爾時，富樓那彌多羅尼子在大眾中即從座起，偏袒右肩右膝著地，合掌恭敬而白佛言：「大威德世尊！善為眾生敷演如來第一義諦。世尊常推說法人中我為第一，今聞如來微妙法音，猶如聾人逾百步外聆於蚊蚋，本所不見，何況得聞？佛雖宣明令我除惑，今猶未詳斯義究竟無疑惑地。世尊！如阿難輩，雖則開悟習漏未除；我等會中登無漏者，雖盡諸漏，今聞如來所說法音尚紆疑悔。世尊！若復世間一切根、塵、陰、處、界等，皆如來藏清淨本然，云何忽生山河大地諸有為相，次第遷流終而復始？又如來說地、水、火、風本性圓融，周遍法界湛然常住。世尊！若地性遍，云何容水？水性周遍火則不生，復云何明水火二性俱遍虛空，不相[夌*欠]滅？世尊！地性障礙，空性虛通，云何二俱周遍法界？而我不知是義攸往，惟願如來宣流大慈，開我迷雲及諸大眾。」作是語已，五體投地，欽渴如來無上慈誨。
At that time, Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra arose from among the great assembly, uncovered his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, respectfully placed his palms together, and addressed the Buddha saying, “Oh, great virtuous (mahātejas) World-Honored One! You have just now eloquently proclaimed, for the sake of all beings, the Ultimate Truth taught by the Thus-Come Ones. The World-Honored One often praises me as foremost in expounding the Dharma, but as I have been listening to the Thus-Come One’s voice as he has been setting forth such subtle and wonderful Dharma, I am like a deaf person trying to hear a mosquito from a distance of more than a hundred paces. How could they hear what they can’t even see? Although the Buddha’s clear explanations have largely dispelled my doubts, I have not yet reached the point at which I might thoroughly understand the meaning of this and so be free of doubt entirely. World-Honored One! Although Ānanda and those like him have become enlightened, they have not yet put an end to their habits and outflows. But I am among those in the assembly who are free of outflows. And yet, having just now heard the Buddha explain this Dharma, I find that I am assailed by doubts. World-Honored One! If it is so that all sense organs, sense objects (’dust’), aggregates, bases, and realms in the world are, entirely, the originally pure tathāgatagarbha, then why do mountains, rivers, and the great earth suddenly come forth, all that exists subject to conditions, endlessly ending and then beginning again? The Thus-Come One has also said that the original nature of earth, water, fire, and wind is a perfect unity (圓融), pervasive throughout the dharmadhātu and eternally abiding. Word-Honored One! If the nature of earth is all-pervasive, how could it coexist with water? If the nature of water is all-pervasive, fire could never arise. Furthermore, how can the natures of both water and fire pervade empty space without overcoming each other in mutual cessation? World-Honored One! The nature of earth is that it is a solid obstruction, while the nature of space is that it is a transparent void. How could they both exist pervasively throughout the dharmadhātu? I am not sure how I should understand the meaning of this concept. I only hope that, out of great kindness, the Thus-Come One will explain this to all of us and so clear away the clouds of our confusion.” Having made his request, Pūrṇa bowed with five points to the ground and then waited respectfully and earnestly to hear the Thus-Come One’s unsurpassable and compassionate instruction.
爾時，世尊告富樓那及諸會中漏盡無學諸阿羅漢：「如來今日普為此會宣勝義中真勝義性，令汝會中定性聲聞、及諸一切未得二空迴向上乘阿羅漢等，皆獲一乘寂滅場地，真阿練若正修行處。汝今諦聽，當為汝說。」富樓那等欽佛法音默然承聽。
Then the World-Honored One said to Pūrṇa and to all the other Arhats in the assembly, who were all free of outflows and needed no further instruction, “The Thus Come One will now universally proclaim the Supreme Truth among all supreme truths for this assembly, so that all Voice Hearers in this assembly who have no further aspirations, and all of you Arhats who have not yet experienced the two kinds of emptiness (of things and people) but have turned toward the Great Vehicle, and all those seeking the quiescent ground-field of the single vehicle, the correct cultivation of the true araṇya (’forest’) practice. Listen carefully and I will explain for you.” Pūrṇa and all the others, out of reverence for the sound of the Buddha’s words of Dharma, listened in silent respect.
Three Continuities 相續
佛言：「富樓那！如汝所言，清淨本然云何忽生山河大地？汝常不聞如來宣說性覺妙明、本覺明妙？」
The Buddha said, “Pūrṇa! You have asked why that which is originally pure brings forth mountains, rivers, and this great earth? Have you not always heard the Thus Come One explain that: the nature awakened to wonderful brightness is originally awakened bright wonderfulness?”
富樓那言：「唯然，世尊！我常聞佛宣說斯義。」
Pūrṇa replied, “So it is, World-Honored One! I have often heard the Buddha expound upon the meaning of this.”
佛言：「汝稱覺明，為復性明稱名為覺？為覺不明稱為明覺？」
The Buddha asked, “What you call ‘awakened brightness’, is it because its nature is bright that you call it awakened? Or is being awakened to what is not bright being called the brightness of awakening?”
富樓那言：「若此不明名為覺者，則無無明。」
Pūrṇa replied, “If that which is not bright is called awakened, then it is not without brightness.”
