions, but principle is inexhaustible. You should know that the tongue faculty is complete, with twelve hundred merits. With the body, one senses contact and recognizes agreeable and disagreeable sensations. When there is contact, one can feel; in separation, one does not know. Separation is onefold, while contact is twofold. Examining the body faculty, one part out of three is missing. You should know that the body has only eight hundred merits. With the mind faculty, one silently contains all worldly and supramundane dharmas throughout the ten directions and three divisions of time. It embraces both sages and ordinary beings without exception, reaching to their furthest limits. You should know that the mind faculty is complete, with twelve hundred merits. |
| 阿难！汝今欲逆生死欲流，返穷流根，至不生灭，当验此等六受用根，谁合谁离？谁深谁浅？谁为圆通？谁不圆满？若能于此悟圆通根，逆彼无始织妄业流，得循圆通 ，与不圆根，日劫相倍。 |
Ānanda, if you now wish to reverse the current of birth and death, return to the source of the flow, and arrive at the unborn and unceasing, you must examine these six faculties of reception and use: which are complete and which deficient? Which are deep and which shallow? Which is perfectly penetrating, and which is incomplete? If, in this, you awaken to the perfectly penetrating faculty and reverse that beginningless current of karmic delusion woven together, you may follow the perfectly penetrating faculty. Compared with an incomplete faculty, the difference is as that between a day and an eon. |
| 我今备显，六湛圆明，本所功德，数量如是。随汝详择其可入者，吾当发明，令汝增进。十方如来于十八界一一修行，皆得圆满无上菩提，于其中间 ，亦无优劣。但汝下劣，末能于中圆自在慧。故我宣扬，令汝但于一门深入，入一无妄，彼六知根，一时清净。 |
I have now fully explained the original merits and functions of the six serene and perfectly luminous faculties; their number is thus. Choose carefully whichever one can provide entry for you, and I shall elucidate it, enabling you to advance. The Tathāgatas of the ten directions, cultivating each of the eighteen realms one by one, all attain complete unsurpassed bodhi. Among them there is no superiority or inferiority. But your capacities are inferior, and you have not yet been able to develop within them the wisdom of complete freedom and mastery. Therefore I proclaim this teaching so that you may enter deeply through a single gate. Once one faculty is free of delusion, the other six faculties will simultaneously become pure. |
| 阿难白佛言：世尊！云何逆流深入一门，能令六根一时清净？佛告阿难：汝今已得须陀洹果，已灭三界众生世间见所断惑 。然犹未知，根中积生无始虚习，彼习要因修所断得。何况此中生住异灭，分剂头数？ |
Ānanda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, how can reversing the current and entering deeply through a single gate cause the six sense faculties to become pure all at once?” The Buddha told Ānanda, “You have now attained the fruition of a srotāpanna and have extinguished the afflictions of the world of sentient beings in the three realms that are eliminated by seeing. Yet you still do not know the beginningless, empty habitual tendencies accumulated within the faculties over many lives. Those habits must be eliminated through cultivation. How much more so the divisions and categories of arising, abiding, change, and cessation within them?” |
| 今汝且观，现前六根，为一为六？阿难！若言一者，耳何不见，目何不闻，头奚不履，足奚无语？若此六根决定成六，如我今会与汝宣扬微妙法门，汝之六根，谁来领受？阿难言：我用耳闻。 |
“Now observe your six sense faculties before you: are they one or six? Ānanda, if you say they are one, why can the ear not see, the eye not hear, the head not walk, and the feet not speak? But if these six faculties are definitively six, then as I now expound this subtle Dharma gate to you in this assembly, which of your six faculties receives it?” Ānanda said, “I hear with my ears.” |
| 佛言：汝耳自闻，何关身口？口来问义，身起钦承？是故应知 ，非一终六，非六终一，终不汝根元一元六。阿难当知，是根非一非六，由无始来，颠倒沦替，故于圆湛 ，一六义生。汝须陀洹，虽得六销，犹未亡一。 |
