三業供養真實表敬門第十八
The Gate of Making Offerings Through the Three Karmas, Truly Expressing Reverence, Chapter 18
問曰：「三昧觀門已聞奇唱，三業供養，佛在滅後，獻福何多？」
Question: "We have already heard the remarkable teaching on the gate of contemplation in samādhi. As for the three kinds of offering through body, speech, and mind—after the Buddha has passed into Cessation of Suffering, how great is the merit gained by making such offerings?"
對曰：「夫論供養法界海者，萬行之中，能淨三業，皆名供養也，況浪思真境，而非供養哉？《理趣》曰：『觀一切法，若常、若無常，皆不可得。』於諸如來，廣設供養，不亦明焉？又如來在世，嚴薦表誠，皆言華雲香海，遍微塵剎，猶恨其少。大士所以入觀用想，須彌為燈炷，大海為油盞，未展殷敬，故焚金色之僻，獻淨明之塔，金身火焰洞照十方，則喜見菩薩其例矣。而今之人，但推於自心，或遙指華樹，乖奉獻之儀，何慢之深也？子問：『佛在、滅後，獻福何多？』者，試為明之。且丁蘭刻木於堂，溫清如在，名光青史，人到于今，稱之為真孝子也。若如來在世，金山晃耀，嚴相赫然，誰有覩之，不發道意？獻華伸懇，不亦易哉？洎世雄晦迹，月隱重山，不奉真儀，但傳貝葉。對之形像，發無上意，能獻一華，此志、此心，足可嘉尚！有如是者，不亦難哉？《涅槃》云：『乃至獻一華，則生不動國。』是則一香、一華、一燈、一樂，及以飲食，盡心樂得奉薦三世諸佛者，淨土妙因，成聖元始，安得輕易其事而不遵之哉？若離於此行，而聽無稽之言，獻心華、點心燈，焚心香、禮心佛，而欲求於正覺者，亦何異騁猿猴之巧、守梅林之望歟？及令彼衣心衣、飯心飯，則困拒不已，至於六度萬行，何乃排於空見之心哉？指心、指空之言，其過若此，不可不慎也！真言門中瑜伽觀行，亦約事門表相，不一向推心，常嚴薦香華六時無廢也。」
He replied: "As for the saying that the realm of reality is like an ocean of offerings—within the myriad practices, whatever purifies the three kinds of karma is all called making offerings. How much more so when one deeply contemplates the true realm—is that not itself an offering? The *Prajñāpāramitā-naya-sūtra* says: 'Contemplating all dharmas—whether as permanent or impermanent—none of them can be grasped.' Does this not make it clear that one should make vast offerings to all Tathāgatas? Moreover, when the Tathāgata was in the world, people adorned and presented offerings to express their sincerity, all speaking of clouds of flowers and oceans of incense filling lands as numerous as fine dust motes, and still they regretted it was too little. This is why great beings enter contemplation and use their imagination: Mount Sumeru as a lamp wick, the great ocean as a vessel of oil—before they have even displayed their earnest reverence, they burn the golden-hued *pi* incense and offer the pure and luminous stupas, so that the golden body's flames illuminate the ten directions. The Bodhisattva Priyadarśana is precisely such an example. But people today merely defer to their own minds, or point vaguely at flowering trees, contradicting the proper forms of offering—how deeply disrespectful this is! You ask: 'With the Buddha present and after his passing, which brings more merit?' Let me try to explain. Consider Ding Lan, who carved a wooden image in his hall and served it with warmth and coolness as though his parent were present—his name shines in the annals of history, and people to this day call him a truly filial son. If the Tathāgata were in the world, with his golden mountain radiant and his majestic marks resplendent, who could see him and not arouse the aspiration for enlightenment? Offering flowers to express one's earnestness—would that not be easy? But once the World Hero has hidden his traces and the moon has set behind layered mountains, one no longer encounters the true form but only receives the palm-leaf scriptures. Facing an image and arousing the supreme aspiration, able to offer even a single flower—such resolve and such a mind are truly worthy of praise! Is this not difficult? The *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* says: 'Even offering a single flower causes one to be born in the Land of Unmoving.' Thus a single stick of incense, a single flower, a single lamp, a single note of music, or even food and drink—wholeheartedly rejoicing to present these to the buddhas of the three times—this is the wondrous cause for rebirth in the Pure Land and the very beginning of becoming a noble one. How could one take such a practice lightly and fail to follow it? If one sets aside this practice and instead listens to unfounded talk—offering the flower of the mind, lighting the lamp of the mind, burning the incense of the mind, venerating the buddha of the mind—and yet wishes to attain perfect enlightenment, how is that different from displaying the cleverness of a monkey or waiting in vain for a plum grove? And if you told such people to wear the clothing of the mind and eat the food of the mind, they would be endlessly hard-pressed and refuse. Why then, when it comes to the Six Perfections and the myriad practices, do they set them aside in favor of the mind of empty views? The errors of such talk of 'pointing to the mind' and 'pointing to emptiness' are like this—one must be careful! Even within the Mantra school, the yogic contemplation practices also rely on the phenomenal level to express their forms; they do not uniformly defer to the mind alone, but constantly make earnest offerings of incense and flowers without cease throughout the six periods of the day."