大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 53.28

53.28

Regarding the commentary's statement, 'Subsuming these nine powers': this line is the general heading. 2. From 'Because there are four meanings within the cause' onward, it provides the general rationale for the four purities. Saying 'there are four meanings within the cause' selects out [conditions] and does not concern conditions, but pertains solely to the cause of one's own power. It is just like generally citing how things arise from causes and conditions containing four meanings, such as a grain seed being the cause and water and soil being conditions, which can produce a sprout. Looking solely at the grain seed, there are four meanings: 1. It is not produced by conditions, but produced by its own cause; thus the grain seed has the meaning of being potent. 2. It is not produced by the cause, but produced by conditions; thus upon the grain seed there is the meaning of being impotent. 3. Only by possessing both potency and impotency can it produce a sprout; this is the third meaning. 4. Subsuming the above three, the virtue of the grain seed itself is the fourth meaning. 1. Because it is potent and can act, there is the purity of wholesome phenomena with activity. 2. Because it is impotent and cannot act, there is the purity of phenomena without activity. 3. Endowed with both, because it can guide and produce, there is the purity of transforming sentient beings. 4. Eradicating and subsuming the previous three, conforming to principle to accomplish virtue, there is the fourth, purity of the body. 'Eradicating' means absolute eradication: because the three are not separate from one another and are mutually identical, they mutually eradicate and strip away. 'Subsuming' means that the three are not separate from one another, so that raising one completely takes in all of them; possessing the meaning of eradication and stripping away, it therefore conforms to principle to accomplish virtue. Furthermore, of the above four meanings, the first three are the perfection of practice, and the last one is the fullness of practice. Among the first three, the first two are self-benefit, and the latter one is benefiting others. Within the two kinds of self-benefit, they are distinguished based on essence and characteristics; hence there are activity and non-activity. However, their distinct meanings lie precisely in the first two, and both of these take the true mind as their essence. Because within the true mind there are the three greatnesses: conforming to the greatness of essence and characteristics, there is the purity of phenomena without activity. Conforming to the greatness of function, there is the purity of wholesome phenomena with activity. Saying 'with activity' refers to the practice according to teaching. The practice according to teaching is originally devoid of conforming to the functions of the nature's virtues, but because it is cultivated and aroused, it is called 'with activity'. Being with activity conforms to principle, so it is called 'wholesome'. The essence of the wholesome is therefore called 'phenomenon'. Phenomena emerge from defilement, which of itself is called 'purity'. Saying 'without activity' refers to the practice of realization. The nature has emerged from antiquity and is not fabricated through conditions, so it is called 'without activity'. This essence of non-activity does not conform to anything else, nor is the word 'wholesome' established for it; if speaking in terms of the goodness of nature, it can also be called wholesome. The treatise relies on the former meaning, and therefore lacks the word 'wholesome'. The two meanings of 'phenomenon' and 'purity' are no different from the previous explanation. However, pure truth does not arise [on its own], and solitary delusion is not accomplished [on its own]; only when truth and delusion combine is there activity. Avidyā perfuming internally and bad companions leading externally, one commits unwholesome actions and turns one's back on truth to transmigrate. Tathatā perfuming internally and good companions leading externally, one performs wholesome actions, returning to the origin and reverting to the source. Conforming to truth is called wholesome; if conforming to truth were [already] wholesome, then there would be no delusion to remedy, and wholesomeness would not be accomplished. Because one conforms to the nature's freedom from stinginess and greed, when one accords with and cultivates dānapāramitā, one reverses stinginess and greed to accomplish the wholesomeness of the perfection of giving. The rest can be understood by analogy. However, as for these two purities, when in the state of an ordinary person, there can only be the nature called active or non-active, but they cannot be called pure. Yet the essence of non-activity is eternally serene from antiquity to the present, its essence having neither increase nor decrease; in terms of conditions, it has concealment and manifestation, beginning and end, and is spoken of as cause and fruit. As for phenomena with activity, their essence originally lacks an essence of its own, and only through depending on arising can they be called 'with activity'. It is like a tree having sprouts and milk having curd; these do not exist as concrete entities. Nevertheless, although they arise through cultivation, if there were no nature, they could not arise through cultivation; hence both active and non-active are called possessing the nature. Entering the abodes, the active is subsumed under the lineage of acquired habits, while the non-active is subsumed under the lineage of the nature. If considered in terms of understanding and practice, the active is called purity of upāya, while the non-active is called purity of essence. Now, in terms of the noble stages, the active is called the practice according to teaching, and the non-active is called the practice of realization. If reaching the stage of fruition, the active is called purity of upāya—bodhi, nirvāṇa, and the reward body Buddha; the non-active is called purity of nature—bodhi, nirvāṇa, and the dharmakāya Buddha; these two are unhindered. Now, explaining that Vajragarbha internally accords with the virtuous function so that the myriad practices thereby increase is called the purity with activity. His mind merging with the nature's virtue, where thoughts and deliberations become silent, is the purity without activity. Such is the general meaning.