華嚴經探玄記 18.13

18.13

The second, the chapter on requesting, has three parts: first, the assembly's mental request; second, what is mentally requested; third, mentally requesting manifestation. Question: Given that below the śrāvakas are all like the deaf and blind, why do they join here in having doubts and mental [requests]? Answer: Master Yi explained: "In terms of principle, there is no separation, and therefore they can share the doubt. Because they have not accumulated the great mind, they should not follow in sequence." Another explanation: It indicates that, being together in the Jetavana, they thus share in the mental request. Because the universal eye is not yet opened, they are therefore like the blind, and so forth. Another explanation: In truth, they are bodhisattvas, and thus they share in the thought; their traces appear as śrāvakas, and thus they are like the blind (and so on). In what is requested, there are sixty clauses in total. Ancient masters explained: The first thirty clarify the Buddha's own entry into the dharmadhātu; the latter thirty clarify the Buddha causing others to enter the dharmadhātu. Now it is explained: Among the sixty, the first ten mentally request the fruit dharmas. How is it known that what is requested is the fruit? Because the next ten clarify that lower stages cannot measure it. Since the lower cannot know it, why now wish to request it? The next ten clarify that if one is endowed with the power of causes and conditions, one might also come to know it. Although, endowed with the power, it may be known, it is not yet known whether this assembly has the power to know it or not? The next ten reveal that this assembly is endowed with the capacity of faculties. Although the assembly is equipped as recipients, if there is no Buddha-power, neither could anyone know it. The next ten clarify that the Buddha is endowed with the causes of benefiting others. Although the causes of benefiting others are complete, if there is no manifestation of the fruit-function of benefiting others, there would also be no way to cause them to know. The next ten distinguish using the fruit-function to gather living beings. Since these conditions are complete, they conclude the request, saying: "May [the Buddha] manifest..." and so on. Another explanation: Here, the first thirty clauses mentally request the Dharma; the latter thirty clauses mentally request the virtues. In the former, the first ten directly mentally request the requested fruit dharmas; the next ten clarify that they are deep, profound, and difficult to measure; the last ten clarify that through the meeting of conditions they can be entered. In the first [group of ten]: 1 asks about the unimpeded, non-purposive practice of compassion and wisdom, as explained in the "Chapter on the Nature Manifestation"; 2 asks about the true and conventional being unimpeded, which is known by the Buddha's wisdom, also as explained in the realm of "Nature Manifestation"; 3 the dhāraṇī of boundless mindfulness and wisdom on the Buddha-ground, also as distinguished by the Dhāraṇī-Buddha among the ten Buddhas, and as the ten dhāraṇīs and so forth explained in the "Chapter on the Inconceivable"; 4 the ten powers such as [knowing] what is possible and impossible, and the ten great powers such as the Nārāyaṇa banner, also as in that chapter; 5 the four fearlessnesses and the ten fearlessnesses; 6 the inestimable oceans of samādhis such as the lion's roar and stride; 7 the principle and virtues, along with all buddha-lands, are all what the Tathāgata's body and wisdom abide in, also as explained in the "Chapter on the Inconceivable"; 8 superior virtues—in the questions of the first two assemblies, they were called the Buddha's superior dharmas, which distinguishes them generally, whereas here it specifically reveals the superiority in terms of merit; 9 the marks of the perfection of the three bodies and ten bodies; 10 the interpenetrating illumination of the principle and measure of the four wisdoms and ten wisdoms. There is also a manuscript of the sūtra where here there is an additional clause called "the Tathāgata's dharmas." Perhaps it is superfluous, or perhaps it concludes the above clauses. Moreover, these ten questions are mostly the same as the fruit virtues questioned in the first assembly, because that subsumes the approach, which is fitting to use here. Further, among the ten, the first one is general, and the remaining nine are particular. Among the particular: the first one is the virtue of what is known; the next three are the virtues of wisdom's function; the next one is the virtue of great concentration; the next one is the virtue of what is relied upon; the next one is the virtue of superior merit; the last two are the virtues of body and wisdom, as can be understood. In the second [group of ten], on not being measurable by lower stages: regarding the aforementioned ten kinds of Tathāgata-dharmas, because they are lofty, they cannot be known; because they are vast, they cannot be measured; because they are deep, the bottom cannot be reached; because they are manifold, they cannot be received—these four are not the realm of the wisdom of hearing; because they are profound, they cannot be thought; because they are subtle, they cannot be contemplated—these two are separated from the realm