Surangama Sutra of the Great Buddha's Crown, Ten Thousand Practices, Volume 1

唐天竺沙門般剌蜜帝譯

Translated by the Indian monk Paramiti of the Tang dynasty.

爾時，阿難及諸大眾聞佛示誨，身心泰然。念無始來失卻本心，妄認緣塵分別影事，今日開悟，如失乳兒忽遇慈母。合掌禮佛，願聞如來顯出身心真妄虛實，現前生滅與不生滅二發明性。

At that time Ananda and the whole assembly, having heard the Buddha's instruction, felt at ease in body and mind. They thought that since beginningless time they had lost their original mind and wrongly taken for real the shadowy business of discriminating conditioned dust, and that today, awakened, they were like an infant who has lost its milk and suddenly meets its kind mother. With palms joined they bowed to the Buddha and hoped to hear the Tathagata reveal the truth and falsity, emptiness and reality of body and mind, and the two natures that appear before us, that which arises and ceases and that which neither arises nor ceases.

波斯匿王起立白佛：「我昔未承諸佛誨勅，見迦旃延、毘羅胝子，鹹言：『此身死後斷滅，名為涅槃。』我雖值佛，今猶狐疑。云何發揮，證知此心不生滅地？今此大眾諸有漏者，鹹皆願聞。」

King Prasenajit rose and said to the Buddha: "Before I received the instruction of the Buddhas, I saw Katyayana and Vairatiputra, who both said: 'After this body dies it is cut off and extinguished, and that is called nirvana.' Although I have now met the Buddha, I still doubt. How can one demonstrate and realize the ground of this mind that neither arises nor ceases? All those in this assembly who still have outflows wish to hear it.

佛告大王：「汝身現存，今復問汝：汝此肉身為同金剛常住不朽？為復變壞？」

The Buddha told the great king: "Your body is still here now, so I ask you again: is this physical body of yours permanent and indestructible like vajra, or does it decay?"

「世尊！我今此身終從變滅。」

(The king said:) "World-Honored One! This body of mine will in the end change and perish."

佛言：「大王！汝未曾滅，云何知滅？」

The Buddha said: "Great King! You have not yet perished, so how do you know you will perish?"

「世尊！我此無常變壞之身雖未曾滅，我觀現前念念遷謝，新新不住；如火成灰，漸漸銷殞，殞亡不息，決知此身當從滅盡。」

(The king said:) "World-Honored One! Although this impermanent, decaying body of mine has not yet perished, I see that in the present, moment after moment, it passes away and is renewed, never abiding; like fire turning to ash, it gradually dwindles, and since this dwindling does not stop, I know for certain that this body will come to extinction."

佛言：「如是，大王！汝今生齡已從衰老，顏貌何如童子之時？」

The Buddha said: "So it is, Great King! You are now already of an age of decline; how does your appearance compare with when you were a child?"

「世尊！我昔孩孺，膚腠潤澤，年至長成血氣充滿，而今頹齡迫於衰耄，形色枯悴，精神昏昧，髮白麵皺，逮將不久，如何見比充盛之時！」

(The king said:) "World-Honored One! In my childhood my skin was moist and glossy, and when I reached adulthood my blood and breath were full; but now in my declining years I am pressed by old age, my form and color are withered, my spirit dull, my hair white and my face wrinkled, and I am near the end; how can it be compared to the time of fullness!"

佛言：「大王！汝之形容應不頓朽？」

The Buddha said: "Great King! Your appearance surely did not decay all at once, did it?"

王言：「世尊！變化密移，我誠不覺，寒暑遷流，漸至於此。何以故？我年二十雖號年少，顏貌已老初十年時；三十之年又衰二十；於今六十又過於二，觀五十時宛然強壯。世尊！我見密移，雖此殂落其間流易且限十年。若復令我微細思惟：『其變寧唯一紀二紀，實為年變；豈唯年變，亦兼月化；何直月化，兼又日遷。』沈思諦觀，剎那剎那、念念之間不得停住，故知我身終從變滅。」

The king said: "World-Honored One! The change moves secretly, and I truly did not notice it; cold and heat pass by, and gradually it came to this. Why? At twenty I was called young, but my face was already older than at ten; at thirty I declined further than at twenty; now at sixty-two, I look back to fifty and see myself as sturdy. World-Honored One! I see the secret moving, and although this decline occurs, I have measured the flow of it in ten-year spans. If I think about it more finely: how could the change be only once in a cycle of twelve years or two cycles, when in truth it changes every year; how could it be only yearly change, when it also changes monthly; how could it be only monthly, when it also moves daily. Pondering and observing carefully, from moment to moment, in each instant it cannot stop, so I know my body will in the end change and perish."

佛言：「大王！汝見變化遷改不停，悟知汝滅；亦於滅時，知汝身中有不滅耶？」

The Buddha said: "Great King! You see the changes moving on without stopping, and realize that you will perish; at the time of perishing, do you know that there is something in your body that does not perish?"

波斯匿王合掌白佛：「我實不知！」

King Prasenajit joined his palms and said to the Buddha: "I truly do not know!"

佛言：「我今示汝不生滅性。大王！汝年幾時見恆河水？」

The Buddha said: "Now I will show you the nature that neither arises nor ceases. Great King! At what age did you see the water of the Ganges?"

王言：「我生三歲，慈母攜我謁耆婆天，經過此流，爾時即知是恆河水。」

The king said: "When I was three years old, my kind mother took me to pay respects to the deity Jiva, and we crossed this river, and at that time I knew it was the water of the Ganges."

