一 勸修
Chapter 1: Exhortation to Practice
如來滅後。後五百歲。濁惡世中。比丘比丘尼。優婆塞優婆夷。讀誦思惟頓教大乘了義經者。欲修不可思議圓通理智者。欲見毗盧遮那。文殊普賢。三聖性相身者。欲得六根清淨。入佛境界。通達無礙者。欲得聞十方諸佛所說法門。一念悉能受持。通達不忘。演說無障礙者。欲得與文殊普賢十二上首。十萬大士。及諸菩薩。同住如來平等法會。共為伴侶眷屬者。欲得一念中不起滅定。徧至十方佛土。供養諸佛。於諸佛所見種色身。作種種神變。放大光明。說法普度眾生。令入不思議一乘者。欲得破壞四魔。淨諸煩惱。破根本無明三毒四倒。除見障業障報障。乃至滅一切障道之罪。見身入菩薩正位。具一切佛自在功德者。當於空閑寂靜之處。依圓覺了義經。一百二十日中。或百日中。或八十日中。一心精進。修習圓覺普眼觀門。及奢摩他等三種觀門。先於三七日中。施設毗盧遮那文殊普賢形象。目覩心想。至誠禮拜。懇到懺悔。深發誓願。願滅如上所說罪障。願得如上所說功德。過三七日。一向攝念。滿所期限。必得斯益。所以者何。此圓覺經。是頓教大乘。諸經中之了義。秘密王三昧。如來決定境界。百千萬億恒河沙諸佛所共演說。三世如來之所守護。是十二部經清淨眼目。是故行者。應當不計身命。盡未來際。修行此法。況三期限而不懈怠耶。問曰。佛道長遠。百日修行。卒有何益。答。教是頓教。若能依此頓修。於觀行中。得初後無二(初者初發大心。後者畢竟佛果。無二者。華嚴云。初發心時。即得阿耨菩提。涅槃云。發心畢竟二不別)。與佛一體(華嚴說。佛心眾生三無差別)。圓頓大益(文在普眼章)。及三種觀成之益(文在威德自在章)。至下當說。
After the Tathagata enters nirvana, in the final five hundred years of this impure and evil age, among monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—those who read, recite, and contemplate the Sudden Teaching’s Great Vehicle scriptures of ultimate meaning, who wish to cultivate the inconceivable, complete, and penetrating wisdom, who wish to see Vairocana, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra, the three holy ones in their essential and phenomenal forms, who wish to purify the six senses, enter the Buddha’s realm, and attain unobstructed realization, who wish to hear the Dharma teachings spoken by all Buddhas of the ten directions and instantly receive, uphold, penetrate, remember, and proclaim them without hindrance, who wish to dwell together with Manjusri and Samantabhadra—the twelve foremost bodhisattvas—and with the hundred thousand great beings and all bodhisattvas in the Tathagata’s impartial Dharma assembly as companions and retinue, who wish to, in a single thought, without rising from the samadhi of cessation, travel throughout the ten directions to all Buddha lands, make offerings to all Buddhas, see various forms, perform various spiritual transformations, emit great light, and proclaim the Dharma to universally liberate sentient beings, leading them into the inconceivable One Vehicle, who wish to destroy the four demons, purify all afflictions, break fundamental ignorance, the three poisons, and the four inverted views, eliminate the hindrances of views, karma, and retribution, and even eradicate all offenses that obstruct the path—seeing themselves enter the rightful position of a bodhisattva and possessing all the Buddha’s effortless virtuous qualities: such people should, in a quiet and secluded place, relying on the *Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment—the Ultimate Meaning*, for one hundred and twenty days, or one hundred days, or eighty days, with single-minded diligence cultivate and practice the Contemplation Gate of Perfect Enlightenment’s Universal Eye, and the three meditative gates of Shamatha and others. First, for twenty-one days, they should set up images of Vairocana, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra, seeing them with their eyes and envisioning them with their minds, sincerely bowing, earnestly repent, and make deep vows—vowing to extinguish the hindrances and offenses described above, and vowing to attain the virtues described above. After the twenty-one days, focus the mind solely, complete the designated period, and they will surely attain these benefits. Why? This *Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment* is the Sudden Teaching of the Great Vehicle, the ultimate meaning among all sutras, the secret king of samadhi, the Tathagata’s definitive realm, proclaimed by hundreds of thousands of millions of Ganges-like Buddhas together, guarded by the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. It is the pure eye of the twelve divisions of the scriptures. Therefore, practitioners should, not reckoning with body or life, and throughout the endless future, cultivate this Dharma. How much more so should they not be lazy during these three periods?
Question: The Buddha’s path is long—what benefit can come from just a hundred days of practice? Answer: The teaching is the Sudden Teaching. If one relies on this and practices suddenly, in the course of contemplation one attains non-duality between the beginning and the end *[Note: The beginning is the initial aspiration for great enlightenment; the end is the final achievement of Buddhahood. Non-duality means, as the Avatamsaka Sutra says, “At the moment of first arousing bodhicitta, one attains Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi.” The Nirvana Sutra says, “The beginning and the end are not two.”]* and oneness with the Buddha *[Note: The Avatamsaka Sutra states that the Buddha’s mind and sentient beings’ minds are without difference.]*. The great benefits of complete and sudden teaching *[Note: These are explained in the Universal Eye chapter.]* and the benefits of successfully cultivating the three forms of contemplation *[Note: These are explained in the Chapter on Vast and Free Power.]* will be described below.