大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 18.91

18.91

On the commentary’s "Since it is said to illuminate the world..." downward: resolving an objection. Namely, someone asks: since the ten bodies are perfectly fused and universally respond to all, why does he dwell solely in the assemblies of bodhisattvas? Therefore, in meaning it draws upon the words "like the solar disc rising" in the metaphor, so that there is nothing that is not benefited; hence it says "it ultimately benefits the congenitally blind and illuminates the high mountains." These are all from the "Chapter on the Manifestation [of the Tathāgata]," both as cited before. Regarding the commentary’s "Now the three limits are already severed": below this explains the meaning of purity. If there are characteristics of the three times, merit is not pure. Cultivated in accord with the dharmadhātu, there are therefore no three limits, meaning not coming from the prior limit, not going to the posterior limit, and not abiding in the present. The dharmakāya is already pure, and because the three limits are severed, how could its merit be measured? Upon the myriad practices, defiled habits have vanished; thus it is called pure, meaning afflictions equal to the sands of the Ganges have all been exhausted.