King Prasenajit’s Inquiry
波斯匿王起立白佛：「我昔未承諸佛誨勅，見迦旃延毘羅胝子，咸言：『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？令此大眾諸有漏者咸皆願聞。」
King Prasenajit then rose from his seat and addressed the Buddha saying, “Before I received the Buddha’s instruction, I saw Kātyāyana and Vairāṭīputra who both said, ‘The death of the body and its annihilation is what is called Nirvāṇa.’ Although I have now met the Buddha, I am still like a doubting fox. How can one bring about the realization of the Ground of Mind that neither rises nor ceases? Those in this great assembly who still have outflows wish to hear.”
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 said to the great King, “I now ask you about your existent body. This body of flesh, is it permanent and indestructible like a vajra, or does it change and decay?”
「世尊！我今此身終從變滅。」
“World-Honored One! This body of mine changes and will eventually cease.”
佛言：「大王！汝未曾滅，云何知滅？」
The Buddha replied, “Great King! You are not yet deceased. What do you know of cessation?”
「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。」
“World-Honored One! Although my impermanent, changing and decaying body is not yet deceased, I observe that, thought-moment to thought-moment, it changes moment to moment and is bound to ‘go out’ like a fire turning to ash, gradually burning out and be reduced to naught.”
佛言：「如是，大王！汝今生齡已從衰老，顏貌何如童子之時？」
The Buddha replied, “So it is, Great King! You are old now but how do you look compared to 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，髮白面皺逮將不久，如何見比充盛之時。」
“World-Honored One! When I was a child, my skin glowed and when I grew up, I was full of energy, but now I age and weaken, I grow thin and my spirits are dull, my hair is white and my face wrinkled so that I know I shall not live much longer; there is no comparison between now and when I was full of vitality.”
佛言：「大王！汝之形容應不頓朽。」
The Buddha replied, “Great King! Your appearance should not decline.”
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；于今六十又過于二；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 replied, “World-Honored One! It changes too imperceptibly for me to notice it, alternating with the seasons and arriving at this. How so? Because when I was twenty, though still young, I already looked older than when I was ten, while at thirty I was older than twenty. As I am now sixty-two, I look back at being fifty, and I was stronger then. World-Honored One! I notice these imperceptible changes headed toward my demise, evident with every decade, and if I consider it more closely, the changes which occur in a century or two are really just the changes of years, and the changes of years are just groups of months going by; and months going by are also just days passing. And, at the deepest levels of thought, it can be examined kṣaṇa by kṣaṇa, thought-moment to thought-moment, without stopping. For this reason I know that my body is ever changing and will cease.”
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 replied, “Great King! You see these changes ever morphing without stopping and know that you will perish. But do you know that when there is that perishing, within the body there is something that does not perish?”
波斯匿王合掌白佛：「我實不知！」
King Prasenajit pressed his palms together and said to the Buddha, “I truly do not know!”
佛言：「我今示汝不生滅性。大王！汝年幾時見恒河水？」
The Buddha replied, “I will now show you the nature which is beyond birth and death. Great King! How old were you when you first saw the water of the Ganges River?”
王言：「我生三歲，慈母携我謁耆婆天，經過此流。爾時即知是恒河水。」
The King replied, “I was three years old when my beloved mother took me to worship the deva Jīva and we passed by the river currents. 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 replied, “Great King! As you just said, you were older at twenty than at ten, and up until you were sixty, as days, months, and years go by, changing thought-moment to thought-moment. So, when you were three and saw the Ganges and then when you saw it at thirteen, how were its waters?”
王言：「如三歲時，宛然無異，乃至于今年六十二，亦無有異。」
The King replied, “It was the same when I was three and thirteen, and even now that I am sixty-two, there is still no difference.”
佛言：「汝今自傷髮白面皺，其面必定皺於童年，則汝今時觀此恒河，與昔童時觀河之見有童耄不？」
The Buddha replied, “As you now notice your hair turned white and wrinkled face, there must be many more wrinkles than when you were a child. When you see the Ganges River now, compared to when you were younger, do you notice that your seeing [the Ganges] is ‘old’ now while it was ‘young’ then?”
