No. 1077-A重刻准提淨業序
Preface to the Re-engraving of Pure Karma through Cundi
甞聞之。有物先天地。無形本寂寥。能為萬象主。不逐四時凋。蓋無形萬形之元。性宗之秘奧。三教聖人所不能外者。後趙文肅公畫一圓相○。目之為混元圖。又加卍字其中[○@卍]。目之為萬字輪相圖。余甞三復於斯。竊謂。真空也。妙有也。一為無量。無量為一者也。何獨於准提淨業而疑之。歲戊午之至日。余夢。近溪羅先生示余圓圖曰。子眼清利。常觀此。則入道速疾。已又語一僧。持二籤授余。余目籤。有南字。恍然曰吾師也。即泣下霑襟。覺而惕然。不識所謂。俄有僧德庵。持疏募造千手千眼大悲觀音像。余解曰。籤千聲相近。非即大悲千手千眼之謂耶。已而扣之。則善梵呪也。且能作准提梵字曰。是西域高僧所傳。對梵藏本相合的真。可信者也。因作月輪圓相。安九聖梵字布畫。皆精妙可喜。余憶疇昔之夜。夢近溪先生示我圓圖。雖無文字。而文字曷甞不在其中。今僧人授我梵書。雖立文字。而亦無文字相可得。盖先師塘南先生命教也久矣。先是塘師訪近翁。論及准提功德。歸而語給諫賀少龍公。給諫受持久之。夢童子送九華衣。遂得生天。後見夢。以相謝教。時舉而詢之。先師曰。然顧此福報耳。乃出普賢行願品曰。汝以此經。與准提同觀。即得圓宗之意。教於是服膺不忘。而第疑梵字無據。難以入觀。不意。乃今若神告之也。夫普賢願王。導歸極樂。固與淨業。相為表裏者。而或者見捨穢取淨。疑與圓宗有隔。不知混元一圖。固無量妙義。百千三昧之所從出也。九聖梵字。即體是毗盧法界。六八願門。即體是普賢行海。變娑婆為極樂。即極樂為華藏。皆即大悲之手眼也。夫大悲余何敢知。而此准提淨業顯密觀門。儻亦所謂無量之一耶。若圓觀圓修。而超出乎文字之外。則俟乎觀象得意之君子。
I once heard it said: There is something that exists before Heaven and Earth, formless and originally silent. It can be the master of all phenomena, yet does not fade with the changing seasons. This formlessness is the source of all forms, the secret essence of reality's true nature—that which even the sages of the Three Teachings cannot transcend. Later, Minister Zhao Wensu drew a circle (〇), calling it the "Diagram of Primordial Chaos," and added a swastika (卍) within it, naming it the "Diagram of the Wheel of the Swastika." I have often reflected on this, thinking to myself: It speaks of true emptiness and wondrous existence—the one becomes the limitless, the limitless becomes the one. Why, then, doubt this in relation to the pure practice of Cundi?
On the winter solstice of the year Wu-Wu, I dreamed that Master Luo Jinxi showed me a circle, saying, "Your eyes are clear and sharp. Always contemplate this, and you will enter the path quickly." Then he spoke with a monk, who handed me two slips. I looked at the slips and saw the character "Nan" (南). Suddenly I understood: "He is my teacher!" I wept, tears soaking my collar. Upon waking, I was startled, unsure of the meaning. Soon after, a monk named De'an came with a donation letter for the construction of a statue of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin of Great Compassion. I thought to myself, "The character 'qian' (千 'thousand') sounds similar to 'sign'—could this not refer to the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Great Compassion?" Later, I learned that this monk was skilled in Sanskrit mantras and could write the Sanskrit characters of Cundi, saying, "These are passed down from eminent Western monks, matching the authentic Sanskrit texts—trustworthy indeed." He then created a moon-disc diagram, arranging the nine sacred Sanskrit characters in a refined and exquisite pattern.
I recalled that past night's dream: Master Luo Jinxi showed me a circle diagram. Though it had no written words, words were never absent from it. Now this monk showed me Sanskrit texts, which, though they have written form, are also without any fixed form of written words. Truly, this has been the teaching of my late Master Tangnan for a long time. Earlier, Master Tangnan visited Master Luo Jinxi, discussing the merits of Cundi, and on returning, shared this with the censor He Shaolong. The censor received this teaching and practiced it for a long time. He dreamed a youth sent him a robe of nine-colored flowers, and thus he was reborn in heaven. Later, he appeared in a dream to thank Master Tangnan for his guidance. Master Tangnan, when asked about this, said, "Indeed, but this is merely a karmic reward." He then brought out the "Chapter on the Vows of Samantabhadra," saying, "Contemplate this sutra together with Cundi, and you will grasp the meaning of the Perfect Teaching." I took this teaching to heart and never forgot it, but I still doubted the lack of basis for the Sanskrit characters, finding it hard to enter contemplation. I never expected that now, it would seem as if the gods themselves had shown me!
Now, the King of Vows, Samantabhadra, guides beings toward Ultimate Bliss. This is indeed mutually supportive with the practice of Pure Land. Some may see this as abandoning the defiled for the pure and suspect it is separate from the Perfect Teaching. They do not realize that the Primordial Chaos diagram inherently contains limitless wondrous meanings and a hundred thousand samadhis. The nine sacred Sanskrit characters are themselves the Dharma Realm of Vairocana. The vows of Amitabha (the forty-eight vows) are themselves the ocean of Samantabhadra's practices. Transforming the Saha world into the Land of Ultimate Bliss, and seeing the Land of Ultimate Bliss as the Lotus Treasury—these are all the hands and eyes of Great Compassion. As for Great Compassion—how dare I presume to understand it fully? But this practice of Cundi and Pure Land, this gateway of both exoteric and esoteric contemplation—might it not also be the "One" manifesting as the "Limitless"? As for perfect contemplation and perfect practice, transcending the realm of written words, that shall await the enlightened who perceive the meaning within the symbols.
天啟癸亥中元之吉古虔青蓮居士 謝于教 沐手焚香書
In the good year of Tianqi Guihai, on the auspicious day of the Zhongyuan Festival, I, Xie Yujiao, the lay Buddhist of Qinglian from Ancient Qianzhou, washed my hands, burned incense, and wrote this text.