by Bodhidharma
The essence of the Path is detachment; the method of practice is detaching from appearances. The sutras say, “Detachment is Bodhi (awakening / enlightenment), for it is no longer deluded by illusions.” Buddha means aware or awakened. Mortals who have realized complete awareness are called buddhas, just as the sutras saying, “Buddhas are those who free themselves from all appearances.”
The appearance of no appearance can’t be seen with eyes, but can only be known with wisdom. As you hear this teaching and give rise to faith, you embark on the Great Vehicle and leave the three realms (greed, anger, ignorance; the desire realm, the form realm, the formless realm) behind.
To leave the three realms means to replace greed, anger, and ignorance with discipline, meditation, and wisdom. Greed, anger, and ignorance have no nature of their own – their survival solely depends on their hosts. If you are capable of reflection and look into your own mind, you will see that the nature of greed, anger and ignorance is actually the buddha-nature. There is no buddha-nature separate from greed, anger, and ignorance. The sutras say, “Buddhas are those living with the three poisons yet nourishing themselves with purity and clarity.” The three poisons are greed, anger, and ignorance.
The Great Vehicle is the greatest of all vehicles, the conveyance of all bodhisattvas and buddhas, who use everything without using anything, who travel without traveling. The sutras say, “No vehicle is the vehicle of buddhas.”
If you realize that the six senses are not real, that the five skandhas are fictional, that nothing can be located anywhere, then you understand the teachings of the Buddha. The sutras say, “The cave of five aggregates is the Court of Zen. The opening of the inner eye is the door to the Great Vehicle.” How clear and concise!
Not holding on to anything is Zen. Once you realize this, everything you do – walking, standing, sitting, or lying down – whatever it is, is Zen. To see the mind is empty is to see the buddha. Why? The buddhas of the ten directions abide in no-mind.
To give up yourself without attachment is the greatest charity. To transcend motion and stillness is the highest meditation. Mortals are restless, and arhats are still. Yet the highest meditation surpasses both activity and passivity. People who realize this free themselves from all appearances without effort, and they cure all illnesses without treatment. Such is the power of great Zen.
To search for the Truth with the discriminating mind is confusion. Not giving rise to discrimination is enlightenment. Freeing oneself from words is liberation. Remaining untouched by the world of senses and ideas is guarding the Dharma. Transcending life and death is giving up earthly existence. Breaking off the cycle of samsara is realizing the Way. When the mind makes no more discriminations, it is nirvana. Not dwelling in ignorance is perfecting wisdom. Not suffering from affliction is abiding in nirvana. The place of no mind and no appearance is the other shore.
When you’re deluded, there is still a difference between this and that; once you wake up, this shore no longer exists. Only unenlightened mortals remain on this shore. Those who have realized the greatest of all vehicles, however, they are freed from bondage. So they dwell neither on this shore nor on the other shore. Anyone who sees the other shore as different from this one, their mind has wandered astray.
Delusion means mortality, and awareness means Buddhahood. They are neither the same nor different. The only difference lies in delusion or awareness. When one is deluded, there is a world to escape from; when one is enlightened, there is nothing to escape.
In the light of the non-dualistic Dharma, ordinary people look no different from arhats. The sutras say, “The non-dualistic Dharma is something that mortals don’t get, while sages don’t do.” Only great bodhisattvas and buddhas practice nonduality. To look on life as different from death, or to look on motion as different from stillness, is dualistic view. To be non-dualistic means to look on samsara as no different from nirvana. Because the nature of all phenomena is emptiness. Arhats imagine that they can end suffering by achieving nirvana, so they end up being trapped in nirvana.
Bodhisattvas know that suffering is empty, so by realizing emptiness they attain nirvana. Nirvana means non-duality, no birth and no death. It is beyond birth and death, and beyond nirvana. When the mind stops making discrimination, it enters nirvana. Nirvana is no mind. Buddhas abide in a place where delusions don’t exist, therefore they abide in nirvana. Bodhisattvas abide in a place where afflictions don’t exist, therefore they abide in the Way.