王言：「不也，世尊！」
The King replied, “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 replied, “Great King! Though your face is wrinkled, the nature of the essence of this seeing is not wrinkled. That which is wrinkled changes, while that which is free from wrinkles is unchanging. The changing is subject to destruction, whereas the unchanging fundamentally is beyond arising and ceasing. How can it be subject to your birth and death? This is what people like Maskari Gośālīputra say, that the death of this body is total annihilation?”
王聞是言，信知身後捨生趣生，與諸大眾踊躍歡喜得未曾有。
Upon hearing this said, the king had faith in knowing that after death there is rebirth in future destinies and, along with the whole assembly, rejoiced in what they had never heard before.”
Pointing at the Moon
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。」
Ānanda then rose from his, prostrated himself before the Buddha, pressed his palms together and knelt saying, “World-Honored One! If this seeing and hearing are indeed beyond arising and ceasing, why did the World-Honored One say that we had lost our True Nature and so act in an inverted manner? Will you be compassionate enough to enlighten us, and so wash off our defiling dust?”
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？」
Thereupon the Thus Come One lowered his golden hued arm and, with his wheeled finger pointed downward, asked Ānanda, “As you now see my hand mudra, is it upright (implying ‘correct’) or inverted (’erroneous’)?”
阿難言：「世間眾生以此為倒，而我不知誰正誰倒。」
Ānanda replied, “People of the world regard this as inverted, however I do not know if it is upright or inverted.”
佛告阿難：「若世間人以此為倒，即世間人將何為正？」
The Buddha asked Ānanda, “If people of the world take this to be inverted, which position do people of the world consider to be upright?”
阿難言：「如來竪臂，兜羅綿手上指於空，則名為正。」
Ānanda replied, “If the Thus Come One holds his tūla floss webbed hand to the sky, then they would say that it is 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 held up his hand and said to Ānanda, “If this is inversion, switching from tail to head, is what people in the world see, then when comparing the kind of light generated by your body compared to the pure Dharma Body of the Thus Come One, the body of the Thus Come One they would call upright, pervasive knowledge, whereas the nature of your body would be referred to as inverted. However, if you look closely into your body and the Buddha’s, where exactly might the location of this so called inversion be?”
于時，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，咸是妙明真心中物。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。」
After hearing this, Ānanda and the great assembly were bewildered and they gazed at the Buddha with unblinking eyes, not knowing where the location of inversion might be. The Buddha was moved with compassion and, out of pity for Ānanda and the great assembly, said in a voice as steady as the ocean tide, “Good Son (Kulaputra)! I have always said: ‘Form and mind and all causes arising therefrom, all mental conditions, and all conditional phenomena (dharmas) are but manifestations of mind.’ Your bodies and your minds are just appearances within the marvelously bright true essence of the wonderous Mind. Why do you stray from the precious, bright, sublime nature of the originally wonderous, perfect, marvelously luminous Mind? Confused in realization, darkness is hidden by nothing (space, or emptiness), and within the darkness of nothing hidden, darkness binds together as form. Form becomes variegated by erroneous perception that perceives the characteristics of a body, accumulations of causes stirring within which are drawn to rush outward, and this confused uproar is taken to be the nature of mind. Once this confusion is taken to be the mind, there is the mistaken view of being inside a physical body, not knowing that the mountains, rivers, sky, and great earth outside the physical body are things within the wondrous bright True Mind. Just like someone mistaking a single bubble on a great ocean, hundreds of thousands of miles across, and seeing it as the entirety of the surging tides. You are doubly confused by confusion, no different than when I put my hand down, and so the Thus Come One says that you are the most pitiable of people.”
