大方廣佛華嚴經疏 42.3

42.3

Second, explaining the arising of supreme practice. From here down also subsumes the cause for reverential practice, because in exhorting the arising of practice, all is done with reverence; 'supreme' also carries the meaning of reverence. In the text there are four [parts]: 1. The speaker's general introduction; 2. From 'giving rise to such...' onward, directly setting forth the words of exhortation; 3. From 'O sons of the Buddha, all Buddha-Bhagavats...' onward, revealing the purpose of the exhortation; 4. From 'O sons of the Buddha, if all Buddhas...' onward, demonstrating the benefit of the exhortation. As for the first: the vows are the cause of the exhortation; as in the third exhortation, where the treatise says 'because of dwelling in the power of original vows', the word order was not yet fully adjusted—it should say 'because they dwell through the power of original vows.' From 'all Buddha-Bhagavats...' onward generally displays the mark of the exhortation. The reason all Buddhas grant wisdom to exhort [him] is to transform his mind of delight and contentment in profound practice and cause him to enter the portal of the Dharma flow. As for the Dharma flow: it breaches the still water of non-arising and causes the river of effortless practice to surge, spontaneously tending toward the ocean of the Buddha's wisdom; thus the capacity to tend [toward it] is taken as the portal. Moreover, the Dharma flow is the ocean of practice. Stating that they 'grant wisdom' has two senses: first, they actively bestow awakeness and mindfulness, like an empowerment of the mind; second, they cause him to arouse cultivation and appropriation, and hence it is called 'granting'. The seven exhortations below are all subsumed under the Buddha's wisdom; hence it merely says 'granting wisdom'. Because in the previous stages this acquiescence was not yet purified, it is only granted here; since attaining this acquiescence gathers the root of virtues, once it is granted he will never again desire to sink [into quiescence]. Second, directly setting forth the words of exhortation has two parts: first praising—for to take something away, one must first firmly give it; next, from 'However, good son...' onward, exhorting him. Herein there are seven [exhortations]: 1. Exhorting him to cultivate the Tathāgata's wisdom of skillful taming; 2. Exhorting him to be compassionate toward sentient beings; 3. Exhorting him to fulfill his original vows; 4. Exhorting him to seek unobstructed wisdom; 5. Exhorting him to accomplish the outer retributions of a Buddha; 6. Exhorting him to realize the Buddha's inner clarity and immeasurable supreme practices; 7. Exhorting him to cultivate all without remainder to accomplish all-knowing knowledge. Venerable Yuan subsumed the seven into two: the first six adduce the much that remains undone to turn his dwelling mind; the last one shows that having done a little can accomplish [the rest], increasing his onward-moving mind. Although the sūtra lacks this phrasing, the treatise seems to imply this intention, which does not contravene principle. Now I subsume them into three: the first three exhort him to transform those below—the first being the method of transformation, the next being actual transformation, the last being vows for transformation; the next three exhort him to seek [enlightenment] above—the first refuting what he has attained as not yet supreme, the subsequent two guiding him to seek the Buddha's supreme fruit, whether outer or inner; the third, the final single exhortation, generally concludes the multiple portals, because what is to be done is boundless and distinct explanations are hard to exhaust. Yet all seven contain both turning from dwelling and increasing onward progress. Now, the first has three: 1. Explaining the much that remains undone, because he has not yet attained the cultivation of the dharmas for instructing sentient beings, such as the ten powers; 2. From 'You should...' onward, exhorting him to cultivate and practice; 3. From 'Do not again...' onward, not to abandon the portal of acquiescence. However, 'abandoning' has two meanings: first, if it means relinquishing body and mind to settle down in this portal of acquiescence, this is improper, and thus it says 'do not again'; as the treatise says, 'If one does not abandon this practice of acquiescence, one cannot accomplish all Buddha-dharmas'—this causes him to abandon attachment [to it]. Second, completely abandoning it is also improper; hence the treatise says, 'Because one relies on that, one has the power to act; hence it says: do not again cast away and abandon'—this causes him to rely upon it. In the second exhortation