大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 53.25

53.25

Regarding the commentary's statement, "Fifth, the beginning and end of the path of cultivation," and so forth: the meaning of the path of cultivation has already appeared in the section on entry. Regarding the commentary's citation of the treatise, "The cognitive power of supramundane cognition": "supramundane cognition" is fundamental cognition. The repetition of the word "cognition" refers to subsequent cognition. From "By means of the subsequent [cognition]" onward, the commentary's explanation is clear. Regarding the commentary's statement, "The above is allocated to the span from the second to the seventh ground": this is because the completion of effortful practice and the completion of two asaṃkhyeya [kalpas] form one category. The first ground has two paths of seeing; what follows is the path of cultivation. Temporarily dividing by ground, seeing belongs to the first ground, which is why it is spoken of as beginning from the second. Regarding the commentary's statement, "Allocated to entering the eighth ground up to the ground of Buddhahood": in the treatise, however, it merely says, "At this point the bodhisattva has five obstacles with regard to bodhi," without matching them to grounds; matching them was Master Yuan's idea. Yet he did not posit equal awakening, treating the overcoming of the two obstacles as taking place within the ground of Buddhahood itself. Furthermore, he said that they are allocated to being in the eighth ground up to the ground of Buddhahood; thus, taking the final phrase to be the position of Buddhahood contradicts the statement below that there is no exhaustion of Buddhas. Therefore, the commentary states "Allocated to entering the eighth ground" and so on, so that it is precisely at equal awakening that one severs the fifth obstacle and is about to enter the ground of Buddhahood, whereby there is as yet no exhaustion of Buddhas. However, the text of the commentary has two parts: first, explaining by allocating to grounds; second, explaining according to the general characteristic. Because these five obstacles may be counteracted even before the grounds, they are applied ground by ground. Since the preceding part had already matched up to the seventh ground, it follows Master Yuan in first matching the eighth ground and above. Yet these five obstacles are both nominal and real: that is, those who have these obstacles do not obtain the five kinds of merit, which is called a real obstacle; for those who have already ascended the grounds there are in reality no such obstacles, and they are provisionally posited to reveal attainment, which is called nominal. Among the five, the first two are obstacles of understanding, the next two are obstacles of practice, and the last one is an obstacle of function. Now, the first is the obstacle of understanding. Regarding the commentary's statement, "The inability to refute false treatises is the obstacle that is to be counteracted": words that contravene principle are called "false treatises." Being unable to demolish the false with the correct is called "inability." This section fully contains the fifteen explanations of the Yogācāra[-bhūmi]. In hetuvidyā, treatises have seven paradigms; the verse says: "The essence of a treatise, the place of a treatise, the basis of a treatise, the adornment of a treatise, defeat in a treatise, departure from a treatise, and practices that accomplish much in a treatise." First, the essence of a treatise has six kinds: 1. ordinary discourse; 2. esteemed discourse; 3. contentious discourse; 4. slanderous discourse; 5. discourse conforming to correctness; 6. discourse teaching the path. 1. Ordinary discourse: all speech, sounds, and verbal expressions are called ordinary discourse. 2. Esteemed discourse: all discourse in the worldly sphere that accords with what should be heard. Below, the meaning is extracted and briefly cited. 3. Contentious discourse: that which arises based on desires—the mutual encroachment upon desires grasped by oneself and others, and so forth; or that which arises due to evil deeds—ridiculing and condemning the evil deeds of one's own or another's person, and so forth; or that which arises based on various views, and so forth. 4. Slanderous discourse: those who harbor indignation, raising power with a defiled mind to mutually reject and revile one another in all discourse, and so forth. 5. Discourse conforming to correctness: expounding the true Dharma for sentient beings within the well-spoken Dharma and Vinaya, and so forth, because it accords with correct practice and accords with understanding. 