開宗第一
Opening the Teaching, Part 1
無名曰：經稱有餘涅槃、無餘涅槃者，秦言無為，亦名滅度。無為者，取乎虛無寂寞，妙絕於有為。滅度者，言其大患永滅，超度四流。斯蓋是鏡像之所歸，絕稱之幽宅也。而曰有餘、無餘者，良是出處之異號，應物之假名耳。余嘗試言之。夫涅槃之為道也，寂寥虛矌，不可以形名得；微妙無相，不可以有心知。超群有以幽升，量太虛而永久，隨之弗得其蹤，迎之罔眺其首，六趣不能攝其生，力負無以化其體。潢漭惚恍，若存若往，五目不覩其容，二聽不聞其響。冥冥窈窅，誰見誰曉？彌綸靡所不在，而獨曳於有無之表。然則言之者失其真，知之者反其愚，有之者乖其性，無之者傷其軀。所以釋迦掩室於摩竭，淨名杜口於毘耶，須菩提唱無說以顯道，釋梵絕聽而雨華；斯皆理為神御，故口以之而默，豈曰無辯？辯所不能言也。經云：「真解脫者，離於言數，寂滅永安，無始無終，不晦不明，不寒不暑，湛若虛空，無名無說。」論曰：「涅槃非有，亦復非無。言語道斷，心行處滅。」尋夫經論之作，豈虛搆哉？果有其所以不有，故不可得而有；有其所以不無，故不可得而無耳。何者？本之有境，則五陰永滅；推之無鄉，而幽靈不竭。幽靈不竭，則抱一湛然；五陰永滅，則萬累都捐。萬累都捐，故與道通洞；抱一湛然，故神而無功。神而無功，故至功常存；與道通洞，故沖而不改。沖而不改，故不可為有；至功常存，故不可為無。然則有無絕於內，稱謂淪於外，視聽之所不暨，四空之所昏昧，恬焉而夷，怕焉而泰，九流於是乎交歸，眾聖於是乎冥會。斯乃希夷之境、太玄之鄉。而欲以有無題榜，標其方域而語其神道者，不亦邈哉！
“Nameless” says: The scriptures speak of “Nirvana with remainder” and “Nirvana without remainder.” In Chinese this is rendered as the unconditioned, and also as cessation and deliverance. “The unconditioned” refers to empty nothingness and utter stillness, wondrously transcending the conditioned. “Cessation and deliverance” means that the great affliction is forever extinguished and one is carried beyond the four streams. This is the destination reflected in the mirror image, the hidden dwelling beyond all names. As for saying “with remainder” and “without remainder,” these are simply different designations for departing and abiding, provisional names that respond to circumstances. I will try to explain this.
Now, the Way of Nirvana is desolate, empty, and vast; it cannot be grasped through shape or name. It is subtle and without marks; it cannot be known through intentional mind. It rises in hidden transcendence above all forms of existence, and its measure is the great void, everlasting. Follow it, and you cannot find its trace; meet it, and you cannot see its head. The six destinies cannot contain its arising; the power of bearing cannot transform its body. Vast and indistinct, it seems to exist and seems to pass away. The five eyes do not behold its form; the two hearings do not hear its sound. Dark and deep, who sees it? Who understands it? Pervading everywhere, it is nowhere absent, yet it alone trails beyond being and non-being. Thus those who speak of it lose its truth; those who know it revert to ignorance; those who possess it violate its nature; those who deny it harm their own bodies. That is why Śākyamuni kept silent in Magadha, Vimalakīrti closed his mouth in Vaiśālī, Subhūti proclaimed non-speaking to reveal the Way, and Brahmā and Indra, cutting off hearing, rained flowers. In all these cases, principle was governed by spirit, and so the mouth fell silent because of it. How could this mean there was no eloquence? It was that eloquence could not speak it.
The scripture says: “True Liberation is free from words and numbers, utterly still and forever at peace, without beginning and without end, neither dark nor bright, neither cold nor hot, clear as empty space, nameless and without speech.” The treatise says: “Nirvana is not existence, nor is it non-existence. The path of words is cut off; the domain of mental activity is extinguished.” Examining how these scriptures and treatises were composed, how could they be made up in vain? Truly, because there is a reason it is not existent, it cannot be obtained as existent; because there is a reason it is not non-existent, it cannot be obtained as non-existent. Why is this? If we trace it as having a realm, then the five aggregates are forever extinguished; if we push it as having no location, then the hidden spirit is not exhausted. Because the hidden spirit is not exhausted, it embraces the One in clear stillness; because the five aggregates are forever extinguished, all entanglements are entirely relinquished. Because all entanglements are entirely relinquished, it penetrates freely with the Way; because it embraces the One in clear stillness, it is spiritual yet without contrivance. Because it is spiritual yet without contrivance, supreme merit constantly remains; because it penetrates freely with the Way, it is empty yet unchanging. Because it is empty yet unchanging, it cannot be considered existent; because supreme merit constantly remains, it cannot be considered non-existent. Thus being and non-being are cut off within, and names and designations sink away outside. It is where sight and hearing do not reach, where the four formless attainments are dim and obscure. Tranquil, it is level; serene, it is at ease. There the nine streams all return together; there the many sages meet in hidden accord. This is the realm of the subtle and imperceptible, the land of the great mystery. And to try to label it with “being” and “non-being,” to mark out its territory and speak of its spiritual Way—is that not far off indeed?