佛言：「若無所明則無明覺，有所非覺無所非明，無明又非覺湛明性。性覺必明，妄為明覺；覺非所明，因明立所。所既妄立，生汝妄能；無同異中熾然成異，異彼所異因異立同，同異發明，因此復立無同無異。如是擾亂相待生勞，勞久發塵自相渾濁，由是引起塵勞煩惱起為世界。靜成虛空，虛空為同，世界為異，彼無同異真有為法。覺明空昧相待成搖，故有風輪執持世界；因空生搖，堅明立礙彼金寶者，明覺立堅，故有金輪保持國土；堅覺寶成，搖明風出，風金相摩故有火光為變化性，寶明生潤，火光上蒸，故有水輪含十方界；火騰水降交發立堅，濕為巨海乾為洲潬，以是義故，彼大海中火光常起，彼洲潬中江河常注，水勢劣、火結為高山，是故山石擊則成炎、融則成水，土勢劣、水抽為草木，是故林藪遇燒成土、因絞成水。交妄發生遞相為種，以是因緣世界相續。
The Buddha said, “If our inherent enlightenment is to be characterized by understanding, that understanding must be added to it when enlightenment is realized. But an enlightenment to which an understanding is added cannot be a true enlightenment. Such an enlightenment would indeed lack understanding if understanding were not added. But an enlightenment that lacks understanding cannot be the true intrinsic enlightenment that is inherently pure and endowed with understanding. Therefore, if you think that an understanding must be added to your inherent enlightenment, you are falsifying the true understanding, the true enlightenment. That is, nothing need be added to true enlightenment, but once an understanding is added nevertheless, that understanding must understand something. Once the category of ‘something understood’ is mistakenly established in the mind, the category ‘that which understands’ is mistakenly established as well. At first, there is neither sameness nor differentiation, but then that which is differentiated is clearly distinguished. That which differs from what is differentiated is distinguished as being uniform. Because the category of what is differentiated and the category of what is uniform have been established, the category of what is neither uniform nor differentiated is further established. The turmoil of this mutual complementarity gives rise to mental strain, and as the mental strain is prolonged, grasping at objects of mind begins. Mental strain and grasping at objects together create a turbidity of mind, out of which the afflictions are generated. Motion becomes the world of perceived objects, and stillness is distinguished as space. In addition to space, which is undifferentiated, and the world, which is differentiated, there are conditioned phenomena that are neither differentiated nor the same. Once a light of understanding is added to enlightenment, the darkness of the primary element space appears, and the interaction of these two complements generates a disturbance in the mind. That disturbance becomes the disk of wind that is the essence of wind, and this disk then supports the world of perceived objects. In reaction to the mental disturbance generated by the interaction of the darkness of mental space and the understanding that has been added, there arises a firm attachment to that understanding, and this firm attachment is categorized as solidity. This solidity is the disk of vajra, which is the essence of earth. This is how, from the firm attachment to the light of the added understanding, the disk of vajra, which holds the world together, comes into being. Thus the disk of vajra is generated from the firm attachment to the added understanding, and the disk of wind is generated from the disturbance arising from the interaction of the two complements, the light of the added understanding and the darkness of mental space. From the friction between the disk of wind and the disk of vajra there arises the light of the disk of fire, which is characterized by changeability. Moisture arises from the shining of the disk of vajra and turns to vapor in the presence of fire. Thus the disk of water comes into being and encompasses the worlds in the Ten Directions. As fire flares up and water descends, their interaction brings about solidity. From the primary element water, the oceans come into being, while the continents and islands come into being from the primary element earth. Thus fire sometimes emerges from the oceans, and rivers and streams flow across the lands. Mountains form where the primary element fire is stronger than the primary element water; thus rock gives off sparks when struck and melts when heated. Vegetation grows where the primary element water is stronger than the primary element earth; thus the trees and grasses are reduced to ash when burned and exude liquid when they are compressed. These distorted interactions together produce the seeds that become the causes to ‘ensure the continuity of the world’ (以是因緣世界相續).
「復次，富樓那！明妄非他，覺明為咎。所妄既立，明理不踰，以是因緣，聽不出聲見不超色，色香味觸六妄成就，由是分開見覺聞知，同業相纏合離成化，見明色發明見想成，異見成憎同想成愛，流愛為種納想為胎，交遘發生吸引同業，故有因緣生羯囉藍、遏蒱曇等，胎卵濕化隨其所應，卵唯想生、胎因情有、濕以合感、化以離應，情想合離更相變易，所有受業逐其飛沈，以是因緣眾生相續。
“Further, Pūrṇa, you should know that beings’ deluded understanding is due simply to the error of adding an understanding to inherent enlightenment. The inevitable consequence is the establishment, through delusion, of the categories ‘something understood’ and ‘that which understands.’ So it is that the ear-faculty is aware only of sounds and the eye-faculty is confined to visible objects. All six objects, which are perceived through delusion — visible objects, sounds, odors, flavors, objects of touch, and objects of cognition — are each placed in a separate category, resulting in a division into seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, tactile awareness, and cognition. Some beings are born due to being bound together by shared karma; other beings are born due to union or else due to separation. A point of light is seen to appear. When the light is seen clearly, deluded thoughts arise — both hatred in response to incompatible points of view and love in response to compatible ways of thinking. The thought of love flows out to the fertilized egg, which is then drawn into the womb. Thus the parents’ intercourse leads to the attraction of a being with whom they share a common karma. Due to these causes and conditions, the fetus develops, passing through the kalala stage (1st week), the arbuda stage (2nd week), and the stages that follow. Birth from a womb, birth from an egg, birth in the presence of moisture, and birth via metamorphosis come about in response to these circumstances: birth from an egg arises from mental activity; birth from a womb occurs because of emotion; birth in the presence of moisture occurs through union; and birth via metamorphosis is brought about through separation. Because of emotion, mental activity, union, and separation, beings may shift from one form of birth to another form. They ascend or fall entirely in accord with their karma. Hence the continuity of (the realm of) living beings (眾生相續).
