大乘開心顯性頓悟真宗論

The layman asked: The Buddha-Dharma is profound and mysterious, beyond the measure of ordinary folk; its written words are vast, and their meaning hard to know. I beg to ask the Chan master about the essentials of the Dharma. Set forth provisional means for a while, speak directly and point directly, without forsaking common ways, that there may be, I hope, nothing kept secret.

The Chan Master Đại Chiếu replied: Excellent! When I hear your question, it is as though the spiritual capacity of a Bodhisattva were nearly ripened. I am now forty-five years of age, and have been in the fallen world more than twenty years, yet I have never heard anyone ask in accordance with this very meaning. What matter have you, that you wish thus to resolve your doubts? You should ask directly and speak directly, and need not speak in roundabout ways.

QUESTION: One who wishes to enter the Way—what Dharma should he cultivate, what Dharma should he contemplate, what Dharma should he realize, what Dharma should he seek, what Dharma should he awaken to, what Dharma should he attain, that he may reach Bodhi?

ANSWER: There is not a single Dharma that can be contemplated, nor any to be sought. There is not a single Dharma to be realized, nor any "after." There is not a single Dharma to be awakened to, nor any Way worth cultivating. This itself is Bodhi.

QUESTION: Your disciple, from the beginningless past until now, has drifted in birth-and-death, in opposition to the principle. Suddenly hearing the words of the sudden teaching, I am bewildered and do not understand; my spirit-consciousness is dim and dull and knows not where it is—like a drunken man not yet sober. I humbly beg you to ferry across this deluded one, to bend your heart and grant me but a little instruction in response to my inquiry, that it may serve as a skillful means to bring me into accord with the truth. I beg to ask: What is true nature?

ANSWER: When the deluded mind does not arise, there is the ever-undefiled, pure characteristic.

QUESTION: What is self-nature?

ANSWER: Seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing—the four great elements and all dharmas—all have self-nature.

QUESTION: From where is self-nature born?

ANSWER: It is born from the deluded mind.

QUESTION: What is it to depart from self-nature?

ANSWER: When the deluded mind does not arise, that itself is departing from self-nature.

QUESTION: What is the Way, what is the principle, what is the mind?

ANSWER: Mind is the Way, mind is the principle, that is, the mind itself; apart from mind there is no principle, apart from principle there is no mind. The mind that is impartial is called the principle. The principle that can illumine is called the mind.

When mind and principle are impartial, this is called the Buddha-mind. One who attains this principle sees no birth-and-death; the ordinary and the holy are not different, object and wisdom are not two, principle and phenomena interpenetrate one another, the defiled and the pure are as one suchness. When the principle illumines in true reality, all is the Way, self and other are both departed from.

Whether one practices a single thing or practices all things, there is neither before nor after nor in-between; opening and closing in perfect freedom is called the Way.

QUESTION: What is one who accords with the right principle?

ANSWER: One whose mind does not stir and is ever without form or feature is one who accords with the right principle.

QUESTION: What is it to accord with the Way?

ANSWER: The upright mind that does not cling to any thing—this is to accord with the Way.

QUESTION: What is delusion?

ANSWER: Not knowing one's own mind is delusion.

QUESTION: What is inversion?

ANSWER: To give rise to the myriad thousand realms is called inversion.

QUESTION: What is one's own mind, and what is the deluded mind?

ANSWER: If discrimination arises, it is the deluded mind; that which does not discriminate is one's own mind.

QUESTION: From where are the discriminating mind and the non-discriminating mind born?

ANSWER: The discriminating mind is born from inversion; the non-discriminating mind is born from right wisdom.

QUESTION: The discriminating mind and the non-discriminating mind together—from where are they born?

ANSWER: They are born from the place of no-self.

QUESTION: Since there is a place from which they are born, why then do you say there is inversion and there is right wisdom?

ANSWER: If one does not know one's own mind, one performs the myriad thousand inversions; if one knows one's own mind, this is right wisdom.

QUESTION: Now, knowing and not-knowing—from where are they born?

ANSWER: Knowing is born from awakening; not-knowing is born from deluded thought.

QUESTION: All sentient beings dwell within deluded thought—how is it that they also dwell within right wisdom?

ANSWER: All sentient beings do not dwell within right wisdom, and in truth they have no deluded thought either.

QUESTION: At this very moment I have deluded thought—how can you say there is right wisdom?

