No. 613-A
No. 613-A
諸佛世尊。唯為開示眾生佛之知見。出現於世。且佛知見與眾生知見。果異乎。不異乎。若果異。則眾生絕分矣。諸佛豈無因而能出現哉。若不異。則眾生即佛矣。又何借他佛開示耶。然則果異不異諸佛俱不出世。而佛畢竟出現於世者何也。良繇佛知佛見人人本具。妄想執著不能直下承當。將謂是佛分中事。不知不離尋常見色聞聲之處。以是釋尊降迹塵寰。四十餘年善權調攝。直至斯經。方乃確實開示。是必待其顛倒想滅。肯心自許。與達磨直指之宗。曾無二致。法華妙典。豈易易解說哉。斯經古今注釋種種。雖文辭璀璨可觀。大都溺於筌蹄。高推聖境。致令如來妙諦。翻成名相之法。唯我大師意語。文淺而旨淵。辭約而理備。掃除枝葉。言言的示本心。直截根源。句句消歸自性。殆非算沙說食者比。故一時參學之士。爭欲入手。奈板藏東越三吳。法侶不便採取。兼之剞劂不精。且有帝虎之繆。(不肖)乃取其本經及所引諸文。讐校再三。募眾重梓。俾醍醐妙味均霑大地。覽者苟能得旨於言外。庶不孤老和尚一片婆心矣。
All Buddhas and World-Honored Ones appear in the world solely to reveal and demonstrate to sentient beings the Buddha's knowledge and vision. Now, is the Buddha's knowledge and vision actually different from sentient beings' knowledge and vision, or is it not different? If it were truly different, then sentient beings would be completely cut off from it—how could the Buddhas appear without a cause? If it were not different, then sentient beings would already be Buddhas—why would they need to borrow another Buddha's revelation? Thus, whether different or not, no Buddha would ever appear in the world. So why do Buddhas ultimately appear in the world? It is simply because the Buddha's knowledge and Buddha's vision are inherently present in every person, but deluded thinking and attachment prevent people from directly accepting it. People assume it belongs to the Buddha's domain, not knowing that it is not apart from the ordinary, everyday act of seeing forms and hearing sounds. For this reason, Shakyamuni Buddha descended into this dusty world and for over forty years employed skillful means to guide and train beings, until finally, in this sutra, he truly revealed and demonstrated it. This must await the cessation of their inverted thinking and their heartfelt willingness to accept it themselves; it is in no way different from Bodhidharma's direct pointing. How could the wondrous Lotus Sutra be easy to explain? There have been many commentaries on this sutra, ancient and modern. Though their words are brilliant and pleasing to behold, most drown in the trap and snare of words, exalting the sagely realm so high that the Tathagata's wondrous truth is turned instead into a teaching of names and forms. Only my master's intended words—his language plain yet his meaning profound, his phrasing concise yet his principle complete—sweep away branches and leaves, every phrase directly revealing the original mind, cutting straight to the root, every sentence returning to one's own nature. He is truly not to be compared with those who count sand and talk of food. Therefore, students of the Way at the time all vied to get their hands on it. Unfortunately, the printing blocks were stored in Dongyue and Sanwu, making it inconvenient for fellow practitioners to obtain copies. In addition, the engraving was not precise, and there were errors of misprint. I, (this unworthy one), therefore took the root sutra and the various texts it quotes and proofread them repeatedly, and I called upon the community to reprint it, so that the exquisite flavor of ghee might be shared throughout the great earth. If readers can grasp the meaning beyond the words, then perhaps they will not fail the old master's single piece of grandmotherly kindness.
崇禎庚午仲夏望日受法門人明海焚香拜序
On the full-moon day of midsummer in the gengwu year of the Chongzhen reign, Minghai, a disciple who received the Dharma, burned incense and bowed in reverence to write this preface.