The Buddha said, “Your ears hear by themselves; what does this have to do with your body and mouth? Yet your mouth comes to ask about the meaning, and your body rises respectfully to receive the teaching. Therefore you should know that they are not ultimately one, nor ultimately six; fundamentally, your faculties are neither one nor six. Ānanda, you should know that these faculties are neither one nor six. Since beginningless time, through inverted transmigration, the meaning of one and six has arisen within perfect serenity. Although you, a srotāpanna, have attained the cessation of the six, you have not yet eliminated the one.” |
| 如太虚空参合群器，由器形异，名之异空。除器观空，说空为一。彼太虚空，云何为汝成同不同？何况更名是一非一 。则汝了知六受用根，亦复如是！ |
It is like the great empty space, which is combined with many vessels. Because the shapes of the vessels differ, it is called different spaces. Remove the vessels and observe space, and one calls space one. How could that great empty space become for you the same or different? How much less could it be called one or not one? Your understanding of the six faculties of reception and use is likewise so. |
| 由明暗等二种相形，于妙圆中，黏湛发见，见精映色，结色成根。根元目为清净四大，因名眼体，如蒲萄朵 ，浮根四尘，流逸奔色。由动静等二种相击，于妙圆中，黏湛发听，听精映声，卷声成根。 |
Through the contrasting dual appearances of brightness and darkness, within the wondrous perfect clarity, one adheres to the serene nature and gives rise to seeing. The essence of seeing reflects forms, and forms congeal to become the faculty. The faculty’s source is called the pure four great elements and is named the physical eye, like a cluster of grapes. The four defiled elements of the superficial faculty stream outward and chase after forms. Through the mutual impact of the dual appearances of movement and stillness, within the wondrous perfect clarity, one adheres to the serene nature and gives rise to hearing. The essence of hearing reflects sounds, and sounds curl together to become the faculty. |
| 根元目为清净四大，因名耳体 ，如新卷叶，浮根四尘，流逸奔声。由通塞等二种相发，于妙圆中，黏湛发嗅，嗅精映香，纳香成根。根元目为清净四大，因名鼻体 ，如双垂爪，浮根四尘，流逸奔香。 |
The faculty’s source is called the pure four great elements and is named the physical ear, like newly curled leaves. The four defiled elements of the superficial faculty stream outward and chase after sounds. Through the mutually arising dual appearances of openness and obstruction, within the wondrous perfect clarity, one adheres to the serene nature and gives rise to smelling. The essence of smelling reflects fragrances, and fragrances are drawn in to become the faculty. The faculty’s source is called the pure four great elements and is named the physical nose, like two drooping claws. The four defiled elements of the superficial faculty stream outward and chase after fragrances. |
| 由恬变等二种相参，于妙圆中，黏湛发尝，尝精映味，绞味成根。根元目为清净四大，因名舌体 ，如初偃月，浮根四尘，流逸奔味。由离合等二种相摩，于妙圆中，黏湛发觉，觉精映触，搏触成根。 |
Through the intermingling dual appearances of blandness and flavor, within the wondrous perfect clarity, one adheres to the serene nature and gives rise to tasting. The essence of taste reflects flavors, and flavors become entwined to form the faculty. The faculty’s source is called the pure four great elements and is named the physical tongue, like a newly crescent moon. The four defiled elements of the superficial faculty stream outward and chase after flavors. Through the mutual friction of the dual appearances of separation and contact, within the wondrous perfect clarity, one adheres to the serene nature and gives rise to tactile awareness. The essence of awareness reflects tactile objects, and tactile objects join together to form the faculty. |
| 根元目为清净四大，因名身体 ，如腰鼓颡，浮根四尘，流逸奔触。由生灭等二种相续，于妙圆中，黏湛发知，知精映法，览法成根。根元目为清净四大，因名意思 ，如幽室见，浮根四尘，流逸奔法。 |