ANSWER: From of old until now you truly have no deluded thought; to speak now of deluded thought is like a man who, having drunk the herb Lan Đản, searches for a needle in empty space—yet empty space (17) truly has no needle.

QUESTION: From of old there is fundamentally no delusion. Then for all who practice, what do they sever in order to seek the Way?

ANSWER: There is not a single thing to sever, nor any Way to seek.

QUESTION: If there is no Way to cultivate and no thing to seek, then why does the Buddha in the sutras speak of severing deluded thought?

ANSWER: The Buddha in truth never taught people to sever deluded thought. If one severs deluded thought, that is not to be free of deluded thought. All sentient beings, because of delusion, see there is something to attain; because of delusion, see there is something to sever; and because of delusion, see there is a Dharma of deluded thought. The Buddha did not speak a single word about a Dharma of deluded thought. It is like a physician who speaks of medicine in regard to a sick patient; if there is no sickness, he does not speak of medicine.

QUESTION: Since the Buddha did not speak of a Dharma of deluded thought, then who creates that deluded thought?

ANSWER: Sentient beings create it themselves. If one attains right wisdom, it is non-existent.

QUESTION: Why is it that they do not create right wisdom, but rather create deluded thought everywhere?

ANSWER: Not knowing right wisdom, there is deluded thought; if one knows deluded thought (there is right wisdom).

QUESTION: Since there is right wisdom that includes deluded thought, why then do you say there is no deluded thought?

ANSWER: Sentient beings in truth have no deluded thought and also no right wisdom; both alike cannot exist.

QUESTION: If both cannot exist, then there are no ordinary beings and also no holy ones?

ANSWER: There are ordinary beings, and there are holy ones. It is only that you yourself do not know it.

QUESTION: What is ordinary, and what is holy?

ANSWER: If you discriminate, you are an ordinary being; if you do not discriminate, you are holy.

QUESTION: To discriminate is ordinary, not to discriminate is holy. Then is an infant child, who does not distinguish long from short, a holy one?

ANSWER: To give rise to this view is truly the mark of one extremely foolish. An infant child, being small, does not know good from bad—just as a foolish person does not know high from low. How could that be "not discriminating"? Therefore, with regard to the principle of suchness, one should ever practice discrimination, and the mind shall attain the wisdom of non-discrimination.

QUESTION: To act yet not give rise to a mind (about that action)—is this the wisdom of non-discrimination?

ANSWER: You should examine the place where the mind is quiet and the place where the mind arises, and then you must clearly know that the mind, from of old until now, is fundamentally pure, undefiled by outer conditions, and you must see all things with perfect clarity. The nature of causes-and-conditions cannot exist; thus to know that causes-and-conditions are likewise non-existent, yet also not non-existent—this is the entire array of myriad phenomena, sovereign and subject, father and mother, benevolence and righteousness, propriety and trust, and so forth, existing in the world. This itself is not destroying the Dharma of the world. Therefore the sutra says: "Not destroying worldly dharmas, one enters Nirvana."

If one destroys the Dharma of the world, one is an ordinary being drifting in birth-and-death. Those conditioned dharmas of the world, each and every one, have no master; they borrow the harmony of conditions, yet their essential nature is all empty, and ultimately cannot exist. If a person can see in this way, this is called seeing one's nature. That is, within discrimination one attains the wisdom of non-discrimination: ever practicing discrimination, yet not discriminating. This is not destroying the Dharma of the world. Therefore the sutra says: "Discriminating the various characteristics of conjunction, one enters the supreme truth without stirring." This is one who, awakened, gives rise to stillness right within movement.

QUESTION: The Vimalakīrti Sutra says: "Ever seeking no-thought, the wisdom of true reality. In worldly dharmas, having few desires and knowing contentment; in transcendent dharmas, seeking without weariness. Not forsaking dignified deportment, yet ever following the world, giving rise to spiritual penetrations and wisdom to guide sentient beings." What is the meaning of this?

ANSWER: This meaning is the wondrous function of the Buddhas of the three times. Only one who has realized awakening can know it; the mind cannot measure it.

QUESTION: One who ever seeks the true reality of no-thought—upon what does he base himself? The sutras have said that giving and keeping the precepts are the meritorious recompense of the human and heavenly realms. Are these not thought? Why is there such a difference, not the same, that causes all who study to be in doubt and disbelief?