佛言：「大王！如汝所說，二十之時衰於十歲，乃至六十，日月歲時念念遷變；則汝三歲見此河時，至年十三其水云何？」

The Buddha said: "Great King! As you said, at twenty you had declined from ten, and up to sixty, days, months, years, and seasons change moment by moment; then when you saw this river at three, by the time you were thirteen, how was the water?"

王言：「如三歲時宛然無異；乃至於今年六十二，亦無有異。」

The king said: "It was just the same as at three, without any difference; even now at sixty-two there is no difference."

佛言：「汝今自傷髮白麵皺，其面必定皺於童年；則汝今時觀此恆河，與昔童時觀河之見，有童耄不？」

The Buddha said: "Now you grieve that your hair is white and your face wrinkled; your face is surely more wrinkled than in childhood; then looking at this Ganges now, is there any difference, between child and old man, from the seeing with which you looked at the river in your childhood?"

王言：「不也，世尊！」

The king said: "No, World-Honored One!"

佛言：「大王！汝面雖皺，而此見精性未曾皺！皺者為變，不皺非變；變者受滅，彼不變者元無生滅，云何於中受汝生死？而猶引彼末伽梨等，都言此身死後全滅！」

The Buddha said: "Great King! Though your face is wrinkled, the nature of this seeing-essence has never wrinkled! What wrinkles is subject to change, and what does not wrinkle is not subject to change; what changes undergoes extinction, but what does not change has originally had no birth or death, so how can it undergo your birth and death? Yet you still cite Makkhali Gosala and others who all say that after this body dies it is wholly extinguished!"

王聞是言，信知身後捨生趣生，與諸大眾踴躍歡喜，得未曾有。

Hearing this, the king believed and knew that after the body dies one abandons one life and goes on to another, and with the whole assembly he leapt up for joy, having gained what he had never had before.

阿難即從座起，禮佛合掌，長跪白佛：「世尊！若此見聞必不生滅，云何世尊名我等輩遺失真性，顛倒行事？願興慈悲洗我塵垢！」

Ananda rose from his seat, bowed to the Buddha with palms joined, knelt, and said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If this seeing and hearing surely neither arise nor cease, why does the World-Honored One say that we have lost our true nature and act in inverted ways? I wish you would arouse compassion and wash away my dust and defilement!"

即時如來垂金色臂，輪手下指，示阿難言：「汝今見我母陀羅手為正為倒？」

At once the Tathagata lowered his golden arm, with the wheeled hand pointing down, and showed Ananda, saying: "Now do you see my mudra hand as upright or as inverted?"

阿難言：「世間眾生以此為倒，而我不知誰正誰倒。」

Ananda said: "Beings in the world take this as inverted, but I do not know which is upright and which is inverted."

佛告阿難：「若世間人以此為倒，即世間人將何為正？」

The Buddha told Ananda: "If worldly people take this as inverted, then what do worldly people take as upright?"

阿難言：「如來竪臂，兜羅綿手上指於空，則名為正。」

Ananda said: "The Tathagata raising his arm, with the fine-cotton hand pointing up into the sky, is what is called upright."

佛即竪臂，告阿難言：「若此顛倒首尾相換，諸世間人一倍瞻視，則知汝身與諸如來清淨法身比類發明；如來之身名正遍知，汝等之身號性顛倒。隨汝諦觀汝身、佛身，稱顛倒者，名字何處號為顛倒？」

The Buddha then raised his arm and told Ananda: "If this inversion exchanges head and tail, and worldly people look at it with doubled attention, they will know that your body, compared with the pure Dharma body of all the Tathagatas, can be clarified by comparison; the Tathagata's body is called the One of Right and Universal Knowledge, and your bodies are called inverted in nature. As you examine your body and the Buddha's body closely, where, in the name 'inverted', does the name locate the inversion?"

於時阿難與諸大眾，瞪矒瞻佛目精不瞬，不知身心顛倒所在。佛興慈悲，哀愍阿難及諸大眾，發海潮音遍告同會：「諸善男子！我常說言：『色心諸緣及心所使、諸所緣法，唯心所現。』汝身、汝心，皆是妙明真精妙心中所現物。云何汝等遺失本妙圓妙明心寶明妙性、認悟中迷？晦昧為空；空晦暗中結暗為色；色雜妄想，想相為身；聚緣內搖，趣外奔逸，昏擾擾相以為心性。一迷為心，決定惑為色身之內，不知色身外洎山河虛空大地，鹹是妙明真心中物。譬如澄清百千大海，棄之、唯認一浮漚體目為全潮，窮盡瀛渤。汝等即是迷中倍人！如我垂手等無差別，如來說為可憐愍者。」

At that time Ananda and the whole assembly stared at the Buddha, their eyes unblinking, not knowing where the inversion of body and mind lay. The Buddha, moved by compassion, took pity on Ananda and the whole assembly, and in a voice like the ocean tide told the whole gathering: "Good sons! I have always said: 'All conditions of form and mind, what the mind commands, and all objects of the mind are only manifestations of the mind.' Your body and your mind are all things manifested within the wondrous, bright, true, essential mind. Why do you lose your original, perfect, wondrous, bright mind, the precious bright wondrous nature, and mistake what is deluded within enlightenment? Darkness and obscurity become emptiness; in the dark of emptiness, darkness congeals and becomes form; form mixes with false thought, and the image of thought becomes the body; conditions gather inside and stir, rushing outward, and the confused, disturbed appearance is taken as the nature of mind. Once deluded into taking this as the mind, you decide it is inside the physical body, not knowing that outside the body, the mountains, rivers, space, and great earth are all things within the wondrous bright true mind. It is like clear hundreds and thousands of great seas which one discards, recognizing only a single floating bubble as the whole ocean, exhausting all the waters. You are people who are deluded within delusion! Though I let my hand hang down in the same way, the Tathagata speaks of you as pitiable."