A place of leisure and freedom is one without greed, anger, and ignorance. Greed is the realm of desire, anger the realm of form, and ignorance the formless realm. When a thought arises, you enter the three realms. When a thought vanishes, you leave the three realms. The birth and death of the three realms, the existence or nonexistence of anything, depends on the mind. This applies to everything and all things, including stones and trees, sentient beings or insentient.
If you know that your mind is a fiction without real entity, you know that your mind neither exists nor doesn’t exist. Mortals keep giving rise to thoughts, claiming that mind exists. And arhats keep eliminating thoughts, claiming that mind doesn’t exist. Bodhisattvas and buddhas neither fabricate nor negate the mind, allowing it to neither exist nor non-exist. The state of mind that neither exists nor non-exists is called the Middle Way.
If you use your discriminating mind to study reality, you fail in both mind and reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you’ll realize both mind and reality. Those who don’t understand, don’t understand awakening. Those who understand, understand not awakening. People who are awakened know that the mind is empty. They transcend both awareness and delusion. The absence of both right understanding and wrong understanding is true understanding.
Form doesn’t become form by itself; it has to depend on mind to become form. For the same reason, mind is not mind without form. Mind and form create and negate each other. Existence exists only in relation to non-existence. Likewise, non-existence exists only because of existence. This is true view. Seen with such vision, nothing is not seen, yet nothing is seen. It can penetrate the ten directions without actual seeing. Why? Because nothing is seen, not seeing is realized, and ultimately seeing is not seeing. What mortals see are all delusions. True vision is not defined by seeing or non-seeing.
The mind and the world are corresponding – the mind generates ideas and views, which manifest in the outside world. If your mind doesn’t stir inside, the world doesn’t arise outside. When the world and the mind are both undefiled and unmoved, it is called true vision. And such understanding is true view.
To see nothing is to realize the Way, and to intellectualize nothing is to know the Dharma. Why? Because true seeing is neither seeing nor not seeing, and true understanding is neither understanding nor not understanding. Seeing without seeing is true vision, and understanding without conceptualizing is true realization.
True vision isn’t just seeing it, but also seeing what lies beyond seeing. True realization isn’t just realizing realization, but also realizing what goes beyond realization. If there is something to realize, you still don’t realize. Once you find nothing to realize, you truly realize. To realize or not to realize, is not yet realization. The sutras say, “Clinging to wisdom is ignorance.” When the mind is empty, realization and non-realization are both the Way. If the mind still exists, however, either realizing or not realizing just gives rise to delusion.
If you truly realize, the world is shaped by you; otherwise, you are controlled by the world. When the world is in your sovereignty, everything becomes workable, and everything leads to nirvana. When you are controlled by the outside world, everything becomes limitation, and everything leads to samsara.
Therefore, the sages never use their mind to search for the Truth, neither do they use the Way to look for their mind, nor do they seek Mind with their own (discriminating) mind, nor do they seek Truth with the Dharma. Simply, their mind doesn’t give birth to reality, and reality doesn’t give rise to mind. Both their mind and reality cease to stir, thus they are constantly in samadhi (a state of utter concentration, a union state with the Divine).
When the ordinary (dualistic) mind appears, buddhas disappear. As soon as the ordinary mind ceases to be, buddhas appear. When attachment appears, the Truth disappears. Only when the mind lets go of clinging, the Truth appears. If you know that nothing is bound by anything, you have found the Way. If you know that the mind is unbound by anything, you abide in the Way.
When you don’t realize, you have defilements. Once you realize, you are purified. Why? Because the nature of defilement is empty. When you are in confusion, you see pure as impure. Once you understand, you know impure is empty and nothing is impure. Why? Because impure has no (permanent) dwelling place. The sutras say, “Nothing has a nature of its own. Stay mindful, don’t get lost in doubts. When you go astray, you have committed wrong.” Wrong is the result of a questioning, wandering mind. Once you realize this, all the wrong deeds of your past lives are wiped clean!
