No. 1309-A重刻正法眼藏序
Preface to the Reprint of the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye
正法眼藏者。難言也。請以喻明。譬如淨眼洞見森羅。取之無窮。用之無盡。故名曰藏。夫藏者。含藏最廣。邪正相襍。涇渭難辯。甚至邪能奪正。正反為邪。故似泉眼不通泥沙立壅。法眼不正邪見層出。剔抉泥沙而泉眼通。剪除邪見而法眼正。自非至人其何擇焉。昔竺乾有九十六種背正趨邪。二十八人摧邪持正。逮家東土白馬西來。正教始興於濁世。名相尋陷於邪宗。由是達磨大師掃除繁萎直示本心。嗣後五宗分派各別門風。會其樞要。卓乎純正。詎意人根䆮劣。法久獘生。或承虗接響。以盲枷瞎棒妄號通宗。或守拙抱愚。以一味不言目為本分。或彷彿依稀自稱了悟。或搖唇鼓舌以當平生。如是有百二十家癡禪。自賺賺人。淪溺狂邪。故我大慧老人承悲願力。運無畏心。決擇五家。提挈最正者凡百餘人。裒以成帙。目曰正法眼藏。是書也。如懸白澤裘。精妖喪魄。秉金剛劍。魔外潛踪。四七古錐宗眼。二三老漢家珍。不涉程途。一覽具足。知為後學指南無加此矣。時有繡水普善庵沙門慧悅居士。春門徐弘澤。自慶奇遇嗟彼未聞。冀報佛恩募資重刻。屬余為序。以貽同志。而參學者即使遊法界無邊之門。融古今剎那之念。猶是功勳邊事。若能了悟則自心何知。自眼何見。非見非知。是真得正法眼藏者矣。
The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is difficult to express in words. Let me explain with a metaphor. It is like a clear eye that sees the entire universe—limitless in what it can grasp, inexhaustible in its application. That is why it is called a treasury.
A treasury contains the broadest range of things, where truth and falsehood mix, making them hard to distinguish. Sometimes falsehood can overpower truth, and truth can even be mistaken for falsehood. Just as a spring clogged with mud cannot flow, when the Dharma eye is not clear, distorted views arise in layers. Remove the mud, and the spring flows freely; cut away distorted views, and the Dharma eye becomes clear. Who but a sage can discern this?
In ancient India, ninety-six schools turned away from truth toward falsehood, while twenty-eight masters upheld truth by dispelling falsehood. When Buddhism came eastward to China, the true teaching began to flourish in this turbid world, yet its concepts soon fell into distorted schools. Thus, Master Bodhidharma swept away the overgrowth and directly pointed to the original mind. After him, the five schools branched out, each with its own style, yet all converged on the essential, pure and upright.
Yet as human capacity declined and the Dharma aged, flaws emerged. Some echoed empty words, wielding blind sticks and calling themselves masters of the tradition. Others clung to foolish silence, calling it the original state. Some claimed awakening based on vague impressions; others spent their lives in idle talk. Thus arose a hundred and twenty schools of deluded Zen, deceiving themselves and others, sinking into madness and distortion.
Therefore, the great elder Dahui, moved by compassion and fearless resolve, selected from the five schools over a hundred of the most authentic masters, compiling their teachings into a volume titled *The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye*. This book is like hanging up the White Robe—making spirits and demons lose their courage—or wielding the Vajra Sword, causing Mara and heretics to vanish. It contains the essence of the ancient masters and the treasures of the patriarchs. Without traversing long paths, one glance reveals it all. There is no better guide for future learners.
At that time, the monk Huiyue of Pushan Temple in Xiushui, and the layman Xu Hongze of Chunmen, grateful for this rare encounter and lamenting those who had not heard of it, sought to repay the Buddha’s kindness by raising funds to reprint it. They asked me to write a preface for fellow seekers. Even those who wander through boundless Dharma realms or merge past and present into a single thought are still engaged in secondary achievements. If one truly awakens, what does the self-mind know? What does the self-eye see? Beyond knowing and seeing—that is the true attainment of the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye.
萬曆丙辰端陽日嗣曹洞正宗第二十七代古越顯聖寺住持沙門 圓澄 撰
Composed by Yuancheng, Bhikṣu of the Ancient Yue Xiansheng Monastery, Twenty-seventh Generation Holder of the Authentic Lineage of the Caodong School, on the Day of the Dragon Boat Festival in the Bingchen Year of the Wanli Reign.