阿難承佛悲救深誨，垂泣叉手而白佛言：「我雖承佛如是妙音，悟妙明心元所圓滿常住心地，而我悟佛現說法音，現以緣心，允所瞻仰；徒獲此心，未敢認為本元心地。願佛哀愍宣示圓音，拔我疑根歸無上道！」

Ananda, having received the Buddha's deep compassionate instruction, wept, folded his hands and said to the Buddha: "Although I have received such wondrous sounds from the Buddha and realize that the wondrous bright mind is originally the perfect, constantly abiding ground of mind, I perceive that the Dharma sound the Buddha is speaking now is received by a mind that uses conditions, and is acceptable to those who gaze up at you; though I have obtained this mind in vain, I dare not take it as the original mind-ground. I wish the Buddha would take pity and proclaim the perfect sound, pulling out the root of my doubt and returning me to the unsurpassed Way!"

佛告阿難：「汝等尚以緣心聽法，此法亦緣，非得法性。如人以手指月示人，彼人因指當應看月，若復觀指以為月體，此人豈唯亡失月輪，亦亡其指。何以故？以所標指為明月故。豈唯亡指，亦復不識明之與暗。何以故？即以指體為月明性，明暗二性無所了故。汝亦如是，若以分別我說法音為汝心者，此心自應離分別音、有分別性。譬如有客寄宿旅亭，暫止便去，終不常住；而掌亭人都無所去，名為亭主。此亦如是，若真汝心，則無所去，云何離聲無分別性？斯則豈唯聲分別心，分別我容，離諸色相無分別性；如是乃至分別都無，非色非空，拘舍離等昧為冥諦，離諸法緣無分別性，則汝心性各有所還，云何為主？」

The Buddha told Ananda: "You are still using the conditioned mind to hear the Dharma, and this Dharma too is a condition and does not attain the Dharma-nature. It is like a person pointing a finger at the moon to show it to another; that person should look at the moon by following the finger, but if he takes the finger as the body of the moon, he not only loses the moon's disc but also loses the finger. Why? Because he takes the pointing finger as the bright moon. Not only does he lose the finger, he also fails to know brightness from darkness. Why? He takes the finger itself as the nature of the moon's brightness, and knows nothing of the two natures of bright and dark. You are the same: if you take the sound of my teaching, which you discriminate, as your mind, then this mind should itself be apart from the discriminated sound and have its own discriminating nature. It is like a guest lodging at an inn, who stays briefly and leaves, and never lives there permanently, while the keeper of the inn never leaves and is called the innkeeper. This is the same: if it were truly your mind, it would have nowhere to go, so how can it have no discriminating nature apart from sound? Not only the mind that discriminates sound, but also the mind that discriminates my appearance has no discriminating nature apart from forms; and so on until there is no discrimination at all, neither form nor emptiness, which Kosala and others took as the obscure truth, there is no discriminating nature apart from the conditions of phenomena; then each part of your mind-nature has something to return to, so how can it be the master?"

阿難言：「若我心性各有所還，則如來說妙明元心，云何無還？唯垂哀愍為我宣說！」

Ananda said: "If each part of my mind-nature has something to return to, then how is it that the wondrous, bright original mind the Tathagata speaks of has nothing to return to? I only ask for your compassion to explain this to me!"

佛告阿難：「且汝見我見精明元，此見雖非妙精明心，如第二月；非是月影。汝應諦聽！今當示汝無所還地。阿難！此大講堂，洞開東方，日輪昇天則有明耀；中夜黑月，雲霧晦暝，則復昏暗；戶牖之隙則復見通；牆宇之間則復觀擁；分別之處則復見緣；頑虛之中遍是空性；欝𡋯之象則紆昏塵；澄霽斂氛又觀清淨。阿難！汝鹹看此諸變化相，吾今各還本所因處。云何本因？阿難！此諸變化，明還日輪；何以故？無日不明，明因屬日，是故還日。暗還黑月；通還戶牖；擁還牆宇；緣還分別；頑虛還空；欝𡋯還塵；清明還霽。則諸世間一切所有，不出斯類。汝見八種見精明性，當欲誰還！何以故？若還於明，則不明時無復見暗。雖明暗等種種差別，見無差別，諸可還者自然非汝；不汝還者非汝而誰？則知汝心本妙明淨，汝自迷悶喪本受輪，於生死中常被漂溺，是故如來名可憐愍。」

The Buddha told Ananda: "Take the bright source of your seeing, which sees me; although this seeing is not the wondrous essential bright mind, it is like a second moon; it is not the reflection of the moon. You should listen carefully! Now I will show you the ground to which there is nothing to return. Ananda! This great lecture hall opens wide to the east; when the sun's disc rises in the sky there is brightness; at midnight in the dark of the moon, in cloud and mist, it is dark again; through the cracks of doors and windows you again see openness; among the walls and eaves you again see obstruction; in places of distinction you again see conditions; within the vast void it is all emptiness; in the swirling dust, the image of mist and haze, it circles and darkens; when the sky clears and the haze withdraws you again see purity. Ananda! You are looking at all these changing appearances, and now I will return each to the place from which it came. What is the original cause? Ananda! Among these changes, brightness returns to the sun's disc; why? Without the sun there is no brightness, and the cause of brightness belongs to the sun, so it returns to the sun. Darkness returns to the dark of the moon; openness returns to the doors and windows; obstruction returns to the walls and eaves; conditions return to discrimination; the vast void returns to space; swirling dust returns to dust; clarity returns to the clearing sky. Then everything in the world does not go beyond these kinds. Of the eight natures of seeing and brightness, to what do you wish to return! Why? If it returns to brightness, then when it is not bright you would no longer see darkness. Although there are many differences of brightness and darkness, seeing has no difference; whatever can be returned is naturally not you; what is not returned to anything, if not you, then who? Then know that your mind is originally wondrous, bright, and pure, and you yourself, confused and lost to the root, undergo rebirth and are constantly drifting and drowning in birth and death, so the Tathagata calls you pitiable."