ANSWER: You should not disbelieve; you are one who does not understand the matter. The Buddha's saying that giving and keeping the precepts are the merit of the human and heavenly realms is because sentient beings are for the most part within deluded thought. The Buddha has countless skillful means, and according to the inclinations of sentient beings he speaks of the Dharma of deluded thought, to lure and lead them into the gate of the Great Vehicle. If you do not believe, I beg to cite the sutras to prove it clearly for you:

The Lotus Sutra says: "These nine divisions of my teaching are spoken in accordance with sentient beings, with the Great Vehicle as their root." It also says: "In the Buddha-lands of the ten directions there is only the One Vehicle Dharma; one also uses provisional designations to guide sentient beings, and does not use the Lesser Vehicle to ferry sentient beings across." It also says: "There is only this one truth; if there were two, it would not be true."

The Sutra of the Non-Practice of All Dharmas says: "If a person discriminates the precepts (the disciplinary rules), that itself is to have no precepts. If a person sees that there are precepts, that itself is to lose the precepts."

On the basis of this, then, one knows clearly that the Buddha spoke of the ultimate gate, and did not say that people are without merit. His aim was to guide sentient beings and bring them into the Buddha's wisdom. The sages and worthies of the three times speak of the mind attaining sovereignty, the mind attaining liberation, the mind attaining sagehood—this is the very greatest seal of the Buddhas of the three times, which shatters your doubt.

QUESTION: The Buddhas speak the One Vehicle Dharma in order to teach and transform sentient beings. Now, if everyone attains awakening, why do you say it confuses and bewilders sentient beings? Is this not a fault?

ANSWER: You should not give rise to this thought. The Buddhas, out of great compassion, seeing that sentient beings fall into the three evil paths far too often, open the skillful means and speak of the six pāramitās. By practicing giving, keeping the precepts, and forbearance, one departs from the three evil paths and is born in the heavenly and human realms. By practicing vigor, meditative concentration, and wisdom, one departs from the sufferings within birth-and-death, and in the future shall become a Buddha.

QUESTION: Why is it that the Buddhas of the past spoke of the Three Vehicles, and the present Buddhas also speak of the Three Vehicles?

ANSWER: The Buddhas of past, present, and future all speak of the Three Vehicles.

QUESTION: By what meaning is this known?

ANSWER: The Lotus Sutra says: "If I were further to extol only the Buddha Vehicle, then sentient beings would sink in suffering and affliction. If they did not believe this One Vehicle Dharma, but still destroyed it and disbelieved, they would fall into the three evil paths. I would rather not speak the Dharma and wish to enter Nirvana at once. Then I recalled the skillful means employed by the Buddhas of the past, and so now I too, having attained the Way, also speak of the Three Vehicles." By this it is known that the Buddhas of the past all spoke of the Three Vehicles, guiding sentient beings into the One Vehicle.

QUESTION: What is the One Vehicle?

ANSWER: Mind is the One Vehicle.

QUESTION: How does the mind know the One Vehicle?

ANSWER: One should see that the mind is empty and clear, without characteristic—this is the One Vehicle.

QUESTION: To see clearly that the mind is empty and clear, without form or feature, is the One Vehicle—is this to attain the holy fruit?

ANSWER: It is to attain the holy fruit.

QUESTION: Is there an ordinary one?

ANSWER: There is also the ordinary.

QUESTION: Are the ordinary and the holy different, or not different?

ANSWER: They are entirely not different. If one once awakens, then in the morning ordinary, by evening holy. If one does not awaken, then one receives birth in the six paths.

QUESTION: Now, when you say "awaken," what is it that is awakened to?

ANSWER: Awakening to the mind.

QUESTION: Are the ordinary mind and the holy mind one, or different?

ANSWER: One.

QUESTION: How are they one?

ANSWER: To see clearly that the pure nature, from of old until now, is undefiled and unattached—this is to be one.

QUESTION: Who knows that it is undefiled and unattached?

ANSWER: The mind knows that it is undefiled and unattached.

QUESTION: How does the mind know that it is undefiled?

ANSWER: The Buddhas of the three times all say that the mind has no form or substance and ultimately cannot exist. Therefore it can be known to be undefiled.

QUESTION: Since it has no form or substance, how can it be known to be undefiled?

ANSWER: Precisely because it has no form or substance, it is known to be undefiled. If it had form, feature, or a dwelling place, it would be defiled.