The faculty’s source is called the pure four great elements and is named the physical body, like the sides of a waist drum. The four defiled elements of the superficial faculty stream outward and chase after tactile objects. Through the successive dual appearances of arising and ceasing, within the wondrous perfect clarity, one adheres to the serene nature and gives rise to knowing. The essence of knowing reflects dharmas, and dharmas are taken in to form the faculty. The faculty’s source is called the pure four great elements and is named the physical mind, like seeing within a dark room. The four defiled elements of the superficial faculty stream outward and chase after dharmas. |
| 阿难！如是六根，由彼觉明，有明明觉，失彼精了，粘妄发光。 |
Ānanda, these six faculties arise because of that awareness which seeks illumination. With the awareness of illumination, one loses that essential clarity and adheres to delusion, giving rise to light. |
| 是以汝今离暗离明，无有见体；离动离静，元无听质；无通无塞， 嗅性不生；非变非恬，尝无所出；不离不合，觉触本无；无灭无生，了知安寄？汝但不循，动静、合离 、恬变、通塞、生灭、明暗，如是十二诸有为相，随拔一根，脱粘内伏，伏归元真，发本明耀。 |
Therefore, when you are apart from darkness and brightness, there is no substance of seeing; apart from movement and stillness, there is originally no substance of hearing; without openness and obstruction, the nature of smelling does not arise; apart from flavor and blandness, tasting has no source; without separation and contact, tactile awareness is originally absent; without cessation and arising, where can knowing abide? You need only not follow the twelve conditioned appearances of movement and stillness, contact and separation, blandness and flavor, openness and obstruction, arising and ceasing, brightness and darkness. Withdraw one faculty from its adhesions, let it turn inward and become quiescent; when that quiescence returns to the original truth, its fundamental luminosity will shine forth. |
| 耀性发明，诸余五黏应拔圆脱。不由前尘所起知见，明不循根，寄根明发 ，由是六根互相为用。 |
When the luminous nature shines forth, the remaining five adhesions will likewise be removed and completely liberated. Awareness and perception will no longer arise from objects before you; the light will not follow the faculties but will manifest through them. Thus the six faculties may function interchangeably. |
| 阿难！汝岂不知？今此会中，阿那律陀，无目而见。跋难陀龙，无身而听。殑伽神女，非鼻闻香。骄梵钵提，异舌知味 。舜若多神，无身觉触，如来光中，映令暂现；既为风质，其体元无。诸灭尽定 ，得寂声闻，如此会中摩诃迦叶，久灭意根，圆明了知，不因心念。 |
Ānanda, do you not know that in this assembly Aniruddha sees though he has no eyes; the nāga Upananda hears though he has no body; the goddess of the Ganges smells fragrances without a nose; and Gavāṃpati knows flavors with an unusual tongue? The deity Śūnyatā has no body yet feels contact; reflected in the light of the Tathāgata, it is temporarily made manifest. Since it has the nature of wind, its body is originally nonexistent. Among śrāvakas who have attained the cessation samādhi, Mahākāśyapa in this assembly has long extinguished the mind faculty, yet he knows with perfect clarity and luminosity, without relying on mental thoughts. |
| 阿难！今汝诸根若圆拔已，内莹发光。如是浮尘，及器世间诸变化相，如汤销冰，应念化成无上知觉。阿难 ！如彼世人，聚见于眼。若令急合，暗相现前，六根黯然，头足相类。彼人以手循体外绕，彼虽不见，头足一辨，知觉是同。缘见因明，暗成无见 。不明自发，则诸暗相永不能昏。根尘既销，云何觉明不成圆妙？ |
Ānanda, when your faculties have all been completely freed, an inner radiance will shine forth. The superficial faculties, the material world, and all conditioned appearances of change will melt away like ice in boiling water and, in a single thought, become unsurpassed knowing and awakening. Ānanda, consider a person in the world who gathers seeing in the eyes. If that person quickly closes the eyes, darkness appears before them, and the six faculties become obscure, so that head and feet seem alike. Yet if the person uses a hand to feel around the outside of the body, though unable to see, they can still distinguish head from feet. This knowing is the same. Seeing depends on brightness, and darkness becomes non-seeing. But if luminosity manifests of itself, all appearances of darkness can never obscure it. Once faculties and objects have melted away, how could awakened luminosity fail to become perfectly wondrous? |
