西方合論

Chapter VIII

THE NET OF VIEWS

All delusion and inversion arise from attachment to views. To set foot upon them is precisely to set foot in the dense forest of afflictions. To become immersed in them is precisely to sink into a sea of boiling water.

It is like a silkworm spinning a cocoon, which in turn becomes the cause of the silkworm’s bondage; or like a moth plunging into a flame and, because of its fondness for the light, destroying its body and losing its life. A master of old said, “When applying oneself to the practice, one must sweep away all conceptual views.” Therefore, practitioners who wish to enter the house of the sages must first enter through the gate of Samantabhadra.

Practitioners who wish to cultivate the true cause must first sever the net of wrong views. Some maintain that there is not a single dharma that can be relinquished, but this view must be reproved. Only one who has wandered far from home knows compassion for those who are adrift.

Only an impoverished scholar who has failed the examinations knows the full bitterness of hardship. I hope that everyone will follow the Buddha’s words and not rely upon the teachings of Mara! Now, with regard to those who have fallen into erroneous attachments to views, I shall broadly set forth ten cases:

1. The fall into annihilationism.

2. The fall into timidity and inferiority.

3. The fall into following words.

4. The fall into unrestrained presumption.

5. The fall into hairsplitting.

6. The fall into foolish emptiness.

7. The fall into following conditions.

8. The fall into mind-only.

9. The fall into sudden awakening.

10. The fall into perfect reality.

1—The Fall into Annihilationism

The fall into annihilationism is of two kinds:

– Confucian scholars, rigidly attached to the present body, suspect that there is absolutely nothing in the future life.

– Those newly resolved to study the Way, rigidly attached to the appearance of empty nonexistence, suspect that all dharmas are annihilated.

Such people do not even believe in rebirth and samsara; how then could they have faith in rebirth in the Pure Land and in the matters pertaining to it?

1. An explanation for Confucian scholars who, rigidly attached to the present body, suspect that there is absolutely nothing in the future life.

The Surangama Sutra records: “The Buddha asked King Prasenajit:

– You are now distressed because your hair has turned white and your face has become wrinkled. Your countenance is naturally older and more withered than it was in childhood. Yet when you see the Ganges now, compared with seeing the Ganges in your youth, has the seeing itself become old or young?

Prasenajit said to the Buddha:

– Blessed One, seeing itself is neither old nor young.

The Buddha said:

– Great King, although your face has become wrinkled, that seeing has never become wrinkled. What becomes wrinkled undergoes imperceptible change; what does not become wrinkled never changes. What undergoes imperceptible change is subject to the arising and ceasing of impermanence, whereas that which does not change is fundamentally beyond arising and ceasing. How, then, could it be subject to birth and death on your behalf? Yet you still cite the false doctrine of the Maskarins, who claim that when this body dies, it is utterly annihilated.”

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom contains the following question: When a person dies, he returns to dissolution. This dissolution is of three kinds:

a. This body is burned and becomes ashes and dust.

b. This body is eaten by insects and becomes filthy excrement.

c. Ultimately, this body becomes sand and dust.

Now I see only its dissolution and do not see anything depart to assume a form in the next life. Since nothing is seen, should it not be known that when this body dies, nothing remains?

Answer: If what you say is so, why are there sorrows, joys, fears, and so forth that sentient beings have been habituated to in former lives?

– A newborn child bursts into tears or smiles brightly. This is because it was habituated to suffering and joy in a former life; thus, although no one has taught it in this life, its mind manifests such states.

– A newborn calf knows to press toward its mother’s udder.

– Male and female goats and pigs know how to mate not long after birth.

– Among children of the same father and mother, some are beautiful and some ugly, some wealthy and honored and some poor, some intelligent and some ignorant; each differs from the others.

If there were no causes and conditions from former lives, there certainly could not be such differences. Because those causes and conditions exist, it is known that there is a future life.

Furthermore, you previously said that you do not see anything depart. Yet it is not only through the eyes that the human body can perceive; within the body, each of the six faculties possesses awareness. There are dharmas that people can hear, smell, taste, touch, or cognize.

There are dharmas that people can hear but cannot see, much less fully know. Dharmas that arise and cease can also be seen and known. Although your physical eyes cannot see these things, the divine eye can see them clearly, just as one sees a person leave this room and enter another.

From this, it may likewise be inferred and known that sentient beings relinquish an old body and assume a new one. If the physical eyes could see such matters, what need would there be to employ the divine eye? If that were so, there would be no distinction between the physical eye and the divine eye, or between fools and sages.

Then your seeing would be the same as that of animals; how could you see the future life? In the birth and death of human beings, although there is neither coming nor going, afflictions have not been completely extinguished. Through the continuity of body and mind, body, feelings, and mind arise again.

The body, feelings, and mind create karma; they do not themselves go into the next life, but from these causes and conditions they arise again and undergo karmic retribution in the next life. It is like poison contained in milk: the milk is processed into curds, and the curds are processed into clarified butter. Milk is not curds or clarified butter, nor are curds and clarified butter milk.

Although the milk and curds have been transformed, all these substances contain the poison. This body is the same. The causes and conditions of the five skandhas in this life give rise again to the five skandhas in the next life.

Because the continuity of karmic formations is not different, one undergoes karmic retribution. It is like trees in the bitter cold of winter: although they have not yet blossomed, when the proper season arrives, they will flower and bear fruit. For this reason, one should know that birth and death exist.

Furthermore, in the present life there are people who know their former lives. This is like a person who, in a dream, sees himself wandering about until exhausted. When he suddenly awakens, he clearly remembers all the places through which he passed. The inner and outer scriptures of all the sages affirm that there is a future life.

Furthermore, when people in the present life repeatedly give rise to unwholesome dharmas, anger, jealousy, doubt, and remorse arise in their minds, causing their bodies to become gaunt and their countenances sorrowful and gloomy. Because they accumulate unwholesome dharmas, they undergo such consequences; how much more so when karma erupts through body and speech. If karmic causes and conditions give rise to wholesome dharmas and pure faith, the mind becomes pure and one attains wisdom in accord with reality.

When the mind is joyful, the body becomes light and the countenance radiant. Because causes and conditions of suffering and happiness exist, there are good and evil deeds. Since one firmly believes that good and evil exist, one must also firmly believe that there is a future life.

Because the physical eyes of sentient beings cannot see it and their wisdom is feeble, they give rise to distorted doubts. Even when they cultivate merit, they practice only a little. They are like a physician treating a king’s illness: the king secretly has a house built for the physician, but the physician does not know it.

When he returns and sees that the house has been completed, the physician is ashamed that he did not devote his whole heart and strength to treating the king’s illness.”

Furthermore, what the sages say about present matters is truly trustworthy; therefore, what they say about matters in future lives is likewise most trustworthy. It is like a person setting foot upon a perilous road at night and being guided by the hand of a leader. Because he trusts the guide, he follows him.

