Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 3

已檢責身口令麁過不生。次須入門修道漸次不出定慧。五種起心。六種料簡。故次第四明奢摩他頌也。

Having examined and checked body and speech so that coarse faults do not arise, next one must enter the gate and cultivate the Way, in order never leaving concentration and wisdom. There are five kinds of arousing the mind and six kinds of discernment. Therefore the fourth in order clarifies the verses on samatha.

非戒不禪。非禪不慧。上既修定。定久慧明。故次第五明毘婆舍那頌也。

Without precepts there is no meditation; without meditation there is no wisdom. Having cultivated concentration above, when concentration is long, wisdom becomes clear. Therefore the fifth in order clarifies the verses on vipasyana.

偏修於定定久則沈。偏學於慧慧多心動。故次第六明優畢叉頌。等於定慧令不沈動。使定慧均等捨於二邊。

One who cultivates only concentration will sink with long concentration. One who studies only wisdom will have a disturbed mind with much wisdom. Therefore the sixth in order clarifies the verses on upeksa. Equalizing concentration and wisdom so that one neither sinks nor is disturbed, making concentration and wisdom equal, one abandons the two extremes.

定慧既均則寂而常照。三觀一心。何疑不遣。何照不圓。自解雖明悲他未悟。悟有深淺。故次第七明三乘漸次也。

When concentration and wisdom are balanced, one is tranquil and yet always illuminating. With the three contemplations in one mind, what doubt is not dispelled, and what illumination is not complete? Though one's own understanding is clear, one grieves that others are not yet awakened. Awakening has depth and shallowness. Therefore the seventh step explains the gradual stages of the Three Vehicles.

三乘悟理理無不窮。窮理在事了事即理。故次第八明事理不二。即事而真用祛倒見也。

The Three Vehicles awaken to principle, and principle is inexhaustible. To exhaust principle lies in phenomena, and to understand phenomena is to understand principle. Therefore the eighth step explains the non-duality of phenomena and principle: to be true in the midst of phenomena, in order to remove inverted views.

事理既融內心自瑩。復悲遠學虛擲寸陰。故次第九明勸友人書也。

When phenomena and principle are fused, the inner mind becomes lucid of itself. Then one again grieves that those far away who study waste precious time in vain. Therefore the ninth step explains the letter urging a friend.

勸友人雖是悲他專心。在一情猶未普。故次第十明發願文誓度一切。

Though the urging of a friend grieves for his single-minded devotion, in a single feeling it is still not universal. Therefore the tenth step explains the vow text, vowing to liberate all beings.

復次觀心十門。初則言其法爾。次則出其觀體。三則語其相應。四則警其上慢。五則誡其疎怠。六則重出觀體。七則明其是非。八則簡其詮旨。九則觸途成觀。十則妙契玄源。

Furthermore, the ten gates of contemplating the mind are as follows. First, it speaks of its natural state; second, it brings out the substance of contemplation; third, it speaks of its correspondence; fourth, it warns against overweening pride; fifth, it cautions against negligence; sixth, it brings out the substance of contemplation again; seventh, it clarifies right and wrong; eighth, it selects the aim of the teaching; ninth, it makes contemplation of whatever one meets; and tenth, it marvelously accords with the mysterious source.

第一言法爾者。夫心性虛通動靜之源莫二。真如絕慮緣計之念非殊。惑見紛馳。窮之則唯一寂。靈源不狀。鑒之則以千差。千差不同。法眼之名自立。一寂非異。慧眼之號斯存。理量雙銷。佛眼之功圓著。是以三諦一境。法身之理常清。三智一心般若之明常照。境智冥合解脫之應隨機。非縱非橫圓伊之道玄會。故知三德妙性宛爾無乖一心。深廣難思何出要而非路。是以即心為道者。可謂尋流而得源。