When you still linger in duality, the six senses and five skandhas are constructs of suffering and samsara. When you wake up though, the six senses and five skandhas are constructs of non-suffering and nirvana.
As a practitioner, you don’t go outside to seek the Way. You know that the mind is the Way. But when you search the mind, you find nothing. And when you realize the Way, you find nothing. If people say they find the Way using their mind, it’s just delusion. In delusion, there are buddhas and dharmas existing. In mindfulness, nothing exists. Because mindfulness itself is Buddhahood.
As a practitioner seeking the Way, you’ll see that the Way appears only when your body disappears. Like stripping bark from a tree, this karmic body has to undergo constant transformation. Because of the flickering nature of the (ordinary) mind, there is no fixed reality – you can only practice by going with the flow of your thoughts. Don’t hate anything, including life and death; don’t love anything, including life and death. Simply keep every thought free of delusion, then in life you’ll realize the dawning of nirvana, and in death you’ll attain complete liberation.
To see form but not be deluded by form, and to hear sound but not be deluded by sound, these are all liberation. Eyes that aren’t attached to form are the Entrance to Zen. Ears that aren’t attached to sound are the Entrance to Zen. To sum up, in the face of all phenomena, those who remain fully aware of their empty nature and remain unattached are liberated, and those who cling to appearances are still in bondage.
Liberation means being freed from the bondage to fears, worries, affliction of all sorts. There is no other liberation. When you look at form in a neutral, non-dualistic and unattached way, form doesn’t give rise to mind and mind doesn’t give rise to form. Both form and mind are pure and free.
Free of delusions, the mind is the land of Buddhas. Occupied by delusions, the mind is hell. Ordinary people create delusions with their minds and therefore always find themselves in hell. Bodhisattvas are mindful about delusions and not creating delusions with their minds, therefore they are constantly in the land of Buddhas. If your mind is not generating delusions, but simply being in a still, non-dualistic, empty state, you go from buddha-land to buddha-land. However, if your mind constantly gives rise to mind, then it is never still and always in motion, and you go from one hell to another. When a thought arises, it brings about good and bad karma, heaven and hell, and the cycle never ends. When no thought arises, no karma is created, giving rise to neither heaven nor hell, and liberation is reached.
The body neither exists nor not exist. For people in samsara it exists, for enlightened beings it doesn’t. The mind of a sage is as empty and spacious as the sky. Everything that follows hereafter is realized on the Way, no longer limited to the ken of arhats or mortals.
Once the mind reaches nirvana, one doesn’t see nirvana. Why? For the mind is already nirvana. If you see nirvana somewhere outside the mind, you’re deluded.
All suffering is buddha-seed; one seeks wisdom because of suffering. You can say suffering gives rise to Buddhahood; but you can’t equate suffering as Buddhahood. Therefore, your body and mind are the field, suffering is the seed, wisdom the sprout, and Buddhahood the harvest.
The Buddha in the mind is like the fragrance in a tree. When a mind is free of suffering, the Buddha shows up. In the same case, if a tree is free of decay, fragrance naturally occurs. Therefore, there’s no fragrance without the tree, and no Buddha comes from outside the mind. A fragrance that comes from outside the tree is not the tree’s fragrance. A Buddha that comes from outside the mind is not the mind’s Buddha.
When your mind still has the three poisons (greed, hatred, and ignorance), it is called a filthy land. When your mind is freed from the three poisons, it is called a pure land. The sutras say, “If you fill your land with impurity and filth, no Buddha will appear.” Impurity and filth refer to delusions and the three poisons. Buddha means a purified and awakened mind.
Both speech and silence are the Dharma. As long as you’re not attached to speech, even if you talk all day, you still walk the Way. If you’re attached to speech, even if you remain silent all day, you go astray. Therefore, a Buddha expresses nothing through either silence or speech, and a Buddha’s speech is no difference from silence – once you understand it, you are in samadhi (a realized state).
Spoken from a knowing mind, the speech is free. Silent with an ignorant mind, the silence is tied. Therefore, spoken without attachment, the speech is free. Silent with attachment, the silence is tied. Language is inherently free; what’s tied is the mind. Language has nothing to do with attachment; what’s attached is the mind.