Relying on inferential knowledge and the words of the sages, one should firmly believe that there is a future life. Because your physical eyes are heavily obscured by karmic offenses, because your inferential knowledge is feeble, because you lack the divine eye, because you yourself have no wisdom, and because you do not believe the Buddha's words, how could you know about the body of a future life? If one says that the Buddha's words contain many mysteries, then let us speak of the flourishing virtue of ghosts and spirits.

This refers to King Wu of Zhou, whose complete understanding of filial piety lay precisely in his knowledge of the condition of ghosts and spirits: he served the dead just as he served the living. Yet Master Kaoting gave a circuitous explanation and ultimately reduced it to the two vital energies, yin and yang. Who would have imagined that, relying on this, people would dare to disparage the ancient sages and doubt the future life?

Moreover, books recording trivial anecdotes are not worth discussing. But Peng Sheng becoming a pig, Bo You becoming a malevolent ghost, Liu Cong becoming King Zhexiu, and the son of Jiang Ji asking to become a county magistrate at Mount Tai are recorded in the official histories. Lady Jiang Yuan swallowed a swallow's egg and gave birth to the ancestor of the Shang dynasty, and King Wu established the Zhou dynasty—these are related in the orthodox classics. Sparrows transforming into clams, field mice transforming into ru birds, and hawks transforming into doves—these are set forth in the official ordinances.

With knowledge no greater than a mote of dust, how much can one understand? Yet one would have a frog fathom the waters of the ocean and a firefly conceal the light of the sun. What offense must one incur for deceiving the sages and scorning Heaven? Those who argue often say: “If something lies outside human experience and has no principle that can be believed, then it is insufficient as evidence.” If so, why are calculations concerning the movements of the sun, moon, and stars all accurate? Although those places are not within human experience, Heaven does not descend here, nor do people ascend there!

Furthermore, why does the wind blow and the clouds fly? Why is Heaven high and the earth low? Why do trees and plants put forth buds and new shoots in spring? Why do they wither and decay in autumn? Why do the faculties move within the mother's womb without conscious awareness? Why do a woman's breasts swell?

Among the matters recounted above, is there any principle for which a strand of hair, a mote of dust, a blade of grass, or a tree branch can serve as evidence? If there is a principle for which even the tip of a hair can serve as evidence, please point it out. These things are regarded as ordinary merely because they are commonly seen. Yet even these commonly seen things are beyond rational explanation. Therefore, one must not doubt rebirth in the Pure Land merely because it has never been seen.

2. An explanation for beginners who have brought forth the resolve to study the Way but, because they cling rigidly to the appearance of emptiness, suspect that all dharmas are annihilated.

The treatise states: “When students of the Way hear emptiness taught, they begin to doubt the principle of causes and conditions, karma, birth, and death.” If all dharmas are ultimately empty, with no coming, no going, no emerging, and no entering, why should there be rebirth after death? At present, even when one sees dharmas with one's own eyes, one does not perceive them as existing; how much less could there be rebirth elsewhere after death?

Within the Buddha-Dharma, such a person does not understand that although all dharmas are ultimately empty, they are not annihilated. Although birth and death continue in succession, neither are they eternal. Throughout immeasurable and innumerable kalpas, although the causes and conditions of karma have passed, they can still produce karmic recompense and are never lost.

This is a subtlety difficult to comprehend. If all dharmas were empty in the sense of annihilation, the Buddha would not have spoken of rebirth in the Pure Land. How could a wise person contradict his later words with his earlier words?

If the characteristics of birth and death possessed an intrinsically real nature, why did the Buddha say that all dharmas are ultimately empty? It was solely to eliminate attachment, wrong views, and deluded inversions concerning all dharmas that the Buddha taught that all dharmas are ultimately empty. To speak of ultimate emptiness does not mean that the body of a future life must be negated; rather, it is to block the causes and conditions of karma that give rise to offenses.

In speaking of rebirth in the Pure Land, the Buddha-Dharma does not cling to existence, nonexistence, both existence and nonexistence, or neither existence nor nonexistence. It does not even cling to nonattachment. One who clearly understands this no longer has any doubts, just as a person who vigorously slashes empty space with a knife leaves no wound.

This is the characteristic of ultimate emptiness. To speak of ultimate emptiness does not obstruct the causes and conditions of karma, birth, and death. Therefore, the Buddha-Dharma teaches rebirth in the Pure Land.

This doubt is very superficial and can be eliminated by anyone with even a little understanding. Many people in the world give rise to this interpretation, so it must be refuted first. This is the first obstacle to aspiring for rebirth in the Pure Land.

2—The Error of Timidity and Inferiority

1. Doubting because the habitual tendencies of the afflictions are deep and heavy

Ordinary beings know only the power of karma but do not know that the nature of karma is originally empty. If the karmic nature of sentient beings possessed an intrinsically real nature, there would be no place throughout empty space capable of containing it. It is like dark clouds obscuring a portion of the sky: when the wind blows, it sweeps away the clouds and mist.

If the dark clouds truly existed in themselves, the wind could never sweep them away. Empty space symbolizes the essential nature; the dark clouds symbolize the power of karma; and mindfulness of the Buddha symbolizes the blowing wind. Thus, the nature of karma is itself the Dharma-nature.

It possesses immensely powerful functioning, but because it is unfortunately obscured by the fetters, its spiritual power cannot manifest. For example, when Ucchusma heard the Buddha King of Emptiness teach the Dharma, he heard: “A person of excessive lust is like a fiercely blazing mass of fire.” Thereafter, he contemplated his entire body and limbs, together with their warm and cold energies. His spiritual radiance gathered within, and his lustful mind was transformed into the fire of wisdom.

The same burning torment, when the mind turns toward lust, becomes a fiercely blazing mass of fire; but when lust is abandoned, it becomes a great precious radiance. If the nature of lust possessed an intrinsically real nature, how could samadhi be attained within it? Therefore, when sentient beings are deluded, they take conception in a hellish womb, whereas practitioners mindful of the Buddha immediately enter a lotus womb.

The nature of that lotus womb is a manifestation of the self-nature and does not come from outside, just as clear water does not exist apart from turbid water.

2. Doubting because the power of mindfulness of the Buddha is feeble

Deluded sentient beings believe that tangible karmic actions are powerful, yet do not believe that the invisible power of thought is even greater. Why is this? Because the power of thought is the source of karmic action.

Without the power of thought, no undertaking could ever be accomplished. For example, although one who unintentionally commits an offense may commit a grave offense, the resulting retribution is light. If one deliberately commits an offense, however, the retribution is correspondingly different, because the power of thought is of primary importance.

When the mind is in an indeterminate state, its thoughts drift along with base worldly affairs; although the ears hear and the eyes see, one retains no memory of anything. In matters difficult to remember, when a sound passes through the faculty of hearing, if one attends to it, one will never forget it throughout one’s life, because the power of thought is firm. Su Zizhan said: “Through the great perfection of his awakened nature, the Buddha pervades the lands of the ten directions.

