大方廣佛華嚴經疏 41.10

41.10

Third, below "This bodhisattva, having attained this...", explains the transcendence of grounds. Within this there are three: first, transcendence through skillful cultivation of practice; second, transcendence through vast activity; third, transcendence through superior entry via cultivation of practice. In the first part: the factors transcended are two: first, skillful wisdom; second, deep compassion. The aspects of transcendence are also two: first, transcending the two vehicles below; second, transcending the wisdom-ground above. The wisdom-ground is the effortless wisdom of the eighth ground: because within this ground one dually contemplates calm and insight, one then reaches that place in the flow of the stream of Dharma, naturally flowing in both streams toward the ocean of the Buddha's wisdom. Second, below "Disciple of the Buddha, when a bodhisattva abides in this...", on transcendence through vast activity, contains two parts: first, directly showing the transcendence; and later, below "Vimukticandra...", clarifying the limits of the transcendence. In the first part, it first demonstrates transcendence relative to what is below. The words "signless" refer to the aforementioned delight in non-activity. "Immeasurable remedies" refers to the aforementioned immeasurable counteractions. Entering concentration and leaving signs can also be found in the two vehicles, but not immeasurably; hence this "immeasurable" shows the distinction from the two vehicles. The words "skillfully purified" show transcendence over lower grounds, meaning that the cultivation of expedient practices has been brought to fulfillment. Later, attaining the radiant sign of the forbearance of the unarisen dharmas shows transcendence through entry relative to what is above, because the radiant sign of that forbearance of the unarisen dharmas of the eighth ground manifests, whereas lower grounds have not yet attained it. Second, clarifying the limits of transcendence contains two parts: first, the objection, which is an objection clinging to what preceded as being identical to what follows; second, the answer, which is an answer distinguishing what follows as different from what preceded, containing doctrine, metaphor, and application. In the doctrine, "not by his own power" means due to the manifestation of obstacles. In the metaphor, the royal household is the Tathāgata's household; the queen is attaining the joy of the true Dharma; cultivating both benefits is called the marks of royalty. In the application, the "great Dharma" is the fruit of buddhahood among dharmas. "That which he himself practices" is the superior practice; "the power of wisdom" is expedient wisdom. Within these two, one constantly never emerges from contemplation, hence it is by his own power that he is able to transcend. This is according to the assigned stations, fully explained as in the first ground. The rest of the text can be understood. Third, below "Disciple of the Buddha...", explains transcendence through superior entry via cultivation of practice. This means that not only is it vast and immeasurable as before, but its power and functioning are unfathomable, deeply immeasurable, transcending through superiority. The treatise says that spiritual powers are also immeasurable: "spiritual" has the sense of unfathomable. In the text, the word "profound" means entering far without bottom. "Detached" means that those previous obstacles have been eliminated. "Non-practice" means signless practice: because there is nothing practiced, and because those previous six grounds cannot practice it. "Constantly practicing" means that this is uninterrupted. Attaining these three karmas is the transcendence of deep entry in its own essence. Below "diligently seeking..." is the superior entry tending toward the subsequent. Thus the two vehicles also have activities detached from those signs, yet they are satisfied with little and cannot seek bodhi above; because he seeks, he transcends. Below "Therefore..." concludes the transcendence of dual practice.