入楞伽經涅槃品第六
Chapter 6: Nirvana
爾時聖者大慧菩薩白佛言：「世尊！如佛所言涅槃涅槃者，以何等法名為涅槃？而諸外道各各虛妄分別涅槃。」
Then the noble Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One! You have spoken of Nirvana, Nirvana—but what kind of Dharma is called Nirvana? The various externalists each have their own deluded and fabricated notions of Nirvana."
佛告大慧菩薩言：「善哉！善哉！善哉大慧！諦聽！諦聽！當為汝說。諸外道等虛妄分別涅槃之相，如彼外道所分別者無是涅槃。」
The Buddha said to Great Wisdom Bodhisattva, "Excellent! Excellent! Excellent, Great Wisdom! Listen carefully! Listen carefully! I shall explain this for you. The various heretics and those holding wrong views imagine and cling to the idea of nirvana based on illusions. But what they imagine and believe to be nirvana is not true nirvana at all."
大慧白佛言：「善哉世尊！唯然受教。」
Mahamati said to the Buddha, "Wonderful, Blessed One! I shall receive your teachings with respect."
佛告大慧：「有諸外道厭諸境界，見陰、界、入滅諸法無常，心心數法不生現前，以不憶念過去未來現樂境界，諸陰盡處如燈火滅種種風止，不取諸相妄想分別，名為涅槃。大慧！而彼外道見如是法生涅槃心，非見滅故名為涅槃。大慧！或有外道從方至方，名為涅槃。大慧！復有外道，分別諸境如風，是故分別，名為涅槃。大慧！復有外道作如是說，不見能見所見境界不滅，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！復有外道作如是說，不見分別見常無常，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！復有外道作如是言，分別見諸種種異相能生諸苦，以自心見虛妄分別一切諸相怖畏諸相，見於無相深心愛樂生涅槃想。復次，大慧！復有外道，見一切法自相同相不生滅想，分別過去未來現在諸法是有，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！復有外道，見我人眾生壽命壽者諸法不滅，虛妄分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道，無智慧故分別所見自性，人命轉變分別轉變，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道說如是言，罪盡故福德亦盡，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道言，煩惱盡依智故，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道說如是言，見自在天造作眾生，虛妄分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道言，諸眾生迭共因生非餘因作，如彼外道執著於因不知不覺，愚癡闇鈍虛妄分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道說證諦道虛妄分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道作如是言，有作所作而共和合見一異俱不俱，虛妄分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道言，一切法自然而生，猶如幻師出種種形像，見種種寶棘刺等物自然而生，虛妄分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道言，諸萬物皆是時作，覺知唯時，虛妄分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！有餘外道言，見有物見無物見有無物，如是分別，名為涅槃。復次，大慧！餘建立法智者說言，如實見者唯是自心，而不取著外諸境界離四種法，見一切法如彼彼法住，不見自心分別之相，不墮二邊不見能取可取境界，見世間建立一切不實迷如實法，以不取諸法名之為實，以自內身證聖智法，如實而知二種無我，離於二種諸煩惱垢，清淨二障如實能知上上地相，入如來地得如幻三昧，遠離心、意、意識分別如是等見，名為涅槃。大慧！復有諸外道等，邪見覺觀而說諸論，不與如實正法相應，而諸智者遠離訶嘖。大慧！如是等外道，皆墮二邊虛妄分別，無實涅槃。大慧！一切外道如是虛妄分別涅槃，無人住世間無人入涅槃。何以故？一切外道依自心論虛妄分別無如實智，如彼外道自心分別無如是法，去來搖動無有如是外道涅槃。大慧！汝及一切諸菩薩等，應當遠離一切外道虛妄涅槃。」
The Buddha said to Mahāmati: "There are various external teachers who, growing weary of all sensory realms, observe the aggregates, elements, and sense bases and regard all phenomena as impermanent. They believe that when mental activities cease to arise, and when one no longer dwells on past, future, or present pleasant experiences—when the aggregates are extinguished like a lamp going out or winds coming to rest—and one stops grasping at perceptions and conceptualizations, this is called Nirvana. Mahāmati! These external teachers, upon seeing such things, develop the notion of Nirvana, but it is not that seeing cessation itself constitutes Nirvana.
Mahāmati! Some external teachers claim that moving from one place to another is Nirvana.
Mahāmati! Other external teachers analyze the sense objects as being like the wind, and based on such analysis, they call it Nirvana.
Mahāmati! Yet others say that not seeing the seer, the seen, or the absence of sense realms is Nirvana.
