大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 18.98

18.98

Regarding the commentary's phrase "Concealing dust, veiling the sun, universally covering without intention": this reflects the intention of the Daśabhūmika-sūtra and the Lotus Sūtra. Regarding the Cloud of Dharma Stage, it says: "O sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva on this stage, by the power of his own vows, raises clouds of great compassion, sounds the thunder of the great Dharma, uses psychic knowledges, insight, and fearlessness as lightning, and merit and wisdom as dense clouds; manifesting various bodies, journeying to and fro, in a single thought-moment universally traversing lands as numerous as the dust motes of hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of worlds throughout the ten directions, expounding the great Dharma and subduing the maras and adversaries. Exceeding this number, in lands as numerous as the dust motes of immeasurable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of worlds, according with that which the minds of sentient beings delight in, he pours down the rain of amṛta to extinguish the flames of the dust of all afflictions. Therefore this stage is named 'Cloud of Dharma.'" Explication: This is the meaning of concealing dust and universally covering. The meaning of "without intention" is an overarching teaching, for the "Manifestation" chapter says: "Furthermore, sons of the Buddha! Just as in the ocean there is a great dragon king named Mahālaṅkāra, who, when pouring down rain in the ocean, sometimes pours down ten kinds of adorned rain, or a hundred, or a thousand, or a hundred thousand kinds of adorned rain. Sons of the Buddha! The water is without conceptual discrimination, yet solely by the dragon king's inconceivable power are those adornments produced, even up to hundreds of thousands of immeasurable distinctions. The Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha is also like this: when expounding the Dharma for sentient beings, he speaks with ten kinds of distinct sounds, or a hundred, or a thousand, or a hundred thousand, or expounds eighty-four thousand kinds of practices with eighty-four thousand sounds, and even expounds the Dharma with immeasurable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of sounds respectively, causing those who hear to all produce joy. The Tathāgata's voice is without conceptual discrimination, yet solely through the profound, perfectly complete, and pure dharmadhātu of all Buddhas, he can accord with what is suitable for the faculties of sentient beings to produce various speech and sounds, causing them all to rejoice," and so forth; this is the meaning of "without intention." Also, in the parable of Sāgara raising clouds, it says: "Although that dragon king's mind is impartial, without 'this' or 'that', distinctions exist solely because of the differences in the good roots of sentient beings." This is also the meaning of "without intention." The Lotus Sūtra also says: "I am without greed or attachment, and also without limit or obstruction," and further says: "Raining down the Dharma-rain equally without weariness or fatigue"; all of these are the meaning of "without intention."