仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經疏 3.399

3.399

The commentary states: Explaining the entry into the ground: as the Suvarṇaprabhāsa says, 'For an eighth-ground bodhisattva, this characteristic manifests first: on both sides of the body there are lion kings serving as guards, and all beasts are terrified. The bodhisattva sees all of this.' 'Immovable' means that, having attained mastery in cultivating signless reflection, the activities of defilements cannot move them. 'Dwells in the non-arising kṣānti' explains the cognizing cognition; it is the middling kṣānti. 'Its essence is without increase or decrease' explains what is realized. 'Essence' means realization and meeting, or true suchness itself, which is the essential nature of all dharmas. This means that this true suchness is free from the conceptual grasping of increase and decrease, not increasing or decreasing along with defilement or purity. 'Cuts off all effort' is the hindrance to be abandoned. 'Effort' (ābhoga) has the meaning of preparatory application (prayoga); it means that due to effort, signless contemplation does not arise effortlessly. To distinguish it in comparison with the preceding: on the previous five grounds there is much contemplation with signs and little contemplation without signs; on the sixth ground there is little contemplation with signs and much contemplation without signs; on the seventh ground there is purely contemplation without signs, yet although it is constantly continuous, there is preparatory application; because there is preparatory application within the signless, one is not yet able to effortlessly manifest characteristics and lands. Such preparatory application obstructs the effortless path on this ground. The essence of that effort comprises two kinds of ignorance, as the Suvarṇaprabhāsa says: first, the ignorance of effort regarding signless contemplation, meaning that within the signless one has not yet attained mastery, and it arises only through effort; second, the ignorance of mastery in grasping at signs, meaning that because of grasping at signs, one does not attain [mastery] among signs, which also encompasses a portion of the characteristics of lands. What are called signs? The manifested characteristics of the body and the characteristics of pure lands are both called signs. Because those two ignorances are eternally cut off when entering this ground, one attains two masteries on this ground. Above this ground, the purely uncontaminated path always arises effortlessly, and the defilements of the three realms never manifest actively, though the subtle cognitive hindrances in the seventh consciousness may still manifest, because the fruit of the cognition of emptiness of persons does not contradict them. From here, the second part explains the practice of dwelling in the ground. Within this there are two: first, body and mind do not arise; second, the empowerment of all buddhas. Within the first there are again two: first, to begin with, the absence of characteristics of body and mind.