斥妄顯真第二
Refuting Illusion, Revealing Truth
行人欲生彼國出離生死。先當深識求生彼土真妄之心。且謂如是極樂世界為是在境。為是在心。若在於心。但有虛想。無土可生。若在於境。雖有生處。又復失心。若謂心境二俱求生。則我身心是一。寧生兩處。若謂心境是一一心求生。則自今心境宛爾。難說是一。又極樂娑婆淨穢不同。況是世尊垂教。勅令捨穢求淨。一義奚得。四句既不可求。或謂處處皆是西方極樂。或謂心淨則是極樂。或云極樂不離這個。若作此解。皆名邪見。而余因不得以默矣。彼若謂極樂在心。即便妄認此心住在我今身中。既在身中。但名求心。何名求生。豈我世尊不知極樂在心。而說在西方十萬億國土之外耶。又豈不能指說內心。而但能說外境耶。今西方極樂世界阿彌陀佛現在說法。實境宛然。此是聖人誠言。焉敢不信。而不知此緣影心外之極樂正即是我真心。我此真心如彼大海不增不減。而汝妄謂為境。汝謂極樂在緣影心。此緣影心如海一漚。生滅全妄。而汝妄謂為心。汝若固執妄見。不信外有極樂。信在汝緣影心內者。汝緣影心無體。不可以心求生於心。而不知彼極樂雖在西方。西方即我真心。真心無性。即彼名體以顯我心。名體本空。亦即我心而示其相。心境一體生佛同源。求彼佛。即求自心。非外求也。究自心。須求彼佛。豈他惑哉。如是則取捨忻厭。熾然着相。任我所求。豈復外心。心能具故。則知此心圓裹一切依正境界。乃至色心淨穢。生佛因果。三世十方諸法。含攝無外。同一受用。求一外相。了不可得。雖無外相。不分而分。淨穢宛爾。故當如是而求。豈可求之於妄心也。如是願求。佛所印可。與彼世之不識本心。愚癡無智。不求西方極樂之佛。但向自己肉團緣影妄心中求。謂是唯心淨土本性彌陀者。實遼遠矣。然彼極樂國土非依緣影妄心。又彼彌陀色身非在眾生陰體。若向我今四大緣影身心中。求本性自己之佛。不求西方極樂之佛。則妄心生滅。佛亦生滅。佛生滅故。三昧不成。縱求有得。但成生滅之佛。還生生滅之土。不成正行。經云。以輪廻心。生輪廻見。彼圓覺性亦同輪轉。即此義也。若欲離諸妄見直生彼者。但求西方十萬億國土外極樂彌陀之佛。以稱性妙觀。如實觀之。使彼如來本覺相好於彼顯現。合我眾生始覺真心。於此發明。始本相冥。生佛互感。三昧乃成。正行斯立。不生滅土始可生也。故知此心遍一切處。尚不聞於地獄。何止極樂。但地獄苦處今順性而求離。極樂九品今順性而求生。但依修多羅教。順佛法音。求離苦得樂從凡入聖。實不出吾之心性。故名惟心淨土本性彌陀。非謂從妄心中求。妄心無體。焉得名為惟心本性之佛耶。彼向自己緣影妄心中求者。以色身及山河大地十方剎海為外境也。此向自己不動真心中求者。即十方剎海大地山河為內心也。若知十方剎海即內心。則打成一片。故我任意於中捨穢取淨。厭東忻西。不出自心。以實有彼大願果佛能接引故。故求無不得。若謂十方剎海為外境。則打作兩橛。故纔動念即乖法體。即失其用。不得自心。以但有此性具因佛無力用故。故雖求無得。又妄心但是虛妄緣影。惑為色身之內。無土可生。真心含育一切塵剎。本具極樂依正。求之必生。妄心捨外趣內。真心即外為內。內無外故。外求有相果佛。即求自心。內非實故。內求無體緣影。不見自心。妄心心境宛然。真心即心即境。妄心生滅無據。真心不動不搖。妄心在因無果。始終生滅。真心因果一致。性修交徹。故知從真心妄心求者。其別若是。論時則何啻日劫相倍。論處則何但天地懸殊。論體真則圓裹十虛。妄則居於身內。論用真則橫截娑婆。直出生死。妄則煮砂為飯。經劫難成。是故行人發菩提心求生淨土。豈可但求自己緣影妄心。不求西方極樂真佛。良可痛傷。譬如欲西而面東。欲升而抱石。從水求火。從火覓水。奚可得焉。嗟今之人不識真心遍一切處。即色顯體。而妄認緣塵影事。謂是本性。謬之甚矣。譬如有人。認賊為子。其家財寶必被消滅。分別影事妄認為心。亦復如是。若或識子是賊。賊不為害。知意是妄。妄亦奚傷。但不可認彼為是極樂依正也。四明法智大師所以有指妄即真之說。觀佛觀心之談。終不撥於極樂依正實境。奈何後世邪見蜂起。魔侶熾然。破滅佛法。斷佛種性。妄計極樂妙土在我緣影心中。而不肯西求。可勝顛倒。彼閭巷之人未聞正說。以此邪見密相傳授。疑誤人者雖不逃於地獄苦報。尚有可恕。而我出家四眾圓頂方服者同此見解。尤可傷憫。倘若真為生死。則必以此說為是。若有障重之人。於此法門不能隨順者。則當更審緣影妄心境界云何。此虛妄心既無有體。但隨我生滅。遂即妄說為我。妄認我故。便謂此心住在我今色身之內。謂此色身住於今之世界。謂此世界還住今之虛空之中。此虛空性廣大難量。遍舍塵剎。如是則空大界小。心劣於身。一念轉微。不可舉示。豈可以至微至末一念無體之妄心。而於此求極樂依正之妙境乎。