Through clinging firmly to inverted thoughts, I sink and rise in the ocean of birth and death.” Why, then, can one attain rebirth in the Pure Land through a single thought? It is because, since beginningless time, the karma we have created has originally arisen from a single thought. Since it arises from a single thought, it must also cease through a single thought.

When the successive arising and ceasing of thoughts has entirely ceased, we ascend to a station equal to that of the Buddha, like streams of water pouring into the great ocean, or like the sound of a drum borne upon the wind. Even one possessing the wisdom of a great sage could not distinguish them.

The Resolving Doubts Concerning the Pure Land states: “The thought that binds a person acts with great swiftness,” just as the waters of hundreds of thousands of rivers naturally flow toward the great ocean, as a blazing flame is naturally fiercely hot, as brandishing a sharp sword naturally causes injury, and as drinking poison naturally results in death. Thus, it is not without effect. From this one may likewise understand each thought of mindfulness of the Buddha.

For example, when a lustful man’s thought of desire was extremely intense, it transformed into a flame that burned down a deity’s shrine. When the youth Moonlight contemplated water, a disciple secretly peered into his chamber and saw nothing but water. When Bhavaviveka debated with a non-Buddhist, the non-Buddhist clung so firmly to his own view that he suddenly transformed into a boulder.

Bhavaviveka continued writing his arguments upon the boulder. When he returned the next morning, he found replies written there. Afterward, the boulder suddenly burst apart, and terrifying roars resounded through empty space.

All such events arose solely from the strength of the power of thought and had no other cause. How, then, could it be reasonable that one mindful of the Buddha should not behold the Buddha?

Therefore, one should know that the power of thought is king among all dharmas, like Maha Naga, the warrior of immense strength. Whenever his anger flared up, a crease appeared upon his forehead. Until that crease disappeared, no one in the Saha world was able to withstand him.

3. Doubting Because the Land of Ultimate Bliss Is Hundreds of Thousands of Kotis of Lands Away

Ordinary beings cling to the notion that the Land of Ultimate Bliss lies hundreds of thousands of kotis of lands away. Even if a horse gallops with great speed or a boat sails with great swiftness, it cannot travel a thousand miles in an entire day. How, then, can one be born in that land within a single instant?

They do not consider whether the distance or proximity of that land is being measured in terms of this body subject to fragmentary birth and death, or whether rebirth is being measured by these physical eyes. Is it the body subject to fragmentary birth and death that attains rebirth, or is it the mind that attains rebirth? If one says that the body subject to fragmentary birth and death attains rebirth, it is merely a mass of matter; how could it attain rebirth?

If one says that the mind attains rebirth, this mind pervades the Dharma realm, and the Pure Land is inherently present within the mind. How could there be any coming or going? It is like a person in Chang’an remembering his native village, or thinking of Fujian Province in China, or Yunnan Province in China: according to what he recollects, that image appears; there is no road along which it must travel.

It is also like a dreaming person: although the body lies upon the bed, the mind, thought, and consciousness wander to some other place. Layman Wugong said: “Although the Land of Ultimate Bliss lies hundreds of thousands of kotis of lands away, when death approaches, an ordinary being arrives there in a single instant, because the wondrous quality of the intrinsic mind is ever present.”

The Surangama Sutra states: “You still do not understand that the illusory manifestations of all conditioned dharmas arise in dependence upon conditions and likewise perish in dependence upon conditions. When causes and conditions unite, one falsely perceives arising; when causes and conditions disperse, one falsely calls it cessation.” Applying this principle, one may reflect as follows: at the moment of death, because illusory conditions disperse, the practitioner’s illusory existence immediately ceases in the Saha world; because pure conditions unite, the practitioner is illusorily born at once in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Cessation here and birth there are not separated by so much as a hair’s breadth; how could there be any interval of time to discuss?

Long ago, in my native district, there was a person skilled in transporting a spirit planchette. That person was my own elder brother. Later, he was selected for service in the capital. My brother and his friends had a matter about which they needed to consult the planchette, but the person who held the spirit planchette was far away in the land of Yu and could not come. Having no alternative, they wrote upon a talisman and recited the words they wished to convey. A moment later, the person from Yu arrived. Those still bound by karma could arrive so swiftly; how much more so when the inconceivable power of thought relies upon the merit of Amitabha’s fundamental vows, like raising a sail with the current! What obstacle or difficulty could there be?

Therefore, practitioners mindful of the Buddha should eliminate the three doubts described above. If they do not eliminate them, their afflictions and habitual tendencies are truly deep and their power of thought is weak. The distance of hundreds of thousands of kotis of lands is then like a person who wishes to go out through a doorway but shuts and bolts the door himself. It is he who is unwilling to take a step, not that there is no door through which to leave.

3. Falling into the Trap of Words

The Sixth Patriarch said: “When people of the East commit offenses, they are mindful of the Buddha and seek rebirth in the West. When people of the West commit offenses, in what land do they seek rebirth through mindfulness of the Buddha?”

Layman Pang Yun said: “From the standpoint of phenomenal appearances, the Buddha-land lies a hundred thousand miles from here. The vast ocean has no shore or boundary, and waves arise following the raging wind.”

Some foolish people rely upon these statements to spread the absurd claim: “There is no need to cultivate the Pure Land Dharma gate.” Such words obstruct both themselves and others. How deeply lamentable!

When discussing the teachings advocated by the Chan school, one does not even speak of a Buddha, much less of a Buddha-land. The Chan school speaks this way in order to shatter attachment to appearances and illuminate the mind, sweeping away both affirmation and denial. It is like a sharp sword: as soon as one touches it, one’s hand is cut. Such sayings are like a diamond, a chestnut burr, or a thornbush; how could they be the ordinary tea and rice used daily in the household? Moreover, there are many such expressions within the Chan school. If one were to cling firmly to every expression, then when old man Shakyamuni appeared in the world, he would be beaten to death and thrown to Yunmen’s dog to eat. An ancient worthy said:

“What is the Buddha?”

“A stick for wiping away excrement.”

If this were truly so, then whenever one saw a cart of excrement, a load of excrement, or a latrine, one ought to bow down and make offerings to it. The Commentary and Subcommentary on Amitabha states: “The Western Land is one hundred thousand kotis of lands away from here.” The Platform Sutra says: “One hundred and eight thousand.” This is an error, for it takes the Five Regions of India and the like to be the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

There is some reason for this statement, because the Sixth Patriarch had never read the Great Canon; therefore, upon hearing others speak of the Western Land, he took it to mean the Five Regions of India. The teachings state clearly: “Those born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss no longer give rise to the three poisons and attain non-retrogression.” Yet it is then said: “If people in the Western Land commit offenses, to what land should they seek rebirth?” This is another example of the error described above.

Nevertheless, there are many such provisional statements in the Chan school, so there is no need to debate them further.

