大方廣佛華嚴經疏 56.25

56.25

Third, from "At that time Megha..." onward, praising and conferring the Dharma, in which there are two parts: first, praising him as a Dharma vessel; afterwards, conferring his own Dharma-gate. In the first, there are two: first, determining [his capacity]; second, from "Megha immediately..." onward, paying respects and praising. In that, there are two: first, paying respects; afterwards, from "Then he stood up..." onward, praising. As for the first: why the master pays respects to the disciple is because bodhicitta is the cause of Buddhahood, capable of broadly generating all merits. Thus the Dharmadhātv-aviśeṣa-śāstra says: "Paying homage to the bodhicitta is like a person paying homage to the crescent moon of the bright fortnight, not to the full moon, because its appearance is rare and the full moon comes from this." Also: "The arousal of the mind and the ultimate [attainment] are not distinct, but between these two minds, the first mind is the harder." Therefore I pay homage to one who has newly aroused the mind. Moreover, not yet having expounded the Dharma, he is not yet fixed as the master; only afterwards, when conferring his own Dharma, does he ascend his original seat, so it does not conflict with valuing the Dharma. That the previous spiritual benefactors did not do so was because for a monk to pay respects to a layperson would be an inappropriate affair. In the subsequent praise, there are two: first, praising the arousal of the mind; afterwards, from "Good son, you should know that a bodhisattva..." onward, praising his seeking of friends. In the first, there are two: first, general praise; second, from "Good son, if there is..." onward, specific praise. Within that, there are three: first, there are ten clauses; the causal virtues are deep and broad, and these virtues ultimately achieve success and return to the initial arousal, and that you are able to arouse it is called extraordinary. Its marks are mostly identical to the chapter "The Initial Arousal of the Mind." Here, too, deep, straightforward, and compassionate mind are present, which can be grasped implicitly. Next, from "then by all..." onward, the ten kings respect and protect him. Afterwards, from "then now all realms of sentient beings..." onward, outwardly benefiting sentient beings. Second, in praising his seeking of friends: because a bodhisattva is hard to encounter, yet he is able to seek and able to encounter, one knows that Sudhana is a profound Dharma vessel. It also cautions beforehand regarding the mind that seeks friends, so that in the place of Vimuktaka he spent twelve years without giving rise to weariness. Within that, there are two: first, generally praising that capacity and response are hard to obtain; second, from "A bodhisattva for..." onward, specifically praising spiritual friends. In that, there are two: first, the Dharma; afterwards, metaphors. There are thirteen metaphors: the first two metaphors are of relying and trusting; the next four metaphors are of rescuing and aiding; the next metaphor of a sovereign is of a place of reliance; the remaining metaphors are of saving and protecting. Second, from "Megha having praised in this way..." onward, conferring his own Dharma-gate, in which there are two: first, manifesting supernormal powers to benefit beings, causing them to witness it; afterwards, from "Megha then ascended again..." onward, ascending the seat to expound and confer, causing them to listen. As for the first: regarding the Dharma-gate Adorned with the Syllable-Wheel Chapter, Xianshou cited the Tripiṭaka Master Divākara's explanation, which says: "A wheel has many meanings. First, in terms of the marks of syllables, the Laṅkāvatāra says, 'The wheel of syllables is round and complete like the footprint of an elephant,' etc. Second, in terms of what is expressed, it exhausts the principle and is complete and fully endowed, like a wheel is complete. Third, in terms of function, it refers to the wondrous voice dhāraṇī, having the meanings of turning and transmitting, and eliminating afflictions, like the Dharma wheel, etc. That is, the teaching of the syllable-wheel expresses, reveals, and adorns." This explanation is already fine; now, further relying on the fifth fascicle of the Vairocana Sūtra, there is separately a "Chapter on the Syllable-Wheel," where that sūtra says: "This is the Dharma-gate pervading all places; that is, if a bodhisattva abides in this syllable-wheel Dharma-gate, beginning from the initial arousal of the wondrous bodhicitta up to the attainment of Buddhahood, between these, all various undertakings of benefiting oneself and benefiting others will all be accomplished. As the first syllable 'A' (upper tone) is precisely the mind of bodhi. If one contemplates this syllable and accords with it, one is identical with the essence of Vairocana's dharmakāya. That is, this 'A' (upper tone) syllable-wheel is surrounded by radiance like the eye of a peacock's tail, and when the practitioner abides within it, he precisely abides in the Buddha-position. Furthermore, the three syllables 'A' (level tone, long), 'SA', and 'VA' generally encompass the three divisions: the syllable 'A' is the Tathāgata division, the syllable 'SA' is the Lotus division, and the syllable 'VA' is the Vajra division, each division having five syllables. What is called a syllable-wheel means that from this wheel, rotating, all syllable-wheels are generated; this is the meaning of generation. As from the 'A' bodhi-syllable, four syllables are generated by rotation: namely, first, the syllable 'Ā' (upper tone, long) is the wheel of cultivation, since having aroused the mind one must cultivate all practices; second, the syllable 'AṂ' is the wheel of attaining bodhi, since having cultivated one must realize bodhi; third, the syllable 'AḤ' is the wheel of great quiescent cessation nirvāṇa, which is where bodhi arrives; fourth, the syllable 'ĀḤ' (long) is the wheel of expedient means. And the syllable 'A' is in the center, surrounded by the four syllables, clockwise in sequence from below, also like the form of a wheel. Taking one as an example, the remaining syllables are modeled on it. If a practitioner understands like this, he can enter the dhāraṇī-gate, revolving without obstruction, hence it is named the Chapter on the Syllable-Wheel. Various arrangements of circular positions, hence it is named Adornment." The rest is as explained there. The profound meanings of those syllables will be broadly distinguished when arriving at the [section on] the various arts. Why this is distinguished next after the preceding: the preceding unobstructed liberation is the light of wisdom without marks; now, about to enter the conventional, both existence and non-existence are preserved, using syllables to express meaning. Moreover, it is for dhāraṇī so that nothing is lost. Since he is a physician, he also uses the syllable-wheel to dissolve and subdue obstacles; being born in the holy teachings, it is fitting to hold syllables. Second, ascending the seat to expound and confer: "wondrous voice dhāraṇī" designates the name; from "capable of discerning..." onward, reveals its function. This retention of wondrous voice is precisely the previous syllable-wheel Dharma-gate. Syllables are the forty-two syllables, and voices are the fourteen vowels, namely ai, a, i, ī, etc.; because the fourteen vowels thoroughly enter all syllables, the production of syllables is inexhaustible. If one exhausts the wonder in voice, one will be skilled in the speech of the myriad kinds and thoroughly master the treatises of linguistics (śabda-vidyā). The two places mention each other, and in principle they actually complement each other.