No. 276-A楞嚴摸象記引
Introduction to the Record of Feeling the Elephant in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra
如經所言：有諸盲人，群手摸象。其摸鼻者，云象如箕。其摸股者，云象如柱。其摸尾者，云象如帚。其摸腹者，云象如石。乃至摸眼，則云如鼓風槖。摸耳，則云如倒垂葉。摸蹄，則云如覆地杯。人執所摸，互相是非，觀者捧腹。今日譚經，何以異是？佛已涅槃，咨詢無繇。出情識手，為想像摸。彼此角立，如盲譏盲，予實慨焉。知己亦盲，救獘為急。因入盲侶，與眾同摸。唯首楞嚴，於諸經中，更多疑義。由是諸盲，競共鼓噪，交臂[打-丁+(兟/曰)]指，莫可誰何。爰取是經，百有餘則，略為剖析，以例全帙。而於餘經，間附(一)二，不復繁舉。昔佛弟子，各陳己見。佛謂眾言：汝等所說，皆非我意。然各當理，足以利物。則彼群摸，除悖理者。以理而摸，雖不得象，未嘗非象。故不患摸，唯執是患。若虗其中，不主先入。會文切理，理恊文順，厥旨自彰。象之為象，躍如卓如。不於摸外，別得一象。如執所摸，堅壁自持。摸之彌勤，失之彌遠。秪增戲論，成謗法咎，則何益矣？此特教事，其譚禪者，為摸尤甚。或有摸馬，謂是象者。或有摸空，謂是象者。或有俱摸，謂一切處，咸是象者。或於一切，摸之不得，謂無象者。種種異見，未易更僕。願諸仁者，反摸其眼。得具眼已，象不須摸。
As the sutra states: There were blind men who gathered to feel an elephant with their hands. The one who felt the trunk said the elephant was like a winnowing basket. The one who felt the leg said the elephant was like a pillar. The one who felt the tail said the elephant was like a rope. The one who felt the belly said the elephant was like a stone. And the one who felt the eye said it was like a bellows for blowing air. The one who felt the ear said it was like an upside-down leaf. The one who felt the hoof said it was like an overturned cup on the ground. Each person clung to what he had felt and argued with the others, while onlookers laughed heartily. How is discussing the sutras today any different from this? The Buddha has already entered parinirvāna; there is no way to consult him. We extend the hand of our emotions and consciousness to feel with our imaginations. Opposing each other, like the blind mocking the blind—I truly lament this. Knowing that I too am blind, I regard remedying this fault as urgent. Therefore, I join the company of the blind and feel together with the multitude. Only the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra*, among all the sutras, has more points of doubt and contention. Thus, these blind ones compete in clamoring, pointing fingers at each other, with none able to settle the matter. Therefore, I take this sutra, with over a hundred points, and briefly analyze them to serve as examples for the entire volume. As for other sutras, I occasionally add(one or two) points, without further extensive citation. In the past, the Buddha’s disciples each presented their own views. The Buddha said to the assembly: “What you all have said is not my meaning. Yet each is reasonable and can benefit beings.” Thus, among that group feeling the elephant, except for those who violate reason, if they feel according to reason, though they do not obtain the elephant, it is not that they have not touched the elephant. Therefore, the concern is not with feeling, but only with clinging to what is felt. If one empties one’s mind and does not adhere to preconceptions, harmonizing with the text and cutting to the principle, so that principle aligns and the text flows smoothly, its meaning will naturally become clear. The elephant as an elephant will leap forth, distinct and evident. One does not obtain a separate elephant outside of the feeling. If one clings to what is felt, holding fast to one’s own wall, the more diligently one feels, the farther one strays. This only increases frivolous debate and creates the fault of slandering the Dharma—what benefit is there in that? This pertains specifically to the teaching. Those who discuss Chan are even more extreme in their feeling. Some feel a horse and call it an elephant. Some feel emptiness and call it an elephant. Some feel everything and say that all places are the elephant. Some, feeling everywhere and finding nothing, say there is no elephant. Such diverse views are too numerous to list. I wish that all virtuous ones would turn their feeling toward their own eyes. Once you gain true sight, the elephant need not be felt.
萬曆三十年歲次壬寅千佛澡浴日後學雲棲寺沙門袾宏書於翠竹山房No. 276
In the thirtieth year of the Wanli reign, the cyclical year Renyin, on the day of the Thousand Buddhas’ Bathing, the later student, the Śramaṇa Zhuhong of Yunqi Monastery, inscribed this at the Cuizhu Mountain Retreat.
楞嚴摸象記
Record of Groping the Elephant of the Śūraṅgama
明古杭雲棲寺沙門袾宏述
Recorded by the Venerable Zhuhong of Yunqi Temple in Ancient Hangzhou