There is no high path or low path. If you make the distinction between high and low, you’re lost. The Way is a raft not because it is a raft by itself, but because we use it as a raft. A person can cross the river riding it, therefore it becomes the Way.
From a worldly point of view, there’re male and female, rich and poor. According to the Way though, there’s neither male or female, nor rich or poor. In the Vimalakirti Sutra, when the goddess realized the Way, there’s no change to her gender or form. When the stable boy realized the Truth, there’s no change to his job title. No matter in what form or identity, they’re sharing the same inner nature. The goddess searched twelve years for her female form without success. She would be fruitless too if she searched twelve years for a male form. Those twelve years refer to the twelve entrances.
Without the mind there’s no Buddha; without the Buddha there’s no awakened mind. Likewise, without water there’s no ice, and without ice there’s no water. When we talk about leaving the mind, we don’t mean leaving the mind faraway; we mean detaching from all appearances of the mind. The sutra says, “When no appearance is seen, the Buddha is seen.”
Without the mind there’s no Buddha – it means that the Buddha is from the mind, that the mind gives rise to the Buddha. Although the Buddha comes from the mind, the mind doesn’t come from the Buddha. Just like fish come from water, but water doesn’t come from fish. If you want to see a fish, you see the water first. In the same way, if you want to see a Buddha, you see the mind first. Once the fish is seen, one forgets about the water. Likewise, once you have seen the Buddha, you forget about the mind. If you don’t forget about the mind, you are confused by the mind.
Ignorance and enlightenment are like water and ice. To be afflicted by the three poisons is ignorance. To be purified by the three releases (emptiness, formlessness, aimlessness) is enlightenment. What freezes into ice in winter is what melts into water in summer. Ice and water are inherently one; they share the same nature. Without ignorance there’s no enlightenment either, the very nature of ignorance is the nature of enlightenment. Just like aconite and monkshood come up in different season, but they share the same root. Because of discriminations, we name ignorance and enlightenment differently. When someone becomes enlightened, their look remains the same, just like a snake still has its scales after becoming a dragon. Through introspection we know our mind; through external exertion we shape our body.
Sentient beings liberate Buddhas and Buddhas liberate sentient beings – this is what Oneness means. Beings liberate Buddhas because suffering brings about wisdom. Buddhas liberate beings because wisdom ends suffering. Therefore both suffering and enlightenment are requisites for each other. If it weren’t for suffering, there would be nothing to give rise to awareness. And if it weren’t for awareness, there would be nothing to bring an end to suffering. When you’re deluded, Buddhas liberate you. When you’re awakened, you liberate Buddhas. Buddhas don’t become Buddhas on their own – they’re liberated by sentient beings. Buddhas regard ignorance as their father and greed as their mother. Ignorance and greed are different names for beings. Beings and ignorance are like the left hand and the right hand, otherwise they are exactly the same.
When you’re deluded, you’re on this shore. When you’re awakened, you’re on the other shore. If you know the mind is empty and you see no appearances, then you are beyond delusion and mindfulness. Once you are beyond delusion and enlightenment, the other shore ceases to exist. The tathagata is neither on this shore nor on the other shore, nor in midstream. Arhats are in midstream, and sentient beings are on this shore. The other shore is Bodhi.
Buddhas have three bodies: transformation body, reward body, and Dharma body. Transformation body is also called response body, which appears when mortals do good deeds, while reward body appears when mortals cultivate wisdom, and Dharma body when they realize emptiness. The transformation body is the one flying in all directions to rescue those in need. The reward body puts an end to your doubts and irresolution, spurs you on to liberation, and the Great Enlightenment Attained in the Himalayas suddenly becomes true for you. The Dharma body doesn’t say or do anything but resides in calm and clarity. Get to the bottom of it though, there’s not even one Buddha-body, where does three come from? It all depends on a person’s understanding. People have different levels of understanding, which can be upper, moderate, or lower.