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。」
Ānanda was moved to tears by the Buddha’s compassion and profound instruction. He brought his palms together and addressed the Buddha saying, “Having heard the Buddha’s wonderful voice, I realize that the wondrous bright Mind is originally perfect and is the ever abiding Ground of Mind. Yet, my realization of this is from the appearance of the sound of the Dharma, appearing from the conditional mind, and received with reverence. Having just understood this Mind, I’m reluctant to take it as the fundamental Ground of Mind. I hope that the Buddha will be compassionate enough to reveal with a perfect voice so as to remove my doubts so that I can return to the unsurpassable 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 Ānanda, “You are still using the conditional mind to listen to the Dharma, and since this Dharma is also conditional, you fail to attain the nature of the Dharma. Like someone using their finger to point out the moon to someone. That person should see the moon because of the finger but, if seeing the finger, they take it to be the moon itself, this person not only misses the moon, they also miss the finger. Why? Because they take the pointing finger to be the bright moon. Not only do they miss the finger, they are also not conscious of what is light and what is dark. How so? Because they mistake the finger for the brightness of the moon, and the natures of light and dark are not understood. You are also like this. If you take that which differentiates the sound of the Dharma I speak to be your mind, this mind and its differentiating nature would have its own differentiated nature. Just like a traveler who stays at an inn, stopping for a while and then going, not staying forever. The innkeeper, however, has nowhere to go, and so is known as the ‘host’. This is also like this. If this [conditional mind] were truly your Mind, it should have nowhere to go. Then why does it need sound to differentiate sound? The [conditional] mind not only differentiates sounds, it differentiates my appearance, yet beyond all characteristics of form, it is without a differentiated nature of its own, even up to differentiating neither with form nor without form, what Maskari Gośālīputra and others call the ‘dark truth’ (prakṛti), that which is beyond all phenomenal conditions and of a nature without differentiation. The nature of your [conditional] mind, then, has somewhere it returns to. How can it be the host?”
阿難言：「若我心性各有所還，則如來說妙明元心云何無還？惟垂哀愍為我宣說。」
Ānanda replied, “If the nature of my mind returns somewhere, then the wonderous, bright, original Mind of which the Thus Come One speaks has no returning? I beg that you have pity for me and explain.
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[土*孛]之象則紆昏塵，澄霽斂氛又觀清淨。阿難！汝咸看此諸變化相，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[土*孛]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 Ānanda, “If, when you see me, you see the bright, original essence, this seeing is not the Mind of wonderous, bright essence. It is like a second moon, not even the moon’s reflection. Listen attentively and I will show you the ground which has no returning. Ānanda! The openings of this great lecture hall open to the east, and when the sun rises in the sky there is brightness, and there is darkness in the middle of the night during the moon’s waning (kṛṣṇapakṣa) or when it is hidden by fog or clouds. Seeing penetrates through the cracks of the doors and windows, but observation is hemmed in by walls and eves. Once differentiations are made, they then condition sight, and the nature of emptiness is seen only where there is vacuity. When things get dingy, dust settles, and when the skies are clear and mists disperse, one sees clearly again. Ānanda! You have seen all these characteristics of change. I will now return each of them to their place of original cause. What original causes? Ānanda! Of all these changes, light can be returned to the sun. How so? There is no light without the sun, and since light comes from the sun it can be returned to it, just as darkness can be returned to the waning moon. Clearance returns to the [open] doors and windows, and being hemmed in returns to walls and eves. Conditionality returns to differentiation, spaciousness returns to emptiness, dingyness returns to dust, while brightness returns to clarity. Everything that exists in the world belongs to one of these categories. Look at these eight types of things. Where could the bright essential nature of your seeing [them] be returned to? Meaning what? If it returns to light, when there is no light, you should not see darkness. While there are all kinds of differences between light and dark, seeing is without differentiation. Everything that can be returned [to something] is then itself, and not you. That which is not you, that which returns, not being you, who then are you? Therefore know that your mind is originally wonderous, bright, and pure. You have confused yourself and get caught on a wheel of grief, constantly sinking and floating in birth and death. For this reason the Thus Come One calls you most pitiable.”