阿難言：「我雖識此見性無還，云何得知是我真性？」

Ananda said: "Although I recognize that this seeing-nature has nothing to return to, how can I know that it is my true nature?"

佛告阿難：「吾今問汝：今汝未得無漏清淨，承佛神力見於初禪，得無障礙；而阿那律見閻浮提，如觀掌中菴摩羅菓；諸菩薩等見百千界；十方如來窮盡微塵清淨國土無所不矚；眾生洞視不過分寸。阿難！且吾與汝觀四天王所住宮殿，中間遍覽水陸空行，雖有昏明種種形像，無非前塵分別留礙。汝應於此分別自他，今吾將汝擇於見中，誰是我體？誰為物象？阿難！極汝見源，從日月宮是物非汝，至七金山周遍諦觀，雖種種光亦物非汝；漸漸更觀雲騰、鳥飛、風動、塵起、樹木、山川、草芥、人畜，鹹物非汝。阿難！是諸近遠諸有物性，雖復差殊，同汝見精清淨所矚。則諸物類自有差別，見性無殊。此精妙明，誠汝見性。若見是物，則汝亦可見吾之見。若同見者名為見吾，吾不見時，何不見吾不見之處？若見不見，自然非彼不見之相。若不見吾不見之地，自然非物，云何非汝？又則汝今見物之時，汝既見物，物亦見汝；體性紛雜，則汝與我並諸世間不成安立。阿難！若汝見時，是汝非我；見性周遍，非汝而誰？云何自疑汝之真性，性汝不真，取我求實！」

The Buddha told Ananda: "Now I ask you: you have not yet attained the pure state without outflows, but through the Buddha's spiritual power you can see the first dhyana, and attain it without obstruction; while Aniruddha sees Jambudvipa as if looking at an amalaka fruit in his palm; the Bodhisattvas see hundreds of thousands of realms; the Tathagatas of the ten directions look upon pure lands as many as dust motes without exception; while beings can see no more than a few inches. Ananda! Let me look with you at the palaces where the Four Heavenly Kings dwell, and in between we shall survey all that moves on water, land and in the air; although there are all sorts of dark and bright forms, they are all the obstructions of discrimination of the objects before us. You should distinguish self and other here; now I will separate them for you within seeing: which is my substance, and which are the objects? Ananda! Taking your seeing to its source, from the palaces of sun and moon, these are objects and not you, and as you look all around to the Seven Golden Mountains, though there are all kinds of light, they are objects and not you; and looking further at clouds rising, birds flying, winds moving, dust rising, trees, mountains and rivers, blades of grass, people and animals, all are objects and not you. Ananda! The natures of these near and far things, though different, are all seen by the pure essence of your seeing. Thus the kinds of things have their own differences, but the seeing-nature has no difference. This wondrous bright essence is truly your seeing-nature. If seeing were an object, then you could also see my seeing. If the same seeing is called seeing me, then when I do not see, why can you not see the place where I do not see? If you see the not-seeing, then naturally it is not that not-seeing appearance. If you cannot see the place where I do not see, it is naturally not an object, so how is it not you? Moreover, when you see objects, since you see objects, the objects also see you; the natures would be mixed and confused, and you and I and all the world could not be established. Ananda! When you see, it is you and not I; the seeing-nature is all-pervading; if it is not you, who is it? Why do you doubt your own true nature, which is you but not real, and take me to seek the real!"

阿難白佛言：「世尊！若此見性必我非餘，我與如來觀四天王勝藏寶殿，居日月宮，此見周圓遍娑婆國；退歸精舍只見伽藍，清心戶堂但瞻簷廡。世尊！此見如是，其體本來周遍一界，今在室中唯滿一室，為復此見縮大為小？為當牆宇夾令斷絕？我今不知斯義所在，願垂弘慈為我敷演！」

Ananda said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If this seeing-nature is surely mine and not anyone else's, then when the Tathagata and I look at the Four Heavenly Kings' excellent treasure palaces, dwelling in the palaces of sun and moon, this seeing pervades the world of Saha completely; but when we withdraw to the retreat we see only the sangharama (monastery), and when we clear the mind in the rooms and halls we see only eaves and corridors. World-Honored One! If this seeing is like this, its substance was originally all-pervading throughout one realm, but now in a room it fills only one room; does this seeing shrink from large to small, or do the walls pinch it and cut it off? I do not now know where the meaning lies, and I hope you will compassionately explain it for me!"