「富樓那！想愛同結，愛不能離，則諸世間父母子孫相生不斷，是等則以欲貪為本；貪愛同滋，貪不能止，則諸世間卵化濕胎隨力強弱遞相吞食，是等則以殺貪為本；以人食羊，羊死為人，人死為羊，如是乃至十生之類，死死生生互來相噉，惡業俱生窮未來際，是等則以盜貪為本。汝負我命，我還債汝，以是因緣經百千劫常在生死；汝愛我心，我憐汝色，以是因緣經百千劫常在纏縛，唯殺盜婬三為根本，以是因緣業果相續。富樓那！如是三種顛倒相續，皆是覺明明了知性，因了發相，從妄見生山河大地，諸有為相次第遷流，因此虛妄終而復始。」
“Pūrṇa! Beings bind themselves to each other with their thoughts of love, love so strong that they cannot bear to be apart, and thus there come into being all the world’s fathers, mothers, children, and grandchildren in an uninterrupted succession of births. The root of all this is emotional desire. Because of excessive desire and emotional love, all crave nourishment, a craving which will not cease. Thus all of the world’s beings, whether born from eggs, via metamorphosis, in the presence of moisture, or from a womb, devour one another and are in turn devoured, each according to the measure of its strength or weakness. The root of all this is the desire to kill. Suppose then that a human being eats a sheep. The slaughtered sheep is reborn as a human. When the human who ate the sheep dies, he in turn becomes a sheep. This pattern holds among all ten kinds of beings as they devour one another in a continuing cycle of death and rebirth. The evil karma of this mutual devouring accompanies each of them from life to life to the farthest reaches of the future. The root of all this is the urge to steal. Suppose you are in debt to someone for having taken his life; he will want to take your life in repayment. Due to such causes and conditions, beings must pass through hundreds of thousands of eons in an everlasting succession of deaths and rebirths. Suppose someone loves someone else for his or her mind, or for his or her beauty. Due to such causes and conditions, beings must pass through hundreds of thousands of eons in an everlasting succession of entanglements. The roots of all this are killing, stealing, and emotional love. Therefore, the basic causes of the continuity of karmic retribution (業果相續) are three: killing, stealing and carnality.”
“Pūrṇa! These three distorted perpetuations ultimately derive from adding an understanding to inherent enlightenment. From this added understanding, a false understanding arises. From that, a deluded awareness brings into being the mountains, the rivers, and all the other conditioned phenomena in this world. Due to that illusory awareness, we experience the world as constantly changing patterns, which are perpetually coming into our awareness and then disappearing.
富樓那言：「若此妙覺本妙覺明與如來心不增不減，無狀忽生山河大地諸有為相；如來今得妙空明覺，山河大地有為習漏何當復生？」
Pūrṇa asked, “If our wondrous awakening is fundamentally wondrous, awake, and endowed with luminous understanding, and if the mind of the Thus-Come One neither increases nor diminishes, how is it then that all beings and all conditioned phenomena — the mountains, the rivers, and everything else on earth — suddenly arise without a reason? Also, now that the Thus-Come One has realized wondrous emptiness and understanding, will the mountains, the rivers, and all other conditioned phenomena on this earth, as well as the habits and outflows of beings, ever arise for him again?”
佛告富樓那：「譬如迷人於一聚落惑南為北，此迷為復因迷而有？因悟所出？」
The Buddha said to Pūrṇa, “It’s just like someone who loses their way in a village and becomes confused about which way is north and which way is south. Have they mistaken the directions because of confusion, or because of understanding?”
富樓那言：「如是迷人，亦不因迷，又不因悟。何以故？迷本無根，云何因迷？悟非生迷，云何因悟？」
Pūrṇa replied, “They are lost neither because of confusion nor because of understanding. How so? Confusion has no basis in reality, how could it be the cause of being lost? As for understanding, which does not give rise to confusion, how could it be the cause?”
佛言：「彼之迷人正在迷時，倐有悟人指示令悟。富樓那！於意云何，此人縱迷，於此聚落更生迷不？」
The Buddha asked, “Suppose this confused person who has become lost in the village unexpectedly meets someone who knows which direction is which and who points out the way to him so that he understands. Pūrṇa! What do you think? Will this person who was lost become lost in the village again, or not?
「不也，世尊！」
[Pūrṇa replied], “No, World-Honored One!”