The Buddha points directly at the Mind
阿難言：「我雖識此見性無還，云何得知是我真性？」
Ānanda replied, “I now understand that the nature of this seeing cannot be returned [to anything], but 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，如觀掌中菴摩羅果；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，咸物非汝。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，則汝與我并諸世間不成安立。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 Ānanda, “I will now ask you a question. You have not yet attained the state without outflows, yet by the Buddha’s spiritual power you can see the initial dhyāna [heaven] without obstruction. Aniruddha sees Jambudvīpa like he’s looking at an amala fruit in the palm of his hand. Bodhisattvas can see hundreds and thousands of worlds, and of all the Pure Lands as countless as dust, there are none the Thus Come Ones of the Ten Directions do not gaze upon. Sentient beings have shallow sight, not more than inches. Ānanda! You and I may now observe the palaces inhabited by the Four Heavenly Kings, and in between them see all that moves in the water, on land or in the air, all kinds of forms and shapes in the light and darkness, hindrances resulting from differentiation of objective dust. Here, differentiate self from other. I now challenge you to pick out from your seeing, what part of it is ‘I’? What are things? Ānanda! Expand the field of your vision to the solar and lunar mansions. These are things, not you. Even directly witnessing the seven vast encircling gold mountain ranges, or all kinds of lights, these are also things, not you. Now gradually shorten your gaze to the passing clouds, birds in flight, the wind blowing and dust rising, trees, forests, mountains, and rivers, the grass, shrubs, people, and animals. They are all things, not you. Ānanda! All of it, near and far, it all has the nature of being a thing, subject to further differentiation, beheld by the essential purity of your seeing, and then all the different categories of things have their various differentiations. The nature of seeing, however, is without variance, and this essentially wonderous brightness is truly the nature of your seeing. [Now], if seeing is all objective things, then can you also see my seeing? You may say that seeing the same [thing or way] as me is seeing [my] seeing, but then when I am not seeing [whatever it is], why can’t you see the location of my not seeing? If you can see not seeing, then it is not actually the characteristic of not seeing. If you do not see the ground of my not seeing, then it is not a thing. How could it not be you? What’s more, when you now see something, then the thing you are seeing should also see you [if it’s ‘you’], and the nature of substances would become all mixed up, and then ‘you’ and ‘I’ and everything in the world could not become properly established. Ānanda! When you see things, this seeing is yours and not mine, and its nature penetrates everywhere; if it is not you, what is it? Why do you ‘self-obstruct’ your True Nature, which in truth is your nature, and cling to an ‘I’ searching for what is 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。」
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! If the nature of this seeing is indeed myself entirely without remainder, when the Thus Come One and I [were outside] observing the palaces of the Four Heavenly Kings and their resplendent jeweled treasuries, and the mansions of the sun and moon, this seeing completely pervaded the Sahā World. Returning to the vihāra, I saw only the saṅghārāma (monastery), and the doors of this temple of the pure mind now gaze only upon halls and eves. World-Honored One! If seeing is thus, its substance originally pervading an entire world, and now, inside this room, merely filling a room, did this seeing contract from large to small? Is it cut up by walls and eves? I do not know where the meaning of all this really could be. I hope you will you be compassionate enough to explain this 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，穿為小竇寧無竇迹？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 Ānanda, “All things in this world, whether large or small, internal or external, they are all different kinds of objective dust from karmic actions. You should not say there are contractions of seeing. Just like a square box. Inside you see a ‘square’ of space. Now, tell me, this ‘square’ of space inside the square box, is it fixed as being square? If it is fixed, then if it became a round vessel the space [inside] shouldn’t be round. If [the space] is not fixed, then there should be no ‘square’ of space in the square box. You say that you do not know where the meaning of all this really could be, but the nature of meaning being so, where could it be? Ānanda! If you want the space to be neither square nor round, just get rid of the box. Since space has no location, you should not again insist on removing the place where it is. If, as you just said, when you entered this hall, your seeing contracted, then when you look at the sun does your seeing expand to the surface of the sun? If walls and eves are able to cut off your seeing, how can you see through peep holes in walls without the edges of the peep holes? Therefore, your contention is wrong. All sentient beings from a time without beginning are confused about things, being turned around by external objects they lose their original Mind, and as a consequence they see large and they see small. If they are able to turn objects around, they will be the same as the Thus Come One, body and mind perfectly bright at the immovable site of enlightenment, the tip of each hair containing worlds of the Ten Directions.