佛告阿難：「一切世間大小、內外諸所事業，各屬前塵，不應說言見有舒縮。譬如方器中見方空，吾復問汝，此方器中所見方空，為復定方？為不定方？若定方者，別安圓器空應不圓；若不定者，在方器中應無方空。汝言不知斯義所在，義性如是，云何為在？阿難！若復欲令入無方圓，但除器方。空體無方，不應說言更除虛空方相所在。若如汝問『入室之時縮見令小』，仰觀日時，汝豈挽見齊於日面？若築牆宇能夾見斷，穿為小竇，寧無續跡？是義不然。一切眾生從無始來迷己為物，失於本心，為物所轉；故於是中觀大、觀小。若能轉物，則同如來身心圓明，不動道場，於一毛端遍能含受十方國土。」

The Buddha told Ananda: "All matters of large and small, inside and outside in the world belong to the objects before us, and one should not say that seeing expands or contracts. Take a square vessel in which one sees a square emptiness. I ask you again: in this square vessel, is the square emptiness seen definitely square, or not definitely square? If definitely square, then placing the emptiness in a round vessel it should not be round; if not definite, then in a square vessel there should be no square emptiness. You say you do not know where the meaning lies, but the nature of the meaning is just so; how can it lie somewhere? Ananda! If you wish to bring it into what has neither square nor round, only remove the squareness of the vessel. The substance of emptiness has no square, so one should not say that the square form of the void must be removed again. If, as you ask, 'on entering a room, seeing shrinks to be small,' then when you look up at the sun, do you pull your seeing level to the surface of the sun? If you build walls that can pinch off seeing and bore a small hole, would there not be traces of rejoining? This meaning is not so. Since beginningless time all beings have been deluded about themselves, taking themselves for objects, losing their original mind, and are turned by objects; so within this they view the large and view the small. If one can turn objects, one is the same as the Tathagata, whose body and mind are perfectly bright, in the unmoving place of the Way, and on the tip of a single hair can fully contain and receive the lands of the ten directions."

阿難白佛言：「世尊！若此見精必我妙性，今此妙性現在我前，見必我真，我今身心復是何物？而今身心分別有實，彼見無別分辨我身。若實我心，令我今見，見性實我而身非我，何殊如來先所難言『物能見我』？唯垂大慈，開發未悟！」

Ananda said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If this essence of seeing is surely my wondrous nature, and this wondrous nature now appears before me, the seeing must be my truth; what then is my present body and mind? Now body and mind are distinctly real, and that seeing does not separately distinguish my body. If it is truly my mind that makes me see now, and the seeing-nature is truly me while the body is not me, how does this differ from the Tathagata's earlier objection, 'objects can see me'? I only ask for your great compassion to open the unawakened!"

佛告阿難：「今汝所言『見在汝前』，是義非實。若實汝前，汝實見者，則此見精既有方所，非無指示。且今與汝坐祇陀林，遍觀林渠及與殿堂，上至日月，前對恆河。汝今於我師子座前，舉手指陳是種種相——陰者是林，明者是日，礙者是壁，通者是空，如是乃至草樹纖毫——大小雖殊，但可有形無不指著。若必有見現在汝前，汝應以手礭實指陳何者是見？阿難當知，若空是見，既已成見，何者是空？若物是見，既已是見，何者為物？汝可微細披剝萬象，析出精明淨妙見元，指陳示我，同彼諸物分明無惑。」

The Buddha told Ananda: "What you now say, 'the seeing is in front of you,' is not the true meaning. If it were truly in front of you and you truly could see it, then this essence of seeing would have a location and could not be without indication. Now, sitting with you in Jetavana, we look all around at the grove, the streams, and the halls, up to the sun and moon, with the Ganges before us. Now before my lion throne you raise your hand and point to these various things: the shady is the grove, the bright is the sun, the obstructed is the wall, the open is space, and so on down to the finest grass and tree; though large and small differ, whatever has form can be pointed at. If there is surely a seeing in front of you, you should use your hand to point out for certain which is the seeing. Ananda, you should know that if space is the seeing, then since it has become the seeing, which is the space? If objects are the seeing, then since it is already the seeing, which are the objects? You can finely peel apart the myriad phenomena, extract the bright, pure, wondrous source of seeing, and point it out to me as clearly and without doubt as those other things."

阿難言：「我今於此重閣講堂，遠洎恆河、上觀日月，舉手所指、縱目所觀，指皆是物，無是見者。世尊！如佛所說，況我有漏初學聲聞，乃至菩薩亦不能於萬物象前剖出精見離一切物別有自性！」

Ananda said: "Now in this multistoried lecture hall, from far off to the Ganges, and looking up at the sun and moon, whatever my hand points to and my eyes survey, all that I point to are objects, and none is the seeing. World-Honored One! As the Buddha says, how much less can I, a beginner shravaka with outflows, or even a Bodhisattva, extract the essential seeing before the myriad forms or have a nature of its own apart from all things!"

佛言：「如是，如是！」

The Buddha said: "So it is, so it is!"

佛復告阿難：「如汝所言『無有精見離一切物別有自性』，則汝所指是物之中無是見者。今復告汝，汝與如來坐祇陀林，更觀林苑乃至日月種種象殊，必無見精受汝所指；汝又發明此諸物中何者非見？」

The Buddha told Ananda again: "As you say, 'there is no essential seeing with a nature of its own apart from all things,' so among the things you point to, none is the seeing. Now I tell you again: you and the Tathagata sit in Jetavana; look again at the grove and gardens, up to the sun and moon and all their differing appearances, and surely there is no essence of seeing that can be pointed to by you; now you should clarify which of these things is not the seeing."

阿難言：「我實遍見此祇陀林，不知是中何者非見。何以故？若樹非見，云何見樹？若樹即見，復云何樹？如是乃至若空非見，云何為空？若空即見，復云何空？我又思惟：『是萬象中微細發明無非見者！』」

Ananda said: "I truly see this whole Jetavana, and do not know which in it is not the seeing. Why? If the trees are not seeing, how do I see trees? If the trees are the seeing, how can they be trees? Likewise if space is not seeing, how is it space? If space is the seeing, how is it space? I also think: 'In these myriad phenomena, whatever is finely revealed is nothing but seeing!'"