Alas! If practitioners of the Way can truly attain sudden awakening and sudden cultivation, with understanding and practice proceeding together, as did the Sixth Patriarch; or, like the layman Pang Yun, cast their gold into the Han River and roam freely through the prison of birth and death—although such people do not seek rebirth in the Pure Land, how could this hinder their rebirth there?

4- The Pitfall of Reckless License

There are demonic people who make a special practice of flaunting wild and arrogant wisdom. Not only do they refuse to uphold the precepts and cultivate, but they also recklessly cite superficially similar words from the sutras, saying: “Afflictions are themselves bodhi; lust, anger, and delusion are themselves pure conduct.” Relying on words, they give rise to conceptual interpretations; relying on those interpretations, they produce harmful conduct. If their assertions were true, then:

– After Shakyamuni Buddha awakened to the Way, he ought to have remained intimate with palace consorts and beautiful women.

– When Ananda was lured into a house of prostitution, why would Manjushri have needed to come to his rescue?

– Before receiving the precepts, while living among hunters, why did the Sixth Patriarch take such pains to eat only the vegetables beside the meat?

The sutras say that there is not even killing, stealing, or sexual misconduct there; how much less could there be acts of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and so forth? How could anyone disdain the fragrance of agarwood yet delight in dwelling in a latrine?

Long ago, in the Five Regions of India, there was a man named Dharmadatta who possessed wisdom and eloquence. He served the Venerable Simha as his master. The Venerable clearly knew the degree of his disciple’s understanding and awakening. Before the assembly, however, he transmitted the position of patriarch to Bashasita. Dharmadatta harbored resentment and said: “The Venerable has always known the profundity of my understanding. Why did he not transmit the position of patriarch according to understanding?”

One day, while walking alone along a riverbank, he saw a young woman washing clothes with her calves exposed. Dharmadatta thought to himself: “How exceedingly fair and smooth her calves are!” Suddenly, the Venerable appeared beside him and said: “Is your mind today worthy of receiving the position of patriarch?” Dharmadatta immediately gathered in his mind, bowed at the Venerable’s feet, and begged to repent. From this single precept concerning sexual misconduct, the other practices may be inferred. The Prajnaparamita Sutra states: “Because both offense and non-offense are devoid of true nature, one must fully practice the perfection of moral discipline.”

Explanation: That both offense and non-offense are devoid of true nature is not something to be spoken of by coarse-minded people with wrong views. They are said to lack true nature because bodhisattvas penetrate deeply into the true mark of all dharmas, practice the samadhi of emptiness, and employ the wisdom-eye in contemplative illumination. Thus they see that offense has no true nature because offense is originally empty, and that non-offense likewise has no true nature.

If a person becomes attached to non-offense, then upon seeing someone commit offenses or break the precepts, that person gives rise to contempt; and upon seeing a virtuous person uphold the precepts, that person gives rise to reverence. Upholding the precepts in this way becomes a cause and condition for the arising of offenses and cannot be called perfect observance of the precepts. Therefore, one should understand that a person attached to the precepts is thereby breaking the precepts—how much more so one who violates them.

Attachment to upholding the precepts must also be restrained; only then can it be called observance of the precepts. Statements in the great sutras such as “Pure conduct is devoid of true nature...” all carry this meaning. Yongming said: “While habitual tendencies remain, one is drawn along by external objects; while manifest activity persists, how can one escape the bonds of conditions?

It is like a drunken elephant without a goad, or a foolish ape that has seized a tree branch. Whenever the mind rushes about, it must immediately be restrained, just as a living bird is confined within a cage. Therefore, bodhisattvas revere the precepts as they would a teacher, constantly guard them, and greatly fear losing them.” He also said: “In the Dharma-ending age, those in the Chan school who study the Mahayana mostly slight the precepts.” Therefore, in the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha once again proclaimed the precepts to support the Dharma-gate of moral discipline, so that both the Vehicle and the precepts might be diligently cultivated.

Thus, this sutra is supremely precious for prolonging the life of the abiding Dharma. Why is this so? Without this teaching, such people would merely speak of liberation with their lips and tongues while having no cultivation whatsoever.

Then both the Vehicle and the precepts would be lost. “Vehicle” means awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning. “Precepts” means stopping all evil karma.

Here, the patriarchs distinguished Four Alternatives:

1. Precepts urgent, Vehicle deferred (Swift in stopping evil karma but slow in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning).

Because they swiftly stop evil karma, beings are born in the heavenly or human realms. They are like an arrow shot straight into the sky: once the force propelling the arrow is exhausted, it falls back to the ground. Although they may hear the great Dharma, they are like the mute and the deaf, because they are slow in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning.

2. Vehicle urgent, precepts deferred (Swift in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning but slow in stopping evil karma).

Because they are slow in stopping evil karma, beings are born in the evil destinies. Because they are swift in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning, they frequently hear the Mahayana Dharma, like the eight classes of ghosts and spirits in the Flower Ornament assembly.

3. Both Vehicle and precepts urgent (Swift both in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning and in stopping evil karma).

Because they are swift both in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning and in stopping evil karma, beings are born in the heavenly or human realms and frequently hear the Mahayana Dharma.

4. Both precepts and Vehicle deferred (Slow both in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning and in stopping evil karma).

Because they are slow both in awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning and in stopping evil karma, beings are born in the three evil destinies and never hear the Dharma.

Therefore, the two dharmas of stopping evil karma and awakening to the truth of the ultimate meaning are like the two wheels of a cart; if either wheel is discarded, the cart cannot function. Nagarjuna said: “A person who breaks the precepts is like a clear, cool pond containing a poisonous snake: no one can bathe in it. That person’s dwelling is like a tomb that no one dares approach.

That person’s merit is destroyed, like a withered branch or a field struck by hail, from which no harvest can be expected; like one afflicted by a grave disease whom no one dares approach; or like vomited food that will never be eaten again.” Since the bodhisattva issued so many rebukes, did he ever condone those who break the precepts? Therefore, a thousand days spent studying doctrinal understanding cannot compare with a single day spent upholding the precepts.

How could one crave the empty reputation of having awakened to the Way while willingly enduring the calamities of hell, demeaning oneself and deceiving others, only to be mercilessly punished by the authorities?

Alas! When people bark recklessly, there is nothing they will not destroy. Because the savage flames of wrong views first consume the jewel of the precepts, only the precepts are discussed here. The precepts are the foundation of pure karma, for all pure and wholesome dharmas arise from them.

5- The Pitfall of Petty Discrimination

There are many Dharma teachers who study the scriptures, annotate chapters and passages, cling tightly to the provisional designation of the Dharma-body, analyze the domains of names and characteristics, and search east and seize west throughout the months and years. They toy with an image of Vairocana drawn in ink on paper and sit within the Dharma-realm displayed in scriptures and books; they then become arrogant and presumptuous, regarding the little they have attained as sufficient.