阿難白佛言：「世尊！若此見精必我妙性，令此妙性現在我前，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？』惟垂大慈開發未悟。」
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! If the essence of this seeing is indeed my wondrous nature, this wonderous nature appears before me. If seeing is indeed my true self, then what ‘thing’ is my present body-mind [experience]? Nonetheless, this present body-mind distinction has a reality, but that [ultimate] seeing is without distinguishing a difference between ‘me’ and ‘body’. If it is actually my mind which causes what I currently see, the nature of seeing is truly me, and I am not my body. Why did the excellent Thus Come One earlier object by saying, ‘Objects should then be able to see me’? Please bestow your great compassion and explain for those who have not yet awakened.”
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，上至日月前對恒河，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，汝應以手確實指陳何者是見。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 Ānanda, “What you said just now, ‘Seeing that appears before you.’ The meaning of this is not true. If it was really what was before you, if you were really seeing that, then the essence of this seeing should have a position which can be shown. As you and I now sit in the Jeta Grove, we clearly see its trees and streams as well as this hall, with the Sun and Moon overhead and the Ganges River before us. As you are now before my lion-seat, your hand pointing out at all the different characteristics of things, dark is the wood, bright is the sun, obstructions are the walls, clearances are the spaces, and like this, down to the grass and trees, minute creatures, the large and the small, although they are all different, each of them can be pointed at. If indeed what is manifest before you was your seeing, you should be able to use your hand and point out what is your seeing. Ānanda! You should know that if space is your seeing, since it has become seeing, how can it be space? If an external object is your seeing and is also already your seeing, how can it be an ‘external object’? You can dissect the minutest things into 10,000 pieces, but show me the bright and pure essence of the pure, wonderous origin of seeing. Point it out as clearly and irrefutably as those external objects.”
阿難言：「我今於此重閣講堂，遠洎恒河上觀日月，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。」
Ānanda replied, “From this vast chambers of this lecture hall, I come to the Ganges River in the distance, and observe the sun and moon overhead, whatever is pointed out with my finger and seen with my eyes, of all of these things pointed out, not one of them is the seeing. World-Honored One! As the Buddha has said, not only those with outflows - beginners in the initial stages of learning like myself - but even bodhisattvas cannot dissect all the various things before them and pick out the essence of seeing with a self-nature apart from all phenomena.”
佛言：「如是，如是！」
The Buddha replied, “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 again told Ānanda, “As you have said, there is no essence of seeing with a self-nature apart from all things, and yet among the things you point at, none are the seeing. I will now ask again! As you and the Thus Come one sit in this Jeta Grove, when you observe the forest gardens, even up to the sun and moon and all kinds of incredible sights, indeed there is no essence of seeing that you could point at. Then further illuminate (’explain’) this, among all these things, which of them is not [part of your] 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。」
Ānanda replied, “Of all I clearly see in this Jeta Grove, I do not know what could be not [the] seeing. How so? If the trees are not [part of the] seeing, how is it that the trees are seen? If the trees are the seeing, how is it that they are trees? It’s like this even up to space, if it is not [part of] seeing, how is there space? If space is the seeing, how is it also spacious? I have looked further into the myriad things and now conclude that none are not the seeing.”
佛言：「如是，如是！」
The Buddha replied, “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。」
In the assembly, all those who had not achieved the stage beyond study, were very surprised at hearing the Buddha say this and did not understand the meaning of it. All at once they became fearful and lost their composure. The Thus Come One, knowing they were perplexed and alarmed, took compassion on them, and to pacify Ānanda and the great assembly said, “Kulaputra! The truthful words of the unsurpassable Dharma King accord with Suchness and are neither deceitful nor false, unlike Maskari Gośālīputra’s four complicated theories of immortality. Consider this carefully and be worthy of my compassion.”
