華嚴經探玄記 7.11

7.11

Fifth, within [the section on] beholding the Buddha's supreme virtues, there are two parts: first, the great assembly beholds the cloud of the Buddha's dharmadhātu-body; second, from "At that time, the Tathāgata" onwards, clarifies the Buddha's intention in manifesting this body-cloud. Within the former there are also two parts: first, seeing the boundless virtues and functions of the dharmadhātu-body; second, from "At that time, the devas saw the Tathāgata's body" onwards, clarifies seeing the inexhaustible, wondrous functions of the light of the Buddha's body. Within the first part, how could this manifested and seen dharmadhātu-body of the Buddha have any limitation? For now, relying on the concluding text below, it is divided into ten gates. Within this there are two parts: first, revealing the virtues of the ten gates; second, from "mindfully contemplating in this manner" onwards, concluding with the names of the ten gates. In the former, distinguishing these ten gates constitutes ten sections; however, looking toward the concluding text below, their sequence is slightly different. From the beginning up to "pure roots of goodness," it leaps forward to explain the tenth gate, Seeing the Buddha Manifest Inconceivable, Sovereign Spiritual Powers. Here, it first cites the perceivers, and then reveals the Buddha's body that is seen. "Immeasurable" directly reveals the unlimited body of the dharmadhātu, revealing that there is nowhere beneath the bodhi-trees of all prior worlds where it is not manifested. "Inconceivable spiritual steps" reveals that without departing from the tree of awakening, he ascends to the heavens, and so forth. In the text there are four [points]: first, wondrous functions benefiting sentient beings; second, from "pervading" onwards, virtue universally benefiting beings; third, from "accomplishing" onwards, profound function inspiring reverence; fourth, from "in accord with what" onwards, responding to capacities and effecting liberation. Second, from "Manifesting the Tathāgata" onwards, it turns back to explain the first gate, The Great Assembly Mindfully Contemplating the Tathāgata in This Manner. Here there are two parts: first, clarifies that the Tathāgata manifests his own supreme virtues—namely, great merit, great wisdom, great samādhi, and the pervasiveness of his essence; second, from "causing all" onwards, broadly benefiting sentient beings. Within this there are three [points]: first, benefiting those prior to the bhūmis; second, from "all are able" onwards, benefiting those above the bhūmis; third, from "all Dharma-clouds" onwards, benefiting them by bringing fruition to completion. Third, from "By means of right awakening" onwards, explains the second gate, Contemplating Right Awakening. Here there are two parts: first, clarifies that self-awakening is completed, namely, first awakening to the realm of conventional truth, and second, from "at the non-retrogressing" onwards, awakening to the realm of ultimate truth; second, from "teaching and transforming all" onwards, clarifies that awakening others is completed. Fourth, from "Manifesting the physical body" onwards, explains the third gate, Entering the Abyss of Wisdom. Here, the physical body is the basis from which wisdom arises. Below, revealing the aspects of wisdom has four [points]: first, the wisdom of contemplating sentient beings; second, from "skillfully understanding" onwards, clarifies the wisdom of knowing the Buddha's ten powers, and so forth; third, from "abiding in all" onwards, the wisdom of knowing Dharma gates; fourth, from "all being able" onwards, clarifies completing the ocean-abyss of wisdom. Fifth, from "The sun of the Tathāgata" onwards, explains the fourth gate, Entering the Ocean of Virtues. Here there are four virtues: 1. the virtue of unobstructed stillness and function, meaning that the sun illuminating capacities never sets, while he constantly abides in the Buddha's tranquil extinction; 2. from "regarding 'I' and 'mine'" onwards, clarifies the virtue of great practice free from defilement; 3. from "among the great assembly" onwards, clarifies the virtue of great wisdom free from attachment; 4. from "with great compassion" onwards, clarifies the virtue of gathering and transforming with great compassion. Here, it first cites the transformative deeds; from "skillfully discerning all" onwards, it clarifies the intention of transformation, meaning discerning for sentient beings the practices of bodhisattva wisdom, faith, and so forth, causing them to accomplish right awakening, which then manifests the Buddha's heart of great loving-kindness, revealing the Buddha's compassion. Were it not so, how could they abide within the Buddha's heart of loving-kindness? Sixth, from "The Buddha's body is immeasurable" onwards, explains the seventh gate, Correctly Knowing the Tathāgata. Here, it first distinguishes the Buddha's physical and verbal karmas; second, from "regarding the past and future" onwards, clarifies the Buddha's mental karma. Here there are two parts: first, illuminating the three periods to gather sentient beings; second, from "universally