People of lower level pray for worldly blessings and mistake the transformation body for the Buddha. People of moderate level seek for putting an end to suffering and mistake the reward body for the Buddha. And people of upper level try to experience nirvana and mistake the Dharma body for the Buddha. Only people of superior level turn inward, distracted by nothing, knowing that their mind is already the Buddha, that the so-called three bodies are as unreliable and pointless as the ten thousand things, and therefore they realize the Buddha’s wisdom mind, reach the Way, and attain liberation. The sutras say, “Buddhas don’t preach. They don’t liberate. And they don’t attain Buddhahood.” So it is.
Sentient beings create karma, not the other way around. They create karma in this life and receive its effect in the next. The cycle never ends. Only the enlightened no longer create karma and therefore cause no more effect. The sutras say, “Who creates no karma naturally realizes the Way.” Every word rings true! You create karma, not karma creates you; once you have created karma, karma follows you around; when you stop creating karma, karma and you cease to exist. Hence, mankind creates karma, which creates mankind. If mankind doesn’t create karma, then no karma will create mankind. Likewise, a person can promote and transmit Dharma, but Dharma can’t promote a person.
Unenlightened people keep creating karma, and refusing to believe in retribution, but can they deny suffering? Can they ever escape the fate that they reap what they sow? If the present state of mind sows nothing, the future state of mind reaps nothing.
The sutras say, “If you believe in Buddhas and imagine that Buddhas are ascetics, you are deluded. If you believe in Buddhas and imagine that Buddhas are filthy rich, you are deluded as well. You are simply incapable of faith.”