First, the natural state. The nature of mind is empty and penetrating, and the source of movement and stillness is not two. True Suchness cuts off thought, and the thoughts of conditioned calculation are no different. Deluded views rush about in confusion, and when exhausted they are only a single stillness. The spiritual source has no shape, and when it is mirrored it appears in a thousand differences. The thousand differences are not the same, and so the name of the Dharma Eye is established. The one stillness is not different, and so the title of the Wisdom Eye remains. When principle and measure are both dissolved, the merit of the Buddha Eye is fully manifested. Therefore the three truths are one realm, and the principle of the Dharma body is always pure. The three kinds of wisdom are one mind, and the light of prajna always shines. When realm and wisdom merge in silence, the response of liberation follows the occasion. Neither lengthwise nor crosswise, the way of the perfect three-dotted letter is mysteriously joined. Thus we know that the marvelous nature of the three virtues is clearly not apart from the one mind. It is deep and broad and hard to conceive; what gateway that comes out of it is not a road? Therefore to take mind itself as the Way may be called following the stream and reaching the source.

第二齣其觀體者。只知一念即空不空非空非不空。

Second, bringing out the substance of contemplation. Know only that a single thought is empty and not empty, neither empty nor not empty.

第三語其相應者。心與空相應。則譏毀讚譽何憂何喜。身與空相應。則刀割香塗何苦何樂。依報與空相應。則施與劫奪何得何失。心與空不空相應則愛見都忘慈悲普救。身與空不空相應。則內同枯木外現威儀。依報與空不空相應。則永絕貪求資財給濟。心與空不空非空非不空相應。則實相初明開佛知見。身與空不空非空非不空相應。則一塵入正受。諸塵三昧起。依報與空不空非空非不空相應。則香臺寶閣嚴土化生。

Third, speaking of correspondence. When the mind corresponds to emptiness, then in slander and praise what is there to grieve or to rejoice at? When the body corresponds to emptiness, then in being cut with knives or anointed with incense what is there to suffer or enjoy? When one's surroundings correspond to emptiness, then in giving and in being robbed, what is gain and what is loss? When the mind corresponds to emptiness and non-emptiness, then love and views are all forgotten, and one saves all beings with compassion. When the body corresponds to emptiness and non-emptiness, then within one is like withered wood and without one shows dignified bearing. When one's surroundings correspond to emptiness and non-emptiness, one forever cuts off craving and supplies wealth to help others. When the mind corresponds to emptiness, non-emptiness, and neither empty nor non-empty, then the true aspect is first illuminated and one opens the Buddha's knowledge and vision. When the body corresponds to emptiness, non-emptiness, and neither empty nor non-empty, then in a single dust-mote one enters right reception, and in all dust-motes samadhi arises. When one's surroundings correspond to emptiness, non-emptiness, and neither empty nor non-empty, then there are incense terraces and jeweled pavilions, adorning the land and transforming beings by birth.

第四警其上慢者。若不爾者則未相應也。

Fourth, warning against overweening pride. If it is not like this, then one does not yet correspond.

第五誡其疎怠者。然渡海應上船。非船何以能渡。修心必須入觀。非觀何以明心。心尚未明相應何日。思之勿自恃也。

Fifth, cautioning against negligence. To cross the sea one should board a boat; without a boat how could one cross? To cultivate the mind one must enter contemplation; without contemplation how could one clarify the mind? If the mind is not yet clear, when will correspondence come? Think on this and do not rely on yourself.

第六重出觀體者。只知一念即空不空非有非無。不知即念即空不空非非有非非無。

Sixth, bringing out the substance of contemplation again. Know only that a single thought is empty and not empty, neither being nor non-being; one does not yet know that each thought is empty and not empty, not neither-being nor non-being.

第七明其是非者。心不是有。心不是無。心不非有。心不非無。是有是無即墮是。非有非無即墮非。如是隻是是非之非。未是非是非非之是。今以雙非破兩是。是破非是猶是非。又以雙非破兩非。非破非非即是是。如是隻是非是非非之是。未是不非不不非不是不不是。是非之惑綿微難見。神清慮靜細而研之。

Seventh, clarifying right and wrong. The mind is not being, the mind is not non-being, the mind is not not-being, the mind is not not-non-being. To say being or non-being falls into "is," and to say neither being nor non-being falls into "is not." This is only the "not" of "is" and "is not," not yet the "is" of the "is" and the "is not" of the "is not." Now one uses the double negation to refute the two affirmations, and this refutation of the "is not" is still an "is" and an "is not." Again one uses the double negation to refute the two negations, and refuting the "is not" of "is not" is just "is." This is only the "is" of "is not, is not-not," and it is not yet "neither not, nor not-not, nor not-is, nor not-not-is." The delusion of right and wrong is faint and subtle and hard to see. With a clear spirit and quiet thought, study it in detail.