When they hear others reciting the Buddha’s name, they say, “The Dharma-gate of Buddha-recitation is a method of restraining deluded thoughts within the Lesser Vehicle”; or, “The ocean of doctrinal meaning is very profound; it is also acceptable for people of dull faculties like you to recite the Buddha’s name”; or, “To which of the three baskets does the Dharma-gate of Buddha-recitation belong?” Or they say, “To which teaching does this belong?

It resembles children quarreling in the upper hamlet: whichever side has more people wins.” In every matter, they bring forth their own interpretations merely to argue, without any genuine practice whatsoever. They are like the brahmin Dīrghanakha, who employed his powers of debate to refute other teachers. Whenever he prevailed, he became so elated that he rashly leapt and danced, and no one could restrain him.

Later, when he came before the Buddha, the brahmin thought, “Every argument can be demolished, and every attachment can be shaken. Among them, what is the true characteristic of all dharmas? What is the truth of the supreme meaning?

What is nature? What is characteristic?” Having engaged in such inverted thinking, the brahmin said to the Buddha:

“Gautama, I accept no dharma whatsoever.”

The Buddha asked:

“You accept no dharma whatsoever; then do you accept this view?”

The brahmin replied:

“Gautama, I accept no dharma whatsoever, and I do not accept even this view.”

The Buddha asked:

“You accept no dharma whatsoever, and you do not accept even this view. Then there is nothing at all that you accept, and you are no different from anyone else. Why must you be arrogant and give rise to a presumptuous mind?”

The brahmin fell silent.

From then on, the brahmin placed the utmost faith in the Buddha and submitted to his teaching.

Therefore, one should understand that a hungry and thirsty person passing by a restaurant only becomes more ravenous and does not fill his empty stomach.

Long ago, in Jiangnan, there was a lecturer of keen faculties. He expounded Consciousness-Only doctrine to me and pointed out the profound and abstruse principles in the teaching he had received. He freely criticized and repudiated many of the commentaries written by eminent and virtuous masters.

I asked:

“Can such understanding withstand birth and death?”

The lecturer answered forcefully:

“What birth and death is there to withstand?”

I said:

“What you say is indeed correct, but I fear that before King Yama’s hall, you will be unable to transform the character ‘living,’ and King Yama will not understand your samadhi of language.”

Although this was spoken partly in jest, it precisely describes the illness of lecturers. I respectfully admonish young bodhisattvas who, amid short chapters and lengthy sections, are dragged along by words and language, reciting with their mouths and pondering with their minds until their brains ache and their vision grows dim. Yet upon carefully examining the efficacy of all this, what does it amount to beyond ascending the Dharma seat several times, lecturing on scriptures several times, and receiving the prostrations of some deluded people?

Without genuine cultivation and conduct, such activities merely add to one’s debts and karmic hindrances. How could they compare with a single utterance of Amitabha’s name, which leads directly to the stage of non-retrogression? Through the single practice of Buddha-recitation, a hundred endeavors are accomplished.

Consider Tanmozui, who lectured on the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra and led a congregation of a thousand people, yet was rebuked by King Yama: “Though this man lectures on scriptures, his mind still clings tightly to self and others and remains arrogant, oppressing other people. This is the foremost coarse conduct among bhikshus; he must be handed over to the prison office.” Today, we may take this incident as an admonition.

Nevertheless, there are also exceptional persons who thoroughly understand doctrinal principles and, through investigating the scriptures, awaken to the inconceivably great matter of the Western Pure Land. For the sake of benefiting themselves and others, they bring benefit to later generations, like those who light torches in the long, dark night, thereby gaining immeasurable merit. One should not refuse to eat merely because one has seen another person choke on food, nor halt one’s own cart merely because one has seen someone else fall over.

6—Scholars Do Not Fall Away

Those who study the Way, having gained only a slight insight into the principle that all dharmas are originally empty, hear others reciting the Buddha’s name and hastily say, “All dharmas are free from words and letters. If one follows provisional names, one only adds further falsity. Why is this? Because language and writing are themselves empty, much more so a name.”

Answer: The Dharmapada Sutra records: “The Buddha said to the bodhisattva Ratnaprabha: ‘You should contemplate the names of those Buddhas. If names truly existed, then when one spoke to others about food, their hunger should thereby be relieved. If names did not exist, then Dipankara Tathagata could not have bestowed a prediction upon me or spoken your name.

If there were no one to receive such a prediction, I should not have attained Buddhahood. Therefore, understand that names have long been suchness, and my suchness is sufficient to reveal the empty nature of names and of all dharmas, without becoming trapped in existence or nonexistence.’” The Avatamsaka Sutra records: “Dharmas have no intrinsically discriminated nature and sounds have no discrimination, yet intrinsic nature is not abandoned and names are not extinguished.” The Treatise on Resolving Doubts states: “If one says that names are useless, then one cannot speak of the essence of dharmas, nor can one name fire or water.” Therefore, understand that fish traps and snares are not empty of function; by relying upon traps and snares, one catches fish and rabbits.

Likewise, if practitioners recite the name of Amitabha, they will certainly be born in the Pure Land. How, then, can Buddha-recitation be called false?

Tiantai Master Zhizhe said: “There are people in the world who cultivate the practice of emptiness. Because they cling tightly to that deluded emptiness, they do not accord with the scriptures. When they hear this method of contemplating the mind, they challenge it, saying: ‘Contemplation of the mind is equal to the Dharma-body. Since it is equal, it must be equal everywhere. Why, then, do you venerate scriptures and images while treating paper and wood lightly? Because there is a distinction between veneration and disdain, this is not equality. Since it is not equality, the principle of the Dharma-body cannot be established.’”

Answer: I maintain that, while still at the stage of an ordinary being, contemplating characteristics in this way is intended to reveal this true characteristic. Venerating scriptures and images enables wisdom to remain unfettered. Suppose immeasurable people venerate wholesome Dharma and distance themselves from unwholesome dharmas; this enables them to remain unfettered by skillful means.

How could that be the same as your position?” The Shangdu Yi states: “Taking refuge in the Three Jewels requires indicating a direction and establishing characteristics. If one fixes the mind and clings to objects, one does not understand signlessness and freedom from thought.” The Buddha knew beforehand that ordinary beings cannot even bind their minds to a single object, much less transcend characteristics. This is like a person without magical arts or spiritual powers who wishes to construct a house in empty space.

The Lotus Sutra records: “When you realize the Buddha’s dharmas, such as omniscience and the ten powers, and fully possess the thirty-two marks, only then is this true quiescence.” Great Master Nanquan said: “The pure and wondrous Dharma-body fully possesses the thirty-two marks; it merely does not permit a mind of conjecture and discrimination. If one is free from such a mind, then every act of cultivation, even snapping one’s fingers or joining one’s palms, is a true cause.” Master Baizhang said: “Practicing the Way, making prostrations, and cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are the fundamental duties of a śramana.” Clearly, one relies upon the Buddha’s teachings but is not permitted to become attached to them.

