華嚴經探玄記 3.66

3.66

Fourth, essence: within the prose, there are five individual items, all explained in terms of concrete phenomena. In general, when discussing the essence of a land, there are five levels: (1) suchness, (2) true cognition, (3) the fundamental consciousness, (4) the five dusts [sense objects], and (5) manifold phenomena. The manifold phenomena are themselves Dharma-gates; because they are meant to be praised, they are distinguished in the text. In the verse, there are ten lines: (1) jewel-flower essence; (2) flame-space essence; (3) light essence; (4) lightning-light and vow essence; (5) sun-jewel essence; (6) jewel-flame and transformation essence; (7) Buddha-transformation essence; (8) essence produced from mental karma—either karma arises in the ocean of mind to form the land, or mental karma gives rise to the land, or deluded thoughts serve as the essence; (9) essence of the Buddha's bodily light; (10) essence of Samantabhadra's vows of transformation. All these simply unleash eloquence, being spoken without waiting for sequential order.