A sage realizes the way of sages. A mortal realizes the way of mortals. A mortal who gives up the way of mortals and follows the way of sages becomes a sage. But the fools of this world go outside searching for sages from afar, without realizing that the nature of their own mind is the sage. The sutras say, “Don’t preach this sutra among the fools.”
The sutras also say, “Mind is the teaching; a fool is whoever doesn’t realize their own mind. If only they could understand the teaching, they would become a sage. But they prefer to seek knowledge from faraway and pursue things in air, such as buddha-images, incense, lights and colors. They are lost in confusion and insanity.”
And the sutras say, “If you see that all appearances are not what they appear, you see the Buddha.” The countless manifestations all come from the mind; if the mind is as clear as the empty space, they can only come and go but never stay.
Our endless delusions are the roots of disease and illness. When mortals are living, they worry about dying. When they are full, they worry about hunger. Constantly they are in the Great Imperfection. Sages don’t regret about the past, they don’t worry about the future, and they don’t cling to the present. From moment to moment they simply follow the Way. If you haven’t awakened to this Great Perfection, you’d better hurry to pursue continued prosperity on Earth or in Heaven.
達摩祖師悟性論
渝州華嚴寺沙門釋宗鏡校刻
夫道者；以寂滅為體。修者；以離相為宗。故經云：寂滅是菩提，滅諸相故。佛者覺也；人有覺心，得菩提道，故名為佛。經云：離一切諸相，即名諸佛。是知有相，是無相之相。不可以眼見，唯可以智知。若聞此法者，生一念信心，此人以發大乘超三界。三界者：貪瞋癡是。返貪瞋癡為戒定慧，即名超三界。然貪瞋癡亦無實性，但據眾生而言矣。若能返照，了了見貪瞋癡性即是佛性，貪瞋癡外更無別有佛性，經云：諸佛從本來，常處於三毒，長養於白法，而成於世尊。三毒者：貪瞋癡也。言大乘最上乘者，皆是菩薩所行之處，無所不乘，亦無所乘，終日乘未嘗乘，此為佛乘。經云：無乘為佛乘也。若人知六根不實，五蘊假名，遍體求之，必無定處，當知此人解佛語。經云：五蘊窟宅名禪院。內照開解即大乘門，可不明哉。不憶一切法，乃名為禪定。若了此言者，行住坐臥皆禪定。知心是空，名為見佛。何以故？十方諸佛皆以無心，不見於心，名為見佛。捨身不吝，名大布施。離諸動定，名大坐禪。何以故？凡夫一向動，小乘一向定，謂出過凡夫小乘之坐禪，名大坐禪。若作此會者，一切諸相不求自解，一切諸病不治自差，此皆大禪定力。凡將心求法者為迷，不將心求法者為悟。不著文字名解脫；不染六塵名護法；出離生死名出家；不受後有名得道；不生妄想名涅槃；不處無明為大智慧；無煩惱處名般涅槃；無心相處名為彼岸。迷時有此岸，若悟時無此岸。何以故？