in" onwards, pervading the ten directions to transform beings. Seventh, from "The moon of the Buddha's wisdom" onwards, explains the fifth gate, Wisdom Reaching Space. A subsequent text says: "The bodhisattva's cooling moon / wanders through ultimate space." Here it reveals that the moon of the Buddha wanders in space. Here there are two parts: first, clarifies unobstructed wisdom illuminating emptiness—first illuminating the real, then from "mind of wisdom" onwards, illuminating the conventional, and finally, from "all worlds" onwards, converging the conventional to reveal the real; second, from "adapting to sentient beings" onwards, wisdom benefiting beings without attachment. Here there are three [points]: 1. manifesting the body to bring benefit, with "clearly understanding" onwards clarifying non-attachment; 2. from "complying with" onwards, the benefit of uprooting suffering and separating from defilement, with "never" onwards indicating non-attachment; 3. from "correctly contemplating" onwards, the benefit of bringing about good, with "eternally separated" onwards indicating non-attachment. Eighth, from "Emitting nets of light" onwards, explains the eighth gate, Contemplating the Pure Karmic Marks and Characteristics of the Tathāgata. Here there are two parts: first, the Buddha's light radiates and manifests; second, from "causing the entire assembly" onwards, clarifies that the assembly follows the light and sees the Buddha's pure karmic marks and characteristics throughout the ten directions. Here there are two parts: first, seeing the Buddha's own marks and karma, meaning first seeing the marks and characteristics the Buddha manifests in the lands of the ten directions, and then from "the bodhisattva's practices" onwards, seeing the Buddha's pure karma, namely, first seeing the pure karma of benefiting oneself, and from "skillfully discerning" onwards, the pure karma of benefiting others; second, from "accomplishing" onwards, seeing the Buddha's capacity to bring about the marks and characteristics of others, namely, first the ability to accomplish, and then from "all are caused to accomplish" onwards, that which is accomplished. Ninth, from "Sovereign Dharma King" onwards, turns back to explain the sixth gate, Knowing the Field of Merit for Sentient Beings. Here there are two parts: first, general presentation; second, specific presentation. In the general, it first radiates and manifests the supreme marks of the Tathāgata as a field of merit; then it explains and reveals the supreme meaning, as it is supreme because it arises in dependence on wisdom and conditions. In the specific, it reveals ten kinds of virtues of the Tathāgata as a worldly field of merit: 1. the virtue of his physical body and wisdom pervading the world; 2. from "unobstructed heavenly silk bands" onwards, the virtue of supreme merit descending to capacities—these two are the essence of the field; appearing as a field, its meaning of generating merit resides in the world, hence both are said to be "worldly." From here below, it clarifies benefiting beings and fulfilling virtues, revealing the supreme function of the field: 3. from "Unexcelled Guide" onwards, clarifies the Guide's virtue of skillful guidance—the vehicle of fearlessness is the place where the Guide traverses; 4. from "All worlds" onwards, clarifies the King of Physicians' virtue of skillful healing—first curing the obstacles of afflictions, next from "skillfully able" onwards, causing separation from painful retribution, and then from "in accord with their" onwards, causing separation from bad karma; 5. from "Manifesting a Buddha's body in accord with what is appropriate" onwards, the virtue of manifesting a body in accord with needs to increase good; 6. from "All sentient beings" onwards, the virtue of awakening the confused and pacifying the fearful; 7. from "The Tathāgata is most supreme" onwards, the Wisdom King's virtue of illuminating and instructing; 8. from "Immeasurable virtues" onwards, the virtue of causes being complete and fruits pure—here the first phrase indicates the fruit, and from "karmic practices" onwards reveals the completeness of causes, meaning that the karmic practices cultivated in the world during the causal stage can only induce and show worldly retributions, but when wisdom reaches the other shore and buddhahood is attained, all previous practices are made pure because they transcend defilement; 9. from "Able to fulfill" onwards, the virtue of fulfilling worldly vows; 10. from "Showing the world" onwards, the virtue of being a friend to the world. Therefore the Buddha is called a supreme field of merit. Tenth, from "The light is pure" onwards, turns back to explain the ninth gate, Correctly Knowing the Dharmakāya Universally Illuminating the Ten Directions. Here there are seven [points]: 1. illuminating and eliminating obstacles to practice, citing the first among the six defilements; 2. from "causing all" onwards, purifying their practices and vows; 3. from "equally contemplating" onwards, the virtue of destroying defilement and giving rise to purity—in "equally contemplating" and so forth, the Buddha's wisdom