華嚴經探玄記 1.3

1.3

Now, the empty space of dharmatā is vast and boundless, transcending sight and hearing; the great ocean of wisdom is immeasurably deep, defying thought and deliberation. The profound path is subtle and far-reaching, where names and words rarely trace its course; its pure standard is vast and hazy, so that none can exhaust its source. Yet, because the capacities and responses are myriad and varied, forms and words are stirred forth to fill the dharmadhātu; mind and objects are of a single taste, obliterating subject and object to return to silence. Essence and function are without fixed direction, and their perfect interpenetration cannot be fathomed. Thereupon, the formless displays forms, like the sun rising over the Yanggu Valley; the wordless indicates words, like the blue waves pouring into a vast abyss. Therefore, first in the Padmagarbha-lokadhātu, the endless profound guidelines were expounded, encompassing those of superior attainment and drawing them forward to ascend to the stage of Buddhahood. Thereafter, transformation moistened the Sahā world, gradually spreading the clouds of compassion, showering fine dew to moisten the three roots, and nourishing the sprouts of the Path so that they return to a single principle. From this we know that when the capacities and conditions that elicit response differ, the sage's responses are therefore diversely divided; yet although the sage's responses are diverse, they are one in being inconceivable. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra is the grand discourse that gathers the ocean-like assembly, the ultimate exposition that illumines the king of mountains. Its principle and wisdom are vast and far-reaching, exhausting the dharmadhātu and spanning the true source; its billowing, subtle words are equal to empty space and cover the dust-mote realms. Thereupon, without diminishing the great or the small, it conceals gigantic lands within the tip of a hair; without changing the vast or the fine, it fuses the ultimate atom to pervade the dharmadhātu. Hence, like Indra's net, reflections interpenetrate layer upon layer; like a crystal reflecting dusty directions, it shines dimly yet clearly. One is many without obstruction; many is one in complete integration. It gathers nine times into a single kṣaṇa; it extends a single thought to encompass eternal kalpas. The ultimate firm seed across three lifetimes serves as the cause; when the path of the ten faiths is perfected, universal virtue is manifested to form the fruit. The fruit is not a fruit distinct from the cause, branching into five stages with parted reins; the cause is not a cause distinct from the fruit, uniting the ten bodies in uniform attainment. Thus the Mother of Awakening adapted to capacities at Eastern City, where six thousand opened their ten eyes; the youth inquired of spiritual friends in the southern realm, and the hundred and ten were completely fulfilled within a single lifetime. Consequently, without departing from the King of Trees, the six heavens were reached; without moving from the Padmagarbha, the ten lands were subtly fused. Manifesting precious gāthās within dust motes, the eight assemblies shone equally; disclosing the royal jewel in natural virtue, the seven locations were completely revealed. Vast and resonant, it towers far beyond thought and deliberation; towering and resplendent, it surpasses sight and hearing for the blind and deaf. Therefore, Rocana first formed and fashioned it in the sāgara-mudrā, which arose at dawn on the fourteenth day; Nāgārjuna at last looked down to investigate it in the dragon palace, and only after six hundred years was it made manifest. Furthermore, "great" has the meaning of all-encompassing; "square" [in "extensive"] has the efficacy of standard and model; "extensive" means that the essence is ultimate and the function universal; "Buddha" is the fruit perfected and awakening fulfilled; "flower" [in "Avataṃsaka"] is a metaphor for the blossoming forth of the myriad practices; "adornment" is a simile for decorating this original essence; "sūtra" means threading and stringing together, whereby the teaching that is the signifier becomes evident. Relying on dharma, taking recourse to persons, and employing metaphor as title, it is therefore called the Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra. As for "Chapter on the Pure Eyes of the World", the three kinds of world, such as the receptacle world, shone brightly at that time, and their pure and shining illumination is compared to pure eyes; dharma and metaphor being presented together, it is thus called "The Pure Eyes of the World". The words and principles being unified and grouped according to category, it is called a "chapter". This sūtra contains thirty-four chapters; this chapter stands at the beginning and is therefore called the first. Thus it is called "Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, Chapter One: The Pure Eyes of the World". The remaining meanings are explained below.