QUESTION: You spoke before of mind; I do not yet know how many kinds of mind there are.

ANSWER: If you awaken, then even a single mind cannot exist. If you do not awaken, then there are countless minds, beyond all reckoning.

QUESTION: This is the ordinary mind; what is the holy mind?

ANSWER: If you hold to characteristics, it is the ordinary mind; if you depart from characteristics, it is the holy mind.

QUESTION: What is the mind that holds to characteristics and the mind that does not hold to characteristics? I beg you to set forth its essential meaning.

ANSWER: For all who practice, if one sees the mind coming and going, this is the mind of long and short. To see good and bad, love and hate, joy and anger, the wrong and the right, the ordinary and the holy, sovereign or not sovereign; to see Nirvana and liberation; to see Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; to see the ultimate and the non-ultimate; to see understanding and non-understanding; to see vigor, meditative concentration, wisdom, and so forth—this is the deluded mind of ordinary beings.

QUESTION: What is the true holy mind?

ANSWER: Not giving rise to a single thought, and also not seeing a single thing—this is the mind of the holy one.

QUESTION: Has the Chan master attained the mind of the holy one?

ANSWER: I too have not attained it.

QUESTION: Since you have not attained it, how do you know?

ANSWER: I now neither attain nor know. Therefore the sutra says: "There is no wisdom and also no attainment." Because of this non-attainment, one is a Bodhisattva.

QUESTION: This principle, ultimately, belongs to what?

ANSWER: It belongs to no single thing. If there is something to which it belongs, that is the cycle of birth-and-death. If there is nothing to which it belongs, it ultimately abides ever-constant.

QUESTION: All sentient beings, because the eight consciousnesses turn, fail to attain sovereignty. What are the eight consciousnesses?

ANSWER: The eight consciousnesses are: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness, manas-consciousness, and ālaya-consciousness. They are called "consciousness" because of the meaning of discerning-distinguishing. For example, when the eye and a form-color meet in accord, the mind-consciousness discriminates within—now good, now bad—and according to its grasping there immediately arises a characteristic, which is then perfumed into the manas-consciousness.

Relying on this perfuming, it again grasps, and then in turn perfumes the eighth consciousness, the ālaya. Because it is the place where the seeds of karmic consciousness accumulate, it is given the name "storehouse." Such are these consciousnesses, and so too are the other consciousnesses.

When all sentient beings create karma and receive recompense, it is first that, through the storehouse-consciousness, causes are formed one after another, creating future karma. Therefore, because of thought, one receives fruits without cease, and in the end receives the suffering of birth-and-death within the six paths. Thus one who has not yet realized the mind is at once confused and bewildered by the eight consciousnesses. To speak of the eight consciousnesses means: taking what is already present as cause, and relying on present conditions to arise; the creating of causes-and-conditions joins together and again gives birth as a future cause.

Now, wishing to sever them so that they no longer arise, one should rightly and truly contemplate clearly: from where does eye-consciousness come? Does it come from form, from the eye, or from the mind? If it comes from the mind, then a blind man has a mind—why has he no eye-consciousness?

A dead man has eyes—why can he not discriminate the various forms? If it comes from form (this too is untenable), for form is obstructive matter and without cognition. Thus these conditions cannot be separated out and distinguished; only when the mind realizes them can they be known.

When the eye sees a form, the eye together with its causes-and-conditions is empty. Since the eye together with its conditions is empty, then form too is empty. If one clearly recognizes that the essence of these three things is empty, then there is at once no discrimination.

Because there is no discrimination, the mind-consciousness discriminates yet does not discriminate; the seventh consciousness wishes to grasp yet cannot grasp.

Within the eighth consciousness there is then no perfuming of the seeds of defilement. Because there are no seeds, and because it no longer loves life-and-death, it is silent and ever-abiding, untroubled by the place of arising-and-ceasing.

QUESTION: The Buddha has three bodies—from where are they attained?

ANSWER: The three bodies of the Buddha are attained from the eight consciousnesses. By transforming the eight consciousnesses into the four wisdoms, and gathering the four wisdoms into the three bodies. This is how, from cause to fruit, the three bodies come to be distinct.

QUESTION: What is the meaning of this, and why is it so known?

ANSWER: The eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, and body-consciousnesses are transformed into the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation. The sixth mind-consciousness is transformed into the Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is to Be Done (18). The seventh, manas, is transformed into the Wisdom of Equal Nature. The eighth, ālaya, is transformed into the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom.