universally illuminates; "giving rise to pure karma" causes the cultivation of antidotes; "subduing māras" destroys conditions of defilement; "extinguishing afflictions" eliminates causes of defilement; "generating power" is the accomplished virtue, referring to the ten powers; 4. from "All worlds" onwards, destroying delusion and conferring wisdom—the previous destroyed the four entrenchments, while this extinguishes fundamental ignorance; first destroying delusion, and from "giving the Dharma" onwards, conferring wisdom; 5. from "The Tathāgata's wisdom" onwards, causing separation from enmity and the fulfillment of vows; 6. from "Most supreme" onwards, serving as a condition to generate goodness—first generally, and from "cultivating a little" onwards, specifically, meaning that because the Buddha's field is supreme, cultivating a little offering brings great virtue, placing sentient beings on the ground of inexhaustible wisdom—therefore great virtue reveals that the aforementioned fruit and retribution are immeasurable, while the ground of wisdom reveals that the aforementioned is complete and pure; 7. the virtue of joy removing difficulties, meaning that goodness arises from the mind, and when the mind sees the Buddha and gives rise to joy, within the joyful mind goodness arises vastly, and therefore the three bad destinies and eight difficulties are eliminated. The specific discernment of the ten gates above is concluded. From here below, the second part generally concludes with their names. Since these virtues of the Buddha are perfectly interpenetrating, unobstructed, and identical to the single body of the dharmadhātu, these concluding designations all have general and specific senses. "Mindfully contemplating the Tathāgata in this manner": generally speaking, one who completely possesses the above virtues is called a Tathāgata, clarifying that this great assembly single-mindedly abides in contemplation upon such a Tathāgata, which is called "mindfully contemplating in this manner." Specifically speaking, this concludes the second gate above. Second, generally speaking, all the above virtues are collectively called "right awakening," because there is nothing they do not illuminate and inspect, clarifying that the assembly gathers their thoughts to illuminate and penetrate this, hence it is called "contemplating right awakening in this manner." Specifically speaking, this concludes the third gate above. Third, generally speaking, all the above virtues of the Buddha are without exception an abyss of wisdom, because their bright illumination is fathomless, clarifying that the assembly's wisdom tallies with and corresponds to this, which is called "entering in this manner." Specifically speaking, this concludes the fourth gate above. Fourth, generally speaking, all the above virtues of the Buddha are a great ocean of virtues, clarifying that this assembly's wisdom harmonizes with it, which is called "entering." Specifically speaking, this concludes the fifth gate above. Fifth, generally speaking, all the above virtues of the Buddha are collectively called "wisdom of space"; because reflecting and illuminating is called wisdom, wisdom matches the nature, and its single flavor, boundlessness, and unobstructedness are called space, clarifying that this assembly's wisdom reaches its bounds, which is called "reaching in this manner." Specifically speaking, this gate leaps forward to conclude the seventh gate above. Sixth, generally speaking, the Buddha who possesses all the above virtues is called the field of merit for sentient beings, because he is capable of generating supreme merit; the assembly's thorough penetration of this is called "knowing in this manner." Specifically speaking, this leaps forward to conclude the ninth gate above. Seventh, generally speaking, possessing all the above virtues is called a Tathāgata, because they are all accomplished from realizing ultimate principle; hence the assembly's knowing can be understood. Specifically speaking, this turns back to conclude the sixth gate above. Eighth, generally speaking, the above virtues are without exception the marks and characteristics of the pure karma of the Buddha-fruit; the assembly's contemplation can be understood. Specifically speaking, this concludes the eighth gate above. Ninth, generally speaking, the above virtues are without exception the dharmas of great merit that accomplish the Buddha's body, all of which brightly illuminate and pervade the ten directions; the assembly's knowing can be understood. Specifically speaking, this leaps forward to conclude the tenth gate above. Tenth, generally speaking, the above virtues are without exception the inconceivable, sovereign spiritual powers of the Tathāgata. Specifically speaking, this turns back to conclude the first gate above. Furthermore, regarding these ten gates above, only by applying the six characteristics to interpenetrate and encompass them will the principle be fully revealed. From here below, the second part clarifies the assembly seeing the wondrous functions of the light of the Buddha's body. Here there are three parts: first, seeing the