金剛經纂要刊定記 3.116

3.116

From "Not by means of..." down: someone asks: "The text says one does not see the Tathāgata by marks. If the Tathāgata cannot even be seen, how can one wait upon him?" Hence this explanation. This means that simply according with and corresponding by means of wisdom is called waiting upon him. Yet this does not mean casting aside the form body to wait separately upon a markless Buddha; simply comprehending that marks are non-marks and not producing attachment is called correspondence. Whenever one makes offerings, draws near, and pays respect, it is all named waiting upon him. If one produces attachment and does not accord with principle, even if one constantly sees the Buddha, it is not named seeing. As the lower text says: "If one sees me by form, / or seeks me by sound, / this person walks a deviant path / and cannot see the Tathāgata." The Avataṃsaka says: "If a person for hundreds of thousands of kalpas / constantly follows the Tathāgata, / yet does not comprehend the true meaning, / being blind and dark, he does not see the Buddha." Furthermore, formerly when the Buddha ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa heaven for three months to preach the Dharma for his mother, and later descended to Jambudvīpa, the nun Utpalavarṇā wished to see the Buddha first; she transformed into a wheel-turning king with an entourage and went to the Buddha's dwelling. The Buddha then rebuked her, fully setting forth the matter above. At that time, Subhūti was in the mountains and also wished to see the Buddha; he immediately reflected again: "The principle of emptiness and marklessness is the true dharmakāya; what use is there in seeing physical form?" Having spoken, he sat down again and ultimately did not go to see him. Thereupon the Buddha told Utpalavarṇā: "Subhūti has already seen me first; you are already behind." Therefore one knows that clinging to marks and straying from the real puts one a thousand leagues away face-to-face, while emptying the mind and realizing phenomena makes heaven and earth one family. Hence the ancients said: "Though liver and gall are near, when emotions arise they are separated; though rivers and mountains are distant, when the Way accords they are neighbors." Thus we know that penetrating the wonderful principle is true waiting upon him; if one waits upon him like this, one waits upon the true Buddha, and therefore the merit obtained has no limit.