of thinking and cultivation. Because they correspond to the dharmadhātu, they cannot be differentiated. Because one is all, one cannot hear and give rise to causal wisdom. Because one has not realized them, one cannot declare them clearly. Because they transcend speech, they cannot be explained. Furthermore, the first six transcend the three wisdoms, and the latter four transcend the four unhindered knowledges: the unhindered knowledge of dharmas cannot divide them, the unhindered knowledge of meanings cannot unfold them, the unhindered knowledge of phrases cannot declare them, and the unhindered knowledge of eloquence cannot express them. Another explanation: These ten match the preceding ten kinds, showing the profound meaning in sequence, as can be known accordingly. Another explanation: For each one meaning above, there are these ten, and for this one gate, there are also the preceding ten; matching them to form a hundred gates and so forth can be understood accordingly. In the third [group of ten], on being knowable when conditions meet: the first four take the Buddha's power as condition, and the latter six take the power of faculties as cause; only then can it be known. In the first: 1, the Buddha's sustaining power is the Buddha's adhiṣṭhāna-power, like sustaining Bodhisattva Utpalapuṣpa to cause him to know the Buddha's virtues and expound the "Chapter on the Inconceivable," and so forth. 2, the power of mastery is the power of unimpeded turning, like Mañjuśrī turning Śāriputra to cause him to know and expound the profound principle, and so forth. 3, the power of majestic spirit is secretly applying majesty to cause one to know virtues, like causing Kāśyapa to know the Tathāgata's mind, and so forth. 4, the power of original vows is the power of the Buddha's past original vows, which thus causes others to know the Buddha's profound virtues. In the lower six: 1, the power of roots of goodness planted in past lives through many births; 2, the power of having drawn close to good friends of the One Vehicle through many births; 3, the power of deeply penetrating pure faith in the present; 4, the power of aspiration and seeking for the supreme, superior Dharma; 5, the power of the great bodhicitta aroused from the true Dharma unmixed with ignorance; 6, the power of a deep mind dedicated to seeking the knowledge of all modes, unmixed with the mind of the two vehicles. Through any one power among these ten, it can be known partially, or two, or three, up to ten kinds, in order to reveal inexhaustibility. In the second thirty clauses, mentally requesting based on virtues: the first ten praise the virtue of the recipients being capable of receiving; the latter twenty praise the virtue of the Buddha being able to explain. In the first: thinking and measuring are many in the mind, hence "various." From thought, desire arises; when desire increases, it is called understanding, which is the decisive seal of superior resolve. Speech arises based on understanding, and regional sounds also differ; the stages of practice in which they abide differ in superiority and inferiority, hence "grounds." As recipients of the Dharma, the faculties are sharp or dull, unripened or ripened, differing in three grades, hence "faculties." Based on faculties, they perform actions, their creation and cultivation differing, hence "expedient actions." The marks of the cognitive objects relied upon are not single, hence "objects." They all rely on the Buddha-fruit as a condition, entering the Dharma through differentiations, whether relying on the Buddha's light or because of the teaching of the Dharma, and so forth. Their delight in hearing what is taught varies in depth, shallowness, breadth, or brevity, each differing in amount, hence "delighting in hearing the Dharma." In the second, praising the Buddha's ability to explain: the first ten mentally contemplate the Buddha's perfection of the causes of expounding; the latter ten mentally contemplate the Buddha's equipment with the fruit virtues of expounding. In the former ten: 1 clarifies the initial vow of generating the bodhicitta in the past; 2 giving rise to practice based on vows, hence "pure pāramitās"; 3 practices fulfilled and entering stages, hence "various bhūmis"; 4 fulfilling practices based on the stages, hence "fulfilling practices"; 5 generally stating that all practices are endowed with the two adornments, hence "bodhisattva adornment"; 6 distinguishing individually that one practice skillfully subsumes all and they mutually adorn one another, hence "expedient adornment"; 7 individually revealing that the practice of self-benefit subsumes the same as before, named "path adornment," the path being causal meaning that reaches through to the fruit; 8 individually clarifying that the practices of benefiting others are skillful in manifold ways, hence "producing an ocean of expedients," the meaning of adornment being the same as before; 9 the two benefits are unimpeded, both fused and ultimate, each subsuming all to accomplish the Samantabhadra practice, hence "mastery adornment"; 10 receiving bodies over many kalpas and constantly cultivating superior practices, hence "ocean of past births," showing that past birth bodies are many, thus like an ocean; cultivating in many bodies, practices are also broad and manifold. In the