there are three: 1. Explaining his own attained acquiescence; 2. From 'Yet all...' onward, explaining the faults arising from others' lack of acquiescence—householders have many afflictions, and renunciants arouse much conceptualization and investigation, which are all useless matters for sentient beings; 3. From 'You should...' onward, exhorting him to arouse a compassionate mind; the compassionate mind turns in reliance upon what precedes. In the third exhortation, there are two kinds of vows: 1. From 'Relying on the broad mind...' onward, transforming sentient beings; 2. From 'Cause all to attain...' onward, relying on the great mind. Yet there are two meanings: first, causing others to attain; second, causing himself to attain. If he himself attains the Buddha's wisdom, by relying on the practice of this wisdom he can broadly benefit others. In the fourth exhortation there are three: first, the true and eternal nature of dharmas establishes what is esteemed; next, from 'all Buddhas...' onward, taking away his difference from the Buddhas to exhort him to seek above—since only with profound unobstructed wisdom and boundless great function is one not in common with the two vehicles; finally, from 'all...' onward, pressing him down to equal the two vehicles to cause him not to dwell in acquiescence. As with the three beasts crossing the river, they equally wade through principle. When practices weary, tending toward stillness becomes a defilement; hence one must not dwell [there]. In the fifth exhortation, adducing the six [attributes] such as bodily marks are all deeds for transforming sentient beings; if he accomplishes these dharmas, he will possess the power to transform sentient beings; hence he is exhorted to cultivate and accomplish them. In the sixth exhortation there are three: first, explaining that what he has attained is not yet broad; next, from 'Good son...' onward, showing the Buddha's immeasurable supreme practices—'immeasurable entries' means the differences among the entered Dharma portals; 'deeds' are the functions and activities of the Dharma portals; 'revolutions' are the incessant higher and higher activities; finally, from 'You should...' onward, concluding with the exhortation. In the seventh exhortation there are two: first, adducing the three kinds of immeasurability, which are the three sovereign practices in the pure land; next, from 'all should be...' onward, concluding with the exhortation to show that having done a little remains. Since it says 'all should be penetrated', it shows that by examining a small portion one can accomplish [the rest], and is not far from Buddhahood. This is like Desheng exhorting Sudhana not to become content with a meager practice, and thus it says 'immeasurable'. Third, revealing the purpose of the exhortation: to cause him to arouse activities of wisdom. Fourth, in demonstrating the benefit of the exhortation, it is also for this purpose, and for this reason they exhort him. Herein there are two: first, explaining the harm of not exhorting, so that they cannot but exhort him; next, from 'Because of all Buddhas...' onward, demonstrating the benefit of the exhortation, which is why they must exhort him. As for the first, there are two: 1. Harm to oneself: if they did not grant wisdom, he would immediately enter nirvāṇa, so they must grant it; hence the treatise states: 'Regarding the second, entering nirvāṇa immediately, wisdom is granted to reveal and manifest [the path].' 2. Harm to others: because he would not benefit sentient beings. Question: Even beginners of practice still cultivate non-dwelling; how could [a bodhisattva of] the stage of profound wisdom who takes extinction need exhortation? Has there ever been a single person who, without the Buddhas granting wisdom, would then take extinction? Answer: Because of four meanings, they must exhort him: 1. To guide and reprove the two vehicles of fixed nature, showing that even in this stage's place of great quiescence a bodhisattva is still exhorted to arise—how then could what they attained be ultimate? 2. To alert and awaken the habit of delighting in stillness in bodhisattvas of gradual enlightenment; 3. To inspire beginners to seek above without satiety; 4. To show that this stage is exceedingly profound, abstruse, and hard to relinquish, which is why they must exhort him. Wherever there is this place of the profound Dharma flow, there are always Buddhas making the bridge of the seven exhortations, so that not a single person ever takes eternal stillness. Moreover, even if the Buddhas did not exhort him, he would not tend toward stillness; to demonstrate the benefit of the exhortation, it is posited provisionally.