QUESTION: What is the meaning of these four wisdoms, that it is said thus?

ANSWER: The first five consciousnesses are also called the five faculties. These five faculties are gates of wisdom that severally illumine the objects before them without deluded defilement; therefore these five consciousnesses are made the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation. The sixth mind-consciousness is also called the mind-faculty. This is the gate of wisdom upon which one should diligently strive to awaken. Once awakened, it is at once pure; in accord with the Dharma, it examines and sees both the true and the conventional, accomplishes wisdom, transforms intellect into wisdom—and that wisdom can illumine, while the consciousness does not discriminate. Transformed into wisdom, it is therefore called the Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is to Be Done.

The seventh, manas-consciousness, then no longer grasps; naturally it neither loves nor hates, and so all dharmas are impartial. Therefore it is called the Wisdom of Equal Nature.

The eighth, ālaya-consciousness, is empty within; its seeds of defilement are all made pure—like a bright mirror hung in the midst of empty space, in which all the myriad images appear, yet this bright mirror gives rise to no thought that "I can manifest the images." And the images too do not say, "We are born from the mirror." Since there is neither perceiver nor perceived, this wisdom is called the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom.

QUESTION: Since the four wisdoms are thus, what are the three bodies?

ANSWER: The Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom is the Dharma-body. The Wisdom of Equal Nature is the Reward-body. The Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is to Be Done and the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation are the Reward-body. The Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is to Be Done and the Wisdom of Wondrous Observation are the Transformation-body.

QUESTION: On what basis is it said thus?

ANSWER: It is spoken with reference to the present. When the power of concentration is complete, all the undefiled merits are full and perfect and replete with meaning. Like a bright mirror that manifests the various images without discriminating, it is therefore said that this wisdom is the Dharma-body. When the deluded mind has come to an end and the impartial nature accomplishes the myriad practices, this is the Reward-body. When the six faculties, undefiled, ferry sentient beings far and wide—departing far oneself and causing others to depart, leading people to understand and to cultivate the cause—this is the Transformation-body.

QUESTION: A sentient being who wishes to seek the fruit of Buddhahood—among the three bodies, which body should he first cultivate?

ANSWER: The sutra says: "From the impartial one enters the Dharma-body; from it flows forth the Reward-body; from this Reward-body flows forth the Transformation-body; from the Transformation-body flow forth the three baskets of teaching, the twelve divisions of the sutras." For this reason one must first cultivate the Dharma-body. To speak of the Dharma-body is to speak of the right contemplation of the Middle Way, of wondrous existence and wondrous non-existence; if one awakens to this principle, this is the Dharma-body.

By seeing the Dharma-body, one knows that one's own body-and-mind, from the beginningless past until now, has ever been in opposition to the Dharma. Once one has seen the Dharma, one must then be diligent and earnest, applying one's intention without interruption, and then naturally one attains purity, in accord with SUCHNESS. When suchness ever continues without cease, then the mind-of-suchness is accomplished—this is the Reward-body.

Therefore the Dharma-body is already present, while the Reward-body is by reason of cultivation. As for the Transformation-body, the sutra says: "Manifesting myriad thousand bodies is called the Transformation-body."

QUESTION: Since the three bodies are thus, what are the Three Jewels?

ANSWER: The three bodies of the Buddha are also called the Three Jewels: the Buddha-Jewel, the Dharma-Jewel, and the Saṅgha-Jewel.

QUESTION: How many kinds of Three Jewels are there?

ANSWER: If spoken fully, the Three Jewels are of three kinds.

QUESTION: What are the three?

ANSWER: First, the One-Essence Three Jewels; second, the Distinct-Characteristic Three Jewels; third, the Maintaining-and-Upholding Three Jewels.

QUESTION: What are the One-Essence Three Jewels?

ANSWER: The essence of the true mind, the pure awakened nature, is called the Buddha-Jewel. Replete with meaning and possessed of functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges is called the Dharma-Jewel. That the meaning of this function is of a single flavor is called the Saṅgha-Jewel.

QUESTION: What are the Distinct-Characteristic Three Jewels?

ANSWER: The distinct characteristic is this: this very body is called the Buddha-Jewel. To be able to give medicine according to the sickness, of oneself wishing to cultivate, is called the Dharma-Jewel. That the four great elements and five aggregates are in harmony and do not oppose one another is called the Saṅgha-Jewel.