Furthermore, Mahāmati! Some external teachers hold that not perceiving distinctions between permanence and impermanence is Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Other external teachers say that perceiving various distinct appearances gives rise to suffering, and because they see all forms as fearful projections of their own minds, they develop a deep longing for the formless and generate the idea of Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Some external teachers observe the self-nature and shared characteristics of all things, and without conceiving of their arising or ceasing, they regard past, present, and future phenomena as real, calling this Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Other external teachers see the self, person, sentient being, life, and soul as indestructible, and through such false discrimination, they call it Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Some external teachers, lacking wisdom, analyze the nature of what they perceive and imagine that a person's life undergoes transformation—and based on this imagined transformation, they call it Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Others declare that when sins are exhausted, merit is also exhausted, and this they call Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Some say that when afflictions are ended through wisdom, that is Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Others claim that seeing the Creator God as the maker of beings, through such false imagination, is Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Some assert that beings arise through mutual causation alone, with no other cause—clinging to this idea of causation without awareness, dull and foolish in their false discrimination, they call it Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Some external teachers claim that realizing the truth of the path through conceptual discrimination is Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Others say that when agent and action come together and one sees oneness, otherness, both, or neither, through such false discrimination, that is Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Some external teachers maintain that all things arise spontaneously, like a magician producing various forms, and seeing jewels, thorns, and other objects appear naturally, they call this Nirvana through false discrimination.
Again, Mahāmati! Some say that all things are created by time, and that realizing time alone is true—through this false discrimination, they call it Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Others claim that seeing existence, non-existence, or both existence and non-existence—such distinctions constitute Nirvana.
Again, Mahāmati! Those who establish true principles through wisdom say: One who sees reality understands that everything is merely mind, and does not cling to external realms. Free from the four kinds of views, they see all things as they truly are, without grasping the projections of their own minds. They do not fall into dualistic extremes, nor do they perceive a subject grasping an object. They see that all worldly constructions are unreal and that attachment obscures reality. By not clinging to any phenomenon, they realize the truth. Through personal experience of awakened wisdom, they truly understand the two kinds of selflessness, are free from the two kinds of defilements, and purify both obstructions. They clearly know the stages of higher realization, enter the ground of Buddhahood, and attain the samadhi of illusion. Far removed from the discriminations of mind, intention, and consciousness, they abide in such vision—this is called Nirvana.
Mahāmati! These external teachers, driven by wrong views and speculation, compose various treatises that do not accord with true Dharma. The wise reject and criticize them.
Mahāmati! All such external teachers fall into dualistic extremes and false discrimination; there is no real Nirvana in their teachings.
Mahāmati! All external teachers thus falsely imagine Nirvana. Yet no one abides in the world, and no one enters Nirvana. Why? Because all external teachers rely on their own mental fabrications and lack true wisdom. The Nirvana they conceive through their own minds does not exist—it wavers and shifts, and there is no such external Nirvana.
Mahāmati! You and all bodhisattvas should completely abandon all such false notions of Nirvana held by external teachers."
爾時世尊重說偈言：
Then the World-Honored One spoke these verses:
「外道涅槃見， 各各起分別；
皆從心相生， 無解脫方便。
不離縛所縛， 遠離諸方便；
自生解脫想， 而實無解脫。
外道建立法， 眾智各異取；
彼悉無解脫， 愚癡妄分別。
一切癡外道， 妄見作所作；
是故無解脫， 以說有無法。
凡夫樂戲論， 不聞真實慧；
言語三界本， 如實智滅苦。
譬如鏡中像， 雖見而非有；
熏習鏡心見， 凡夫言有二。
不知唯心見， 是故分別二；
如實知但心， 分別則不生。
心名為種種， 離能見可見；
見相無可見， 凡夫妄分別。
三有惟妄想， 外境界實無；
妄想見種種， 凡夫不能知。
經經說分別， 種種異名字；
離於言語法， 不說不可得。」
Non-Buddhists see a kind of nirvana, each forming their own separate ideas. All arise from the mind's appearances, offering no true means of liberation.
Not free from the bonds and the bound, far removed from any skillful means, they imagine they have attained liberation, but in truth there is no liberation.
The teachings non-Buddhists establish, the many wise each grasp differently. None of them have liberation— foolish, deluded, and falsely discriminating.
All deluded non-Buddhists falsely see a maker and a made. Therefore there is no liberation, because they speak in terms of existence and nonexistence.
Ordinary people delight in idle speculation, never hearing the wisdom of truth. Speech is the root of the three realms; true knowledge destroys suffering.
Like an image in a mirror— though it is seen, it does not exist. Habitual patterns shape the mirror-like mind's seeing, and ordinary people speak of "two."
Not knowing it is only mind appearing, they therefore discriminate "two." When one truly knows it is only mind, discrimination no longer arises.
The mind is called "various," free from the seen and the seer. The seen mark cannot be seen— ordinary people falsely discriminate.
The three realms are only imagination; outer objects truly do not exist. Imagination sees all sorts of things, but ordinary people cannot know this.
Sutra after sutra speaks of discrimination, with all kinds of different names. Apart from the Dharma of words, nothing can be spoken or found.