Mañjuśrī intercedes
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。」
Thereupon, Mañjuśrī, Dharma Prince, having compassion for the four kinds of members of those gathered, rose from his seat among the great assembly, prostrated with his head to the Buddha’s feet, brought his palms together and addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! These people do not understand the Thus Come One’s revelation of the dual essence of seeing form and emptiness, which has the meaning of neither being nor not being. World-Honored One! If the conditional forms before us were the seeing, there should be an indication of it, and if they are not the seeing, there should be nothing seen. They do not understand the meaning and are, therefore, surprised and bewildered, but they are not like those whose roots are frivolous and inferior. May the Thus Come One be compassionate enough to reveal exactly what the fundamental essence of this seeing is in relation to objects, and that between them there is neither being nor not being.”
佛告文殊及諸大眾：「十方如來及大菩薩，於其自住三摩地中，見與見緣并所想相，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 Mañjuśrī and the great assembly, “To all Thus Come Ones of the Ten Directions and all great Bodhisattvas sovereignly abiding in a state of samādhi, seeing and the conditions of seeing, as well as all perceivable characteristics, they are like ‘space flowers’ (or flowers in the sky), non-existent from the beginning. This seeing and its causes are essentially the profound, pure and bright substance of Bodhi. How can there be an ‘is’ and ‘is not’ within it? Mañjuśrī! I now ask you this. As you are Mañjuśrī, could there a Mañjuśrī that ‘is’ [Mañjuśrī] and a Mañjuśrī who ‘is not’?”
「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。」
“Just so, World-Honored One! I truly Mañjuśrī, there is no being Mañjuśrī. How so? If there was someone who was being [Mañjuśrī] then there would be two Mañjuśrīs. But as I now speak, it’s not that there’s not Mañjuśrī, and within this there really is neither duality nor non-duality.”
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 replied, “This wonderful brightness of seeing along with all the ‘space dust’ is also like this, fundamentally the perfect, pure, true Mind of the wonderful, bright, unsurpassable Bodhi wrongly perceived as form and space (or emptiness) as well as hearing and seeing, just as a second Moon is perceived with the accompanying misconception of real and unreal moons. Mañjuśrī! There is only one Moon actually, which is beyond the condition of being a moon or not being a moon. Your observation of seeing and its objects (the dust) and making all kinds of conjectures is known as ignorant perception, which is incapable of escaping from ‘is’ and ‘is not.’ It is just the true, essential, wonderful, bright, and awakened Nature that will enable you to transcend the duality of pointed out and not pointed out.”
Ānanda inquires about dependent-origination
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，與先梵志裟毘迦羅所談冥諦，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？」
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! Exactly as the Dharma King has explained, the conditions of awakening pervade the realms of the Ten Directions and are the eternally abiding nature that does not arise or cease. How does this differ from the ‘dark truth’ spoken of by the brahmacārin Sāṇkhya Kapila, and all those of other paths who smear themselves with ashes and say there is a True Self that pervades the Ten Directions? Also, while the World-Honored One was on Mt. Laṅkā, he explained to Mahāmati and the others that, ‘While those of other paths always speak of an inherently existent self, I speak of dependent-origination (’causes and conditions’), not an objective realm.” I now see that the inherent existence of this awakened understanding neither arises nor ceases, is far beyond all falsehood and inversions, as if it is neither dependently originated nor self-existing inherently. How can it be revealed and the bright nature of the wonderous awakening of the True Mind be attained without becoming erroneous?”
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 Ānanda, “Just now I have expediently revealed the Truth to you, yet you still do not understand and you mistake it for an inherently existent self. Ānanda! If, indeed, there is inherent existence, it should have an inherently existent substance clearly discernable. As you observe this wondrous bright seeing, what is inherently existent? Is it the light by which one sees that is the inherently existent substance? Is it the darkness? Is it space that is inherent? Ānanda! If light is the inherently existent substance, you should not see darkness, and if space is the substance of the inherently existent self, you should not see obstructions. Like this, even including all the characteristics of darkness, if this was the inherently existent, then the nature of your seeing should cease to exist when there is light. What is seeing light?