第八簡其詮旨者。然而至理無言。假文言以明其旨。旨宗非觀。藉修觀以會其宗。若旨之未明。則言之未的。若宗之未會。則觀之未深。深觀乃會其宗。的言必明其旨。旨宗既其明會。旨觀何得復存耶。

Eighth, selecting the aim of the teaching. The ultimate principle is without words, and one borrows written words to make its aim clear. The aim and tradition are not contemplation, and one relies on cultivating contemplation to meet its tradition. If the aim is not yet clear, then the words are not on target. If the tradition is not yet met, then contemplation is not yet deep. Deep contemplation then meets the tradition, and words on target surely make the aim clear. Once aim and tradition have been clearly met, how could words and contemplation still remain?

第九觸途成觀者。夫再演言詞重標觀體。欲明宗旨無異言觀。有逐方移。方移則言理無差。無差則觀旨不異。不異之旨即理。無差之理即宗。旨一而二名言觀明其弄胤耳。

Ninth, making contemplation of whatever one meets. Again one expounds in words and again sets out the substance of contemplation, wishing to show that aim and tradition are no different, but words and contemplation shift with the direction. When the direction shifts, words and principle do not differ, and when they do not differ, contemplation and aim are not different. The aim that is not different is principle, and the principle that does not differ is the tradition. The aim is one and there are two names; words and contemplation merely play with its offshoots.

第十妙契玄源者。夫悟心之士。寧執觀而迷旨。達教之人。豈滯言而惑理。理明則言語道斷。何言之能議。旨會則心行處滅。何觀之能思。心言不能思議者。可謂妙契寰中矣。

Tenth, marvelously according with the mysterious source. One who has awakened the mind does not cling to contemplation and become lost about the aim. One who has understood the teaching does not stagnate in words and become confused about principle. When principle is clear, the path of language is cut off, so what words can discuss it? When the aim is met, the place where the mind moves is extinguished, so what contemplation can think of it? That which mind and words cannot conceive may be called marvelously according with the whole world.

師先天二年十月十七日安坐示滅。十一月十三日塔於西山之陽。勅諡無相大師。塔曰淨光。宋朝淳化中太宗皇帝詔本州重修龕塔。

On the seventeenth day of the tenth month of the first year of Xiantian, the master sat peacefully and showed extinction. On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month, a stupa was built on the sunny side of Mount Xi. By imperial decree he was given the posthumous title Great Master Wuxiang, and the stupa was named Jingguang. In the Chunhua era of the Song dynasty, Emperor Taizong ordered his home prefecture to rebuild the shrine and stupa.

司空山本淨禪師者絳州人也。姓張氏。幼歲披緇於曹谿之室受記。隸司空山無相寺。唐天寶三年玄宗遣中使楊光庭入山採常春藤。因造丈室禮問曰。弟子慕直斯久。願和尚慈悲略垂開示。師曰。天下禪宗碩學鹹會京師。天使歸朝足可諮決。貧道隈山傍水無所用心。光庭泣拜。師曰。休禮貧道。天使為求佛邪問道邪。曰弟子智識昏昧。未審佛之與道其議云何。師曰。若欲求佛即心是佛。若欲會道無心是道。曰云何即心是佛。師曰。佛因心悟心以佛彰。若悟無心佛亦不有。曰云何無心是道。師曰。道本無心無心名道。若了無心無心即道。光庭作禮信受。既迴闕。庭具以山中所遇奏聞。即勅光庭詔師。十二月十三日到京勅住白蓮亭。越明年正月十五日召兩街名僧碩學。赴內道場與師闡揚佛理。時有遠禪師者。抗聲謂師曰。今對聖上校量宗旨。應須直問直答不假繁辭。只如禪師所見以何為道。師答曰。無心是道。遠曰。道因心有。何得言無心是道。師曰。道本無名因心名道。心名若有道不虛然。窮心既無道憑何立。二俱虛妄總是假名。遠曰。禪師見有身心是道以否。師曰。山僧身心本來是道。曰適言無心是道。今又言身心本來是道。豈不相違。師曰。無心是道心泯道無。心道一如故言無心是道。身心本來是道。道亦本是身心。身心本既是空。道亦窮源無有。曰觀禪師形質甚小。卻會此理。師曰。大德。只見山僧相。不見山僧無相。見相者是大德所見。經云。凡所有相皆是虛妄。若見諸相非相。即悟其道。若以相為實窮劫不能悟道。曰今請禪師於相上說於無相。師曰。淨名經云。四大無主身亦無我。無我所見與道相應。大德。若以四大有主是我。若有我見窮劫不可會道也。遠公聞語失色逡巡避席。師有偈曰。