The Jingtu Zhigui states: “When practitioners cultivate according to the perfect and sudden teaching, their speaking and silence, movement and stillness all accord with the noble teachings and conform to the Buddha-mind.”

If one holds that mindfulness of the Buddha involves stirring the mind and giving rise to thoughts, and thus amounts to deluded thinking, then one who clings to the state of a stilled mind and no-thought is likewise engaged in deluded thinking. The Surangama Sutra records: “Even if you extinguish all seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, yet inwardly cling to a state of secluded stillness, this remains a discriminating shadow of the objects of mind.”

If one holds that mindfulness of the Buddha is attachment to the perils of the conditioned, then the peril faced by one who clings tightly to emptiness is even more severe. Yongjia said: “If a person clings to emptiness, rejects cause and effect, and behaves wantonly and without restraint, that person brings upon himself grave and dangerous calamity.”

If one holds that seeking a Buddha outside oneself shows a lack of awakening, then one who clings tightly to a mind within is even more deeply deluded. Xuansha said: “Students of the Way fail to recognize what is true only because, from time immemorial, they have taken the conscious spirit to be real. This is the root of birth and death throughout immeasurable kalpas, yet foolish people call it the original person—the self-nature.”

If one holds that seeking rebirth in another Pure Land is an extreme view, then one who clings tightly to the Pure Land immediately before one’s eyes is gravely mistaken. The Surangama Sutra records: “Those who stray onto the path of demons all point to what is immediately before their eyes as the Buddha-land, saying that there is no other Pure Land and no other Buddha. They delight in saying: ‘The eyes, ears, nose, and tongue are all the Pure Land. The two male and female faculties are bodhi and nirvana.’ Consequently, both disciples and teachers are punished by the authorities. Because they are deluded and do not understand, they fall into the Avici Hell.”

If one who clings to there being cultivation and realization is said to follow only a provisional teaching, then one who clings to there being neither cultivation nor realization falls into the ways of non-Buddhists, and the peril is even more severe. The Surangama Sutra records: “Good man, while in meditative concentration, if the form skandha has disappeared and the feeling skandha has become clear, and one considers one’s cultivation complete, one becomes possessed by the demon of Great Arrogance and declares: ‘A single thought can transcend three incalculable kalpas.’ Inwardly, one even despises the Tathagatas throughout the ten directions, to say nothing of the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas.

Such people do not pay homage at monasteries or stupas; they destroy sutras and images and tell Buddhists: ‘A Buddha image is merely gold, bronze, or wood, while scriptures are merely palm leaves, paper, or silk. This physical body is truly permanent. Why do you not venerate it, but instead worship such plants and wood?

How utterly inverted!’ Because they sow doubt and delusion among sentient beings, they fall into the Avici Hell.”

Therefore, one should know that clinging to emptiness and destroying appearances both belong to the retinue of demons. The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom records: “A country bumpkin initially knew nothing about salt. Seeing another person season food with salt, he asked:

‘Why do you do that?’

The other person replied:

‘This salt can improve the flavor of the food.’

He thought, ‘This salt can improve the flavor of food. Then I should eat a great deal of salt.’ He immediately scooped up enough salt to fill his mouth. Its saltiness injured his mouth. He asked:

‘Why did you say that salt can improve the flavor of food?’

The other person replied:

‘Fool! You do not know how to use a moderate amount of salt to season food and improve its flavor. Why would you eat salt by itself?’”

From this analogy, one may understand fools who hear others speak of the Dharma gate of liberation through emptiness and consequently sever all roots of goodness.

Consider it again and again: you may freely declare that all dharmas are empty and that birth and death are also empty, but unfortunately King Yama cannot be made empty—what then will you do?

7—The Error of Following Conditions

The ancients said: “Following conditions, exhaust old karma; naturally and freely, put on your robes.” One need only accord with innate suchness, and the myriad practices will naturally become perfect. Whenever one raises or lowers a foot, what is not pure karma? Why, then, is it necessary to exert effort in cultivation?

Answer: A former worthy likewise posed the question: “If the mind itself is Buddha, why must one rely upon cultivation?” Here I shall explain:

It is precisely for this reason that practitioners must cultivate. Consider iron ore: although it may be refined, iron can never thereby become gold. National Preceptor Xianshou said: “Today, the Buddha’s three bodies, the ten paramitas, the bodhisattvas’ practices of benefiting others, and so forth are all practiced on the basis of the perfect interpenetration of the dharmas inherently present within oneself.

Because the minds of sentient beings contain suchness, the greatness of essence, the greatness of attributes, and the greatness of function, cultivation today can reveal the Dharma body, the reward body, and so forth. Because the minds of sentient beings contain suchness and the Dharma-nature, which is inherently free from greed, cultivating today in accordance with the nongreed of the Dharma-nature can reveal the paramita of generosity, and so forth.” In the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha told Bodhisattva Simhanada: “All sentient beings possess such qualities as the mind of mindfulness, the mind of wisdom, the mind of aspiration, the mind of diligent effort, the mind of faith, and the mind of concentration.

Although such qualities arise and cease thought after thought, they appear to continue without interruption; this is called cultivating the path.” It is like a blazing flame: although the fire arises and ceases from moment to moment, it radiates light and dispels the darkness of night. It is like sentient beings eating and drinking: although this process arises and ceases from moment to moment, it enables the hungry to become full.

It is like excellent medicine: although it arises and ceases from moment to moment, it has the power to cure illness. It is like the shining sun and illuminating moon: although their light arises and ceases from moment to moment, it enables plants, trees, and dense forests to flourish luxuriantly. The Ratnakuta Sutra records: “If there were no correct cultivation, then cats, rabbits, and the like should also become Buddhas.” Great Master Niutou Farong said: “If one says that it is produced through cultivation, then it is fabricated and not true.

If one says that it is inherently present, then the myriad practices are established in vain.” The Elder’s Treatise records: “If all are entirely equal, then one who lacks the resolve to cultivate the path must cultivate until reaching the stage of noncultivation.” The Record of Tripitaka Master Cimin states: “If it is said that the Blessed One taught that conditioned dharmas are like flowers in the sky, why did the Blessed One instruct his disciples to cultivate diligently the wondrous causes of the six paramitas and myriad practices, through which they would realize the fruits of bodhi and nirvana?” What wise person would praise a Gandharva city as lofty, beautiful, and solid, and then urge others to use a rabbit’s horn as a ladder by which to climb up to it?

For this reason, although practitioners cultivate conditioned practices subject to outflows, these practices are nevertheless real and correct. As for Bodhidharma’s words to Emperor Wu of Liang, they were intended to break the emperor’s greedy attachment to conditioned dharmas, just as a physician prescribes medicine according to the illness. How could one seize upon words spoken for a particular occasion and thereby abolish all karmic practices of the Buddha path?