「富樓那！十方如來亦復如是。此迷無本，性畢竟空，昔本無迷，似有迷覺，覺迷迷滅，覺不生迷。亦如瞖人見空中花，瞖病若除華於空滅；忽有愚人，於彼空花所滅空地待花更生。汝觀是人為愚？為慧？」
“Pūrṇa! The same is true of the Thus-Come Ones throughout the Ten Directions. Confusion has no basis in reality. In its very nature it is ultimately empty. There never was anything real about the confusion, it only seems that there is confusion and understanding. Awakened from confusion, confusion ceases, and awakening does not give rise to confusion. And just like someone who sees flowers in the sky, once the disease is gone the flowers in sky cease. Suppose there was someone foolish enough to look to where the flowers disappeared and expect to see them reappear. Would you consider this person to be foolish or wise?”
富樓那言：「空元無花，妄見生滅，見花滅空，已是顛倒；勅令更出，斯實狂癡。云何更名如是狂人為愚？為慧？」
Pūrṇa replied, “There never were any flowers in the air. They arose from ‘erroneous viewing’. Looking for the flowers in the empty space where they disappeared is inverted [thinking], and expecting them to reappear is truly madness. How could one call a crazed person such as this merely foolish, much less wise?”
佛言：「如汝所解，云何問言：『諸佛如來妙覺明空，何當更出山河大地？』又如金鑛雜於精金，其金一純更不成雜，如木成灰不重為木，諸佛如來菩提涅槃亦復如是。
The Buddha said, “Since you understand that, why have you asked whether all Buddha, Thus-Come Ones who have marvelously awakened to luminous emptiness still give rise to mountains, rivers, and everything else in this world?’ It is like a gold mine. The ore contains gold mixed with impurities. Once the gold has been refined, it will not become mixed [as ore] again, nor will wood that has burned to ash ever become wood again. The bodhi nirvāṇa of all buddha tathāgatas is also like this.”
「富樓那！又汝問言：『地水火風本性圓融周遍法界，疑水火性不相[夌*欠]滅；又徵虛空及諸大地，俱遍法界不合相容。』富樓那！譬如虛空體非群相，而不拒彼諸相發揮。所以者何？富樓那！彼太虛空，日照則明、雲屯則暗、風搖則動、霽澄則清、氣凝則濁、土積成霾、水澄成映。於意云何，如是殊方諸有為相，為因彼生？為復空有？若彼所生，富樓那！且日照時既是日明，十方世界同為日色，云何空中更見圓日？若是空明，空應自照，云何中宵、雲霧之時不生光耀？當知是明非日非空不異空日。觀相元妄無可指陳，猶邀空花結為空果，云何詰其相[夌*欠]滅義？觀性元真唯妙覺明，妙覺明心先非水火，云何復問不相容者？真妙覺明亦復如是。汝以空明則有空現，地水火風各各發明則各各現，若俱發明則有俱現，云何俱現？富樓那！如一水中現於日影，兩人同觀水中之日，東西各行則各有日，隨二人去一東一西，先無准的不應難言：『此日是一，云何各行？各日既雙，云何現一？』宛轉虛妄，無可憑據。
“Pūrṇa! You have also asked how it is that the natures of earth, water, fire, and wind are a perfect unity (圓融) pervasive throughout the Dharmadhatu. You wonder how it is that the primary elements water and fire do not overcome each other in mutual annihilation. You also asked why it is that the primary elements space and earth can both exist everywhere throughout the Dharmadhatu while being incompatible with each other. Pūrṇa! It’s just like the essential attribute of space which is the absence of anything else; still, that does not prevent everything else from appearing within it. How can that be? Pūrṇa! The sky is bright when the sun shines. It darkens when clouds gather. There is movement through it when the wind blows. After a rain, the sun reappears and the air is clear. A turbid mist arises when water condenses out of the air. In a dust storm, the air is obscured. And reflections appear in water that is clear and still. What do you think? Do these various conditioned phenomena appearing in different circumstances come into being because of these conditions, or do they come into being from space? Suppose, Pūrṇa, that these phenomena arise because of the circumstances just mentioned. Then, for example, when the sun is shining, does the brightness in the air come into being because the sun is shining? If so, then the sun should be everywhere in the ten directions. Why do we see it as a distinct round object in the sky? If, on the other hand, the brightness of the sky comes into being because of space, then all of space would be shining of its own accord. Why is it not resplendent with light at midnight, or when there are clouds or fog? You should know that the brightness in the sky is not due to the sun or to space, although the brightness cannot be present without both the sun and space. The same can be said of the true, wondrous understanding which is enlightenment. If one develops the category ‘space’ in one’s mind, then space will appear within enlightenment. Earth, water, fire, and wind each appear within enlightenment if one establishes each of them as categories. All of them appear interfused together in enlightenment if one establishes the category ‘all.’ How can they all appear together? Pūrṇa, it is like the sun’s reflection in a body of water. When two people who are observing the reflection move apart, one to the east and one to the west, they will each see the sun’s reflection moving along with them. The reflection moves east with the person moving east and west with the person moving west; in itself the reflection has no fixed location. Do not quibble by asking how a single reflection can move in two separate directions. And do not ask how the two reflections appeared previously as one. Such questions concern mere illusions, and nothing about reality can be established from them. You should realize that all these phenomena are fundamentally unreal, and so one cannot specify anything about them. To assert anything about them would be as absurd as to expect illusory flowers in the sky to bear fruit. How then can you ask whether the primary elements will overcome each other in mutual annihilation? You should realize that, in their fundamental natures, the primary elements are a single reality, which is simply the wondrous, awakened enlightenment — the wondrous, awakened, enlightened mind. Fundamentally, the primary elements — water, fire, and the rest — do not exist at all. Why then do you keep asking how they can exist together?”
