萬善同歸皆成三昧門第二十
The Gate of All Good Deeds Converging to Form Samādhi, Chapter Twenty
問曰：「夫施燈長明，生日月宮，華香、幡蓋與燈未異，盡生天之福也。而云『皆已成佛道』者，何酬報之深哉？」
Question: Offering lamps that burn continuously brings rebirth in the palace of the sun and moon. Flowers, incense, banners, and canopies are no different from lamps—all are blessings that lead to rebirth in heaven. Yet the text says "all have already attained the Path to Cessation (Mārga)." How is the reward so profound?
對曰：「如帝王行幸，萬乘千官，步卒已來，皆帶御字，犯之天仗，死在斯須。若鑾輅還宮，步卒放散，歸乎村墅，苟稱於御字，亦死在斯須。且步卒是同，而生、死有異，蓋為緣起之殊，有茲寵辱也。向若華、蓋、香、燈，不遇《法華經》王命之天仗，實亦報在天宮。今逢三昧寶王，猶當扈從，乃至獻一華，皆已成佛道。斯則佛種從緣起，理教然耳！亦猶鳥向須彌，皆同一色；水朝巨海，無復異名。故《大寶積經．文殊普門會》，會天龍八部，地獄、畜生，色、聲、香等，一切萬法皆三昧者，亦猶毛容巨海，芥納須彌，豈毛芥之神乎？蓋神者神之耳。則知，解猶於目，行類於足，解正即行正，解邪即行邪，魔、佛淺深，俱憑於解。故《涅槃》曰：『於戒緩者，不名為緩；於乘緩者，乃名為緩。』乘者即慧解之稱也，一行既爾，萬行皆然。法華三昧者，即念佛三昧也。是以如來名此勝定，為三昧寶王、為光明藏、為除罪珠，為邪見燈、迷衢者導、王子金印、貧夫寶藏，空三昧、聖三昧，陀羅尼真思惟，最勝觀如意珠，佛性、法性、僧性，無盡藏勝方便，大慧光明，消惡觀法三昧等。故知，教、理、行、果，八萬四千波羅蜜門，皆是念佛三昧之異名也。夫如是則獻一華，遍奉於三世塵剎，念一佛體，通於未來世雄，如大地而為射的，豈有箭發而不中者哉？不然，則違《思益經》畏空、捨空，行空、索空之誚耳。」
He replied: "Suppose an emperor goes on a progress, with ten thousand chariots and a thousand officials, down to the foot soldiers—all bear the imperial name. Offend the imperial escort, and death comes in an instant. But when the imperial carriage returns to the palace and the foot soldiers are dismissed, going back to their villages and country houses—if someone there still lays claim to the imperial name, death likewise comes in an instant. The foot soldiers are the same, yet life and death differ; this is because the conditions differ, and so favor and disgrace arise. Formerly, if flowers, canopies, incense, and lamps had not met the imperial escort summoned by the command of the Lotus Sutra King, they would indeed have been reborn in the heavenly palaces. Now, having met the King of Samādhi Jewels, they should still follow in attendance—and so, having offered a single flower, all have already accomplished the Buddha Path. This shows that the Buddha-seed arises from conditions; such is the principle and such is the teaching! It is like birds flying toward Mount Sumeru—all become one color; like waters flowing to the great ocean—they take on no other name. Therefore, in the Great Jewel Heap Sutra, the Mañjuśrī Samantabhadra Assembly, which gathers the devas, nāgas, and eightfold assembly, the hell realm, the animal realm, and forms, sounds, fragrances, and so forth—all dharmas whatsoever are samādhi. This too is like a single hair containing the great ocean, or a mustard seed holding Mount Sumeru—could this be the spirit of the hair and mustard seed? No; the spirit lies in what is spiritual. Thus we know: understanding is like the eye, practice is like the foot. When understanding is right, practice is right; when understanding is wrong, practice is wrong. The shallow and the deep, the demonic and the buddha—all depend on understanding. Therefore the Nirvāṇa Sutra says: 'One who is lax in the Precepts is not called lax; one who is lax in the Vehicle is called lax.' The 'Vehicle' is the name for wisdom and understanding. If this one practice is so, all ten thousand practices are so. The Lotus Samādhi is precisely Buddha Recitation samādhi. That is why the Tathāgata names this surpassing concentration the King of Samādhi Jewels, the Storehouse of Light, the Pearl That