Zen Master Benjing of Mount Sikong was a man of Jiangzhou, surnamed Zhang. In youth he put on the black robe, received the prediction in the chamber of Caoxi (the Sixth Patriarch), and was affiliated with Wuxiang Temple on Mount Sikong. In the third year of Tianbao of the Tang, Emperor Xuanzong sent the palace envoy Yang Guangting into the mountain to gather evergreen ivy, and he thereby visited the abbot's room, bowed and asked: "Your disciple has long admired the Way and wishes that the Venerable would compassionately give a little instruction." The master said: "The great scholars of Zen from all under Heaven are gathered in the capital. When the heavenly envoy returns to court, he can consult there. This poor monk lives hidden in the mountains by the water and has nothing in which to use his mind." Guangting wept and bowed. The master said: "Stop bowing to this poor monk. Is the heavenly envoy seeking the Buddha, or asking about the Way?" He said: "Your disciple's knowledge is dim, and I do not know what the meaning of Buddha and Way is." The master said: "If you wish to seek the Buddha, this very mind is the Buddha. If you wish to meet the Way, no-mind is the Way." He said: "How is this very mind the Buddha?" The master said: "The Buddha is awakened through the mind, and the mind is manifested through the Buddha. If you awaken to no-mind, then the Buddha also does not exist." He said: "How is no-mind the Way?" The master said: "The Way is fundamentally without mind; no-mind is called the Way. If you understand no-mind, no-mind is the Way." Guangting bowed and believed. After returning to the palace, Guangting reported to the emperor all he had met in the mountain. An edict was at once issued, sending Guangting to summon the master. He arrived in the capital on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month and was ordered to stay at the White Lotus Pavilion. On the fifteenth day of the first month of the next year, the famous monks and great scholars of the two avenues were summoned to the inner chapel to expound the Buddha's principle with the master. At that time Chan Master Yuan said to the master in a loud voice: "Now, before the emperor, we compare the aims of our schools; we should ask and answer directly without elaborate words. As for what the Zen Master sees, what do you take as the Way?" The master answered: "No-mind is the Way." Yuan said: "The Way exists because of mind; how can you say that no-mind is the Way?" The master said: "The Way is originally without a name; it is called the Way because of the mind. If the name of mind exists, the Way is not empty. When we exhaust the mind and find none, on what does the Way stand? Both are empty and false, and all are merely provisional names." Yuan said: "Does the Zen Master see that having body and mind is the Way?" The master said: "This mountain monk's body and mind are originally the Way." He said: "You just said that no-mind is the Way, and now you say that body and mind are originally the Way; is this not contradictory?" The master said: "No-mind is the Way; when the mind is extinguished the Way is no more. Mind and Way are one suchness, and so I say no-mind is the Way. Body and mind are originally the Way, and the Way is also originally body and mind. Since body and mind are originally empty, the Way too, traced to its source, has no existence." He said: "I see the Zen Master's form is very small, yet you understand this principle." The master said: "You, Great Virtue, see only this mountain monk's appearance, and do not see his no-appearance. What you see in appearance is what you, Great Virtue, see. The sutra says: All that has appearance is false. If you see that all appearances are not appearance, you awaken to the Way. If you take appearances as real, you will not awaken to the Way for endless kalpas." He said: "Now I ask the Zen Master to speak of no-appearance on the basis of appearance." The master said: "The Vimalakirti Sutra says: The four elements have no master, and the body also has no self. A view without self accords with the Way. If you, Great Virtue, take it that the four elements have a master who is the self, if there is a view of self, you will not be able to meet the Way for endless kalpas." Venerable Yuan, hearing these words, changed countenance and hesitantly left his seat. The master had a verse that said:

四大無主復如水遇曲逢直無彼此

The four elements have no master, like water that meets curves and meets straight, with no this or that.

