第十明坐禪實相正觀方法
The Tenth Illumination: The Method of Seated Meditation on the True Nature of Reality
行者行道誦經竟。當就坐處。入繩床中齊整衣服端身正坐。閉眼合口調和氣息。寬放身心。一一如坐禪前方便中說。然後歛念正觀破壞罪業。云何明正觀。如菩薩法不斷結使不住使海。觀一切法空如實相。是名正觀。云何名觀一切法空。行者當諦觀現在一念妄心隨所緣境。如此之心為因心故心。為不因心故心。為亦因心亦不因心故心。為非因心非不因心故心。為在三世。為在內外兩中間。有何足跡在何方所。如是等種種因緣中求心畢竟不可得。心如夢幻不實。寂然如虛空無名無相不可分別。爾時行者尚不見心是生死。豈見心是涅槃。既不得所觀。亦不存能觀。不取不捨不倚不著。一切念想不起心常寂然。亦不住寂然。言語道斷不可宣說。雖不得心非心相。而了了通達一切心非心法。一切皆如幻化。是名觀心無心法不住法。諸法解脫滅諦寂靜。作是懺悔名大懺悔。名莊嚴懺悔。名無罪相懺悔。名破壞心識懺悔。行此懺悔心如流水不住法中。所以者何。一切妄想顛倒所作罪福諸法皆從心起。離心之外則無罪福及一切法。若觀心無心則罪福無主。知罪福性空。則一切諸法皆空。如是觀時能破一切生死顛倒。三毒妄想極重惡業。亦無所破。身心清淨。念念之中照了諸法。不受不著細微陰界。以是因緣。得與三昧相應。三昧力故。即見普賢及十方佛摩頂說法。一切法門悉現一念心中。非一非異無有障閡。譬如如意寶珠具足一切珍寶。如是寶性非內非外。行者善觀心性猶如虛空。於畢竟淨心中見一切法門通達無閡。亦復如是。是名行者觀心實相懺悔。六根不斷五欲。得淨諸根見障外事。廣說如法華經普賢觀經中所明。復次行人初入道場。一時之中當具足修此十法。如是於六時中悉用是法。唯除召請三寶。於三七日中修於九法。行一一法時皆修此觀。六時之中一一時中。不得於事理有闕。是名三七日中一心精進。復次行者於三七日中修懺悔時。若行若坐若住若出入。大小便利掃灑洗澣。運為舉動視眗俯仰。應當心心存念三寶。觀心性空。不得於剎那頃。憶念五欲世事。生邪念心。及與外人言語論議。放逸眠臥戲笑視色聽聲。著諸塵境起不善無記煩惱雜念。乖四安樂行中說。若能如是心心相續。不離實相不惜身命。為一切眾生行懺悔法。是名三七日中真實一心精進修也(行法相貌多出普賢觀經中。及四安樂行中。行者若欲精進修三昧。令行無過失。當熟看二處經文)。
Practitioners, having finished walking the path and reciting the sutras, should go to their seat, enter the rope cot, arrange their robes neatly, straighten their bodies, and sit upright. Close the eyes and mouth, regulate the breath, and relax body and mind—each step as described in the preliminary practices for sitting meditation. Then gather the attention and engage in correct contemplation to dismantle the karma of wrongdoing.
What is clear correct contemplation? Following the bodhisattva path, one neither cuts off the fetters nor dwells in the sea of fetters. One contemplates all dharmas as empty, just as they truly are—this is called correct contemplation.