不可求而求。豈不甚惑。既了此義。則知如是空性無邊。雖不可量。元不出我大覺清淨心中。如彼片雲點太清裹。況諸世界在虛空耶。況此色身在世界耶。況此妄心在色身耶。故知妄微身著。界大空圓。從纖至洪。不出我今本心之內。故知我心如空。彼空如塵。我心廣大無涯無底。圓裹十方三世一切虛空微塵剎土一切眾生色身妄念。欲求一法在於心外。了不可得。何特西方極樂非心外耶。造次顛沛尚不可離。況淨行莊嚴要期西邁。透脫生死。豈求外耶。經云。認悟中迷。晦昧為空。空晦暗中。結暗為色。色雜妄想。想相為身。聚緣內搖。趣外奔逸。昏擾擾相以為心性。一迷為心。決定惑為色身之內。不知色身外洎山河虛空大地。咸是妙明真心中物。譬如百千澄清大海棄之。唯認一浮漚體。目為全潮。窮盡瀛渤。汝等即是迷中倍人。如我垂手。等無差別。又云。妙覺明心遍十方界。含育如來十方國土清淨寶嚴妙覺王剎。又云。十方虛空生汝心內。猶如片雲點太清裹。況諸世界在虛空耶。以是義觀。既十方空剎依正色心是我本有。我今決志求生本有之土。求見本有之佛。有何不可而謂外求。我既願求。心能感故。彼佛為我顯現之時。即我自家底本有心佛顯現。心佛真實。何有外來。既無外來。彼佛顯時。即我心顯。我心顯時。即彼佛顯。我心即是彼佛之心。彼佛即是我心之佛。一體無二。性本圓融。何可捨彼西方極樂內心之佛。而妄計別有惟心佛也。或曰。雖妄心。豈不亦具依正之法。何必使人求乎外境。答曰。妄心設具一切依正之法。豈不亦具西方極樂。若知西方極樂一如娑婆之實境可求。可說心具。若謂此心即是心外更無實境。此則但是妄心虛想。有何實焉。而謂心具。又即境之心名真心。離境之心名妄心。故知真妄雖同。即離為異。即得離失。即是離非。其旨明矣。又如法師少康。因念佛故。稱佛名時。佛從口出。狀若連珠。亦存其相。使其眾會皆得見也。佛既有相。土焉不實更有一等。謂於事則有。於理則無。或云。處處皆是淨土。傷哉此輩。深惑難祛。又禪宗南陽國師。為禪客舉無情說法之話。雖不專言淨土旨趣。亦痛末世向緣影求佛者多。故此說中不得不備。
If a practitioner wishes to be reborn in that land and escape the cycle of birth and death, they must first deeply understand the true and deluded minds that seek rebirth in that land. One might ask: is this Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss a place out there, or is it in the mind? If it is in the mind, then it is only a product of imagination, and there is no actual land to be reborn in. If it is a place out there, then although there is a place to be reborn, the mind is abandoned. If one says that both mind and environment are sought for rebirth, then since our body and mind are one, how could they be reborn in two places? If one says that mind and environment are one and the mind alone seeks rebirth, then right now mind and environment are clearly distinct—how can they be called one? Furthermore, the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and the Saha world differ in purity and impurity, and the World-Honored One explicitly taught us to renounce the impure and seek the pure. How can these four positions be reconciled?