佛言：「如是，如是。」

The Buddha said: "So it is, so it is."

於是大眾非無學者，聞佛此言，茫然不知是義終始，一時惶悚，失其所守。如來知其魂慮變慴，心生憐愍，安慰阿難及諸大眾：「諸善男子！無上法王是真實語！如所如說不誑不妄，非末伽梨四種不死矯亂論議。汝諦思惟，無忝哀慕。」

Then those in the assembly who were not yet beyond learning, hearing these words of the Buddha, were bewildered, not knowing the beginning or end of this meaning, and in a moment they were alarmed and lost their footing. The Tathagata, knowing that their souls and thoughts were shaken, took pity and comforted Ananda and the whole assembly: "Good sons! The unsurpassed Dharma King speaks true words! What he says is neither deceptive nor false, and not like Makkhali's four kinds of deathless, twisted theories. Reflect carefully, and do not disappoint my compassionate longing for you."

是時，文殊師利法王子愍諸四眾，在大眾中即從座起，頂禮佛足，合掌恭敬而白佛言：「世尊！此諸大眾，不悟如來發明二種精見色空、是非是義。世尊！若此前緣色空等象，若是見者，應有所指；若非見者，應無所矚。而今不知是義所歸，故有驚怖，非是疇昔善根輕尠。唯願如來大慈發明，此諸物象與此見精元是何物，於其中間無是非是。」

At that time Manjushri, the Dharma prince, taking pity on the four groups, rose from his seat in the assembly, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and with palms joined and respect said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! This great assembly has not yet understood the meaning of the Tathagata's revelation of the two essences of seeing, form and emptiness, and what is and is not seeing. World-Honored One! If the preceding conditioned phenomena such as form and emptiness are the seeing, there should be something to point to; if they are not the seeing, there should be nothing to look at. Now they do not know where this meaning leads, so they feel fear, not because their roots of goodness were slight in the past. I only wish that the Tathagata, in great compassion, would reveal what these appearances and this essence of seeing originally are, and that between them there is no is or is-not."

佛告文殊及諸大眾：「十方如來及大菩薩，於其自住三摩地中，見與見緣並所想相，如虛空花本無所有；此見及緣，元是菩提妙淨明體，云何於中有是非是？文殊！吾今問汝，如汝文殊，更有文殊是文殊者？為無文殊？」

The Buddha told Manjushri and the whole assembly: "The Tathagatas of the ten directions and the great Bodhisattvas, in the samadhi in which they themselves abide, see seeing and the conditions of seeing and all the images of thought as being like flowers in the sky, originally nonexistent; this seeing and its conditions are originally the bodhi wondrous, pure, bright substance, so how can there be is and is-not in them? Manjushri! Now I ask you: you, Manjushri, is there another Manjushri who is Manjushri, or is there no Manjushri?"

「如是，世尊！我真文殊，無是文殊。何以故？若有是者，則二文殊。然我今日非無文殊，於中實無是非二相。」

(Manjushri said:) "So it is, World-Honored One! I am truly Manjushri, and there is no 'is Manjushri.' Why? If there were an 'is,' there would be two Manjushris. But today I am not without Manjushri, and in this there truly are no two aspects of is and is-not."

佛言：「此見妙明與諸空塵，亦復如是。本是妙明無上菩提淨圓真心，妄為色空及與聞見，如第二月，誰為是月？又誰非月？文殊！但一月真，中間自無是月、非月。是以汝今觀見與塵種種發明，名為妄想，不能於中出是非是。由是精真妙覺明性，故能令汝出指非指！」

The Buddha said: "This seeing, wondrous and bright, and the dusts of space are also like this. Originally it is the wondrous bright, unsurpassed bodhi, pure, perfect true mind, which falsely becomes form, space, hearing, and seeing, like a second moon; which one is the moon? And which is not the moon? Manjushri! There is only one true moon, and between there is naturally no is-moon or not-moon. Therefore the various revelations you now observe in seeing and dust are called false thought, and from them you cannot extract is and is-not. Because of this essential true wondrous enlightened bright nature, you are able to point out the finger that is not the finger!"

阿難白佛言：「世尊！誠如法王所說，覺緣遍十方界湛然常住，性非生滅；與先梵志娑毘迦羅所談冥諦，及投灰等諸外道種說有真我遍滿十方，有何差別？世尊亦曾於楞伽山為大慧等敷演斯義——彼外道等常說自然，我說因緣非彼境界。——我今觀此覺性自然，非生非滅，遠離一切虛妄顛倒，似非因緣與彼自然；云何開示，不入群邪，獲真實心妙覺明性？」

Ananda said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! Truly as the Dharma King says, the awareness and conditions pervade the realms of the ten directions, serenely and constantly abiding, and their nature is neither arising nor ceasing; how does this differ from the obscure truth spoken of earlier by the brahmin Savikala, and from the claims of the heterodox schools such as the ash-smearers that there is a true self filling the ten directions? The World-Honored One also expounded this meaning at Mount Lanka for Mahamati and others, saying: those heterodox teachers often speak of naturalness, while I speak of dependent origination, which is not their realm. Now I observe this enlightened nature as natural, neither arising nor ceasing, far from all false inversions, and it seems to be neither dependent origination nor their naturalness; how should it be shown so that we do not enter the group of wrong views and attain the true mind, the wondrous enlightened bright nature?"