Moreover, when the Buddha says in the sutras not to cling to the characteristics of generosity, observance of precepts, and so forth, he means that one acts without attachment. Yet you now claim that being fundamentally nonexistent is the same as nonattachment. This is like a lowly beggar saying to others: “I am not arrogant because of wealth and rank.” Is this not merely sleep-talking?

Furthermore, does a person who clings to nonaction remain completely motionless like a golden statue, or does that person still interact with others like an ordinary person? If one still interacts, then it is not nonaction. If one says that interaction does not conflict with nonaction, then contemplating the Buddha, paying homage, and being mindful of the Buddha are themselves naturally in accord with innate suchness and likewise do not conflict with nonaction. Therefore, neither of the two claims—that nonaction means remaining motionless, or that nonaction includes continuing to interact—can be established. This is a great falsehood.

Therefore, one should know that to drift along with conditions in an undisciplined manner is not unobstructed freedom. If unobstructed freedom merely meant following conditions, then an earthworm burrowing into the ground and a frog dwelling in the mud would also be following conditions. Why, then, do they not become Buddhas? Those who mistake the intent of the patriarchs and take bricks and tiles for precious jade are no different from ignorant people who revere the teaching of nonaction in the sense of doing absolutely nothing.

8—The Pitfall of Mind-Only

Some maintain that the Pure Land of intrinsic nature means that the mundane world itself is eternally true. The seven treasures, tiles, and stones are all equal; if only one’s own mind is pure, what further need is there to make distinctions?

Answer: You say that when the mind is pure, the land is pure, and there is no further need to make distinctions. Then if I were to lead you into a latrine, could you remain there for a long time? When you entered a charnel ground and its overpowering stench assailed you, could you refrain from covering your nose?

Could you share utensils, beds, and bedding with people suffering from scabies or leprosy, their bodies covered with blood and pus? If you could not, then these are the marks of the fivefold defilement, which are worthy of revulsion. If, for your dwelling, you still require a clean house, and when seeking companionship you still choose wholesome friends, then these are the marks of a Pure Land, which is worthy of delight.

Since delight and revulsion are already perfectly evident, why do you speak of equality? Even if you could endure such disagreeable things as the impurities described above, dung beetles, crows, and dogs can also remain close to them. Could it be that they have all attained the Way?

Even if you relinquish thoughts of purity and impurity, you still firmly grasp at relinquishment itself; thus, you still do not accord with the meaning of mind-only.

Therefore, one should know that the Buddhas, on the basis of mind-only, give rise to delight and revulsion; on the basis of mind-only, teach the Dharma of equality; and on the basis of mind-only, adorn the Buddha lands. If things were not mind-only, how could they accord with thought? If there were no equality, ordinary beings would have no share in attainment. If you cannot even relinquish impurity, why do you relinquish only purity? Since relinquishing is mind, grasping is also mind; how could there be any contradiction? Such deluded attachments arise solely because the essential purport of the Buddha has not been clearly understood. Practitioners need only understand the principle of mind-only, and their doubts will cease.

9—The Pitfall of Sudden Awakening

Those who practice Chan nowadays all say, “Once one has transcended everything and leapt directly into realization, there is no further need for the effort of cultivation.” They do not seek to become Buddhas, much less vow to attain rebirth in the Pure Land.

Answer: They say that they do not seek to become Buddhas. Then, after relinquishing this body and life, will they be forever extinguished like cold ashes, or will they assume another form in a future life? If they will assume another form, will they be born in the Pure Land or within the three realms?

If they are born within the three realms, it would be better to be born in the Pure Land. If they are born in the Pure Land, that is precisely rebirth there. An ancient worthy said, “Although a good spiritual teacher may say that one who sees the Buddha-nature is equal to the Buddha, when that person’s actual cultivation is considered, it does not yet equal that of the sages.

Therefore, from this day onward, one must cultivate and permeate oneself step by step.” It is also said, “Cultivation by one who has not awakened is not true cultivation.” Only this principle of sudden awakening followed by gradual cultivation accords with the Buddha Vehicle and does not contradict the purport of the perfect and sudden teaching. What is called sudden awakening and sudden cultivation likewise results from gradual cultivation over many lifetimes, which comes to maturity in this life.

Practitioners must examine this for themselves. Only when words and practice correspond, when their capacity reaches the utmost bounds of the Dharma-realm, does their mind accord with the principle of empty space. The eight winds no longer move them, the three kinds of feeling are empty and quiescent, both latent seeds and their active manifestations have vanished, and both fundamental afflictions and secondary afflictions have been completely eradicated—just as a person without illness has no need to take medicine.

If active manifestations have not yet ceased and afflictions and habitual tendencies remain deep and strong, then as soon as practitioners see something, their minds stir and thoughts arise; when they encounter sense objects, they still become attached. Although they understand the meaning of non-arising, their power is not yet complete. They cannot say, “I have already awakened, and the nature of the afflictions is empty.

If I give rise to the thought of cultivation, I will instead fall into delusion.” Although the nature of the afflictions is empty, they can still cause practitioners to undergo karmic consequences. Although the results of karma lack intrinsic nature, they nevertheless produce the causes of suffering. Although suffering is illusory, why is it so difficult to endure?

It is like a person afflicted with a grave illness: although the illness too is entirely empty, why does that person summon physicians for treatment and seek medicines everywhere? A patriarch said, “Bring the mind, which is like empty space, into accord with the principle of empty space, without retaining even a measure of empty space; only cultivation such as this brings no requital of karmic results.” Chan Master Fenyang Wuye said, “Nowadays, throughout the world, those who understand Chan and understand the Way are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges; those who speak of Buddha and speak of mind number in the hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions.

Yet if even a mote of dust has not been exhausted, it is difficult to escape the continuing cycle of birth and death; if even the most subtle thought remains, one will sink and fall.” Such people cannot themselves discern the results of karma, yet they falsely claim to benefit themselves and others. Considering themselves superior persons, they imitate the words of ancient worthies and declare, “Whatever the eyes encounter among sense objects is the work of the Buddha; wherever the feet may tread is a place of enlightenment.”

In truth, their efforts in cultivation do not equal those of people who observe the five precepts and practice the ten wholesome deeds. Upon examining their words, one finds that they disparage the practitioners of the Two Vehicles and the bodhisattvas of the ten bhumis. Ghee possesses the finest flavor and is cherished by everyone, yet in the hands of such people it becomes poison.

Even if their abilities equaled those of Ashvaghosha and their intellectual understanding matched Nagarjuna’s, they might merely avoid losing human form for one or two lifetimes. When death approaches, if the slightest conceptual distinction between sage and ordinary being has not been exhausted and even a subtle thought as minute as a mote of dust has not been forgotten, they will follow their thoughts and undergo rebirth, assuming forms that differ in heaviness and lightness.

