大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 1.30

1.30

The sixth section, from "As for its essential import" onward, treats the profundity and subtlety of the essential import. This clause introduces the Commentary. Subsequently, from "Merging the true essence" onward, the essential import is properly revealed. Within this there are two parts: first, explaining the unobstructedness of principle and phenomena; second, revealing the unobstructedness among phenomena and phenomena. Although this sūtra broadly explains phenomena and explains principle, they are all unobstructed; therefore, it takes the unobstructed dharmadhātu as its essential import. This gateway is the intent within the section on the scope of doctrinal meaning. In the first part, the unobstructedness of principle and phenomena, there are also two parts: first, indicating the three greatnesses; second, harmonizing the true and the delusive. In the former, a question asks: Earlier, under "Reverting and returning without boundary," etc., the three greatnesses were already explained; why explain them again now? The answer: There are three meanings in which this differs from before. First, previously the three greatnesses were explained directly upon the doctrine of the dharmadhātu in terms of meaning; here, they are explained in terms of the sūtra as the expressing text fully expounding the three greatnesses, and so they differ. Second, previously the characteristics of the three greatnesses were distinguished; here, the locus of the three greatnesses is explained—that is, where does the essence abide? Namely, within the myriad transformations, and so forth. Third, previously the three greatnesses were fused and cleared away in order to establish one's own doctrinal tenets; here, the mutual presence of the three greatnesses is explained in order to refute divergent interpretations, distinguishing their non-separation as the meaning of unobstructedness. As an ancient said: "As for its essence, it neither arises nor perishes, neither goes nor comes," taking non-perishing as non-arising, taking non-arising as non-perishing, and so on. "As for its characteristics, sharing the distinct essences of different categories, they subtly contain and maintain [each other]; sharing the distinct substances of different categories, they successively re-manifest. The subtle principle is difficult to see, compared to the mustard seed and the jar; the re-manifesting characteristics are easy to observe, allegorized by Indra's net," and so forth. "As for its function, unpartitioned yet pervasive, unmoving yet arriving, the one and the many, the great and the small mutually acting as prolongation and curtailment, quietude and disturbance, mutually inhering," and so forth—these distinctively revealed the characteristics of the three greatnesses. Now, merely explaining their non-separation is what constitutes the profound and abstruse, termed the unobstructedness of principle and phenomena. The first clause explains the essence. The essence abides within the myriad transformations and is not outside of phenomena; hence it says "Merging the true essence within the realm of the myriad transformations." "Merging" means obscurely tallying, and it also means tranquil quiescence. "The myriad transformations" is the collective designation for phenomenal dharmas. Hence Master Wonhyo's Preface to the Commentary on the Awakening of Faith says: "Now, when examining the essence of the Mahāyāna, it is loftily vacuous and quiescent, serene and profoundly mysterious. Mysterious beyond mystery, how could it go beyond the myriad phenomena? Quiescent beyond quiescence, it still abides in the discourse of the hundred schools. Not being beyond phenomena, the five eyes cannot view its form; abiding within words, the four kinds of unobstructed eloquence cannot speak of its state." Explication: This clarifies that the true essence and all dharmas are neither identical nor different. Now the Commentary merely says "unobstructed," which means it is neither identical with nor different from all dharmas. Hence Master Sengzhao said: "Is the Way far off? Contact phenomena and it is real." This also means the essence is identical with the myriad transformations.