Removes Offenses, the Lamp for Wrong Views, the Guide for Those Lost at the Crossroads, the Prince's Golden Seal, the Poor Man's Treasure, the Samādhi of Emptiness, the Holy Samādhi, the Dhāraṇī of True Contemplation, the Supreme Contemplation Wish-Fulfilling Pearl, Buddha-nature, Dharma-nature, Saṅgha-nature, the Inexhaustible Storehouse of Supremely Skillful Means, the Radiance of Great Wisdom, the Samādhi of Contemplation That Eliminates Evil, and so forth. Thus we know that the eighty-four thousand gateways of the perfection of teaching, principle, practice, and fruition are all other names for Buddha Recitation samādhi. If this is so, then offering a single flower is an offering made throughout the dust-mote lands of the three times; and contemplating a single Buddha is a communion reaching even the Heroes of future ages. When the whole great earth is the target, how could any arrow loosed fail to hit? Otherwise, one would incur the reproach of the Sutra of the Meaning of the Sage: fearing emptiness, abandoning emptiness, practicing emptiness, and seeking emptiness."
客曰：「醫去留藥，商行寄金，前賢所藏，非其人不可。弟子昧道懵學，輒窺三昧之門，尚期無生，每希一實之唱。如上奧旨，法之寶印，動寂雙照，理事圓融，舉心咸真，觸類而長，稱於南無，皆成於佛道，散華彈指，盡超於菩提，經王所在而自尊，目翳金錍而抉膜，二十門義未甞聞諸。欣澡雪輕眾生之愆，得優游寶莊嚴之土，何斯幸也！願不易此身，獲醍醐之妙記，悟當來諸佛即眾生是焉。遂稽首多寶塔，對之蓮華僧，與吾普觀十方尊，圓念三世佛。長跪叉手，而說頌曰：
The guest said: "The physician departs but leaves the medicine; the merchant travels but entrusts his gold—what former sages preserved cannot be given to just anyone. I, your disciple, am benighted in the Way and dull in learning, yet I have presumptuously peered into the gate of samādhi; I still aspire to the Unborn and constantly hope for the one reality's proclamation. The profound purport above—the precious seal of the Dharma—illumines both movement and stillness, perfectly fusing principle and phenomena: every stirring of the mind is true, and whatever one encounters grows thereby. Whatever is called upon with Namo all becomes the Buddha Path; scattering flowers and snapping fingers, all transcend into Bodhi. Wherever the King of Sutras abides, it is honored of itself, like the golden scalpel that removes the film from a clouded eye—the meaning of the twenty gates I have never heard before. Gladly I wash away the fault of slighting sentient beings, and attain to roam in the land of Precious Adornment—what fortune is this! I vow not to change this body, but to obtain the wondrous prediction of the ghee, and to realize that the future buddhas are just sentient beings themselves. Thereupon he bowed his head to the Many Treasures Stupa, faced the Lotus Sangha, and together with me contemplated the Honored Ones of the ten directions, encompassing in one thought the buddhas of the three times. Kneeling long and joining palms, he spoke in verse:"
「『一心憶念過去佛， 亦憶未來諸世尊，
現在一切人中雄， 亦學於其所說法，
無有一佛在過去， 亦無現在及當來，
唯此清淨微妙禪， 彼不可言證能說。』」
"With a single mind, remember the Buddhas of the past, and remember too the World-Honored Ones of the future, and all the heroes among humans in the present— learn as well the Dharma that they teach. There is not a single Buddha in the past, nor any in the present or yet to come; only this pure and subtle meditation— that cannot be expressed, yet the realized can speak of it."
念佛三昧寶王論卷下終
Treatise on the Precious King of Buddha Recitation Samādhi, End of Fascicle Three