大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 18.44

18.44

From the commentary's "because the four cognitions are completely fused, without two natures" downward: this is the third [section], resolving difficulties. That is, someone objects: "The bodhi of the four cognitions is conditioned and uncontaminated, not the central tenet of our sūtra; how can it be mixed in to explain this profound purport?" Therefore, it is now resolved by stating: the bodhi of the four cognitions is possessed by both the nature and characteristics lineages, but their meanings differ slightly; applying it is free from error. That is to say, being completely fused without duality is one meaning, whereas that lineage says the four must not be conflated with one another. Now it is clarified that a single cognition completely possesses the four cognitions; hence the "Manifestation" chapter below uses four wish-fulfilling jewels to illustrate the four cognitions. The sūtra states: "Furthermore, sons of the Buddha! Just as in the great ocean there are four wish-fulfilling jewels possessing limitless virtues, capable of producing all precious jewels within the ocean—if these wish-fulfilling jewels were absent from the great ocean, not even a single jewel could be obtained. What are the four? The first is named Accumulation Jewel, the second is named Inexhaustible Treasury, the third is named Free from Blazing, and the fourth is named Complete Adornment. Sons of the Buddha! These four wish-fulfilling jewels cannot be seen by any ordinary beings, devas, nāgas, spirits, and so forth. Why is that? Because the Nāga King Sāgara keeps these wish-fulfilling jewels upright, correct, and squarely aligned, placing them in a deep and secret place within his palace. Sons of the Buddha! The great ocean of wisdom of the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Samyaksaṃbuddha is also like this: within it there are four great wisdom-jewels, fully possessing limitless virtues of merit and wisdom, by which they are able to produce the wisdom-jewels of all sentient beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, those at the stages of training and no-more-training, and all bodhisattvas. What are the four? Namely: the great wisdom-jewel of unattached skillful means (first, the great round mirror cognition is free from all conceptual constructions, hence named 'unattached'; its cognitive objects and active modes are subtle and difficult to know; neither forgetting nor being deluded regarding the characteristics of all cognitive objects is due to 'skillful means'); the great wisdom-jewel of skillfully discerning conditioned and unconditioned phenomena (second, the equality-nature cognition contemplates all phenomena, conditioned and unconditioned, the objective characteristics of oneself and others, which is named 'skillful means'; benefiting others with equality is named 'skillfully discerning'); the great wisdom-jewel of discerning and expounding limitless phenomena without destroying the dharmatā (third, the wondrous contemplation cognition: this cognition is skilled at contemplating the specific characteristics and common characteristics of all phenomena, operating without obstruction, and therefore expounds limitless phenomena without destroying the dharmatā; 'limitless phenomena' refers to encompassing and contemplating inexhaustible dhāraṇīs and concentration gates, and speaking of them is raining down the rain of the great Dharma to cut off all doubts); and the great wisdom-jewel of knowing the timely and the untimely without ever making an error (fourth, the duty-accomplishing cognition: it knows the capacities and knows the time, doing what ought to be done; if these four jewels were absent from the great wisdom-ocean of the Tathāgatas, that even a single sentient being could enter the Mahāyāna would be utterly impossible; these are called wisdom-jewels, which sentient beings of meager merit cannot see. Why is that? Because they are placed within the deep and secret treasury of the Tathāgata)." Each and every cognition is said to be balanced, upright, correct, pure, and wondrously fine, because it completely possesses the virtues of the four cognitions. How much more so when sharing the same nature: they are naturally fused and thoroughly unobstructed. Regarding "because cultivated arising and fundamental existence are neither one nor different": the second meaning differs from that lineage. In that lineage, the four cognitions arise through cultivation, and nirvāṇa is fundamentally existent. Here, the four cognitions are precisely the cognition of original awakening, and the four arising through cultivation do not possess a separate essence—just as gold is made into an image, and gold and image are not different.