金剛般若疏 4.4

4.4

From "Suppose a person's body were huge and great" onwards is the third chapter of the sūtra text, which the treatise introduces as a transition to generate contemplation. This text adduces the king of mountains as a metaphor for the dharmakāya, serving simply to establish the above meaning that bodhi is neither existent nor non-existent. Because the dharmakāya is free from all afflictions, it is not existent; because it possesses all virtues, it is not non-existent. Furthermore, since bodhi is neither existent nor non-existent, the dharmakāya is likewise neither existent nor non-existent. The text has two parts: first, the Buddha adduces the great body to raise a question, as in the text; next, when Subhūti replies, "The Tathāgata speaks of a person's body being huge and great," the treatise states: "The Buddha takes suchness (tathatā) as his body, which is called 'great' on account of two meanings: first, it pervades all places; second, it possesses all virtues." Question: How does the dharmakāya pervade all places? Answer: The Avataṃsaka Sūtra states: "The inexhaustible, equal, and wondrous realm of dharmas (dharmadhātu) is entirely filled by the Tathāgata's body." The Tathāgata's body has never been great or small, pervading or non-pervading; it is praised by sentient beings as 'great' merely for their sake. "Is no great body": this is because it is free from all afflictions and encumbrances. The treatise states: "It is far removed from the afflictive hindrances and the cognitive hindrances," which is why it is called 'no body'. "Is called a great body": it is endowed with all virtues. The first phrase directly indicates the great body; the next phrase, because it is free from afflictions and encumbrances, indicates that it is not existent; and the following phrase, because it possesses manifold virtues, indicates that it is not non-existent. Question: How does this differ from the earlier explanation of the king of mountains? Answer: The former was for the earlier assembly, and the latter is for the subsequent assembly. Moreover, the earlier passage was presented to establish the meaning of neither grasping nor preaching, while the present passage is presented to establish the meaning that bodhi is neither existent nor non-existent. The earlier passage explained the reward Buddha (saṃbhogakāya), whereas the present passage explains the dharmakāya Buddha. In the earlier passage, deluded persons thought that when first attaining Buddhahood there is a bodhi that can be grasped, so it was the reward Buddha; here, it directly explains that the essence of the dharmakāya is neither existent nor non-existent, so it is the dharmakāya.