What does it mean to contemplate all dharmas as empty? The practitioner should carefully observe the present moment’s one thought of deluded mind as it follows whatever object it meets. Is this mind a mind that arises because of a mind, or a mind that arises not because of a mind? Is it a mind that arises both because of a mind and not because of a mind? Is it a mind that arises neither because of a mind nor not because of a mind? Does it exist in the three times? Is it within, without, or between the two? What footprints does it leave, and where? Searching through all such conditions and causes, the mind is ultimately unfindable. The mind is like a dream, an illusion, unreal—still and silent as empty space, nameless, signless, beyond discrimination. At that time the practitioner does not even see the mind as birth and death—how much less see it as Nirvana! Since the object of contemplation is unattainable, the contemplator too does not remain. One does not grasp or reject, lean on or cling to anything. All thoughts and imaginings do not arise, and the mind remains constantly still—yet one does not dwell in that stillness either. The path of words is cut off; it cannot be proclaimed. Though one does not attain the mind or the mark of no-mind, one clearly penetrates all mind and no-mind dharmas. All are like illusions, like transformations. This is called contemplating the mind as no-mind, the Dharma of non-dwelling in dharmas, the liberation of all dharmas, the peace of the truth of cessation.
To practice this repentance is called the great repentance, the adorned repentance, the repentance of no-mark of wrongdoing, the repentance that destroys the consciousness. Practicing this repentance, the mind flows like water, not dwelling in any dharma. Why? Because all wrongdoings and blessings produced by deluded, inverted thinking—all dharmas—arise from the mind. Apart from the mind there is no wrongdoing or blessing nor any dharma at all. If one contemplates the mind as no-mind, then wrongdoing and blessing have no owner. Knowing that the nature of wrongdoing and blessing is empty, all dharmas are empty. When one contemplates in this way, one can break all inverted views of birth and death, and the deluded thoughts of the three poisons and the heaviest evil karma—yet there is nothing broken either. Body and mind are pure. In every thought one illumines all dharmas, without receiving or clinging to even the subtlest aggregates and elements. By this cause and condition one comes into accord with samādhi. Through the power of samādhi one sees Universal Worthy (Puxian) and the Buddhas of the ten directions rubbing one’s crown and teaching the Dharma. All Dharma doors appear complete within a single thought—neither one nor different, without obstruction. It is like the wish-fulfilling jewel, which contains all treasures. The nature of that treasure is neither inside nor outside. The practitioner skillfully contemplates the nature of the mind as like empty space. In the utterly pure mind, seeing all Dharma doors and penetrating them without obstruction is likewise so. This is called the practitioner’s repentance of contemplating the true mark of the mind.
The six faculties are not severed, yet the five desires are not indulged; one attains pure faculties and sees matters beyond obstacles. This is extensively explained in the Lotus Sutra and the Sutra of Contemplating Universal Worthy.
Furthermore, when practitioners first enter the practice hall, they should cultivate these ten methods completely within one session. In all six periods of the day they should use these methods—except for the invocation of the Three Treasures. During the three seven-day periods, they cultivate the nine methods. In practicing each method, they cultivate this contemplation. In each of the six periods, in every period, there must be no deficiency in either practice or principle. This is called single-minded diligence throughout the three seven-day periods.
Furthermore, when practitioners cultivate repentance during the three seven-day periods—whether walking, sitting, standing, or going in and out; whether relieving themselves, sweeping, or washing; in every movement, glance, or posture—they should keep the Three Treasures in mind and contemplate the emptiness of the mind’s nature. Not for a single instant should they recall the affairs of the five desires or give rise to false thoughts. Nor should they engage in speech or discussion with outsiders, indulge in careless lying down, jesting, gazing at forms, or listening to sounds, or become attached to sense objects and give rise to unwholesome or neutral afflictions and scattered thoughts. This would transgress what is taught in the Four Practices for Peaceful Joy. If one can thus continue thought after thought without abandoning the true mark, and without sparing body or life practice repentance for the sake of all sentient beings—this is called true single-minded diligent cultivation throughout the three seven-day periods.
(Descriptions of the practice’s forms largely come from the Sutra of Contemplating Universal Worthy and the Four Practices for Peaceful Joy. If practitioners wish to diligently cultivate samādhi and ensure their practice is without fault, they should carefully study the texts of these two scriptures.)