Since none of these four positions can be upheld, some may say that every place is the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, or that a pure mind is itself the Pure Land, or that the Pure Land is not separate from this very moment. But all such interpretations are wrong views, and I cannot remain silent about this.
If someone says the Pure Land is in the mind, they mistakenly assume this mind dwells within their physical body. If it is in the body, then they are only seeking the mind, not seeking rebirth. Did the World-Honored One not know that the Pure Land is in the mind, and yet he spoke of it as being in the West, beyond a hundred thousand billion lands? And could he not point to the inner mind, but only to an external place? The Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, where Amitabha Buddha is presently teaching the Dharma, is a real, manifest environment. These are the truthful words of the sages—how dare we not believe them?
What people do not realize is that the Pure Land beyond the deluded, image-like mind is precisely our true mind. Our true mind is like the great ocean—it neither increases nor decreases—yet you mistakenly call it an external place. You say the Pure Land is in the deluded, image-like mind, but this mind is like a single bubble on the ocean, arising and ceasing entirely in delusion—yet you mistake it for the mind. If you stubbornly cling to this deluded view and refuse to believe in a Pure Land outside, insisting it exists only within your deluded, image-like mind, then your deluded mind has no substance, and you cannot use the mind to seek rebirth in the mind. You fail to understand that although the Pure Land is in the West, the West is itself my true mind. The true mind has no fixed nature; it uses that name and form to reveal my mind. The name and form are ultimately empty, yet they manifest as appearances within my mind. Mind and environment are one; sentient beings and Buddhas share the same source. Seeking that Buddha is seeking my own mind—it is not an external search. And investigating my own mind requires seeking that Buddha—how could this be a delusion?
Thus, when we make distinctions, feel attraction and aversion, and engage in practices with apparent attachment to forms, all of our seeking is still within the mind, never outside it. Because the mind contains all things, we know it encompasses all realms of beings and environments, including form and mind, purity and impurity, sentient beings and Buddhas, causes and effects, and all phenomena of the three times and ten directions—all contained within it with nothing left out, all shared as one experience. To seek an external form is ultimately impossible. Even though there is no external form, we make distinctions without division, and purity and impurity remain clearly evident. Therefore, we should seek in this way—how could we seek within the deluded mind?
Such seeking and vowing is approved by the Buddha. It is vastly different from those who, unaware of their true mind, foolish and ignorant, do not seek the Buddha of the Western Pure Land but instead search within their own physical, image-like, deluded mind, claiming this is "mind-only Pure Land" and "original nature Amitabha." In truth, the Western Pure Land is not dependent on the deluded, image-like mind, and Amitabha's physical form is not within the aggregates of sentient beings. If one seeks the Buddha of one's own original nature within the physical body and deluded mind—rather than seeking the Buddha of the Western Pure Land—then because the deluded mind arises and ceases, the Buddha also arises and ceases. When the Buddha arises and ceases, samadhi cannot be accomplished. Even if one gains something, it only becomes a Buddha subject to arising and ceasing, and one is still reborn in a land of arising and ceasing—this is not the proper practice. The sutra says, "With a revolving mind, one gives rise to revolving views, and the inherent enlightenment also revolves." This is exactly what is meant here.
If one wishes to transcend all deluded views and be born directly in that land, one should seek Amitabha Buddha in the Pure Land beyond a hundred thousand billion lands, using the sublime contemplation that accords with true nature, contemplating as it truly is. This allows the Tathagata's fundamental enlightenment and excellent marks to appear there, and unites with our initial enlightenment and true mind, which then manifests here. When initial and fundamental enlightenment merge, and sentient beings and Buddhas respond to each other, samadhi is accomplished and proper practice is established. Only then can one be born in the land of non-arising and non-ceasing.