「富樓那！汝以色空相傾相奪於如來藏，而如來藏隨為色空周遍法界，是故於中風動、空澄、日明、雲暗，眾生迷悶背覺合塵，故發塵勞有世間相；我以妙明不滅不生合如來藏，而如來藏唯妙覺明圓照法界，是故於中一為無量、無量為一，小中現大、大中現小，不動道場遍十方界，身含十方無盡虛空，於一毛端現寶王剎，坐微塵裏轉大法輪，滅塵合覺故發真如妙覺明性。而如來藏本妙圓心，非心非空；非地非水非風非火；非眼非耳鼻舌身意；非色非聲香味觸法；非眼識界如是乃至非意識界；非明無明，明無明盡，如是乃至非老非死，非老死盡；非苦非集非滅非道；非智非得；非檀那、非尸羅、非毘梨耶、非羼提、非禪那、非鉢剌若、非波羅蜜多；如是乃至非怛闥阿竭、非阿羅訶、三耶三菩；非大涅槃，非常非樂非我非淨，以是俱非世出世故。即如來藏元明心妙，即心即空；即地即水即風即火；即眼即耳鼻舌身意；即色即聲香味觸法；即眼識界如是乃至即意識界；即明無明，明無明盡，如是乃至即老即死，即老死盡；即苦即集即滅即道；即智即得；即檀那、即尸羅、即毘梨耶、即羼提、即禪那、即鉢剌若、即波羅蜜多；如是乃至即怛闥阿竭、即阿羅訶、三耶三菩；即大涅槃，即常、即樂、即我、即淨，以是即俱世出世故。即如來藏妙明心元，離即離非，是即非即，如何世間三有眾生及出世間聲聞、緣覺，以所知心測度如來無上菩提，用世語言入佛知見？譬如琴瑟箜篌琵琶雖有妙音，若無妙指終不能發，汝與眾生亦復如是，寶覺真心各各圓滿，如我按指海印發光。汝暫舉心塵勞先起，由不勤求無上覺道，愛念小乘得少為足。」
“Pūrṇa, you mistakenly suppose that within the tathāgatagarbha, space and the primary element earth are mutually incompatible and cannot coexist. But within the tathāgatagarbha, space and the world of perceived objects are everywhere throughout the Dharmadhātu. Movement associated with wind, the stillness associated with space, the brightness associated with the sun, and the darkness associated with clouds are all present within the tathāgatagarbha. Beings, however, suffocated by their confusion, turn their backs on enlightenment and embrace this world of perceived objects. Amidst the stress of beings’ entanglement with perceived objects, the world of conditioned phenomena appears. With my wondrous, luminous understanding that neither comes into being nor ceases to be, I am identical to the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is itself the wondrous, enlightened, luminous understanding, which illuminates the entire Dharmadhātu. Within it, therefore, the one is infinitely many and the infinitely many are one. The great appears within the small, just as the small appears within the great. I sit unmoving in this still place of awakening, and my body extends everywhere and encompasses the infinity of space in all ten directions. On the tip of a single hair, magnificent Buddha-lands appear. Seated within each mote of dust, I turn the great Wheel of the Dharma. Because I have freed myself from the world of perceived objects, I have become one with enlightenment. Therefore the Suchness of Reality manifests — the inherent nature that is wondrous, luminous, and awake. Thus the tathāgatagarbha — the fundamental, wondrous, perfect mind — is not the distinction-making mind, nor is it space, nor is it earth, nor water, nor wind, nor fire. It is not the eye, nor the ear, nor the nose, nor the tongue, nor the body, nor the cognitive faculty. Neither is it visible objects, nor sounds, nor odors, nor flavors, nor objects of touch, nor objects of cognition. It is not the eye-consciousness, nor the mind-consciousness, nor any of the other consciousnesses. It is neither the fundamental ignorance that is the adding of an understanding to our inherent enlightenment, nor the ending of that ignorance, nor is it old age and death nor the ending of old age and death. Neither is it the fundamentally suffering nature of existence, nor is it the accumulation of the causes of suffering, nor the ending of suffering, nor the path to the ending of suffering. It is neither wisdom nor the attaining of wisdom. It is neither generosity (dāna) nor discipline (śilā), neither zeal (vīrya), patience (kṣānti), meditation (dhyāna), wisdom (prajñā) nor perfection (pāramitā); Nor is it anything else — not the realization of the enlightenment of the Buddha, who is the Thus-Come One, the Arhat, the One of Right and Universal Wisdom. It is not the permanence, the bliss, the true self, or the purity of the great nirvana. It is not any of these things, be they mundane or world-transcending. To be none of these is what the tathāgatagarbha is. That is the wondrousness of the inherently luminous mind that understands. Yet, it is the distinction-making mind, it is space, it is earth, it is water, it is wind, it is fire. It is the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the cognitive faculty. It is visible objects, it is sounds, it is odors, it is flavors, it is objects of touch, and it is objects of cognition. It is the eye-consciousness, the ear-consciousness, and all the other consciousnesses. It is that fundamental ignorance which is the adding of an understanding to our inherent enlightenment, and it is the ending of that ignorance; it is old age and death and the ending of old age and death. It is also the fundamentally suffering nature of existence, the accumulation of the causes of suffering, the ending of suffering, and the path to the ending of suffering. It is dāna, śilā, vīrya, kṣānti, dhyāna, prajñā and pāramitā. It is everything, including the Thus-Come One, who is the Arhat and the One of Right and Universal Wisdom. It is the permanence, bliss, true self, and purity of the great nirvana. It is every one of these, be they mundane or world-transcending. To be all of these is what the tathāgatagarbha is. That is the wondrousness of the inherent luminous mind that understands. It is apart from ‘is’ and ‘is not’ and yet both is and is not. How then, with their conscious minds, could beings who are bound to worlds in the three realms of existence — or even world-transcending śrāvakas and the pratyekabuddhas — possibly fathom the supreme awakening of the Thus-Come Ones? How could they gain the Buddha’s ability to know and to see merely by using the world’s words? Marvelous sounds can be brought forth from lutes, harps, and mandolins only when there are skilled fingers to play them. In the same way, all beings, including you, are fully endowed with the resplendent, enlightened, true mind. When I arrange my fingers to form the ocean mudra, the light of the ocean-mudra samādhi shines forth. But the moment a thought arises in your mind, you must endure the stress of involvement with perceived objects. It is simply because you have not diligently pursued the path to supreme enlightenment. Instead, you are fond of the Lesser Vehicle and are content with a lesser goal.”
