仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經疏 1.54

1.54

Question: In the Mahāyāna, since past and future are not substantially existent, among the three times what is meant by "one time"? Answer: There are two meanings. First, the time of principle (yukti-kāla). Although speaker and listener exist only in the momentary arising and ceasing of the five aggregates and conditioned formations, with only a single moment of present phenomena, there is nevertheless the function of repaying the prior and inducing the subsequent. That which is repaid is nominally designated as the past, and that which is induced is nominally designated as the future; in relation to these two, it is spoken of as the present. These past and future periods are both nominally established upon present phenomena. Therefore, the completion of the undertaking between speaker and listener is nominally established across the three times and collectively called "one time," not the "one time" of a single arising and ceasing. Second, the time of consciousness-only (vijñapti-kāla). Upon the conscious mind, the manifestations of the three times arise transformed; yet the speaker and listener are in truth the present. In accordance with the demarcations of the mind, it transforms into short and long; the entire course of the event from beginning to end is collectively termed "one time." Just as in a dream one perceives many lifetimes, yet in the state of waking there is only mind and no real external object whatsoever.