Therefore, know that this mind pervades all places—it does not even exclude the hells, let alone the Pure Land. But because the hells are places of suffering, we accord with true nature and seek to leave them; and because the Pure Land has nine grades, we accord with true nature and seek rebirth there. This is all in accordance with the sutras and the sound of the Buddha's Dharma—seeking to leave suffering and attain happiness, to go from ordinary to sage. Ultimately, this does not go beyond our own mind-nature, which is why it is called "mind-only Pure Land" and "original nature Amitabha." It does not mean seeking within the deluded mind. The deluded mind has no substance—how could it be called the "mind-only" or "original nature" Buddha?
Those who seek within their own image-like, deluded mind consider the physical body, mountains, rivers, the great earth, and the oceans of worlds in all directions as external realms. Those who seek within their own unmoving true mind consider the oceans of worlds, the great earth, mountains, and rivers as the inner mind. If one knows that the oceans of worlds in all directions are the inner mind, then everything is one piece. Thus, I can freely choose to reject the impure and take the pure, dislike the east and like the west, all without leaving my own mind—and because there truly is that great vow of the resultant Buddha who can guide sentient beings, seeking never fails. But if one regards the oceans of worlds as external realms, then everything is split in two, and the moment a thought arises, it violates the Dharma-body and loses its function, failing to realize one's own mind—because there is only the nature-endowed causal Buddha without power or function, so even seeking yields nothing.
Moreover, the deluded mind is merely a false, image-like projection, mistakenly believed to be inside the physical body, with no land to be reborn in. The true mind contains and nurtures all realms of dust and atoms, inherently possessing the Pure Land's beings and environment—seeking it, one is certainly reborn. The deluded mind rejects the outer and clings to the inner; the true mind takes the outer as inner. Since the inner has no outer, seeking the manifested resultant Buddha outside is precisely seeking one's own mind. Since the inner is not real, seeking the substanceless, image-like mind within does not reveal one's true mind. In the deluded mind, mind and environment appear distinct; in the true mind, mind is environment and environment is mind. The deluded mind arises and ceases without basis; the true mind is unmoving and unwavering. The deluded mind is causal with no result, arising and ceasing from beginning to end; the true mind unifies cause and effect, with nature and practice interpenetrating.
Thus, one can see the difference between seeking with the true mind versus the deluded mind. In terms of time, it is not merely a difference of days versus eons. In terms of place, it is not merely the distance between heaven and earth. In terms of essence, the true mind encompasses the ten directions of emptiness, while the deluded mind dwells within the body. In terms of function, the true mind cuts across the Saha world and directly transcends birth and death, while the deluded mind is like cooking sand to make rice—impossible even after eons.
Therefore, a practitioner who vows to seek rebirth in the Pure Land should never seek only within their own image-like, deluded mind, neglecting the true Buddha of the Western Pure Land. This would be deeply lamentable—like wanting to go west but facing east, or wanting to rise while clinging to a stone, or seeking fire from water and water from fire. How could it ever be achieved?
Alas! People today do not recognize that the true mind pervades all places, revealing its essence through forms, and instead mistakenly take the shadows of sense objects as their original nature. This is a grave error. It is like someone who mistakes a thief for their own child—their family wealth will certainly be destroyed. Mistaking the discriminating shadows of experience for the mind is exactly the same. If one recognizes that the child is a thief, the thief can do no harm; if one knows that the thinking mind is delusion, the delusion cannot injure. But one must not mistake it for the Pure Land's beings and environment.
This is why the great master Fazhi of the Siming school spoke of "pointing to the deluded as the true" and the discussions of contemplating the Buddha and contemplating the mind—he never denied the real environment of the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Unfortunately, in later generations, wrong views have flourished like bees, and demonic companions have blazed forth, destroying the Dharma and cutting off the Buddha-seed. They falsely imagine that the sublime land of Ultimate Bliss exists within their image-like, deluded mind and refuse to seek the West. How utterly inverted!
Ordinary people in the streets who have not heard the correct teaching and secretly pass on these wrong views, misleading others, will not escape the suffering of the hells—but they may still be forgiven. Yet for us, the four assemblies of renunciants who wear the round robes and square patches, to hold the same view—this is especially pitiful and lamentable. If one truly cares about birth and death, one must recognize this teaching as correct. For those with heavy obstacles who cannot follow this Dharma-gate, they should examine what the image-like, deluded mind's realm actually is.
