大方廣佛華嚴經疏 34.42

34.42

Fifth, explaining the text. The four fruits constitute four distinct parts. Now, first, pliable maturation is divided into three: the dharma, the simile, and the application. Within the dharma, there are four parts: (1) seeing the Buddha as the condition for refining practice; (2) from 'completely with...' onward, the essence of the practice being refined; (3) from 'by means of the former two...' onward, the marks of practice distinct to the stages; (4) from 'This bodhisattva, in accordance with whatever...' onward, the maturation of the refined practice. Within the first, it first explains generally, and second, from 'that is to say...' onward, clarifies specifically. In the general part, it is through the power of great vows that one sees the Buddha, because the power of causes is combined with supernatural power. The 'Station Chapter' of the *Yogācārabhūmi* states that there are two causes for seeing the Buddha: first, vows; second, power. The treatise text has both. The treatise states: 'By the superior power of supernatural penetrations, one sees the form-body Buddha; by the power of correct vows, one sees the dharmakāya Buddha.' In the *Yogācārabhūmi*, by correct vows one is able to be born in the enjoyment realm and constantly behold the Buddha. Here, 'dharmakāya' means the dharmakāya of merit. In the specific part, saying that one sees many hundreds of Buddhas and so forth, the treatise states: 'Because through skillful means he manifests many Buddhas.' This skillfulness is twofold: first, not directly saying 'immeasurable', but skillfully traversing numbers such as hundreds and thousands, to expediently reveal multiplicity; second, saying 'many hundreds' means many units of a hundred, and many thousands is likewise; thus within a single number, many are already subsumed, and hence it is called skillful. In reality, one enters the ocean of Padmagarbha realms and beholds the clouds of the dharmadhātu body. Second, regarding the essence of the practice being refined: using practice to enter practice is therefore called 'refining', like gold entering fire. There are three kinds of entering, thus divided into three: (1) entering merit, namely the practice of making offerings to the Buddha, which removes the defilement of meager merit, and also includes making offerings to the Saṅgha; (2) from 'With this good...' onward, entering the unsurpassed fruit, namely the practice of pariṇāmanā, which removes the defilement of inferiority—in the treatise this corresponds to the third, the intention being to clarify that it pervades both practices; (3) from 'Sons of the Buddha, this bodhisattva...' onward, entering the mind of great compassion, namely the practice of benefiting sentient beings, which removes the defilement of indolence. Third, within the marks of practice distinct to the stages: first, it is explained in terms of the four means of embracing (saṃgraha-vastu). Viewed in relation to what precedes, the four means of embracing are still dharmas for benefiting sentient beings; viewed in relation to what follows, they are marks of practice distinct to the stages, taking advantage of the opportunity to benefit sentient beings; hence they are clarified here, whereas in the next two stages, they are found in the refined practice that accomplishes the latter four means of embracing. Although insufficient to distinguish the ten stages completely, because they are methods for transforming sentient beings, they are employed. Affectionate speech is the gift of Dharma; since dāna is fulfilled in the first stage, two are said to increase. Second, it is explained in terms of the ten perfections (pāramitā): because the marks of realization are hard to differentiate, they are temporarily ascribed to the ten perfections and so forth to reveal the differences, each stage being said to have one increase. If this were not so, why in the second stage would it not say that two perfections increase? Because the perfection of giving was already increased in the first stage. Up to the ninth stage, one should have said nine increase; yet the ninth stage still says, 'As for the rest, it is not that they are not cultivated, but rather cultivated according to capacity and share,' which clearly shows it is a temporary ascription. Therefore, fully discussing what is practiced in all stages, there are briefly five meanings: (1) to distinguish the stages, each is said to have one increase, as in the present text; (2) distinguishing superiority: surpassing what came before, the dāna of the first stage is surpassed by the second stage because two perfections are superior; the text of the second stage states that it keeps far away from stinginess, jealousy, and the defilement of breaking precepts; and so on up to the tenth stage, where all ten perfections are superior—thus each subsequent stage surpasses all preceding ones; (3) speaking of their actual practice, every stage cultivates all of them fully; (4) the realized noumenon is equal, neither many nor one; (5) in terms of perfect interpenetration, one possesses all. Fourth, within the accomplishment of the refined practice, it generally gathers the three enterings: first, reiterating the offerings to the Buddha and the transforming of sentient beings as that which refines, and the pure dharmas of faith and so forth as that which is refined; then citing the previous pariṇāmanā as that which refines, causing faith and so forth to be purified. Speaking of 'ever further' (zhuǎnzhuǎn): these [virtues such as] faith have three steps of purification in the first stage: first, when first abiding in the stage, realizing the preceding provisional cultivation and transforming it into true cultivation is already one purification; second, in the comparative measurement of practices, counteracting and removing the obstacle dharmas is another round of purification; now, after this stage, undergoing the three cultivations further, it is therefore called 'ever further'. Second, within the simile: the goldsmith symbolizes the bodhisattva; gold symbolizes faith and the others; fire symbolizes the three practices of making offerings and so on. That the three practices are not one is called 'repeatedly entering'; the accomplishment of pliable maturation symbolizes the completion of refined practice. The nature of gold is fundamentally present and is only first revealed through conditions; since faith and the others are produced through cultivation, how can they share the same simile? Faith and the others are twofold: first, before realizing the true, they are merely provisional cultivation serving as counteracting practices, having the deluded consciousness as their essence; second, after realizing the true, one then knows that faith and the others are not newly existent today, but rather have the true mind of the sands-of-the-Ganges Buddha-dharmas within the tathāgatagarbha as their essence; having the true mind as their essence is precisely the nature of noumenon; the differing marks of faith and so forth are described as the nature of practice; these two are non-dual, and both can be compared to gold. Although relying on provisional cultivations such as offerings to accomplish true virtue, virtue arises from the true. When subsequently fashioned into ornaments, it is also not different from gold. Since one has realized the true, and the true is not outside the deluded, the entire deluded consciousness is itself the true mind; temporarily relying on marks to reveal the true, agent and object are distinguished. Third, the application of the dharma: following the simile, it can be understood.