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？」
Ānanda replied, “Indeed, the nature of this wonderous seeing is not inherently self-existent. It now seems that its nature is dependently originated, but I am still not clear about it. I implore the Thus Come One to explain, how does this accord with the nature of dependent-origination?”
佛言：「汝言因緣，吾復問汝。汝今同見，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 replied, “You now speak of dependent-origination (lit. ‘causes’ and ‘conditions’). I will further inquire of you. You are now with sight and the nature of seeing manifests before you. Is this seeing caused by light? Is it because of darkness that there is seeing? Is it because of space that there is seeing? Is it because of obstructions that there is seeing? Ānanda! If it is because there is light, you should not see darkness. If it is because of darkness, you should not see light. It is the same with space and obstruction. Furthermore, Ānanda! Is brightness a necessary condition for seeing? Is darkness a necessary condition for seeing? Is space a necessary condition for seeing? Is obstruction a necessary condition for seeing? Ānanda! If space is the condition, you should not see any obstruction. If obstruction is the condition, you should not see space. It is the same with the conditions of brightness and darkness. Therefore, you should know that the wonderous brightness of the essence of awakening is neither cause(d) nor condition(al), is neither inherently existent, nor not inherently existent, is without being neither, nor, and is without ‘is’ and ‘is not’, transcending all characteristics and therefore all things (dharmas). How can you now think of it and use the frivolous terminology of the world to differentiate it? This is like trying to grab space with your hand, you will only tire yourself out! How could you grasp space with your hand?”
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？」
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! Indeed the wonderous nature of awakening is neither cause(d) nor condition(al). Why does the World-Honored One always tell the bhikṣus that the nature of seeing consists of four conditional parts, being caused by [there being] space, because of light, 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 replied, “Ānanda! I was speaking of all the dependently-originated characteristics in the world, not the Ultimate Truth (paramārtha). Ānanda! I will further inquire of you. When all worldly [regular] people say ‘I can see’, What are they calling seeing? What is 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。」
Ānanda replied, “Worldly people see all kinds of characteristics because of the Sun, Moon, and lamps, and this is known as seeing. Without these three kinds of illumination, then that’s not being able to 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[夌*欠]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。」
Ānanda! If it is called not seeing when there is no light, one should not see darkness. If, indeed, one does see darkness, this is only because there is no light, so how could that be not seeing? Ānanda! When it is dark, if this is called ‘not seeing’ because one does not see light, then now, when it is light, and one does not see the characteristics of darkness, this is also called ‘not seeing’, and these two different characteristics are both being called ‘not seeing’ at the same time. And when these two states replace each other, the nature of your seeing does not lapse for an instant. And thus, both states are called seeing. How could there be no seeing? Therefore, Ānanda! You should know, when seeing light, one sees that which is not light. When seeing darkness, ones sees what is not dark. When seeing space, one is seeing what is not spacious. When seeing obstructions, one sees what is not obstructing. When the meaning of these four have been understood, you should further know that when one sees seeing, one sees what is not seeing. Seeing free of seeing, seeing cannot reach. How can you speak of dependent-origination, inherent existence, or the characteristic of unification? You are all narrow-minded, unconscious voice-hearers (śrāvakas), unable to penetrate the pure, True Characteristic. I will now teach you, and you should examine carefully. Do not become weary and discouraged on the path to the wonderous 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。
Ānanda addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One! As the Buddha, World-Honored One has given a most superior explanation of dependent-origination, inherent existence, and the characteristics of being unified and not being unified, the mind still does not understand, and just now, having heard about seeing seeing that is not seeing, our confusion increases. Please have compassion and open your great eye of wisdom-eye to enlighten us.” After saying this, he shed bitter tears, prostrated himself at the Buddha’s feet and waited for the holy teaching.