The Parable of Yajñadatta
富樓那言：「我與如來寶覺圓明，真妙淨心無二圓滿，而我昔遭無始妄想久在輪迴，今得聖乘猶未究竟。世尊！諸妄一切圓滅獨妙真常，敢問如來一切眾生何因有妄，自蔽妙明受此淪溺？」
Pūrṇa said, “The Thus-Come One and I are alike in that we are both fully endowed with the precious, awakened, perfect, luminous, true, wondrous, pure Mind that understands. Nevertheless, for a time without beginning I was plagued with the deluded acts of my mind, and for a long time I was bound to the cycle of death and rebirth. Although I have since become an arhat, my enlightenment is not fully perfected, whereas the World-Honored One has put an end to all delusion so that only what is wondrous, true, and everlasting remains. I venture to ask the Thus-Come One why all beings suffer from delusion. Why do they keep covered their wondrous, luminous understanding so that they continue to be submerged in saṁsāra?”
佛告富樓那：「汝雖除疑，餘惑未盡。吾以世間現前諸事今復問汝。汝豈不聞，室羅城中演若達多，忽於晨朝以鏡照面，愛鏡中頭眉目可見，瞋責己頭不見面目，以為魑魅無狀狂走。於意云何，此人何因無故狂走？」
The Buddha told Pūrṇa, “You have put your coarser doubts to rest, but your more subtle doubts have not yet been ended. I will now question you about this matter by referring to a mundane event. Have you not heard about Yajñadatta, the man from Śrāvastī who saw a face with perfectly clear features in the mirror one morning and became enraptured with it? Then he became upset because he supposed he had lost his own face. It struck him that he must have turned into a headless ghost. For no good reason he ran madly out of his house. What do you think? What caused this man to run madly about for no good reason?”
富樓那言：「是人心狂，更無他故。」
Pūrṇa replied, “This person’s mind was crazy. It was not due to something else.”
佛言：「妙覺明圓本圓明妙，既稱為妄云何有因？若有所因云何名妄？自諸妄想展轉相因，從迷積迷以歷塵劫，雖佛發明猶不能返，如是迷因因迷自有，識迷無因妄無所依，尚無有生欲何為滅。得菩提者，如寤時人說夢中事，心縱精明，欲何因緣取夢中物，況復無因本無所有。如彼城中演若達多，豈有因緣自怖頭走，忽然狂歇頭非外得，縱未歇狂亦何遺失。富樓那！妄性如是，因何為在？汝但不隨分別世間、業果、眾生三種相續，三緣斷故三因不生，則汝心中演若達多狂性自歇，歇即菩提，勝淨明心本周法界，不從人得，何藉劬勞肯綮修證。
The Buddha said, “The luminous understanding of wondrous enlightenment is perfect; that fundamental, perfect luminous understanding is wondrous. How could there be in it any basis for what is clearly a delusion? And if there were a basis for this delusion, how could it be what we call deluded? Thus your deluded thoughts have followed one upon another, each one leading to the next. Confusion is added to confusion, kalpa after countless kalpa, numberless as motes of dust. Although the Buddha can reveal this process to you, he cannot reverse it for you. Therefore beings are not aware of the cause of their confusion. Because they do not realize that confusion is based only on confusion, their confusion persists. They need merely to realize that confusion has no ultimate basis, and the basis of their deluded thoughts will disappear. There is no need for them to wish that the cause of their confusion would disappear, because no cause existed in the first place. Thus someone who has become fully enlightened is like one who relates the events of a dream from which he has just awakened. His mind is now sharp and clear; what reason could he have then to wish to try to return to his dream to obtain some object that he had dreamt of? Even less could delusion have any basis; fundamentally, delusion has no existence. In the same way, there was no reason for Yajñadatta’s experience that day in the city. Were his madness to suddenly cease, it would not be because he had recovered his head from anywhere outside of himself. How could his head have actually been missing, even while he was still in his madness? Pūrṇa! The same is true of the essential nature of delusion. Where could its basis lie? All that is needed is for you not to follow after the distinctions you make concerning the perpetuations — the world, beings, and retribution in accord with karma. Once you have eliminated the three conditions that are necessary for the coming into being of these three perpetuations, their three causes will not become active again. Thus the madness in your mind that is like Yajñadatta’s madness will cease of its own accord, and just that ceasing is enlightenment. That supreme, pure, luminous mind that understands has always extended everywhere throughout the Dharmadhātu. It cannot be bestowed upon you by someone else. What need is there to work yourself to the bone in pursuit of awakening?”