functions of light emitted from the Buddha's pores, which has ten phrases—the first is the root, and the remaining nine are branches, being matters within the light and Dharma gates, which can be understood; second, from "At that time, the devas further saw" onwards, clarifies seeing the functions of light emitted from the Buddha's body; third, from "They also beheld the sovereign" onwards, seeing the functions of the Buddha's spiritual powers benefiting beings. Regarding the light of the body, there are two parts: first, seeing the emission of multicolored light; second, from "Furthermore, the Buddha's body" onwards, emitting wondrous jeweled light. Within the former there are seven phrases: 1. light illuminating the dharmadhātu; 2. from "manifesting" onwards, light manifesting the preaching of the Dharma; 3. from "manifesting asaṃkhyeyas" onwards, light manifesting wondrous adornments—"arising from the inexhaustible" explains the meaning of inexhaustibility; 4. from "universally illuminating all" onwards, manifesting the Buddha appearing within lands in the light to benefit sentient beings; 5. from "manifesting" onwards, manifesting many transformation bodies; 6. from "universally illuminating immeasurable" onwards, illuminating to the limits of the dharmadhātu; 7. from "holding all" onwards, clarifying the intent behind the arising of the light. Below, it presents the cause of the light, meaning that equal suchness is where the Buddha abides, and it arises from that. Second, within the body emitting wondrous jeweled light, there are two parts: first, emitting light and distinguishing causes, of which there are three: 1. merit, 2. great vows, 3. heedfulness; then, "giving rise to immeasurable" reveals the functions of the light. Third, clarifying seeing the Buddha's spiritual powers benefiting sentient beings has two parts: first, universally benefiting sentient beings; second, from "in all" onwards, broadly benefiting bodhisattvas. The preceding [section on] the great assembly contemplating the cloud of the Buddha's dharmadhātu-body is concluded. From here below, the second part clarifies the Buddha's intention in manifesting this body-cloud. Here there are two parts: 1. manifesting this body-cloud to benefit sentient beings and cause them to follow correct practice; 2. from "The Tathāgata manifested" onwards, causing sentient beings to know the Buddha's boundless, sovereign, supreme virtues. In the former, "great compassion universally covering" clarifies the Buddha's mind in manifesting virtue. "Wisdom adornment" reveals the manifested virtue, repeating and citing the virtues manifested in the preceding text, since they are all revealed by the adornment of great wisdom. From "wishing to cause" onwards, it directly reveals the purpose. Here there are three [aspects]: first, gradual benefit according to stage, which has six phrases, being the benefits of the six stages such as faith—attaining the profound Dharma in the fruitional stage is great nirvāṇa, possessing the light of wisdom is great bodhi, and the rest can be understood; second, from "fulfilling" onwards, gradual benefit according to practice, which also has six: 1. firmness in seeking the fruit, 2. from "not destroying the dharmatā" onwards, contemplative understanding of the Dharma, 3. from "fulfilling" onwards, giving rise to practice based on understanding, 4. from "accomplishing pure" onwards, practices completed and entering realization, 5. from "fully cultivating" onwards, realization fulfilled and virtues complete, termed Samantabhadra's practice, 6. from "accomplishing the Tathāgata" onwards, causes completed and attaining the fruit; third, from "far removing" onwards, differentiated benefits according to meaning, where there are three: 1. causing one to be far removed from evil māras and attain right wisdom and vows, 2. causing one to constantly see the Buddha and attain great wisdom and severance, 3. causing one to constantly rely on the Buddha, attain the Dharma, and enter the assembly. In the second part, causing the assembly to know the Buddha's boundless virtues, "manifesting countless pure goods of such categories" summarizes the virtues manifested in the preceding text, as they are all aspects of the Buddha's pure roots of goodness. "Taming sentient beings" generally states the intention. Why manifest virtue to tame sentient beings? It means causing all to know the ocean of the Buddha's virtues. Directly revealing the purpose has two parts: first, specific analysis; second, general conclusion. In the specific there are five [points]: 1. causing them to know that the Buddha's virtues are complete; 2. from "the Tathāgata" onwards, functions are broad; 3. from "originally" onwards, the fruit is ultimate; 4. from "accomplishing the Dharma King" onwards, wisdom is perfect; 5. from "accomplishing the most supreme" onwards, virtue is profound, meaning the essence is pure, virtues are equal, and marks are adorning and splendid. Second, from "in all kalpas" onwards, it concludes that virtues are inexhaustible; because specific explanations are difficult to exhaust, it concludes generally and comprehensively.