大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 56.8

56.8

Under the Commentary's statement, "The word 'etc.' subsumes by extension...," this fourth [part] explains the word "etc." in the treatise. In this there are two parts: first, revealing the treatise's comprehensiveness. There are three destructions of the kalpa: water, fire, and wind. Fire destroys the first dhyāna, and those from the second dhyāna and above are able to hear; water destroys the second dhyāna, and those from the third dhyāna and above are able to hear; wind destroys the third dhyāna, and those from the fourth dhyāna and above are able to hear. The expression "kalpa-fire" also refers to the fire kalpa, distinguishing it from the water and wind kalpas. When the treatise-sūtra says "in the fire at the end of the kalpa," it specifically refers to the completion of the twenty kalpas of abiding. Furthermore, when nineteen kalpas have finished destroying sentient beings, this is called the "end of the kalpa." The one kalpa of destroying the receptacle [world] is called "in the fire." Under the Commentary's statement, "Now, taking up the beginning subsumes the end...," the second part reveals the sūtra's skillfulness. Taking up the fire kalpa to subsume water and wind demonstrates skill in meaning. Countering the seawater above by saying "kalpa-fire" demonstrates skill in phrasing. That this says [the beings of] the long-lived heavens, standing in contrast, are able to hear is because, first, there are devas there who once heard from the Buddha and explain the Dharma for them; and second, they are able to go down to the Buddha and listen to the Dharma. As stated in the initial enumeration of the assembly, all of them, due to faith, find that a difficulty is not a difficulty. Those for whom it is a difficulty are those who have never heard and perfumed [the seeds of Dharma] and who indulge in the taste of dhyāna. Under the Commentary's statement, "According to the Treatise on the Great [Prajñāpāramitā], etc.," the fifth [part] reconciles the broader and narrower scopes of the long-lived heavens. That is, Treatise [on the Great Prajñāpāramitā], fascicle 38, says: "'Long-lived heavens' refers to the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, because of its eighty thousand great kalpas. Alternatively, some say: all formless absorptions are collectively called 'long-lived,' because there is no bodily form that can be transformed. They are incapable of attaining the Path and are always places of ordinary beings. Alternatively, it is said that the heaven of non-conception is called 'long-lived,' as it is also incapable of attaining the Path. Alternatively, it is said that from the first dhyāna up to the fourth dhyāna, excluding the Pure Abodes, all are called 'long-lived,' because by clinging to the taste of dhyāna and wrong views, they cannot receive the Path." Above, the word "etc." in "the Treatise on the Great [Prajñāpāramitā], etc.," subsumes by extension the Liang [translation of the] Mahāyānasaṃgraha and the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra; both agree with the explanation of the third master in the Treatise on the Great [Prajñāpāramitā]. The intent of all the above treatises is that because the lifespans in the upper two realms are long, and they also indulge in the taste of dhyāna, they are incapable of receiving the Path, and are therefore places of difficulty. Now, where there is faithful mind, none of them are difficulties. This concludes the above clarification of the long-lived heavens. As for the Commentary's statement, "Now, the first dhyāna is not adopted," this clarifies that the treatise is slightly narrower. It is excluded for two reasons: first, it has vitarka and vicāra, whose meaning extends to other places; second, "in the actual burning" strictly conforms to the text of the treatise. If one were to say that the first dhyāna is the difficulty of the long-lived heavens, there would be no ground to speak of the fire kalpa. Now, since the fire burns the first dhyāna and there is no one in the first dhyāna, it is explained in terms of those from the second dhyāna and above being able to hear, so that those in the difficulty of long life are able to hear.