「譬如有人於自衣中繫如意珠不自覺知，窮露他方乞食馳走，雖實貧窮珠不曾失，忽有智者指示其珠，所願從心致大饒富，方悟神珠非從外得。」
“It’s just like a person who does not know that a wish-fulfilling pearl is sewn into his coat. Destitute and homeless, wandering from place to place as he begs for his food, he is indeed poor, but his wish-fulfilling pearl is still with him. Then it so happens that someone wise points out his pearl to him, and now it can fulfill his every wish. He becomes very rich, and he realizes that his magical pearl can only have come from within himself.”
即時，阿難在大眾中，頂禮佛足起立白佛：「世尊！現說殺盜婬業，三緣斷故三因不生，心中達多狂性自歇，歇即菩提，不從人得。斯則因緣皎然明白，云何如來頓棄因緣？我從因緣心得開悟，世尊此義何獨我等年少有學聲聞，今此會中大目犍連及舍利弗、須菩提等，從老梵志聞佛因緣，發心開悟得成無漏。今說菩提不從因緣，則王舍城拘舍梨等所說自然成第一義。惟垂大悲，開發迷悶。」
Then Ānanda came forward from his place in the great assembly and bowed at the Buddha’s feet. He stood and said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! You have just now been saying that once we put to rest the karmas of killing, stealing, and sexual desire so that these three conditions no longer arise, their three causes will not become active again. Then the madness in our minds that is like Yajñadatta’s madness will cease of its own accord, and that ceasing itself is full awakening, which no one else can bestow upon us. Isn’t all this clearly an example of the working of causes and conditions? Why then does the Thus-Come One now reject the doctrine of causes and conditions? World-Honored One, it was through hearing about causes and conditions that I became enlightened, as did others of us younger śrāvakas, who still need instruction. Here also in this assembly now are Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Śāriputra, Subhūti, and others who once followed Brahmin elders. They too heard the teaching about causes and conditions, and as a result, they made the resolve to enter the monastic life. They put an end to their outflows and became enlightened. Now you say that one does not after all realize enlightenment through causes and conditions. If that is so, the Ultimate Truth must be what Maskari Gośālīputra and those others in Rājagṛha teach — that enlightenment happens on its own. I only hope that now the Buddha will compassionately clear up the confusion which has been suffocating us.”
佛告阿難：「即如城中演若達多，狂性因緣若得滅除，則不狂性自然而出，因緣自然理窮於是。阿難！演若達多頭本自然，本自其然無然非自，何因緣故怖頭狂走？若自然頭因緣故狂，何不自然因緣故失？本頭不失狂怖妄出，曾無變易何藉因緣？本狂自然，本有狂怖，未狂之際狂何所潛？不狂自然，頭本無妄，何為狂走？若悟本頭，識知狂走，因緣自然俱為戲論。是故我言三緣斷故即菩提心。菩提心生生滅心滅，此但生滅，滅生俱盡無功用道。若有自然，如是則明自然心生，生滅心滅此亦生滅，無生滅者名為自然。猶如世間諸相雜和成一體者，名和合性，非和合者稱本然性。本然非然，和合非合，合然俱離，離合俱非，此句方名無戲論法。菩提涅槃尚在遙遠，非汝歷劫辛勤修證，雖復憶持十方如來、十二部經，清淨妙理如恒河沙，秖益戲論。汝雖談說因緣自然決定明了，人間稱汝多聞第一，以此積劫多聞熏習，不能免離摩登伽難，何因待我佛頂神呪，摩登伽心婬火頓歇得阿那含，於我法中成精進林，愛河乾枯令汝解脫。是故阿難！汝雖歷劫憶持如來祕密妙嚴，不如一日修無漏業，遠離世間憎愛二苦；如摩登伽宿為婬女，由神呪力銷其愛欲，法中今名性比丘尼，與羅睺羅母耶輸陀羅同悟宿因，知歷世因貪愛為苦，一念薰修無漏善故，或得出纏、或蒙授記。如何自欺，尚留觀聽？」
The Buddha said to Ānanda, “Let us compare what you have said to the case of Yajñadatta in Śrāvastī. If the causes and conditions for his madness were to disappear, his sanity would naturally reappear on its own. Your argument concerning causes and conditions and things coming into being on their own amounts to nothing more than that. Ānanda! His head was just as it always was. It was already fundamentally part of him. Otherwise he would not have been who he was. How then could causes and conditions be involved in his running madly about out of fear that his face had disappeared? His head was intact from the beginning. But if his madness were indeed due to causes and conditions, wouldn’t causes and conditions have also led to his head actually disappearing? Yet his head has always been present. His madness and terror arose from delusion. No actual change had taken place. How then could his madness have arisen from causes and conditions? And if his madness were fundamentally part of him — if madness and terror were the way he was in the first place — then why would his madness not have been already evident? But if his madness was not fundamentally part of him — if he was not deluded about his head all along — why did he run madly about? Had Yajñadatta awakened and realized that his head was fundamentally part of him, he would have understood that his running about was madness. From this it should be clear to you that your objections about causes and conditions and about things coming into being on their own cannot be taken seriously. That is why I said that once the three causes and three conditions are eliminated, the enlightened mind is revealed. If you were to say that the enlightened mind comes into being with the cessation of the mind that arises and perishes, then you would be saying that the enlightened mind, too, is subject to arising and perishing. In truth, the effortless path to enlightenment is the ending of both arising and perishing. Suppose, further, that it is possible that the enlightened mind could come into being on its own. Then it should be clear that it would come into being only with the perishing of the mind that comes into