「智悲圓融印」之說明
簡繁轉換 - 繁體
林鈺堂
佛法源於智悲圓融之佛果，導凡俗以智悲齊彰之修行，而匯歸於智悲不二之法界。
圓印表法界；智悲充遍法界，無有界限。
智悲相輔相成，故字形配合如兩儀之於太極。字形之尖稍如發端，圓頭如趨勢乃象徵：智生於悲，而融於悲，故解脫之究竟在於渡眾；悲發乎智，而達於智，故慈悲之極致自然無著。
智、無相而隱，以陰文表之，又合密法以佛母表智慧；悲、有為方彰，以陽文顯之，又合密法以佛父表方便。字形之輪廓及顏色，正好象徵紅白菩提貼切吻合。（參閱〈金剛法印之說明〉）
智字上方大，表以智導悲；悲字下方大（恰為「大心」），表以悲殿智。智字下方小，表「真智如日而隱微」，一般不易悟入；悲字上方小，表「大悲離非而歸空」，實修方達純真。
智悲二字皆為流線形，其趨勢（圓端之走向）依佛法採右旋，象徵圓轉交融，生生不息；二而一，一而二；隨緣化現，離緣絕照，本自如如！
我得此印之靈感，寫信告訴在台北之祥耀居士，請他刻之。他歷經月餘，草數十稿，刻第三次才告成；由農曆八月八日下刀，至中秋佳節圓滿。本文初稿我在美國亦是中秋佳節草就。此種冥應巧合，亦是智悲圓融之佳兆。
在他郵寄這枚印給我之時，也來函述及他在中秋節清晨夢到一位年輕男士送他一串水晶念珠，念珠是放置在以紅色為主色的無蓋錦盒中。我釋此夢如下：紅色表慈心，錦盒無蓋表無遮開示。水晶念珠是密法四臂白觀音所持，表慈悲運用；一顆顆水晶圓珠表眾生本具圓明空性智慧；因此水晶念珠即是智悲圓融之表徵。更深一層，念珠在觀音手中是運用不息的，表示智悲圓融非死寂，而是運轉無礙，隨機變顯的。
智不含悲非真智；悲而離智乃偽悲。必也智不離悲，悲中含智；智悲不二方是真智大悲。智悲原本不二；願有緣見此印者咸證本具智悲不二！
一九九三年萬聖節
於美國 加州寓所
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Significance of the Union of Wisdom and Compassion Seal
Significance of the Union of Wisdom and Compassion Seal
Yutang Lin
Buddhist teachings flow from the fruits of
Buddhahood that is Wisdom and Compassion in harmonious union,
guide worldly people through practices that exemplify both
Wisdom and Compassion, and lead them back to the Dharmadhatu
that is Wisdom and Compassion in non-duality.
The circular shape of the seal signifies the Dharmadhatu; Wisdom and Compassion imbue the Dharmadhatu without boundaries.
Wisdom and Compassion mutually support and complement each other; therefore, the shapes of the characters complement each other in the fashion of the Yin and Yang of Tai Ji. Sharp ends of the characters are like the initial starting points, while their rounded heads are like their tendencies, and thus they signify that: Wisdom is born of Compassion and merges into Compassion, and hence the ultimate achievement of liberation is in compassionate salvation of sentient beings; Compassion stemmed from Wisdom and attains Wisdom, and hence the ultimate achievement of Compassion is in being naturally attachment-free.
Wisdom being formless and invisible is represented by Yin strokes (strokes formed by carving its shape into the seal so that the printout of such a stroke will remain blank), and this matches the Tantric teaching that Wisdom is represented by Mother (female) Buddhas (Yin represents the female principle). Compassion is illustrative only through active involvements, and hence it is demonstrated by Yang strokes (strokes formed by carving out the boundaries of its shape so that the printout of such a stroke will be in ink), and this matches the Tantric teaching that Skillful Means (compassionate salvation activities) is represented by Father (male) Buddhas. The perimeter shape of the characters and their colors (ink for Chinese seals is usually red) exactly symbolize the intimate union of red Bodhi and white Bodhi. (Cf. my work, "Significance of the Vajra Dharma Seal.")
The upper part of the Zhi-character (Wisdom) is larger, signifying using Wisdom to guide Compassion; the lower part of the Bei-character (Compassion) is larger (and it is the Xin-character (Mind) and hence it happened to match the significance of Great Mind), signifying using Compassion as support for Wisdom. The lower part of the Zhi-character is smaller, and it is the Ri-character (Sun), signifying that real Wisdom is as bright as the sun but it is hidden and inconspicuous, and hence ordinarily it is not easy to be comprehended; the upper part of the Bei-character is smaller, and it is the Fei-character (Inconsistency), signifying that the Great Compassion moves away from inconsistency and returns to Sunyata, and hence only through actual practice can one reach original purity.
Both characters Zhi and Bei are in dynamic style and their tendency (the moving direction of the rounded heads) circulates clockwise in accordance with the Buddhist tradition to signify mutual merging through endless circulation. They are two but in oneness, and in oneness yet with two aspects. They transform and appear in accordance with given circumstances; and yet remain free from duality and circumstantial influences and stay in natural harmony and tranquility.
As I got the inspiration for the construction of this seal as stated above, I wrote to Upasaka Tan Seong Yeow in Taipei, Taiwan about it, and asked him to carve the seal. He spent over one month in drawing tens of drafts, and finally finished the project at the conclusion of the third carving. He began the carving on lunar August 8th and perfectly completed the carving on the auspicious Mid-autumn Festival, lunar August 15th, that is traditionally regarded as an occasion for reunion and its full moon symbolic of perfect completion. The first draft of this article in Chinese was written in USA also on the auspicious Mid-autumn Festival. Such a coincidental matching of auspicious concurrence was certainly an auspicious omen for our subject, the harmonious union of Wisdom and Compassion.
When he mailed this seal to me he also enclosed a letter mentioning the following: in early morning of the Mid-autumn Festival in a dream a young man offered him a string of crystal prayer beads that was placed in a topless brocade box and the brocade was mainly in red color. I construed the dream as follows: red color represents Compassion; topless brocade box signifies unreserved instruction. A string of crystal prayer beads is held by the Tantric Four-arm White Chenrezig to signify applications of Compassion (salvation activities). Each and every crystal bead signifies the round and transparent Sunyata Wisdom that sentient beings innately have had; therefore, the string of crystal prayer beads represents harmonious union of Wisdom and Compassion. Furthermore, there is a deeper significance in that, since the string of prayer beads is continuously used in the hand of Chenrezig, it signifies that the harmonious union of Wisdom and Compassion is not static but instead turns around without hindrances and reflects according to situations.
Wisdom without implicit Compassion is not
real Wisdom; Compassion that deviates from Wisdom is feigned
Compassion. It should be the case that Wisdom is inseparable
from Compassion and Compassion implies Wisdom; non-duality
of Wisdom and Compassion means genuine Wisdom and Great Compassion.
Wisdom and Compassion are originally non-dual; may all that
have the opportunity to see a print of this seal would realize
their innate non-duality of Wisdom and Compassion.
Written in Chinese on Halloween of 1993
Translated on October 14, 2004
Both at El Cerrito, California
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