淨穢兩處不生心壅決何曾有二意

In clean and dirty places alike the mind does not arise; when it is dammed or released, how could there be two intents?

觸境但似水無心在世縱橫有何事

Touching a realm, just be like water with no mind; in the world, free and unobstructed, what is there to do?

復雲。一大如是四大亦然。若明四大無主。即悟無心。若了無心自然契道。又有志明禪師者。問曰。若言無心是道。瓦礫無心亦應是道。又云。身心本來是道。四生十類皆有身心亦應是道。師曰。大德若作見聞覺知之解。與道懸殊。即是求見聞覺知之者。非是求道之人。經云。無眼耳鼻舌身意。六根尚無見聞覺知憑何而立。窮本不有何處存心。焉得不同草木瓦礫。志明杜口而退。師又有偈曰。

He also said: "One element is thus, and so are the four elements. If you understand that the four elements have no master, you awaken to no-mind. If you comprehend no-mind, you naturally accord with the Way." Then Zen Master Zhiming asked: "If you say no-mind is the Way, then tiles and stones, which have no mind, should also be the Way. And you say body and mind are originally the Way; the four modes of birth and ten kinds of beings all have body and mind, and should also be the Way." The master said: "If you, Great Virtue, take it as an understanding of seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing, you are far from the Way; you are a person seeking seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing, not a person seeking the Way. The sutra says: No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind. If even the six faculties do not exist, on what are seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing established? Traced to the root, none exists, so where would one keep a mind? How would it not be the same as grass, trees, tiles and stones?" Zhiming shut his mouth and withdrew. The master also had a verse that said:

見聞覺知無障礙聲香味觸常三昧

Seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing without obstruction; sounds, smells, tastes and touches always in samadhi.

如鳥空中只麼飛無取無捨無憎愛

Like a bird flying in the sky just so, with no taking, no abandoning, no hate and no love.

若會應處本無心始得名為觀自在

If you understand that at the place of response there is originally no mind, only then may you be called Avalokitesvara, one who contemplates freely.

又有真禪師者。問雲。道既無心佛有心否。佛之與道是一是二。師曰。不一不異。曰佛度眾生為有心故。道不度人為無心故。一度一不度。何得無二。師曰。若言佛度眾生道無度者。此是大德妄生二見。如山僧即不然。佛是虛名道亦妄立。二俱不實總是假名。一假之中何分二。問曰。佛之與道從是假名。當立名時。是誰為立。若有立者何得言無。師曰。佛之與道因心而立。推窮立心心亦是無。心既是無即悟二俱不實。知如夢幻即悟本空。彊立佛道二名。此是二乘人見解。師乃說無修無作。偈曰。

Then Zen Master Zhen asked: "Since the Way has no mind, does the Buddha have a mind? Are Buddha and Way one or two?" The master said: "Neither one nor different." He said: "The Buddha saves sentient beings because he has a mind, and the Way does not save people because it has no mind. One saves and one does not save, how can they not be two?" The master said: "If you say the Buddha saves sentient beings and the Way has no saving, this is Great Virtue falsely giving rise to two views. This mountain monk is not so. The Buddha is an empty name, and the Way too is falsely established. Both are unreal, and all are provisional names. Within one provisional name, how can there be two?" He asked: "Buddha and Way are from provisional names. When the names were established, who established them? If there was one who established them, how can you say there is none?" The master said: "Buddha and Way are established because of the mind. Tracing back to the mind that established them, the mind too is nothing. Since the mind is nothing, you awaken to the fact that both are unreal. Knowing them to be like dreams and illusions, you awaken to original emptiness. To forcibly establish the two names of Buddha and Way is the view of those of the Two Vehicles." The master then spoke of no cultivation and no making, with a verse that said:

見道方修道不見復何修

Only when one sees the Way does one cultivate it; if one does not see it, what is there to cultivate?

道性如虛空虛空何所修

The nature of the Way is like empty space; what can be cultivated in empty space?