華嚴經探玄記 2.12

2.12

From “its ground was diamond” onward is the second part, discriminating in detail the place. Within it we also establish five headings: 1. Determining the place; 2. Discerning enfolding and entering; 3. Revealing distinctions; 4. Expressing the Dharma; 5. Explaining the root text. First, concerning determining the place: Question: Is the place where this sūtra was preached a pure land, or is it a defiled realm? If so, what would be the error? Both have faults. Why? If it is a pure land, why does the text above say “the kingdom of Magadha,” and the text below further say “such four continents and Jambudvīpa”? From this we must know it is not a pure land. If it is a defiled land, why does the text below say “this ocean of worlds of the Padmagarbha shook in six ways and eighteen aspects”? Clearly we know this sūtra was not preached in a defiled land. With such contradiction, how can it be definitively designated? Answer: Relying simply on this sūtra, the two lands, defiled and pure, interpenetrate and enfold each other; there are four propositions: Either it is solely Sahā, following the branch from the root; or it is solely Padmagarbha, following the root from the branch. These two are discerned as above. Or both appear, because based on Padmagarbha there are the defiled and pure marks and parts of Sahā, the branch depending on the root. As the text below says: “the Sahā world within the Padmagarbha realm”—this is what it means. Or both defiled and pure are extinguished, because with regard to the ocean of fruit it is ineffable. Combining the above four headings into a single land, melting together without obstruction, any way it is stated is permissible. In the second part, discerning enfolding and entering, first, explaining the melting and enfolding, there are also three tiers: 1. Beneath this tree of awakening directly enfolds the eight assemblies among humans and in the heavens; therefore they all say they “do not depart from here.” 2. Enfolding the ten directions: there are no other kṣetras that do not entirely remain under this king of trees. 3. Enfolding the layered kṣetras within hair-tips, paramāṇus, and so on, boundless like Indra's net, because they are all enfolded by this Padmagarbha-lokadhātu. Second, harmonious entering also has three tiers, namely melting this tree of awakening into the places enfolded by the preceding three tiers. Third, concerning revealing distinctions: There are three kinds of places where the Buddha preached sūtras: 1. Solely the preaching places of the nirmāṇakāya in the sixteen great kingdoms within the realm; this applies to the Hīnayāna and Three Vehicle teachings. 2. Solely the preaching places of the saṃbhogakāya Buddha in the eighteen-fold perfected enjoyment lands among the wonderful pure lands outside the realm, as in the Buddhabhūmi Sūtra and so forth. These wonderful pure lands are not included in the three realms and yet do not depart from them, because they are omnipresent; this applies to the preaching of the Three Vehicles and One Vehicle. 3. The preaching places of the ten Buddhas in the inexhaustible Padmagarbha-lokadhātu of Indra's net where defiled and pure are perfectly interpenetrated, where receptacle and sentient beings are completely merged and complete with the three worlds; this is solely the preaching place of the Separate Teaching One Vehicle. What is discerned here at present is properly only the latter one, which concurrently enfolds the preceding two, because root and branch are not separated from each other. Fourth, concerning expressing the Dharma: relying on this superior place expresses the superiority of the Dharma. The Commentary on the Ten Bhūmis says, “Because this Dharma is superior, it is preached in a superior place.” Here there are three tiers: 1. Because he attained bodhi beneath this tree, preaching without rising from here clearly expresses that what is preached is just as what was attained, not altering or changing according to different capacities, as in the preaching in the Deer Park and so forth. 2. Relying on the perfectly interpenetrated Padmagarbha-lokadhātu expresses that what is preached is completely fulfilled, extraordinarily superior, and the nature is opened and unfolded. 3. Relying on this place of the multi-layered Indra's net expresses that what is preached is also multi-layered and inexhaustible, like the inconceivable liberation and so on. The remaining meanings are as explained below in the chapter on worlds. Fifth, concerning explaining the root text: within the text there are three parts: 1. Explaining the ground of the bodhimaṇḍa; 2. Above the ground there is the bodhi tree; 3. Beneath the tree there is the lion throne. Here, the ground is the underlying basis for practices, the tree is the establishment of the virtues of practice, and the throne is the enfolding and benefiting of the functions of practice; like the nature of conditioned arising, each fully melts and enfolds so that no dharma is not exhausted. However, each of these three stages is distinguished in the text through ten headings.