為凡夫一向住此。若覺最上乘者，心不住此，亦不住彼，故能離於此彼岸也。若見彼岸異於此岸，此人之心，已得無禪定。煩惱名眾生，悟解名菩提，亦不一不異，只隔具迷悟耳。迷時有世間可出，悟時無世間可出。平平等法中，不見凡夫異於聖人。經云：平等法者，凡夫不能入，聖人不能行。平等法者，唯有大菩薩與諸佛如來行也。若見生異於死，動異於靜，皆名不平等。不見煩惱異於涅槃，是名平等。何以故？煩惱與涅槃，同一性空故。是以小乘人妄斷煩惱，妄入涅槃為涅槃所滯。菩薩知煩惱性空，即不離空，故常在涅槃。涅槃者：涅而不生，槃而不死，出離生死，出般涅槃。心無去來，即入涅槃。是知涅槃即是空心。諸佛入涅槃者，為在無妄想處。菩薩入道場者，即是無煩惱處。空閑處者，即是無貪瞋癡也。貪為欲界、瞋為色界、癡為無色界，若一念心生，即入三界；一念心滅，即出三界。是知三界生滅，萬法有無，皆由一心。凡言一法者：似破瓦石竹木無情之物。若知心是假名，無有實體，即知自家之心亦是非有，亦是非無。何以故？凡夫一向生心，名為有；小乘一向滅心，名為無；菩薩與佛未曾生心，未曾滅心，名為非有非無心；非有非無心，此名為中道。是知持心學法，則心法俱迷；不持心學法，則心法俱悟。凡迷者：迷於悟，悟者：悟於迷。正見之人，知心空無，即超迷悟。無有迷悟，始名正解、正見。色不自色，由心故色；心不自心，由色故心，是知心色兩相俱生滅。有者有於無，無者無於有，是名真見。夫真見者，無所不見，亦無所見，見滿十方，未曾有見。何以故？無所見故，見無見故，見非見故。凡夫所見，皆名妄想。若寂滅無見，始名真見。心境相對，見生於中，若內不起心，則外不生境，境心俱淨，乃名為真見。作此解時，乃名正見。不見一切法，乃名得道；不解一切法，乃名解法。何以故？見與不見，俱不見故；解與不解，俱不解故。無見之見，乃名真見；無解之解，乃名大解。夫正見者：非直見於見，亦乃見於不見。真解者：非直解於解，亦乃解於無解。凡有所解，皆名不解；無所解者，始名正解；解與不解，俱非解也。經云：不捨智慧名愚癡。以心為空，解與不解俱是真；以心為有，解與不解俱是妄。若解時法逐人，若不解時人逐法。若法逐於人，則非法成法；若人逐於法，則法成非法。若人逐於法，則法皆妄；若法逐於人，則法皆真。是以聖人亦不將心求法，亦不將法求心，亦不將心求心，亦不將法求法。所以心不生法，法不生心，心法兩寂，故常為在定。眾生心生，則佛法滅；眾生心滅，則佛法生。心生則真法滅，心滅則真法生。已知一切法各各不相屬，是名得道人。知心不屬一切法，此人常在道場。迷時有罪，解時無罪。何以故？罪性空故。若迷時無罪見罪，若解時即罪非罪。何以故？罪無處所故。經云：諸法無性，真用莫疑，疑即成罪。何以故？罪因疑惑而生。若作此解者，前世罪業即為消滅。迷時六識五陰皆是煩惱生死法，悟時六識五陰皆是涅槃無生死法。修道人不外求道。何以故？知心是道；若得心時，無心可得；若得道時，無道可得。若言將心求道得者，皆名邪見。迷時有佛有法，悟無佛無法。何以故？悟即是佛法。夫修道者：身滅道成。亦如甲折樹。生此業報身，念念無常，無一定法，但隨念修之；亦不得厭生死，亦不得愛生死；但念念之中，不得妄想；則生證有餘涅槃，死入無生法忍。眼見色時，不染於色；耳聞聲時，不染於聲；皆解脫也。眼不著色，眼為禪門；耳不著聲，耳為禪門。總而言，見色有見色性，不著常解脫；見色相者常繫縛。不為煩惱所繫縛者，即名解脫，更無別解脫。善觀色者，色不生心，心不生色，即色與心俱清淨。無妄想時，一心是一佛國，有妄想時，一心一是地獄。眾生造作妄想，以心生心，故常在地獄。菩薩觀察妄想，不以心生心，常在佛國。若不以心生心，則心心入空，念念歸靜，從一佛國至一佛國。若以心生心，則心心不靜，念念歸動，從一地獄歷一地獄。若一念心起，則有善惡二業，有天堂地獄；若一念心不起，即無善惡二業，亦無天堂地獄。為體非有非無，在凡即有，在聖即無。聖人無其心，故胸臆空洞，與天同量。此已下並是大道中證，非小乘及凡夫境界也。心得涅槃時，即不見有涅槃。何以故？心是涅槃。若心外更見涅槃，此名著邪見也。一切煩惱為如來種心，為因煩惱而得智慧。只可道煩惱生如來，不可得道煩惱是如來。故身心為田疇，煩惱為種子，智慧為萌芽，如來喻於穀也。佛在心中，如香在樹中；煩惱若盡，佛從心出；朽腐若盡，香從樹出。即知樹外無香，心外無佛。若樹外有香，即是他香；心外有佛，即是他佛。心中有三毒者，是名國土穢惡；心中無三毒者，是名國土清淨。經云：若使國土不淨，穢惡充滿，諸佛世尊於中出者，無有此事。不淨穢惡者，即無明三毒是；諸佛世尊者，即清淨覺悟心是。一切言語無非佛法；若能無其所言，而盡日言是道；若能有其所言，即終日默而非道。