6. Discourse teaching the path: teaching the cultivation of the training in higher mind, the training in higher wisdom, the training in higher morality, and so forth. The final two treatises are real, able to lead to benefit, and should be cultivated. The middle two treatises lead to what is unbeneficial and therefore should be avoided. The first two treatises should be distinguished. Second, the place of a treatise has six: 1. in a royal house; 2. in the house of an arbiter of principle; 3. among a great assembly; 4. before wise and virtuous people; 5. before śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas who understand the meaning of the Dharma; 6. before those who delight in the meaning of the Dharma. Third, that on which a treatise is based: "based" has the sense of relying upon. What is relied upon has ten aspects: that is, the thesis to be established has two aspects: 1. self-nature; 2. distinction. "Self-nature" means establishing existence as existent and non-existence as non-existent. "Distinction" means permanent, impermanent, and so forth. The factors capable of establishing it are eight: 1. stating the proposition (pratijñā); 2. discerning the reason (hetu); 3. citing an example (dṛṣṭānta); 4. homogeneous (sādharmya); 5. heterogeneous (vaidharmya); 6. direct perception (pratyakṣa); 7. inference (anumāna); 8. correct scriptural testimony (āgama), and so forth. "Homogeneous" means that according to the factor being established, in comparison with others sequentially, there is a partial similarity, and so forth. "Heterogeneous" means that in comparison with others, there is a partial dissimilarity. Direct perception has three kinds: 1. not not directly seen; 2. not already thought or to be thought; 3. not a confused object, and so forth. Below, the meaning is extracted and explained: that is, the first is like seeing with the eyes, etc. The second is like a good physician administering medicine, complete in color, fragrance, and taste, possessing great potency—as soon as it is taken, it becomes that on which grasping relies. If the illness is not yet cured, it is called "to be thought"; if the illness is cured, it is called "already thought." It is also like a yogin cultivating the contemplation of earth, water, fire, etc., establishing the realm as that on which grasping relies. The third, "not confused," means confusion of ideation, confusion of calculation, and so forth. The above collectively refers to worldly direct perception. There is also supramundane direct perception, which refers to the objective sphere engaged by supramundane cognition. Seventh, inference refers to all objective spheres accompanied by analytical thinking, whether already thought or to be thought. This again has five kinds: 1. inference from characteristics: as seeing smoke and inferring that there is fire, and so forth. 2. inference from essence: directly seeing that entity's self-nature and inferring that thing's unperceived essence, as using the present to infer the past and future, etc. Furthermore, as with food, drink, clothing, etc., directly seeing a portion of their qualities and defects, and inferring all of them, and so forth. 3. inference from activity: using function to infer that on which an action relies, as seeing a distant object without movement, with a bird resting upon it, and inferring it to be a post, etc.; hearing only a roar, and inferring it to be a lion, and so forth. 4. inference from Dharma: using mutually adjacent and connected phenomena to infer other mutually adjacent and connected phenomena; as connected to impermanence, inferring that there is suffering; because it is connected to suffering, inferring emptiness and non-self, and so forth. 5. inference from cause and effect: sequentially comparing cause and effect with each other; as seeing someone walking, inferring their arrival elsewhere; seeing them arrive elsewhere, inferring prior walking; seeing good deeds performed, inferring that there will be great wealth in the future, and so forth. Eighth, valid scriptural testimony: the teachings spoken by the Omniscient One. This again has three kinds: 1. not contradicting the words of the noble ones; 2. able to counteract defilements; 3. not contradicting the characteristics of phenomena, and so forth. The basis of a treatise has now been explained. Fourth, the adornments of a treatise briefly have five kinds: 1. skill in one's own and others' tenets; 2. perfection of vocal equipment; 3. fearlessness; 4. composure and gravity; 5. worthiness of respect. "Perfection of vocal equipment" means that whatever is spoken is done with proper voice, not with improper voice. A proper voice is endowed with five virtues: 1. not vulgar; 2. not frivolous; 3. forceful and clear; 4. coherent; 5. good in meaning. "Coherent" means that earlier and later doctrines and meanings correspond with each other, and so forth. "Fearlessness" is understandable. "Composure and gravity" means, for example, a person who waits for the proper time before speaking without being rash or hasty; this is called composure and gravity. "Worthiness of respect" means, for example, a person whose nature is gentle and good, not tormenting others, up to their words being soft and gentle, as if facing a good friend, and so forth. Fifth, falling into defeat in a treatise has three kinds: 1. relinquishing one's words; 2. being refuted in one's words; 3. faults of speech. "Relinquishing one's words," taking the sense, means apologizing to the opponent, saying, "I am not skilled in debate," etc. Second, "being refuted in one's words": being overcome by the opponent, or withdrawing under the pretext of other matters, or