| 阿难白佛言：世尊！如佛说言，因地觉心，欲求常住，要与果位名目相应。世尊！如果位中，菩提、涅槃、真如、佛性、庵摩罗识、空如来藏、大圆镜智 ，是七种名，称谓虽别，清净圆满，体性坚凝，如金刚王常住不坏。 |
Ānanda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, as the Buddha has said, the mind of awakening at the causal ground, if it seeks permanence, must correspond in name with the fruition ground. World-Honored One, at the fruition ground, bodhi, nirvāṇa, suchness, Buddha-nature, the amala consciousness, the empty Tathāgata-garbha, and great perfect mirror wisdom are seven names. Though their designations differ, they are pure and complete, their essential nature firm and solid, permanently abiding and indestructible like the vajra king.” |
| 若此见听离于明暗、动静、通塞，毕竟无体 ，犹如念心，离于前尘，本无所有。云何将此毕竟断灭，以为修因，欲获如来七常住果？世尊！若离明暗，见毕竟空 。如无前尘，念自性灭。 |
“But if seeing and hearing, when separated from brightness and darkness, movement and stillness, openness and obstruction, ultimately have no substance, they are like the thinking mind, which has nothing at all apart from objects before it. How can one take this ultimate cessation and extinction as the cause of practice, hoping to attain the Tathāgata’s seven permanent fruits? World-Honored One, if separated from brightness and darkness, seeing is ultimately empty. If there are no objects before it, the nature of thought itself ceases.” |
| 进退循环，微细推求，本无我心及我心所，将谁立因，求无上觉？如来先说湛精圆常 ，违越诚言，终成戏论，云何如来真实语者？惟垂大慈，开我蒙吝！ |
“Whether advancing or retreating, in repeated and subtle inquiry, there is fundamentally no mind of self or objects of that mind. Upon what, then, can one establish a cause in seeking unsurpassed awakening? The Tathāgata previously spoke of serene, essential, perfect permanence. If this contradicts the true teaching, it will ultimately become mere empty talk. How, then, can the Tathāgata be one who speaks truth? I pray that you will extend great compassion and dispel my ignorance and stinginess.” |
| 佛告阿难：汝学多闻，未尽诸漏。心中徒知颠倒所因，真倒现前，实末能识。恐汝诚心犹未信伏 ，吾今试将尘俗诸事，当除汝疑？ |
The Buddha told Ānanda, “You have studied widely but have not exhausted all your outflows. In your mind, you merely know the causes of inversion; when true inversion appears before you, you are in fact unable to recognize it. I fear that your sincere mind still has not been convinced. I shall now use ordinary worldly matters to dispel your doubts.” |
| 即时如来敕罗喉罗击钟一声，问阿难言：汝今闻否？阿难大众俱言：我闻！钟歇无声，佛又问言：汝今闻否？阿难大众俱言：不闻 ！时罗喉罗又击一声，佛又问言：汝今闻否？阿难大众又言：俱闻！佛问阿难：汝云何闻？云何不闻？阿难大众俱白佛言：钟声若击，则我得闻；击久声销，音响双绝，则名无闻。 |
The Tathāgata then instructed Rāhula to strike a bell once and asked Ānanda, “Do you hear now?” Ānanda and the great assembly all said, “We hear.” When the bell ceased and there was no sound, the Buddha again asked, “Do you hear now?” Ānanda and the great assembly all said, “We do not hear.” Rāhula then struck the bell once more, and the Buddha again asked, “Do you hear now?” Ānanda and the great assembly again said, “We all hear.” The Buddha asked Ānanda, “How is it that you hear? How is it that you do not hear?” Ānanda and the great assembly all replied to the Buddha, “When the bell is struck, we hear it. When, after being struck for some time, its sound fades away and both sound and echo cease, this is called not hearing.” |
| 如来又敕罗喉罗击钟，问阿难言：汝今声否？阿难大众俱言：有声 ！少选声销，佛又问言：尔今声否？阿难大众答言：无声！有顷，罗喉更来撞钟。佛又问言：尔今声否？阿难大众俱言：有声 ！佛问阿难：汝云何声？云何无声？阿难大众俱白佛言：钟声若击，则名有声；击久声销，音响双绝，则名无声。 |
The Tathāgata again instructed Rāhula to strike the bell and asked Ānanda, “Is there sound now?” Ānanda and the great assembly all said, “There is sound.” After a short while, the sound faded away. The Buddha again asked, “Is there sound now?” Ānanda and the great assembly replied, “There is no sound.” After a while, Rāhula came again and struck the bell. The Buddha again asked, “Is there sound now?” Ānanda and the great assembly all said, “There is sound.” The Buddha asked Ānanda, “How is there sound? How is there no sound?” Ānanda and the great assembly all replied to the Buddha, “When the bell is struck, it is called sound. When, after being struck for some time, its sound fades away and both sound and echo cease, it is called no sound.” |
