菩提達磨大師略辨大乘入道四行觀
Great Master Bodhidharma’s Outline For Discerning the Mahayana
and
Entering the Way By Four Practices and Contemplation
By Bodhidharma, (d. circa
532)
The Twenty-Eighth Ancestral Founder of the Dhyana Lineage
of the Ekayana School of India
The First Ancestral Founder of the Zen Lineage of
China
Translated by Gregory Wonderwheel © 2008
Man enters the Way by many roads. But in summary we speak of not going beyond
two kinds of cultivating. The first is entering by principle. The second is entering by practice.
"Entering
by principle" means to rely on the lineage of awakening and to bear
profound faith that the one true nature of beings is the same. However,
to act in this world of dust as a guest in the place of delusion is to hide and
be unable to manifest completely. Even so, if one renounces the false,
returns to the true, and concentrates one's nature contemplating on walls,
without self and without other, with the ordinary and the sacred one and the
same, with an immovably firm nature, and furthermore, not depending on written
teachings, then one immediately takes part in a deep accord with principle
without having discriminations. Being peaceful in this way is non-doing (wuwei)
and has the name of "entering by principle."
"Entering by practice" means the four practices, and in the surplus
and diversity of practices, know to enter among these. What are the four
categories? First, the practice of retribution for wrongs. Second,
the practice of according with conditioned causes. Third, the practice of
nothing to seek. Fourth, the practice of corresponding to Dharma.
What can be said?
“The
practice of retribution for wrongs” means a person who is cultivating the
practice of the Way. If you are in a time of receiving suffering, face yourself
and think to say, “I’ve gone through past innumerable aeons (kalpas)
abandoning the root and following the tips, existing in the various currents
and waves, hating the many arising wrongs, opposing and harming without
limit. Although I'm without offenses now, my former misfortunes
ripen as the fruit of evil karma, and neither heavenly beings (devas)
nor humans are able to see where they are given out. With a willing heart-mind
I willingly receive it, all without complaint of wrongs.” A Sutra says, “Do not
grieve when you meet with suffering," For what is the use of
reasoning? Consciousness transcends reason. At the time this arises
in your heart-mind you correspond with principle. Wrongs in their essence are
progress in the Way, and for this reason the words are spoken, "the
practice of retribution for wrongs”
Second, are
those with "the practice of according with conditioned
causes." All beings are without ego and merge with the karma
of conditioned causes turning in place. Suffering and joy are received
together, and every one follows from the conditioned causes of beings. If
we are able to win the reward of honor or rank in affairs, it is our previous
left over causes that are perceived. Now in this manner the gains of the
conditioned causes are exhausted and going backward does not exist. What then
do you have of happiness? While gain and loss follow conditioned causes,
the heart-mind is without increase or decrease. The winds of joy do not
stir the deep smooth flowing in the Way. For this reason the words
are spoken, "the practice of according with conditioned causes."
Third, are
those with "the practice of nothing to seek." Worldly people excel in
confusion, as everywhere are the attachments of desire, going by the name of
seeking. As people of wisdom realize the truth, principle then will
reverse with the commonplace. A tranquil heart-mind is effortless. Form
follows the turns of fortune. The 10,000 things are thus empty. Nothing
to desire is joy, as virtuous merit and darkness always follow and chase each
other. Dwelling in the Three Realms for a long time is like a house on fie. By
having a body everyone suffers. Who gains peace accordingly?
Understanding and passing through this point is the cause of renouncing
possessing of all kinds and to still thinking without seeking. A sutra
says, "By having seeking everyone suffers. Without seeking is immediate
joy." To discern and comprehend without seeking is a true act of the
practice of the Way. For this reason are the words, "the practice of
nothing to seek."
Fourth, are
those with "the practice of corresponding to Dharma." The
Dharma is the action of seeing the principle of the purity of nature. By
this principle all characteristics are thus empty, without taint, without
attachment, without this, and without that. A sutra says, “The Dharma is
without all beings, because it is free from the defilements of all beings.
The Dharma does not have an ego, because it is free from the defilements of an
ego." If a person of wisdom is able to believe in and expound this
principle then he is in agreement with and in fact is corresponding to Dharma
and practicing accordingly. Since the essence of the Dharma is not begrudging,
the practice of body, life, and wealth is the bestowing of charity (dana).
Without stinginess in the heart-mind, one is stripped and released by the
three-fold emptiness [of giver, gift, and receiver]. Being neither dependant
nor attached. and only acting to remove defilements, one corresponds to
converting all beings and yet does not grasp characteristics. This is doing the
practice by oneself, and repeatedly being able to benefit others, and likewise able
to dignify the Way of Enlightenment. This is already [the Paramita of]
charity, and the remaining Five are also like that. By acting to
eliminate delusions, one cultivates and practices the Six Paramitas, yet
nothing is practiced. This is the doing of "the practice of
corresponding to Dharma."
The end of Great Master Dharma's "Four Practices and Contemplation"
Notes:
The Six Paramitas are the Six Transcendences or activities for crossing over the ocean of worldly confusion. In the Mahayana they are: Charity (dana), Morality (sila), Patience (kshanti), Effort (virya), Meditation (dhyana) and Wisdom (prajna). As indicated above, in the One Vehicle of the Ekayana the Six are manifested simultaneously in the practice of corresponding to the Dharma.
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