QUESTION: What are the Maintaining-and-Upholding Three Jewels?

ANSWER: Maintaining-and-upholding is this: being skillful and adept in serving above and receiving below, all things being pure and impartial, is called the Buddha-Jewel. Uttering words as one will, so that those who hear give rise to joy, is called the Dharma-Jewel. Within the gate of the assembly and the sutras, not going against skillful means, being able to be in harmony with all, not contending with one another, is called the Saṅgha-Jewel.

QUESTION: Why are these called JEWEL?

ANSWER: This fundamental nature (the supreme truth) dwells neither within nor without nor in-between; it cannot be weighed, its value cannot be measured, and so it is called the Three Jewels. This is spoken by way of analogy. If it had a price, it would not be called a jewel; therefore it is said to be the priceless wish-fulfilling jewel-pearl.

QUESTION: The Sutra of Laozi says: "The Way of the Buddha does nothing, yet there is nothing it does not do." What is the meaning of this?

ANSWER: The Way of the Buddha is in itself originally unconditioned (doing nothing); sentient beings, giving rise to the clinging to a self as great as Mount Sumeru, turn it into the conditioned (doing). The meaning of this cannot be known by the intellect, cannot be measured by the mind; only one who has realized awakening clearly knows it. One need only ever apply effort, and once attain great awakening.

QUESTION: The sutra says: "All dharmas are born from this sutra." What does this mean?

ANSWER: The sutra is the mind. The mind can manifest all things. The practitioner who cultivates and attains the perfect illumination without obstruction—the supreme right Way thereby shines forth. The Buddhas, at the beginning, cultivate themselves; afterward they teach and transform sentient beings, and there is no Dharma they do not perform. Thus it is said, "born from this sutra."

QUESTION: The sutra says: "Shouldering the affairs of the Tathāgata." What is the meaning of this?

ANSWER: You need only turn back and illumine your own nature, not dwelling in the Constant; awaken to the principle of bodilessness (no-body)—who is there to do the shouldering? Penetrate deeply the principle of Prajñā, and for the sake of others expound it widely. This itself is to shoulder the true Dharma, to take up the supreme meaning, causing sentient beings to accomplish merit—therefore it is called "shouldering the affairs of the Tathāgata."

QUESTION: The sutra says: "The Tathāgata ferries sentient beings across." What is the meaning of this?

ANSWER: You yourself must understand that the true nature of sentient beings is from of old fundamentally pure; it is because the six faculties give rise to thoughts that the sickness of vexations and afflictions is born. If one contemplates that the birth of vexations is fundamentally non-existent, then what is there to be ferried across? Therefore, if one says the Tathāgata ferries them across, this is clinging to the notions of self, person, sentient being, and false existence.

QUESTION: "Vajra-prajñā-pāramitā Sutra"—what is the meaning of this?

ANSWER: Vajra is form-mind; prajñā is purity; pāra is the other shore; mitā is to arrive.

QUESTION: "Not clinging to characteristics, suchness-suchness unmoving"—what is the meaning of this?

ANSWER: If your mind gives rise to going and coming, this is a conditioned dharma, all of which are characteristics that are unsettled. If your mind does not give rise to anything, then there is no going and no coming—this is the unconditioned dharma. Within the unconditioned dharma, the moving and the unmoving are both departed from. This itself is ever-abiding. Therefore it is called (suchness-suchness unmoving).

QUESTION: The Bathhouse Sutra says: "To provide the seven things for sentient beings to bathe and cleanse themselves attains immeasurable merit." What is the meaning of that merit? I beg you to make it plain.

ANSWER: The sutra has spoken the truth, without falsehood. If you provide the seven things for bathing, then there must be inward and outward accord (mutual correspondence), and the meritorious virtue is immeasurable. But if you depart from the seven things of bathing (19), or let loose your mind-nature, give rein to greed and anger, meddle in disputes of right and wrong, and cause others suffering—this is to draw blood from the body of the Buddha.

Ever cleanse and wipe the three karmas, bathing in this way. It is like washing an object: when the filth and mud are gone, one rests. Only let the mind be pure, not giving rise to greed and anger, and naturally it is impartial—this is to depart from discrimination.

Use the water of discrimination to wash clean all the dust and filth, the things that bring disorder, so that all may become clean and pure.

QUESTION: This mind of the three poisons—if it is counteracted, does it become the six pāramitās?

