華嚴經探玄記 3.55

3.55

Third, concerning the name and essence: "world" (shi) is time, and "realm" (jie) is boundary, meaning that boundaries manifest within time; it takes its name from its characteristics. Abundantly accumulated, deep and vast, difficult to fathom, they are collectively called "oceans." "World is itself an ocean" follows a metaphor, which is a karmadhāraya compound. In the Hīnayāna, the seven subtle atoms of child and mother, the four dusts such as visible form, and the actual physical forms of the four great elements that are capable of creating, serve as its essence. In the three vehicles, ordinary beings, Hīnayāna followers, and those prior to the bhūmis all take the ālayavijñāna as their essence; for those on the bhūmis there are two senses: the reward land also takes the ālayavijñāna as its essence, but if manifested by the two knowledges, it takes consciousness-only knowledge as its essence. Therefore the Mahāyānasaṃgraha says: "The consciousness-only knowledge of bodhisattvas and Tathāgatas... serves as the essence of the pure land." If based on the Final Teaching, all take the tathāgatagarbha and suchness as their essence. If according to the One Vehicle, the inexhaustible dharmadhātu pervades the three realms, and all active characteristics such as persons, dharmas, principle, and phenomena are mutually identical and mutually serve as essence, which can be understood by reasoning accordingly.