No. 272-B大佛頂如來密因修證了義諸菩薩萬行首楞嚴經論序
Preface to the Treatise on the Śūraṅgama Sūtra
會萬物之謂心，冥一心之謂道。心也者，虗融包博，煥發邃凝，應變無方，威神莫測，恢遠微妙，無得而思議焉。良以漚生大海，雲點太清，鼓識浪而渺瀰，滓情塵而紆鬱。由是正徧知者，利見五天，洞開實際之門，廣示真修之路。使識真者，造忘言之極；懷寶者，免窮丐之勤。前聖後聖，莫不由斯而悟入矣。首楞嚴經者，開如來藏之要樞，指妙明心之徑路，了根塵之妙訣，照情妄之玄猷。真所謂入一乘之坦途，闢異見之宏略。始自阿難循乞，遭幻術所加；文殊承言，宣神呪以護。於是殷勤請最初方便，大慈示本覺元常，唯一直心，無委曲相。以斯內外七處，破妄心而顯真心；明暗八還，破妄見而顯真見。空五陰之處界，廓七大之性圓。各各知心，徧十方如觀掌果；一一悟性，湛巨海不認浮漚。獲本妙心，不從他得。加以滿慈，疑山河大地無狀忽生；慶喜，請華屋天王必由門入。那知翳目，妄起狂華，分彼湛圓，成茲渾濁。體六一之無二，究結解以同源。然則解雖密圓，行由人顯。遂乃敕諸無學，各說圓通，無非真實法門，咸是本來因地。文殊大智，擇法眼以無差；觀音大悲，被娑婆之根器。微塵諸佛，同契真常；解行證成，於焉罄矣。厥後開物成務，請益陳疑。禁戒防非，垂四種明誨；清淨修證，列十地階差。放光宣神呪之功，顛倒成類生之異。精研七趣，廣示六交。重回紫磨金山，為說禪那現境。五種妄想為其本，一切魔事因之興。乘悟併銷，由次第盡。真無上寶印，誠微妙蓮華。窮徹果因，備殫理事。袪十惡之重障，喻七寶以難齊。開示未來，菩提可到。一經旨趣，略舉於斯。微細。粗明宗趣。將釋此經，先明宗趣。諸師疏說，小異大同。今之所明，總如來藏性，聖凡平等為宗；首楞嚴定，離念進修為趣。又以首楞嚴定，破諸妄見，永絕輪迴為宗；顯本妙覺，明如來藏性為趣。若依賢首大師五教門類，諸師所議，正唯終實之教，兼於頓圓。若以此經功能，不出破顯二字。破則破諸妄見，顯則顯一真心。雖有多途，不過此意。然般若一部，皆唯遣相；圓覺二章，頓顯本心。此經先云：皆由不知常住真心次第。約心目二塵，委曲精微，歷三科七大之法。因緣和合，虗妄有生；因緣別離，虗妄名滅。殊不知生滅去來，本如來藏妙真如性。性真常中，求其去來、迷悟、生死，了不可得。廣有其文，不欲備引。或曰：諸師造疏，已廣通明，何藉方今更為論義？答曰：如來慧辯，理義聯環；房公淵文，詞采簡潔。而守章句者，滯筌蹄之學；求理本者，陋文字之繁。未能和會折衷，雅符上器。不揆蠡管，擬測高深。細正綱宗，粗分科段。比前註疏，誠有所遺。翦稗莠而顯出嘉苗，忘義象而專趨妙悟。與我同志，諒無誚焉。
To understand all things is called the mind; to realize the oneness of the mind is called the Way. The mind is vast and all-encompassing, radiant yet profound, responding to changes without fixed patterns, its divine power unfathomable, subtle and far-reaching, beyond the reach of thought and speech. Just as bubbles arise in the great ocean and clouds appear in the vast sky, it stirs the waves of consciousness and obscures the dust of emotions. Thus, the Fully Enlightened One appeared in the world, opened the gate of ultimate reality, and broadly showed the path of true practice. He enabled those who recognize truth to reach the ultimate state beyond words, and those who hold the treasure to avoid the toil of poverty. All sages, past and present, have entered enlightenment through this.