佛告阿難：「我今如是開示方便，真實告汝，汝猶未悟，惑為自然。阿難！若必自然，自須甄明有自然體。汝且觀此妙明見中，以何為自？此見為復以明為自？以暗為自？以空為自？以塞為自？阿難！若明為自，應不見暗？若復以空為自體者，應不見塞？如是乃至諸暗等相以為自者，則於明時見性斷滅，云何見明？」

The Buddha told Ananda: "I now show you expedient means in this way and tell you the truth, but you have not yet awakened and take it for naturalness. Ananda! If it is surely natural, it must itself be clearly distinguished as having a natural substance. Now observe this wondrous bright seeing and consider what it takes as its self. Does this seeing take brightness as its self? Take darkness as its self? Take space as its self? Take obstruction as its self? Ananda! If brightness is its self, it should not see darkness. If it takes space as its own substance, it should not see obstruction. And so on, if it takes darkness and the other appearances as self, then when it is bright the seeing-nature would be cut off, so how could it see brightness?"

阿難言：「必此妙見性非自然，我今發明是因緣性。心猶未明，諮詢如來，是義云何合因緣性？」

Ananda said: "Since this wondrous seeing nature is surely not natural, I now take it to be of the nature of dependent origination. My mind is not yet clear, so I ask the Tathagata how this meaning fits with the nature of dependent origination."

佛言：「汝言因緣，吾復問汝，汝今因見，見性現前，此見為復因明有見？因暗有見？因空有見？因塞有見？阿難！若因明有，應不見暗，如因暗有，應不見明；如是乃至因空、因塞，同於明、暗。復次，阿難！此見又復緣明有見？緣暗有見？緣空有見？緣塞有見？阿難！若緣空有，應不見塞；若緣塞有，應不見空；如是乃至緣明、緣暗，同於空、塞。當知如是精覺妙明，非因、非緣，亦非自然、非不自然；無非、不非，無是、非是；離一切相，即一切法。汝今云何於中措心，以諸世間戲論名相而得分別！如以手掌撮摩虛空，只益自勞；虛空云何隨汝執捉？」

The Buddha said: "You speak of dependent origination; I ask you again: now because of seeing, the seeing-nature appears before you; does this seeing exist because of brightness? Because of darkness? Because of space? Because of obstruction? Ananda! If it exists because of brightness, it should not see darkness; if it exists because of darkness, it should not see brightness; and so on to space and obstruction, as with brightness and darkness. Again, Ananda! Does this seeing exist by conditioning on brightness? On darkness? On space? On obstruction? Ananda! If it exists by conditioning on space, it should not see obstruction; if by conditioning on obstruction, it should not see space; and so on to brightness and darkness, as with space and obstruction. You should know that this essential enlightened wondrous brightness is neither cause nor condition, and also neither natural nor not natural; there is no not, no not-not, no is, no is-not; it is apart from all appearances and is all dharmas. How can you now set your mind on it and make distinctions with the idle theories, names and appearances of the world! It is like grasping and rubbing empty space with the palm of the hand, which only adds to your own toil; how could space follow your grasping?"

阿難白佛言：「世尊！必妙覺性非因非緣，世尊！云何常與比丘宣說見性具四種緣——所謂因空、因明、因心、因眼，是義云何？」

Ananda said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! If the wondrous enlightened nature is neither cause nor condition, World-Honored One! then why do you often tell the monks that the seeing-nature has four conditions, namely because of space, because of brightness, because of mind, and because of the eye; what is the meaning of this?"

佛言：「阿難！我說世間諸因緣相，非第一義。阿難！吾復問汝，諸世間人說我能見，云何名見？云何不見？」

The Buddha said: "Ananda! What I say about the various appearances of dependent origination in the world is not the first meaning. Ananda! I ask you again: when worldly people say 'I can see,' what is called seeing? What is called not seeing?"

阿難言：「世人因於日、月、燈光見種種相，名之為見。若復無此三種光明，則不能見。」

Ananda said: "Worldly people, because of the light of the sun, moon, and lamps, see various appearances, which is called seeing. If these three lights are absent, they cannot see."

「阿難！若無明時名不見者，應不見暗；若必見暗，此但無明云何無見？阿難！若在暗時，不見明故名為不見；今在明時，不見暗相還名不見；如是二相俱名不見？若復二相自相𣣋奪，非汝見性於中暫無；如是則知二俱名見，云何不見？是故阿難！汝今當知，見明之時，見非是明；見暗之時，見非是暗；見空之時，見非是空；見塞之時，見非是塞，四義成就。汝復應知，見見之時，見非是見，見猶離見，見不能及，云何復說因緣自然及和合相？汝等聲聞狹劣無識，不能通達清淨實相。吾今誨汝，當善思惟，無得疲怠妙菩提路！」

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! If, when there is no brightness, it is called not seeing, then one should not see darkness; if one surely sees darkness, it is only that brightness is absent, so how can there be no seeing? Ananda! If in darkness it is called not seeing because one does not see brightness, then now in brightness not seeing the appearance of darkness should likewise be called not seeing; are both appearances then called not seeing? If the two appearances encroach on and dispossess each other (the original has a rare character here, to be read as 'encroach on'), it is not that your seeing-nature is temporarily absent in them; so we know that both are called seeing, so how is there not seeing? Therefore, Ananda! You should now know that when seeing brightness, the seeing is not brightness; when seeing darkness, the seeing is not darkness; when seeing space, the seeing is not space; when seeing obstruction, the seeing is not obstruction; and so the four meanings are accomplished. You should also know that when seeing sees seeing, the seeing is not seeing; seeing is apart from seeing, and seeing cannot reach it; how then can you speak again of dependent origination, naturalness, and combination? You shravakas are narrow, inferior, and ignorant, and cannot penetrate the pure true aspect. Now I instruct you: you should reflect well, and not grow weary on the path of wondrous bodhi!"