They may plunge into the womb of a donkey or the belly of a horse to take up residence, or be burned in a cauldron of boiling water or a furnace of glowing coals. Once all their views and understanding are lost and their former recollections and imaginings have vanished, they will remain as before, becoming mole crickets and ants, then flies and mosquitoes. Although they planted wholesome causes, they reap painful consequences.

Master Yuanwu said, “To remain peaceful at the juncture of birth and death is no easy matter. Only those of great and thorough awakening and transcendent realization, who decisively sever everything at once, find it no longer difficult. Although they possess their own capacity and strength, even they must rely upon skillful means.”

With regard to the minor situations encountered in ordinary life, practitioners must be able to transform them and penetrate them thoroughly. By practicing in this way and cultivating this spirit until it becomes fully matured, when the conditions of this life come to an end, practitioners will naturally have nothing more to fear. Therefore, among the virtuous ancients, some entered perfect stillness while seated, while others relinquished the body while standing.

Their departure was as effortless as a cicada shedding its shell; only thus could they be at ease and free. This was because the virtuous ancients purified body and mind in ordinary times. Xianglin applied himself diligently for forty years before everything was forged into a single whole, while Yongquan practiced diligently for forty years and yet his mind still wandered.

For this reason, Shishuang exhorted everyone to cast off everything and keep the mind like an incense burner in an ancient shrine! Yongjia said: “The essence is originally unborn; realization is fundamentally neither sudden nor gradual.” Because practitioners remain constantly intent and vigilant, with their mindfulness fixed here and their entire thought placed here, they can attain freedom without obstruction. After relinquishing the body of this life, practitioners obtain a mind-made body, meaning that they take embodiment in the next life according to their own intention.

Because they employ wisdom to dispel delusion, they are not dragged along by karma. Only those who have cultivated to this level may be said to have thoroughly transcended birth and death. It should be understood that the great masters practiced continuously and closely because they wished to prepare well for the passage through birth and death.

Although their approaches differed, ultimately they amounted to nothing but purity.

Formerly, there was a mad monk who was conceited about his understanding. I asked him:

– After relinquishing this body and life, are you certain that you will be able to enter monastic life? Are you certain that you will still be in Chang’an?

The monk asked in astonishment:

– How could I not be certain?

I asked:

– In dreams, when you see yourself before you entered monastic life, or see your parents and siblings, or see yourself playing as a child, do you then know that you yourself are merely a guest?

The monk replied:

– I do not.

I said:

– In discussing what will happen after relinquishing this body and life, you are certain that you will enter monastic life and travel on foot in pursuit of the Way; this may be called exceedingly clear-sighted. Even though you may see the Way distinctly, you cannot go beyond this point. Yet as soon as you lay your head upon the pillow, you, a monk, become a layperson again, changing the guest into the host without even knowing it—how much more so during the long night of birth and death! If you rely upon your still immature understanding, how can you guarantee that you will not become confused and inverted?

At that moment, the monk became bewildered and afraid.

10- The Division of Perfect Reality

Question: In the Flower Treasury world, a single land or even a single mote of dust can contain immeasurable lands. Since originally there is neither defilement nor purity, how could there be coming or going? Elder Li said: “Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land in the West is provisional rather than real, because attachment to feelings and grasping at acceptance and rejection still remain; therefore, it is not the suchness-essence of the Dharma realm.”

Answer: If discussed from the standpoint of ultimate truth, the Flower Treasury world is also merely provisional; why should only the Western Land be provisional? The Treatise says: “Boundless principle and wisdom are called Universal, while knowing how to benefit sentient beings according to their capacities is called Worthy.” Thus, Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is also provisional. Manjusri is the wondrous wisdom of one’s own mind that skillfully discerns and selects.

Bodhisattva Enlightenment Chief, Bodhisattva Vision Chief, and the others represent the principle and wisdom presently manifest that follow the faith within the mind. Thus, Bodhisattva Manjusri and the others are also provisional. Moreover, the Treatise says that the sages and worthies of China, such as Confucius and Yan Yuan, symbolize the Dharma.

Does this mean that these people never existed? All sages and worthies would then be provisional. Now consider and determine whether Manjusri, Samantabhadra, and the sages and worthies of China are provisional or real.

If you say they are provisional, those personages did exist, and there remain their testamentary teachings concerning the conduct of the ancients. If you say they are real, then that elder deceived ordinary beings, repudiated the sages, and committed the grave offense of great false speech. Here I shall offer an argument:

– The Western Land enters innumerable lands, and innumerable lands likewise contain the Western Land. How, then, could there be any distinction between provisional and real? Furthermore, the Treatise records: “The essence of the Lotus Treasury is the response arising from the Dharma body functioning through the wisdom-essence that abides nowhere. The palaces are the response arising from the entirety of the nurturing mind of great compassion. The towers and pavilions are the response arising from the wisdom that contemplates beings’ capacities, accords with the mind of great compassion, and rescues sentient beings. That vajra ground is the response arising from the equality of the Dharma body of self-nature. The mani-jewel adornments are the response arising from the precept-essence through which the Dharma body functions. The vajra wheels encircling the mountains are the response arising from the karmic precepts that safeguard the mind of great compassion. The various kinds of ornamental flowers are the response arising from the unfolding of the myriad practices that benefit sentient beings. The jeweled trees that have been established are the response arising from practices that benefit life and shelter sentient beings.”

Nevertheless, when their karma does not correspond, beings may dwell together without seeing one another, just as spirits and various kinds of ghosts dwell together with human beings, yet human beings cannot see them. If this is so, is the Flower Treasury world the same as or different from the innumerable lands that you have seen? If you say that they are the same, then even the seeing and hearing of Maudgalyayana and Sariputra were limited.

If you say that they are different, why is it called the one truth? Moreover, Linggan vowed to uphold the Avatamsaka Sutra and composed the Contemplation on the Avatamsaka and the Contemplation on Maitreya’s Celestial Palace. When he became gravely ill, he gazed into empty space as though seeing something.

A novice monk then asked him about it, and he replied:

– I see a celestial youth leading me to the Tusita celestial palace. I said: “The pleasures of the heavens do not last long; ultimately one falls back into the cycle of birth and death. I delight in the Lotus Treasury.”

After saying this, he stopped breathing. A moment later, he suddenly revived. The novice monk asked:

– Venerable Master, what did you see?

Linggan replied:

– I saw water filling the vast expanse, and I was seated upon a lotus flower as large as a wheel. My aspiration has been fulfilled.

After saying this, he passed away.

National Preceptor Qingliang said: “In his contemplative practice, he saw a celestial youth come to welcome him, and there was water filling the vast expanse; therefore, I believe that he attained rebirth in the Western Land.” Thus, are they the same or different?

Therefore, it should be understood that if someone uses a perforated bowl to bail out the boundless ocean, or uses a firefly to burn down a towering mountain, the effort will merely be wasted. A wise person should not engage in such reckless endeavors.