No. 329-A閣筆後序
猶憶初發心時，便從事於禪宗。數年之後，涉律涉教，著述頗多。獨此楞伽，擬於閱藏畢後方註。壬辰結夏，晟溪無處借藏，乃以六月初三日舉筆，至八月十一日閣筆於長水南郊之冷香堂。僅閱七旬，而佛事魔事，病障外障，殆無虗日，易三地而稿始脫。嗟嗟，梵網佛頂，唯識法華，占察毗尼諸述，何其順且易。楞伽一疏，何其逆且難也。得無自覺聖智法門，正破末世流弊，有以激波旬之怒耶。然波旬能俾予席不暇煖，而不能撓予襟期，亦不能阻予筆陣，則予必當化彼波旬，同成佛道。維摩所謂邪魔外道，皆吾侍者，豈不信哉。予愧為虗名所誤，犯達磨明道而不行道之記，然猶愈於說道而不明道也。賢達苟能因語入義，如燈照色，庶不負予損己利人之苦心耳。今而後仗三寶力，更成閱藏知津，法海觀瀾，及圓覺維摩起信諸疏，圓滿蓮華因行，則此生無遺憾矣。
I recall when I first made the resolve to awaken, I devoted myself to the practice of Chan (Zen). After several years, I became involved in both Vinaya (precepts) and doctrinal studies, and produced many writings. However, this *Lengjia* (Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra) alone, I planned to annotate only after completing the entire Buddhist canon. In the summer of the Ren-Ch'en year, I found myself at Sheng Creek without access to the canon for borrowing. So I took up my brush on the third day of the sixth month and set it down on the eleventh day of the eighth month at the Cold Fragrance Hall, south of Changshui's outskirts. In barely seventy days, through entanglements with both Buddhist and demonic affairs, obstructed by illness and external hindrances—days hardly ever free—I moved through three different places before the draft was finally completed.
Alas! My works on the *Brahma Net Sūtra*, the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra*, the *Vijñaptimātratā* (Consciousness-Only) teachings, the *Lotus Sūtra*, the *Kṣitigarbha Divination Sūtra*, and the Vinaya—how smooth and easy they were! But this one commentary on the *Laṅkāvatāra*—how contrary and difficult it proved! Could it be that the Dharma gate of self-realized noble wisdom, precisely because it strikes against the corrupt tendencies of these latter days, has provoked the wrath of Māra (the tempter)? Yet Māra may keep me from warming my seat, but he cannot disturb my aspirations, nor can he stop the flow of my brush. Then surely I must transform that Māra himself and lead him to Buddhahood. Vimalakīrti said, "Evil demons and heretics are all my attendants." Is this not truly so?
I am ashamed that I have been misled by empty reputation, falling into Bodhidharma's observation of one who understands the Path but does not walk it. Yet this is still better than one who speaks of the Path but does not understand it. If wise and virtuous readers can, through these words, enter into the meaning—as a lamp illumines forms—then my painstaking effort of sacrificing self for others' benefit will not have been in vain.
From this point forward, relying on the power of the Three Treasures, I shall further complete my guides to the canon—*A Compass Through the Canon* and *Surveying the Dharma Ocean*—as well as commentaries on the *Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra*, the *Vimalakīrti Sūtra*, and the *Awakening of Faith*, thereby perfecting the causes of the Lotus path. Then this life will have no regrets.
蕅益旭識於蕅華洲