大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 26.29

26.29

Regarding the commentary's "Among those who have not reached the ultimate..." and what follows: this is the fourth pair. The phrase "forever cut off from physical encumbrance" comes from Master Daosheng's doctrine of the pure land in the Fourteen Topics, which states: "For those who have not escaped physical encumbrances, prior to the eighth ground they dwell in the contemplation of the emptiness of beings, which is the pure land; when they emerge, they dwell in a defiled land. From the eighth ground upward, they constantly dwell in the emptiness of beings, which means constantly dwelling in the pure land; therefore, they must rely on a land to dwell in. From the eighth ground upward, they are forever cut off from physical encumbrance; the substance of illumination stands independent, and spirit has no spatial location—what use would a land be?" The meaning is: on the eighth ground, purifying the forbearance of non-arising, one attains sovereignty over form and discards fragmented birth and death; hence it says "forever cut off from physical encumbrance." All mundane and supramundane minds do not manifest at all, hence it says "the substance of illumination stands independent." Matching the nature and pervading everywhere, it says "spirit has no spatial location." "Spirit" means the mental spirit; the *Changes* states: "Spirit is that which mysteriously describes the myriad things. Thus spirit has no spatial location and the *Changes* has no physical form." Since they are free from physical encumbrance, the characteristics of their land are difficult to name.