being and ceases to be. But that is still a coming into being and ceasing to be. Do not think that something which does not arise and perish must therefore be said to have come into being on its own. For example, a mixture is said to be created when components with different attributes are combined. What cannot be mixed together is said to be something that is fundamental. In fact, what is fundamental is not fundamental; what is mixed is not in fact a mixture. Neither what is mixed nor what is fundamental exists. Yet the nonexistence of the mixed and the fundamental must also be negated. Only then do we have a teaching that may be called Dharma that is more than mere speculation. This is a teaching that must be left behind, and the leaving behind, too, must be left behind. That may be called the Dharma that transcends idle speculation. For you, awakening and nirvāṇa are still so distant that you will have to spend kalpas in difficult practice before you will reach them. Your ability to memorize all twelve types of discourse spoken by the Buddha and proclaimed by the Thus-Come Ones in all ten directions — with their pure and wondrous truths innumerable as the River Ganges’ sands — has merely helped you to indulge in idle speculation. Certainly you have the ability to speak about causes and conditions and about things coming into being on their own with such understanding that people call you foremost in erudition; yet despite your many kalpas of accumulated learning, you were not able escape your difficulty with the young Mātaṅga woman. Why did you need me to recite the Śūraṅgama Mantra for you? In the young Mātaṅga woman’s heart the fires of lust were extinguished, and instantly she became a sage who is free of rebirth. Now she has joined a group of vigorous practitioners of the Dharma. In her, the river of lust has gone dry, and so now you are free of her. Therefore, Ānanda! The many kalpas you have spent committing to memory the Thus-Come One’s esoteric, inconceivable, wondrous, and majestic Dharma are not equal to a single day spent cultivating karma that is free of outflows and is far removed from the two worldly torments of hate and lust. The young Mātaṅga woman was a courtesan, and yet her lust and desire were dispelled by the spiritual power of the mantra; now she is a bhikṣuṇī named Prakṛti. She and Rāhula’s mother, Yaśodharā, have both become aware of their previous lives, and they know that, among the causes of their actions during many lifetimes, their craving for emotional love was the cause of their suffering. Now they have escaped their bonds and have received predictions [of enlightenment]. Why do you then continue to cheat yourself by standing still, merely watching and listening?”
阿難及諸大眾聞佛示誨，疑惑銷除心悟實相，身意輕安得未曾有，重復悲淚頂禮佛足，長跪合掌而白佛言：「無上大悲清淨寶王善開我心，能以如是種種因緣方便提獎，引諸沈冥出於苦海。世尊！我今雖承如是法音，知如來藏妙覺明心遍十方界，含育如來十方國土，清淨寶嚴妙覺王剎；如來復責多聞無功，不逮修習。我今猶如旅泊之人，忽蒙天王賜以華屋，雖獲大宅要因門入。唯願如來不捨大悲，示我在會諸蒙暗者捐捨小乘，必獲如來無餘涅槃本發心路，令有學者從何攝伏疇昔攀緣，得陀羅尼入佛知見。」作是語已，五體投地，在會一心佇佛慈旨。
When Ānanda and the others in the great assembly had heard the Buddha’s instructions, their doubts and delusions were dispelled. Their minds awakened to the truth, and in body and mind they felt a serenity that they had never known before. Once again Ānanda wept as he bowed at the Buddha’s feet. Then he knelt, and with his palms joined he said respectfully to the Buddha, “The Supreme, Compassionate, Pure, and Noble King has skillfully opened our minds. In response to our various situations and circumstances, he has been able to urge us on and to pull us out of the sea of suffering in which we have been drowning. World-Honored One! Now that I have heard the Buddha explain this Dharma, I know that the tathāgatagarbha, which is the wondrous, enlightened mind that understands, extends throughout all ten directions. I know that it encompasses and supports the lands of the Thus-Come Ones in all ten directions — those pure and splendid lands of the Wondrous, Enlightened Kings. However, the Thus-Come One has also admonished me for merely listening to the Dharma without applying it to my practice. Now, therefore, I am like a wanderer who unexpectedly meets a celestial king. The king bestows upon the wanderer a magnificent house. The house is now his, yet in order to go in he will still need to find a door. I only hope that the Thus-Come One will not withhold his compassion from all of us in this assembly who are covered in darkness, so that we may renounce the Lesser Vehicle. May he show us the road that leads from our generation of bodhicitta to the Thus-Come Ones’ remainderless nirvāṇa. May he enable those of us who still need instruction to subdue our age-old habit of dependence on the objects of the senses, to master the dhāraṇī, and to gain the wisdom and vision of the Buddhas.” Having made this request, Ānanda bowed to the ground, and all in the assembly single-mindedly awaited the Buddha’s compassionate instruction.