latter ten, clarifying that the Buddha's fruit of expounding is complete: First, since the cause was perfected previously, what is attained? It is the mastery of bodhi. Second, having attained bodhi, what function does it have? It is turning the wheel of Dharma with mastery. Third, where is it turned? In various pure lands. Fourth, what benefit does turning it bring? It is adorning the realm of living beings. Fifth, what Dharma is turned? The Dharma of the Dharma King. Sixth, with what wisdom is it turned? The wisdom of the path's illumination. Seventh, when the Buddha's wisdom illuminates the Dharma, through what does the capacity awaken? Because he is able to enter the places of living beings with mastery. Eighth, having entered the places of the capacities, what benefit does he bring? Because he acts as a field of merit. Ninth, with what is merit accomplished? By expounding the dakṣiṇā that accomplishes virtue. As for dakṣiṇā, the treatise of Venerable Vasu renders it dānadakṣiṇā, translated here as material giving. The Vinaya says the method of giving is called dakṣiṇā; guiding to benefit others is also called dakṣiṇā. The Record of the Western Regions says: "Correctly spoken as dakṣiṇā, or dākṣiṇī, translated here as right [hand]. Because one uses the right hand to receive what another gives, generating merit for them, it is named accordingly." Here it clarifies that the Buddha gives virtue to living beings, hence "dakṣiṇā of virtue." Tenth, with what does he gather living beings? The three wheels: the bodily karmic wheel of supernatural penetrations, breaking doubt and establishing faith; the verbal karmic wheel of correct instruction, breaking confusion and establishing understanding; the mental karmic wheel of recollection, breaking fetters and establishing practice. The concluding request below can be understood. The chapter on requesting ends. In the third, the chapter on samādhi: Why does he enter it? Because the previous questions prayed for full manifestation, he now enters concentration to manifest the Dharma for them. Why did he enter concentration after gathering the assembly in the previous assemblies, whereas here it comes first? Explanation: Previously it clarified entering the real from the phenomenal; now it distinguishes giving rise to function based on essence. Further, previously causal persons entered concentration, whereas now it is the mastery of the fruit stage, so they are not the same. Why does the Buddha himself enter concentration in this assembly? To show that only the Buddha exhausts the source of the mastery of liberation in the dharmadhātu. In the text there are four parts: 1, the condition for entering concentration; 2, the cause of entering concentration; 3, directly entering concentration; 4, the intention of entering concentration. In the first, knowing their mental thoughts: apprehending the previous doubts and thoughts through the knowledge of others' minds is the condition for entering concentration. Second, using four kinds of great compassion to clarify the causes of entering concentration. Benefiting creatures through entering concentration necessarily takes great compassion as the root, hence taking it as the cause. 1, the body: the body that benefits creatures stands accumulated with compassion, which is the body relied upon by the samādhi. 2, the gate: the Buddha has gates of great wisdom, great concentration, great compassion, and so forth; now, wishing to benefit living beings, he relies solely on the gate of great compassion. Further, it is also opening this compassion-gate to gather the various categories [of beings]. 3, the head: this clarifies that in benefiting creatures, all actions take great compassion as the forerunner, hence it is the head. 4, conforming to expedient dharmas: although compassion is the head, without skillful, expedient compassion-dharmas conforming to creatures' faculties and conditions, there is no way to cause them to enter the dharmadhātu together. These four are also the gradations from the Buddha toward the capacities. Third, directly entering samādhi: clarifies the concentration's karmic function, named after a metaphor. When a lion roars and strides, its senses open wide, its body hair all stands erect, manifesting its majestic power; the marks of its roaring cause other beasts to lose their majesty and cower in hiding, and cause lion cubs to increase their ferocity and grow their bodies. The Buddha now is also like this: 1, he brandishes the body of the great compassion dharmadhātu; 2, opens the sense gates of great compassion; 3, erects the forerunners of hairs of compassion; 4, manifests the majesty responding to capacities, roaring the Dharma-gate of the dharmadhātu, causing the beasts of the two vehicles to hide, cower, be deaf and blind, and causing the bodhisattva Buddha-sons to increase hundreds of thousands of oceans of samādhis and oceans of dhāraṇīs. Because of such resemblance, it is used as a metaphor. Furthermore, the ten kinds of lion's roar and stride in the "Chapter on Transcending the World" are fully discussed here. Fourth, from "causing all..." downwards clarifies the intention of entering concentration: manifesting this pure Dharma of the dharmadhātu to cause the assembly to see and enter it is called delighting in the Dharma. The chapter on samādhi ends.