Preface to the Chapter of the Golden Lion

When the dragon-elephant treads upon heaven and earth, it opens the profound treasury and expounds the wondrous Dharma. When ants scurry upon clods of earth, they transmit the deep Dharma and turn the wheel of the Dharma. Patriarchs Du Shun and Zhi Yan have already spread the great Dharma in the azure heavens; Xiangxiang and Qingliang, virtuous sages, have long discoursed on the bright mirror in the yellow springs. Thus, although the great sage’s teachings transmit a single flavor, the *Avataṃsaka* stands alone as the supreme vehicle, towering above all other teachings. Although those who propagate the sutras share equal virtue, Xiangxiang uniquely surpasses other masters. Now, regarding the Dharma revealed by the Tathāgata, is there any teaching within the scriptures where this is not expounded? If there is a teaching within the scriptures where this is not expounded, is there a text outside the scriptures that contains it? If there is a text outside the scriptures that contains it, do the fifty-one stages of provisional teachings not clearly delineate their positions? If the names of these stages are clearly delineated, is there one who, from the initial stage of the ten faiths, completes the merit of all fifty-two stages, attains the patience of non-arising, and exhaustively severs ignorance? Furthermore, is there any teaching that speaks of oneness while encompassing the three realms? If it does not correspond to provisional teachings, it is called the Distinct Teaching. Is this called “distinct” because it is separate, not because it rejects provisional teachings to establish the true? Is it the sudden and true teaching? If it is the sudden and true teaching, does that sutra describe a place of pure land, adorned and exquisitely subtle? If there is such a pure land, adorned and exquisitely subtle, is it not a transformed land but a true land? If it is not a transformed land but a true land, does the Dharma expounded therein not rely on principle but use phenomena to reveal nature? Again, does that sutra, at the very beginning of its preface, directly enumerate bodhisattvas of profound stages? Again, does that teaching, from the outset, exclude the two vehicles, reveal the loftiness and vastness of the body and land, and ultimately include the two vehicles, secretly revealing the meaning of the oneness of the three realms without omission? If it includes the two vehicles, does it directly benefit women? If it benefits and comforts women, are there five hundred who attain benefits while seated? Does that sutra speak of attaining fruition without leaving one’s own land? If there are those who awaken without leaving their own land, are there those who awaken while in the form of dragons or animals? If there are those who awaken while in the form of dragons or animals, do they number ten thousand? If there are even a few who awaken while in the form of dragons or animals, does it not speak of including icchantikas? If it includes icchantikas, does it fully expound the Middle Way? If it expounds the Middle Way, does it truly expound śamatha and vipaśyanā? If it expounds the names of śamatha and vipaśyanā, does it presently expound the ten suchnesses? If it expounds the ten suchnesses, is there truly subsequent expedient means? If there are expedient means, are they certainly free from the two falsehoods of arbitrary speculation and empty flowers? If they do not fall into the two falsehoods, is there the analogy of a high mountain first receiving the illuminating benefit of the light of nature? If there is even a small part of this benefit, is the causal light of the teaching master simultaneous with its effect? If cause and effect are simultaneous, is the benefit not temporary? If the benefit is not temporary, does that Buddha manifest the actual retribution, encompassing the ten bodies and pervading the three realms? If such texts exist, are there also those that possess ten heads, ten eyes, ten ears, ten noses, ten mouths, ten tongues, ten bodies, ten hands, ten feet, ten wisdoms, ten suchnesses, ten patience, ten clarities, ten powers, ten liberations, ten eloquence, ten sounds, ten fearlessness, ten non-deficient dharmas, ten Buddha lands, ten places, ten assemblies, ten bodhisattvas, ten pāramitās, ten expedient means, ten vows—such tenfold infinities, where phenomena are unobstructed by phenomena, and phenomena and principles are perfectly fused? Only this sutra possesses all these virtues. Therefore, when discoursing within the teachings, the World-Honored One pats his knee; when transmitting the ancestral way, the three Buddhas curl their tongues. The patriarchs’ messages tied to geese’s feet reach neighboring lands from Yangzhou; the melodies preserving them comb powdered hair in the southern wind, stirring old tears in Gyerim. All these are the Dharma expounded in the realm of the world, the *Avataṃsaka* that the Tathāgata constantly expounds. With the Buddha drawing a sword from his mouth, he cuts the heads of Samantabhadra’s billions; with the patriarch raising his hand in the Dharma arrow, he shatters Vairocana’s pure and singular appearance. In the past, the solitary expounder’s house brought no benefit, yet the realm of its lineage bears merit. The lion’s bite shatters a single dust mote, releasing the great sutra treasury; the elephant’s trunk confuses the great void, gathering millet within. Again, is there any master whose literary meaning thoroughly penetrates all the sutras and Dharmas expounded in one lifetime? If there is one who penetrates all, does he establish the five teachings, classify the sacred teachings, and surpass earlier generations? If his classification surpasses others’ virtue, does his expounding of the Way transcend the world, and his teaching transform others like the Buddha? If his expounding surpasses others, does he enter the sutra treasury and contend with Tripitaka masters in debate? If he contends with Tripitaka debaters, does he transmit the teachings and enable people to attain benefits beyond the teachings? If he enables such attainment, does light emanate from his mouth? If light emanates, does it transform into a jeweled canopy? If light becomes a canopy, is he hailed by the world as a small Śākyamuni? If hailed as a small Śākyamuni, does he enter the royal palace to be revered by the emperor? If revered by the emperor, is he also revered by the empress, and does he expound sutras for her? If revered by the empress, and if temples and stūpas are established in his honor, does he manifest an unchanging birth and ascend to Tuṣita? If he ascends to Tuṣita, are his disciples flourishing in six kingdoms, the transmitted Dharma unbroken, and thriving even today? Now, the *Essay on the Golden Lion* was expounded by Master Fazang at the request of Empress Wu Zetian. Its text is concise yet profound, its words few yet broad in meaning. It is like shattering a small dust mote to release the great sutra treasury, or condensing the great void into a single hair. Great awakening is at hand; present benefits are within grasp. Is this not the diligent practice of bodhisattvas of profound learning and great awakening? If one wishes to follow the traces of the Buddhas and patriarchs and transmit the merit of the unobstructed interpenetration of phenomena, one must first sit in full lotus posture, or in half lotus posture. When properly seated in the great posture, choose a quiet place, use a cushion, and briefly clarify the method. Though not adhering rigidly to one form, face the direction of the initial ground, with the ten dedications behind. Place the left foot on the right thigh, lift the right foot onto the left thigh. Rest the right hand on the right thigh, lift the left hand into the right palm, and join the tips of the two thumbs, facing each other. When sitting properly, do not lean right or left, slump forward, or tilt backward. The ears should align with the shoulders, the nose with the navel. Press the tongue against the upper palate, lips together, upper and lower teeth close. Eyes should be neither fully open nor fully closed. This is the method for those who study the great sage. Next, for the half lotus posture: lift the left foot and press it on the right thigh. Then, one should rely on the practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā through the gate of no-thought. If thoughts arise, let them arise; not giving rise to thoughts is itself having thoughts. How then can birth and death cease? Giving rise to thoughts and following thoughts is no-thought. This is called great nirvāṇa. No-thought that is no-thought, no-form that is no-form; thought that is thought, form that is form—all are attachments of non-Buddhists, not the teachings of the Buddha. I earnestly urge all sentient beings: tread the ocean-seal samādhi of Śākyamuni Buddha and the gate of observing phenomena taught by Master Fazang; do not rely on the cessation samādhi of the Hīnayāna or the evil attachments of non-Buddhist schools.