introducing irrelevant speech, or displaying anger, or falling silent, and so forth. "Faults of speech" refers to being disordered and coarse, indistinct, boundless, not corresponding to meaning, untimely, inconclusive, unclear, discontinuous, and so forth. Sixth, departure from a treatise: one should first examine the outset of a treatise with those three kinds [of observation] before initiating discourse, or choosing not to debate with them; this is called departure from a treatise. That is: 1. examining gain and loss; 2. examining the assembly of that time; 3. examining skillfulness and unskillfulness. "Examining gain and loss" means: will my advancing a treatise be free from self-harm, harming others, harming both, and so forth? "Examining the assembly of that time": are there perverse attachments, or are there correct views, etc.? "Examining skillfulness and unskillfulness" means observing oneself: am I skilled or unskilled regarding the place of the treatise, the bases of the treatise, and so forth? Seventh, practices that accomplish much in a treatise are of three kinds: 1. skill in one's own and others' tenets; 2. heroic fearlessness; 3. inexhaustible eloquence. Because of having these three, one can skillfully respond; therefore they are called "practices that accomplish much." Explanation: The passages cited above from the Yogācāra[-bhūmi] abbreviate its main outline; its detailed exposition is as found there. Merely looking at the cited text of the treatise, the text of the commentary is clearly easy to understand. Now I shall explain it further in brief: 1. "According to whatever place they abide in," and so forth, refers to being skilled in the tenets of others. Below, it expounds in sequence, simultaneously covering skill in one's own tenets. However, when the sūtra says "according to whatever place they abide in," it also encompasses the place of the treatise, yet the text is directly referring to the points of attachment; hence it immediately says next, "expounds in sequence," and so forth. Regarding the commentary's statement, "Using proposition, reason, example, direct perception, inference, and scriptural testimony to reveal one's own correct principle and treat [delusions] according to the disease—the above are all the bases of a treatise": "revealing one's own correct principle" refers to the two meanings to be established among the bases: self-nature and distinction; these two are precisely what is established by one's own tenets. In the section on entry, the text mentions only six, lacking the homogeneous and the heterogeneous, because these two only concern what is established having minor commonalities or differences with others, and are therefore subsumed under the example and the proposition. The statement "treat according to the disease" is because attachments are not just one. Regarding the commentary's statement, "Eloquence is the essence of a treatise": flowing forth to the ears is called eloquence of expression (bian); skillfully responding to the minds of beings is called talent of discernment (cai). This is precisely ordinary discourse, teaching the path, because it accords with correct principle. Regarding the commentary's statement, "It is also the adornment of a treatise": this introduces it; below, the adornments are set forth. The adornments are five: fearlessness, as one kind, is already in the preceding phrase; skill in one's own and others' tenets is simultaneously clarified later under "practices that accomplish much." Here there are only three: 1. perfection of vocal equipment. 2. "Accompanying speech" is worthiness of respect, meaning not tormenting others, with soft and gentle words; hence it is called accompanying speech. 3. Composure and gravity is understandable. Regarding the commentary's statement, "Furthermore, the above are all practices that accomplish much in a treatise": this is the introductory marker, meaning it collectively gathers the above two gates into a single phrase to form the practices that accomplish much. From "1. Skill in one's own..." downward, they are listed. The statement "matching with the text is understandable" means that the latter two are understandable. Skill in one's own and others' tenets: "according to the points of attachment" is skill in others' tenets; "expounding in sequence" is skill in one's own tenets. Regarding the commentary's statement, "That is, skillfully examining gain and loss," and so forth: "and so forth" encompasses the remaining two, namely the assembly of that time and skillfulness and unskillfulness. From "Because of being endowed with the above meanings" downward, it continues using the preceding five paradigms to explain not falling into defeat: namely, having essence, having basis, having adornment, having accomplishment; since departure is competent, how could one fall into defeat? Regarding the commentary's statement, "By overcoming this obstacle, one attains entry into the eighth ground": this means that while still having this obstacle in the seventh ground one does not enter, but by overcoming it in the eighth ground one attains entry. The four phrases below follow this same pattern.