ANSWER: You must have a mind of courageous valor, diligent toward the three poisons, giving rise to three vows. First, vow to sever all evil, to remove the poison of Anger. Second, vow to perform all good, to remove the poison of Delusion. Third, vow to ferry across all sentient beings, to cure the poison of Greed. By being able to sever and able to cultivate with regard to the three poisons, they are transformed into the three groups of pure precepts.

Next, one must understand the mind of humble deference, that is, with regard to the five aggregates one gives rise to five kinds of humble mind. First, vow that seeing all sentient beings, one gives rise to the thought that they are sages and saints, while of one's own self one gives rise to the thought that one is an ordinary being. Second, vow that seeing all sentient beings, one gives rise to the thought that they are kings, while of one's own self one gives rise to the thought that one is a commoner.

Third, vow that seeing all sentient beings, one gives rise to the thought that they are masters and monks, while of one's own self one gives rise to the thought that one is a disciple. Fourth, vow that seeing all sentient beings, one gives rise to the thought that they are father and mother, while of one's own self one gives rise to the thought that one is a child. Fifth, vow that seeing all sentient beings, one gives rise to the thought that they are one's lord, while of one's own self one gives rise to the thought that one is a servant.

The six pāramitās are also called the six perfections: giving, keeping the precepts, forbearance, vigor, meditative concentration, and wisdom. When toward the six dusts the six faculties are pure, the six paths do not arise, and within and without there is no attachment, this is naturally the practice of giving—it is subsumed under the dāna-pāramitā. When good and evil are impartial and both cannot be grasped, this is subsumed under the śīla-pāramitā (precepts).

When object and wisdom are in harmony and opposition is forever dissolved, this is subsumed under the kṣānti-pāramitā of forbearance. When silent and unmoving, the myriad practices being natural, this is subsumed under the vīrya-pāramitā of vigor. When flourishing in wondrous stillness, the Dharma-body manifesting itself, this is subsumed under the dhyāna-pāramitā.

When wondrous stillness opens forth in brightness with no alteration, ultimately ever-abiding, and nothing whatever clings, this is subsumed under the prajñā-pāramitā. These are called the six pāramitās. The Sanskrit word is pāramitā; in Chinese it is called "arriving at the other shore."

QUESTION: This worldly one, having come here to make his inquiry, has in every case given rise to a mind of speculation and reckoning, producing confusion and disorder. The Chan master has joyfully given alms (words of gold), so that I have no further doubt. Yet I have not dared to ask out my full intent, fearing to weary and trouble you.

ANSWER: If you have no doubt, you need not ask again. The Dharma admits of no question-and-answer; question-and-answer entail high and low. No question and no answer is the impartial Dharma. If one seeks broad understanding, one loses the root of the Way; you would also be obstructed by what you know, and it would cause you to give rise to a doubting mind. But if the mind is truly stuck and stagnant, one should earnestly make inquiry, in order to realize the truth.

QUESTION: The Laṅkāvatāra Sutra says: "Depart far from the perceiving and the perceived." What is the meaning of this?

ANSWER: When the thought of perceiving does not arise, that mind is at peace and tranquil.

QUESTION: Your disciple, though a worldly person, has in his mind-consciousness long since entered the Way. Now, hearing what the master has said—all of it the true and right Way, the supreme awakening—I vow with whole-hearted utter sincerity, my mind not retreating, swiftly to realize the conditions of this life, my six consciousnesses and mind-and-body all dwelling in emptiness. With single-minded longing I remember and ponder; sobbing, my tears flow without end.

Understanding clearly, I am deeply ashamed—how could mere weeping suffice! This heart aches with sorrow; I reproach myself that for many kalpas I have been deluded about the true principle. Had I not relied upon the Chan master's compassion, when would I ever have awakened?

Therefore this may be called the treatise on the great liberation.

In composing this treatise, if it accords with the holy intent, I beg that it be dedicated to all sentient beings. If it does not accord with the holy intent, I beg that my offense be extinguished. Should there be a person who is not (of the same view and same practice), it should not be transmitted, lest they take it and slander and destroy the Dharma of wisdom. If there be a person of weighty merit, who has truly awakened, transmit the great Dharma to them without stinting. This Dharma must not be taken lightly, nor may it be made a matter of contention; one should only silently know it within: deluded thoughts not arising, the mind of self-and-mine extinguished.