The *Śūraṅgama Sūtra* is the essential key to opening the treasury of the Tathāgata, pointing directly to the path of the luminous mind. It reveals the profound method for understanding the senses and objects, and illuminates the secret means to perceive emotional delusions. Truly, it is the smooth road into the One Vehicle, and the grand strategy for dispelling erroneous views. It begins with Ānanda going on alms round and being ensnared by illusion, and Mañjuśrī using a divine mantra to protect him. Then, with earnest request for the initial expedient means, the Great Compassionate One reveals the original, eternally luminous nature—the single, straightforward mind, without any crookedness. Through this, the seven internal and external locations are examined to shatter the deluded mind and reveal the true mind; the eight aspects of light and darkness are analyzed to break deluded perception and reveal true perception. The emptiness of the five aggregates and the realms is exposed, and the perfect nature of the seven elements is clarified. Each being knows their mind, seeing the ten directions as clearly as observing a fruit in the palm; each realizes their nature, recognizing the vast ocean without mistaking the floating bubbles. The wondrous mind is attained—not obtained from another.
Furthermore, Maudgalyāyana doubts how mountains, rivers, and the great earth suddenly arise without cause; Ānanda asks how to enter the magnificent palace of the heavenly king. They do not realize that it is like a diseased eye seeing illusory flowers, dividing the clear and perfect into this turbid world. The essence of the six and the one is not two; the source of bondage and liberation is the same. Yet, although liberation is profoundly complete, practice must be manifested by individuals. Thus, the Buddha commands the arhats to each explain their perfect penetration—all are true Dharma gates, all are the original ground of enlightenment. Mañjuśrī, with great wisdom, selects the Dharma-eye without error; Avalokiteśvara, with great compassion, responds to the capacities of beings in this world. Countless Buddhas alike realize true eternity; understanding, practice, and realization are fully encompassed here.
Afterward, for the benefit of beings, questions are asked and doubts presented. Precepts are established to prevent wrongdoing, with four clear instructions; the stages of pure practice and realization are outlined across ten grounds. The power of the divine mantra is proclaimed through radiating light; the distinctions among various classes of beings arise from inversion. The seven destinies are meticulously examined, and the six interactions are broadly revealed. Returning to the golden mountain, the states of meditation are explained. Five kinds of false thinking are their root; all demonic affairs arise from them. With awakening, they dissolve together; through gradual practice, they are exhausted. Truly, it is the supreme precious seal, the subtle and wonderful lotus. It exhaustively explores cause and fruit, fully elucidates principle and phenomena. It removes the heavy obstacles of the ten evils, surpassing even the seven treasures in value. It opens the way for the future, showing that enlightenment can be attained. The essential meaning of this sūtra is briefly presented here.
Now, to explain this sūtra, we must first clarify its purpose and direction. The commentaries by various masters differ slightly but generally agree. What we clarify here takes the nature of the Tathāgata’s treasury, the equality of sage and ordinary being, as its purpose; and the *Śūraṅgama Samādhi*, the cultivation beyond thought, as its direction. Also, it takes the *Śūraṅgama Samādhi* to shatter all deluded views and eternally end cyclic existence as its purpose; and to reveal the original wondrous enlightenment, clarifying the nature of the Tathāgata’s treasury, as its direction. According to Master Xianshou’s classification of the five teachings, the discussions of various masters align precisely with the final and real teaching, also encompassing the sudden and complete teachings.
The function of this sūtra can be summed up in two words: “shattering” and “revealing.” Shattering means destroying all deluded views; revealing means manifesting the one true mind. Although there are many approaches, they all point to this meaning. However, the entire *Prajñāpāramitā* literature focuses on dispelling attachments; the two chapters of the *Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra* suddenly reveal the original mind. This sūtra first states: “All this arises from not knowing the eternal true mind.” It meticulously and subtly addresses the two dusts of mind and eye, traversing the teachings of the three categories and seven elements. Through the coming together of conditions, delusion arises; through the separation of conditions, delusion is said to cease. Yet it is not realized that arising, ceasing, coming, and going are fundamentally the wondrous true suchness of the Tathāgata’s treasury. Within the truly eternal nature, seeking coming and going, confusion and enlightenment, birth and death—none can be found. There are extensive passages on this; we need not quote them all.
Some may ask: “The masters have already composed extensive commentaries to elucidate this sūtra. Why is there need for further discussion now?” I reply: The Tathāgata’s wisdom and eloquence weave principles and meanings together in an unbroken chain; the profound writings of the ancients are concise and elegant in expression. Yet those who cling to the letter are stuck in the learning of traps and snares; those who seek the fundamental principle disdain the complexity of words. They have not been able to harmonize and find the middle way, truly matching the capacity of superior vessels. Not presuming to measure the depths with my limited insight, I have carefully corrected the main tenets and roughly divided the sections. Compared to previous commentaries, this may indeed omit some things—cutting away the weeds to reveal the good shoots, forgetting the words to directly approach wondrous awakening. Those who share this aspiration with me, I trust, will not find fault.