花嚴經文義綱目 1.4

1.4

夫以茫茫性海，緣象詎測其源；眇眇玄猷，名言罕尋其際。有融圓智，朗巨夜而闢重昏；無限大悲，俯群機而臨萬剎。於是無象現象，猶陽谷之昇太陽；無言示言，若滄波之傾巨壑。是故創於蓮花藏界，演無盡之玄綱；𥤱籠上達之流，控引靈津之表。然後化霑忍土漸布慈雲，灑微澤以潤三根，滋道牙而歸一楑。是知機緣感異，聖應所以殊分；聖應雖殊，不思議一也。《華嚴經》者，斯乃集海會之盛談、照山王之極說，理致宏遠，盡法界而亘真源；浩汗微言，等虛空而被塵國。於是無虧大小，潛巨剎以入毫端；未易鴻纖，融極微以周空界。故因陀羅網參互影而重重、錠光頗黎照塵方而隱隱，一即多而無礙、多即一而圓通，攝九世以入剎那、舒一念而該永劫。三生究竟，堅固種而為因；十信道圓，普德顯而成果。果無異因之果，派五位以分鑣；因無異果之因，總十身以齊致。是故覺母就機於東城，六千疏其十眼；童子詢友於南國，百十成以一生。遂使不起樹王，六天斯屆；詎移花藏，十剎虛融。示寶偈於塵中，齊暉八會；啟玉珠於性德，七處圓彰。浩浩鏗鋐，抗思議而逈出；魏魏煥爛，隔視聽於聾盲。是故舍那創陶甄於海印，二七之旦爰興；龍樹終俯察於虬宮，六百年後方顯。然則大以苞含為義，方以軌範為功，廣則體極用周，佛乃果圓覺滿，花譬開敷萬行，嚴喻飾茲本體，經則貫穿縫綴，能詮之教著焉。從法就人，寄喻為目，故稱大方廣佛花嚴經。

Now, as for the vast and boundless ocean of nature, how could conditions and phenomena fathom its source? In the profound and subtle mysterious path, names and words rarely trace its bounds. There is an all-merging, perfect wisdom that illuminates the great night and opens up the layered darkness; there is an infinite great compassion that looks down upon the multitude of capacities and approaches the myriad lands. Thereupon, the formless manifests form, like the great sun rising from Yanggu; the wordless indicates words, like the blue waves pouring into the great abyss. Therefore, it was first in the Padmagarbha-lokadhātu that the inexhaustible mysterious outline was expounded, gathering the stream of the exalted and leading beyond the sacred ford. Thereafter, its transformation moistened the Sahā realm, gradually spreading the clouds of compassion, showering gentle moisture to enrich the three faculties, and nourishing the sprouts of the Path to return them to a single standard. From this it is known that as the conditions of capacities are differently receptive, the holy responses are accordingly differentiated; yet though the holy responses are distinct, the inconceivable is one. As for the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, it is the magnificent discourse gathered in the ocean-like assembly, the ultimate teaching illuminating the king of mountains; its principle is grand and far-reaching, exhausting the dharmadhātu and spanning the true source; its vast, subtle words equal empty space and cover the dust-mote lands. Thereupon, without diminishing the great or the small, the immense lands are concealed within the tip of a hair; without altering the vast or the fine, the infinitesimal particles merge to pervade the empty realm. Therefore, the Indra's net interweaves its reflections layer upon layer; the candrakānta crystal reflects the dust-mote directions dimly and deeply. The one is identical to the many without obstruction; the many are identical to the one, thoroughly complete. It gathers nine periods of time into a single kṣaṇa, and unfolds a single thought to encompass eternal kalpas. The three lives reach their conclusion, with the adamantine seed serving as the cause; the ten faiths become fully rounded on the Path, with the universal virtues revealed as the result. The result is no result distinct from the cause, branching out into five stages to diverge their courses; the cause is no cause distinct from the result, uniting the ten bodies to arrive together. Therefore, the Mother of Enlightenment approached the receptive capacities in the Eastern City, where the six thousand opened their ten eyes; the Youth inquired of spiritual friends in the Southern Land, achieving in one life what takes one hundred and ten stages. Consequently, without rising from the king of trees, he reached the six heavens; without departing from the Padmagarbha, the ten lands were transparently merged. Displaying precious verses within the dust motes, the eight assemblies shone with equal radiance; uncovering the jade jewel within natural virtue, the seven locations were fully manifested. Resounding and majestic, it towers far beyond thought and discourse; grand and brilliant, it remains shut off from the sight and hearing of the deaf and blind. Therefore, Rocana first formed and fashioned it in the sāgara-mudrā[-samādhi], arising on the morning of the second seventh day; Nāgārjuna at last looked down to inspect it in the dragon palace, and only after six hundred years was it made manifest. Now then, "great" (mahā) has the meaning of all-encompassing; "correct" (vaipulya) has the efficacy of serving as a model; "broad" is the ultimate nature whose function is pervasive; "Buddha" is the one whose fruit is round and enlightenment is complete; "flower" (avataṃsaka) exemplifies the unfolding of the myriad practices; "adornment" illustrates the decoration of this fundamental essence; and "sūtra" refers to stringing together and stitching, whereby the teaching that can express it becomes prominent. Drawing from the Dharma to approach the person, and employing metaphors as its title, it is thus named the Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra.