4
Chapter 4
一
One
緣門起問曰、道究竟属誰。
The student asking from the Door of Conditions inquired, “To whom does the Way ultimately belong?”
答曰、究竟無所属、如空無所依。道若有繫属、即有遮有開、有主有寄也。
It is said: In the ultimate sense, nothing belongs to anything, just as space depends on nothing. If the Way had attachments, there would be blocking and opening, subject and object.
二
Second.
問曰、云何為道本、云何為法用。
Question: What is the root of the Path, and what is the function of the Dharma?
答曰、虚空為道本、參羅為法用也。
The answer is this: Emptiness is the root of the Path, and the myriad phenomena are the workings of the Dharma.
三
Three
問曰、於中誰為造作。
Question: Who is it that creates all this?
答曰、於中実無作者、法界性自然。
He replied: Within this, there is truly no doer—the nature of the Dharma realm is spontaneous.
四
Four
問曰、可不是眾生業力所為耶。
Question: Could this not be the working of living beings' karma?
答曰、夫受業者、而為業繫所纏、自因無由。何暇繫海積山、安天置地。
He replied: Those who receive karma become entangled by the bonds of karma, with no freedom of their own. How would they even have time to bind the seas and pile up mountains, or stabilize the heavens and place the earth?
五
Five
問曰、蓋聞菩薩有意生身。豈不由神通之力耶。
Question: I have heard that bodhisattvas have a body born of intention. Is this not brought about by the power of supernatural abilities?
答曰、凡夫有漏之業、聖人無漏之業。彼雖勝劣有殊、由未是自然之道。故云、種種意生身、我說為心量。
He replied: Ordinary people act with defiled karma, while sages act with undefiled karma. Though one is superior and the other inferior, neither is the effortless, natural path. That is why it is said: "The various mind-made bodies I teach are all within the scope of the mind."
六
Six
問曰、既言空為道本、空是仏不。
Question: You have said that Emptiness is the foundation of the Path. Is Emptiness itself the Buddha?
答曰、如是。
He replied, "That is so."
七
Seven
問曰、若空是者、聖人何不遣眾生念空、而令念仏也。
Question: If Emptiness is what matters, why wouldn't the sages simply have beings contemplate Emptiness, instead of having them recite the Buddha's name?
答曰、為愚癡眾生、教令念仏。若有道心之士、即令觀身実相、觀仏亦然。夫言実相者、即是空無相也。
They answered: For deluded beings, we teach them to recite the Buddha's name. But if there are practitioners with a mind set on the Path, we have them contemplate the true nature of the body—and contemplating the Buddha is the same. When we speak of true nature, it is simply Emptiness, the signless.