| 佛语阿难及诸大众：汝今云何自语矫乱？大众阿难俱时问佛：我今云何名为矫乱？佛言：我问汝闻，汝则言闻；又问汝声，汝则言声。唯闻与声，报答无定，如是云何不名矫乱？阿难 ！声销无响，汝说无闻。 |
The Buddha said to Ānanda and the great assembly, “Why do you now speak so confusedly and contradict yourselves?” Ānanda and the assembly simultaneously asked the Buddha, “Why are we called confused?” The Buddha said, “When I ask whether you hear, you say that you hear; when I ask whether there is sound, you say that there is sound. Your answers concerning hearing and sound are inconsistent. How can this not be called confused speech? Ānanda, when the sound fades and there is no echo, you say that there is no hearing.” |
| 若实无闻，闻性已灭，同于枯木，钟声更击，汝云何知？知有知无，自是声尘，或无或有 ；岂彼闻性，为汝有无？闻实云无，谁知无者？是故阿难！声于闻中，自有生灭；非为汝闻，声生声灭，令汝闻性 ，为有为无。汝尚颠倒，惑声为闻。何怪昏迷，以常为断？终不应言：离诸动静、闭塞、开通，说闻无性。 |
“If there truly were no hearing, the hearing nature would already have ceased, like a withered tree. When the bell is struck again, how would you know it? Knowing that there is sound or no sound belongs to the object of sound, which may be absent or present. How could the hearing nature itself become existent or nonexistent for you? If hearing were truly absent, who would know that it was absent? Therefore, Ānanda, within hearing, sound itself arises and ceases. It is not that the arising and ceasing of sound causes your hearing nature to become existent or nonexistent. You are still inverted, mistaking sound for hearing. Why be surprised, then, that in your delusion you take what is permanent to be annihilated? You should never say that hearing has no nature apart from movement and stillness, obstruction and openness.” |
| 如重睡人，眠熟床枕。其家有人，于彼睡时，捣练舂米。其人梦中，闻舂捣声，别作他物，或为击鼓，或为撞钟。即于梦时，自怪其钟 ，为木石响。于时忽寤，遄知舂音。自告家人：我正梦时，惑此舂音，将为鼓响。 |
It is like a person sleeping heavily, sound asleep upon his bed and pillow. While he sleeps, someone in his household pounds cloth and husks rice. In his dream, hearing the sounds of pounding and husking, he mistakes them for something else: perhaps the beating of drums or the striking of bells. While dreaming, he even wonders why the bell makes the sound of wood or stone. Then he suddenly awakens and immediately recognizes the sound of rice being husked. He tells his family, “Just now, while I was dreaming, I mistook this sound of husking for the beating of drums.” |
| 阿难！是人梦中，岂忆静摇、开闭、通塞？其形虽寐，闻性不昏。纵汝形销，命光迁谢，此性云何为汝销灭？以诸众生，从无始来，循诸色声，逐念流转 ，曾不开悟性净妙常。不循所常，逐诸生灭，由是生生杂染流转。 |
Ānanda, while this person was dreaming, did he remember stillness and movement, opening and closing, penetration and obstruction? Although his body was asleep, his faculty of hearing was not obscured. Even if your physical form were to perish and the light of life to fade away, how could this nature perish along with you? From beginningless time, all sentient beings have followed forms and sounds, pursuing their thoughts and drifting in the cycle of birth and death. They have never awakened to the pure, wondrous, and constant nature. Not following what is constant, they pursue arising and ceasing; thus, life after life, they drift amid mixed defilements. |
| 若弃生灭，守于真常，常光现前，根尘识心应时销落。想相为尘，识情为垢 ，二俱远离，则汝法眼应时清明，云何不成无上知觉？ |
If you cast aside arising and ceasing and abide in true permanence, the constant light will appear before you, and the sense faculties, their objects, consciousness, and mind will immediately fall away. Thought-appearances are dust, and discriminating consciousness is defilement. When both are far removed, your dharma eye will immediately become clear. How, then, could you fail to attain unsurpassed knowledge and awakening? |
