仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經疏 1.23

1.23

Second is clarifying the substance of the sūtra. There are two parts within this: first, the substance; second, the nature. Clarifying the substance of all teachings has both general and specific [explanations]. First, as for the general explanation, fascicle 81 of the Yogācārabhūmi says: "The substance of a sūtra has two aspects: first, the text; second, the meaning. The text is that which is relied upon, and the meaning is that which relies upon it, because through the expressing text, the meaning can be revealed." Second, as for the specific explanation, the aforementioned two are further divided into five: three for text and two for meaning. Regarding the three for text: First, concealing the nominal to discuss the real, taking sound as the substance. The Abhidharmakośa says: "Some say the Buddha's teaching has speech as its intrinsic nature; they say the aggregates of Dharma are all subsumed under the aggregate of form, because the intrinsic nature of speech is sound, and what is spoken by the Buddha's mind is heard by others." The Abhidharmasamuccaya speaks of sound induced by accomplishment, but does not say that names and so forth are induced by accomplishment. The Cheng Weishi Lun says: "If names, phrases, and syllables were real entities apart from sound, they should, like form and so forth, not be real expressers; therefore it is said that the Buddha's teaching takes sound as its substance." Second, concealing the real to discuss the nominal, taking names and so forth as the substance. The Abhidharmakośa says: "Some say the Buddha's teaching has names as its intrinsic nature; they say the aggregates of Dharma are all subsumed under the aggregate of conditioned formations, because the intrinsic nature of names is non-associated formations." It is essential that there be names for it to be called a teaching; therefore the substance of the Buddha's teaching is names. This means that as phrases and syllables are lined up in order, laid out in order, and joined in order, the Buddha's teaching is said to take names and so forth as its substance. Third, discussing the nominal and the real together, taking nature and function as the substance. The Daśabhūmikavyākhyāna says: "Both speaker and listener achieve culmination through two things: first, sound; second, correct syllables, syllables being that upon which they rely, as they subsume names and phrases." That is, these two constitute four dharmas, because the functions of sound, names, phrases, and syllables are each distinct. Names express intrinsic nature, phrases express differentiation, and syllables—namely letters—are that upon which the two rely. Although these three have no separate substance apart from sound, their nominal and real aspects are different and they are not identical with sound. Because the objective realms of the two unhindered cognitions of dharma and discourse are distinct—dharma takes names and so forth as its object, while discourse takes sound as its object—the Buddha's teaching is said to take nature and function as its substance. Regarding the two for meaning: First, subsuming the objective realm into the mind, taking consciousness-only as the substance. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says that the three realms are only mind. Below, this sūtra says: "From the first moment, there is an ineffable consciousness that gives rise to the two dharmas of form and mind of all sattvas." The Awakening of Faith says: "Apart from mind and thought, there are no characteristics of any objective realm." The treatises say that mind, mental factors, form, non-associated formations, and the unconditioned natures are all not separate from consciousness. Consciousness has distinctions: the true teaching of the speaker and the semblance dharma of the hearer flow equally from the pure dharmadhātu. If considered in terms of the root, it is the mind of the speaker; if taken in terms of the branch, it is the consciousness of the hearer. How is this known to be so? Vasubandhu's verse in the Viṃśikā says: "Through their mutual predominant power, / the two consciousnesses become determinate." This means that due to distinctions in the consciousness of one continuity, distinct consciousnesses are caused to arise in another continuity, mutually acting as predominant conditions for one another; therefore, the Buddha's teaching is said to take consciousness-only as its substance. Second, subsuming characteristics into the nature, taking true suchness as the substance. Therefore the sūtra says: "All phenomena are also such, and even Maitreya is also such." Below, this sūtra says: "All the sounds, speech, letters, chapters, and phrases spoken in the sūtras and so forth are all such, and none are not ultimate reality." Therefore the Buddha's teaching is said to take true suchness as its substance. Regarding the above five kinds, general and specific, shallow and deep, in terms of principle, whichever door is raised subsumes the others and they do not contradict one another.