This deluded mind, having no substance, merely follows our arising and ceasing, and we falsely call it "I." Because we falsely identify with it, we say this mind dwells within our physical body, this body dwells in the present world, and this world dwells in the present space. This space is vast and immeasurable, containing all realms of dust and atoms. Thus, space is great and the world is small, and the mind is even smaller than the body—a single thought so subtle it cannot be pointed to. How could one use this most subtle, substanceless deluded mind to seek the sublime realm of the Pure Land's beings and environment? To seek what cannot be sought—is this not great confusion?
Once one understands this, one realizes that even this boundless space, though immeasurable, does not go beyond my own great enlightened, pure mind—like a small cloud floating in the vast sky. How much more so the worlds within space, the physical body within the world, and the deluded mind within the body! Therefore, know that from the subtle to the vast, nothing goes beyond my own fundamental mind. My mind is like space, and that space is like dust. My mind is vast, without limit or bottom, encompassing all space, dust-realms, sentient beings' bodies, and deluded thoughts in the ten directions and three times. To seek a single dharma outside the mind is utterly impossible. How could the Western Pure Land be outside the mind? Even in haste or distress, one cannot be separated from it—how much more so when one is adorned with pure practices and focused on going West, transcending birth and death—how could that be seeking outside?
The sutra says: "In the midst of enlightenment, there is delusion. Darkness obscures into space. In the dark and obscure, the darkness condenses into form. Form mixed with deluded thought forms the body. Gathering conditions, it stirs within, rushing outward, and this dim, restless appearance is taken as mind-nature. Once deluded into thinking this is the mind, one is definitely confused into believing it is inside the physical body—not knowing that the physical body, along with mountains, rivers, space, and the great earth, are all things within the wonderful enlightened true mind. This is like abandoning the hundred thousand clear great oceans and only recognizing a single bubble, calling it the entire tide, exhausting all of the seas. You are people who are doubly deluded—no different from when I hang my arm down."
It also says: "The wonderful enlightened mind pervades the ten directions, containing and nurturing the Tathagata's pure, jeweled, magnificent lands in all directions." And again: "The ten directions of space arise within your mind like a small cloud appearing in the vast sky—how much more so the worlds within space?"
From this meaning, we see that the space, realms, beings, and environments in all ten directions are originally our own. If I now resolve to seek rebirth in my own originally possessed land and to see my own originally possessed Buddha, what is wrong with that? How can it be called external seeking?
Since I have made this vow, and my mind can respond, when that Buddha appears to me, it is my own fundamental mind-Buddha appearing. The mind-Buddha is real—how could it come from outside? Since it does not come from outside, when that Buddha appears, it is my mind appearing. When my mind appears, it is that Buddha appearing. My mind is precisely that Buddha's mind; that Buddha is precisely my mind's Buddha. They are one, without duality, inherently perfectly fused. How could one abandon the Buddha within the mind in the Western Pure Land and falsely imagine a separate "mind-only" Buddha?
Someone might say: "Even the deluded mind—does it not also possess beings and environments? Why must we be directed to seek an external realm?"
I reply: If the deluded mind possesses all beings and environments, does it not also possess the Western Pure Land? If one knows that the Western Pure Land is as real and seekable as the Saha world, then one can say the mind possesses it. But if one says this mind itself is all there is, with no real environment beyond it, then this is merely a deluded mental fantasy—what reality does it have? How can that be called "mind possesses"?
Moreover, the mind that is one with environments is called the true mind; the mind that is separate from environments is called the deluded mind. So although true and deluded are the same in essence, they differ in whether they are united with or separated from environments. To be united is to attain; to be separated is to lose. To be united is right; to be separated is wrong. The meaning is clear.
Consider the examples of the Dharma masters and the eminent monks of old: When they recited the Buddha's name, the Buddha appeared from their mouths like a chain of jewels, and the assemblies could all see it. If the Buddha has a form, how could the land not be real?
There are still others who say that things exist on the conventional level but not on the ultimate level, or that every place is the Pure Land. How lamentable! These people are deeply confused and hard to cure.
Even the National Teacher Nanyang of the Chan school, when speaking to Chan practitioners about inanimate objects expounding the Dharma, was not primarily discussing the Pure Land, but he too lamented that many people in the corrupt age seek the Buddha within the image-like mind. Therefore, such discussions are necessary.