阿難白佛言：「世尊！如佛世尊為我等輩宣說因緣及與自然，諸和合相與不和合，心猶未開；而今更聞見見非見，重增迷悶。伏願弘慈施大慧目，開示我等覺心明淨！」作是語已，悲淚頂禮，承受聖旨。

Ananda said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One! As the Buddha, the World-Honored One, has explained for us dependent origination and naturalness, combined and non-combined aspects, our minds were not yet open; and now hearing again that seeing sees seeing, which is not seeing, I am even more confused. I humbly ask for your vast compassion to bestow the eye of great wisdom and show us the bright purity of the enlightened mind!" Having said this, he bowed in tears and received the sacred teaching.

爾時，世尊憐愍阿難及諸大眾，將欲敷演大陀羅尼諸三摩提妙修行路，告阿難言：「汝雖強記，但益多聞，於奢摩他微密觀照，心猶未了。汝今諦聽！吾當為汝分別開示，亦令將來諸有漏者獲菩提果。阿難！一切眾生輪迴世間，由二顛倒分別見妄，當處發生，當業輪轉。云何二見？一者、眾生別業妄見，二者、眾生同分妄見。

At that time the World-Honored One, taking pity on Ananda and the whole assembly, and about to expound the great dharani (a mantra or Dharma gate that holds goodness and does not lose it) and the wondrous path of practice of all the samadhis, told Ananda: "Although you have a strong memory, it only adds to your learning, and you have not yet understood the subtle, secret contemplation of shamatha. Now listen carefully! I will distinguish and explain it for you, and also enable those in the future who still have outflows to attain the fruit of bodhi. Ananda! All beings revolve in the world through two kinds of inverted, discriminating, false views, which arise on the spot and turn with their karma. What are the two views? The first is the false view of beings' individual karma, and the second is the false view of beings' shared portion.

「云何名為別業妄見？阿難！如世間人目有赤眚，夜見燈光別有圓影五色重疊。於意云何？此夜燈明所現圓光，為是燈色？為當見色？阿難！此若燈色，則非眚人何不同見，而此圓影唯眚之觀。若是見色，見已成色，則彼眚人見圓影者名為何等？復次，阿難！若此圓影離燈別有，則合傍觀屏帳、几筵有圓影出。離見別有，應非眼矚，云何眚人目見圓影？是故當知色實在燈，見病為影；影、見俱眚，見眚非病。終不應言『是燈是見，於是中有非燈非見』，如第二月非體非影。何以故？第二之觀，揑所成故。諸有智者不應說言『此揑根元，是形非形，離見非見』，此亦如是，目眚所成，今欲名誰是燈、是見？何況分別非燈、非見！

(The Buddha continued:) "What is called false seeing from individual karma? Ananda, it is like a person in the world whose eyes have developed red cataracts: at night he sees around a lamp's light an extra round shadow of five colors in layers. What do you think? When the lamp is bright at night and the round halo appears, is it the color of the lamp, or the color of the seeing itself? Ananda, if it is the color of the lamp, why do people without the cataract not see it, so that only the one with cataracts sees this round shadow? If it is the color of seeing, then seeing has already become color, so what should we call that which sees the round shadow in the one with cataracts? Furthermore, Ananda, if the round shadow exists apart from the lamp, then looking at screens, curtains, tables and mats beside it, round shadows should appear on them too. If it exists apart from seeing, it should not be something the eyes see, so how does the person with cataracts see the round shadow with his eyes? Therefore you should know: color truly lies in the lamp, and it is the defect of seeing that makes it a shadow; the shadow and the seeing are both cataract, but the part that sees the cataract is not diseased. In the end one should not say 'this is the lamp, this is the seeing, and between them there is something that is neither lamp nor seeing,' just as the second moon is neither the substance nor the reflection. Why? The seeing of the second moon is produced by pressing the eye. A wise person should not say 'this pressed root is form or not form, apart from seeing or not seeing.' Here it is the same: it is produced by the cataract of the eye, so how could one still wish to name which is the lamp and which is the seeing? How much less could one go on to distinguish what is neither lamp nor seeing!

「云何名為同分妄見？阿難！此閻浮提，除大海水，中間平陸有三千洲。正中大洲，東西括量，大國凡有二千三百；其餘小洲，在諸海中，其間或有三兩百國，或一或二，至於三十、四十、五十。阿難！若復此中有一小洲，只有兩國。唯一國人同感惡緣，則彼小洲當土眾生，覩諸一切不祥境界，或見二日，或見兩月，其中乃至暈蝕珮玦、彗勃飛流、負耳虹蜺。種種惡相，但此國見；彼國眾生，本所不見，亦復不聞。阿難！吾今為汝以此二事進退合明。

(The Buddha continued:) "What is called false seeing from shared karma? Ananda, in this Jambudvipa, apart from the waters of the great sea, there are three thousand continents in the flat land between. The great continent in the center measures east to west and holds in all twenty-three hundred great countries; the other small continents, in the seas, hold between them perhaps two or three hundred countries, or one or two, or as many as thirty, forty or fifty. Ananda, suppose among them there is one small continent with only two countries. If only the people of one country share an evil condition, then the beings of that small continent see all kinds of inauspicious scenes: some see two suns, some two moons, and in them even haloes, eclipses, rings and arcs, comets, shooting stars, and rainbows with ears. All these evil signs are seen only in that country; the beings of the other country originally neither see nor hear them. Ananda, now I will use these two cases, going forward and back, to make it clear to you.