是故如來言不乘默，默不乘言，言不離默；悟此言默者，皆在三昧。若知時而言，言亦解脫；若不知時而默，默亦繫縛。是故言若離相，言亦名解脫；默若著相，默即是繫縛。夫文字者：本性解脫。文字不能就繫縛，繫縛自本來未就文字。法無高下，若見高下非法也。非法為筏，是法為人筏者。人乘其筏者，即得渡於非法，則是法也。若世俗言，即有男女貴賤；以道言之，即無男女貴賤。以是天女悟道，不變女形；車匿解真，寧移賤稱乎。此蓋非男女貴賤，皆由一相也。天女於十二年中，求女相了不可得，即知於十二年中，求男相亦不可得。十二年者，即十二入是也。離心無佛，離佛無心；亦如離水無冰，亦如離冰無水。凡言離心者，非是遠離於心，但使不著心相。經云：不見相，名為見佛。即是離心相也。離心無佛者；言佛從心出，心能生佛。然佛從心生，而心未嘗生於佛。亦如魚生於水，水不生於魚。欲觀於魚，未見魚，而先見水。欲觀佛者，未見佛，而先見心。即知已見魚者，忘於水；已見佛者，忘於心。若不忘於心，尚為心所惑；若不忘於水，尚被水所迷。眾生與菩提，亦如冰之與水；為三毒所燒，即名眾生；為三解脫所淨，即名菩提。為三冬所凍，即名為冰；為三夏所消，即名為水。若捨卻冰，即無別水；若棄卻眾生，則無別菩提。明知冰性即是水性，水性即是冰性。眾生性者，即菩提性也。眾生與菩提同一性，亦如烏頭與附子共根耳；但時節不同，迷異境故，有眾生菩提二名矣。是以蛇化為龍，不改其鱗；凡變為聖，不改其面。但知心者智內，照身者戒外。真眾生度佛，佛度眾生，是名平等。眾生度佛者，煩惱生悟解。佛度眾生者，悟解滅煩惱。是知非無煩惱，非無悟解；是知非煩惱無以生悟解，非悟解無以滅煩惱。若迷時佛度眾生，若悟時眾生度佛。何以故？佛不自成，皆由眾生度故。諸佛以無明為父，貪愛為母，無明貪愛皆是眾生別名也。眾生與無明，亦如左掌與右掌，更無別也。迷時在此岸，悟時在彼岸。若知心空不見相，則離迷悟；既離迷悟，亦無彼岸。如來不在此岸，亦不在彼岸，不在中流。中流者，小乘人也；此岸者，凡夫也。彼岸菩提也。佛有三身者；化身報身法身；化身亦云應身。若眾生常作善時即化身，現修智慧時即報身，現覺無為即法身。常現飛騰十方隨宜救濟者，化身佛也。若斷惑即是雪山成道，報身佛也。無言無說，無作無得，湛然常住，法身佛也。若論至理一佛尚無，何得有三？此謂三身者，但據人智也。人有上中下說，下智之人妄興福力也，妄見化身佛；中智之人妄斷煩惱，妄見報身佛；上智之人妄證菩提，妄見法身佛；上上智之人內照圓寂，明心即佛不待心而得佛智，知三身與萬法皆不可取不可說，此即解脫心，成於大道。經云：佛不說法，不度眾生，不證菩提。此之謂矣！眾生造業，業不造眾生。今世造業，後世受報，無有脫時。唯有至人，於此身中，不造諸業，故不受報。經云：諸業不造，自然得道。豈虛言哉！人能造業，業不能造人；人若造業，業與人俱生；人若不造業，業與人俱滅。是知業由人造，人由業生。人若不造業，即業無由生人也。亦如人能弘道，道不能弘人。今之凡夫，往往造業，妄說無報，豈至少不苦哉。若以至少而理前心，造後心報，何有脫時？若前心不造，即後心無報，復安妄見業報？經云：雖信有佛，言佛苦行，是名邪見。雖信有佛，言佛有金鏘馬麥之報，是名信不具足，是名一闡提。解聖法名為聖人，解凡法者名為凡夫。但能捨凡法就聖法，即凡夫成聖人矣。世間愚人，但欲遠求聖人，不信慧解之心為聖人也。經云：無智人中，莫說此經。經云：心也法也，無智之人，不信此心。解法成於聖人，但欲遠外求學，愛慕空中佛像光明香色等事，皆墮邪見，失心狂亂。經云：若見諸相非相，即見如來。八萬四千法門，盡由一心而起。若心相內淨，猶如虛空，即出離身心內，八萬四千煩惱為病本也。凡夫當生憂死，飽臨愁肌，皆名大惑。所以聖人不謀其前，不慮其後，無戀當今，念念歸道。若未悟此大理者，即須早求人天之善，無令兩失。
夜坐偈云
一更端坐結跏趺。怡神寂照泯同虛。曠劫由來不生滅。何須生滅滅無餘。
一切諸法皆如幻。本性自空那用除。若識心性非形像。湛然不動自真如。
二更凝神轉明淨。不起憶想同真性。森羅萬像併歸空。更執有空還是病。
諸法本自非空有。凡夫妄想論邪正。若能不二其居懷。誰道即凡非是聖。
三更心淨等虛空。遍滿十方無不通。山河石壁無能障。恆沙世界在其中。
世界本性真如性。亦無無性即含融。非但諸佛能如此。有情之類並皆同。
四更無滅亦無生。量與虛空法界平。無去無來無起滅。非有非無非暗明。
不起諸見如來見。無名可名真佛名。唯有悟者應能識。未會眾生由若盲。
五更般若照無邊。不起一念歷三千。欲見真如平等性。慎勿生心即目前。
妙理玄奧非心測。不用尋逐令疲極。若能無念即真求。更若有求還不識。
Buddha Mind 