大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 72.25

72.25

In the commentary's "ninth, the characteristic of the Tathāgata ground," explaining "a single thought-instant" by "the non-duality of the initial and the fundamental [enlightenment]" is because the Awakening of Faith says: "Namely, the cognition corresponding to a single thought-instant, wherein avidyā is completely exhausted at once, is called the cognition of all modes." The phrase "corresponding to a single thought-instant" means that initial enlightenment corresponds with fundamental enlightenment. Hence that treatise says: "When the bodhisattva grounds are exhausted and upāya is perfected, because of the correspondence in a single thought-instant, one awakens to the mind's initial arising, yet the mind has no initial characteristic. Because one is far removed from subtle thoughts, one is able to see the nature of the mind; the mind is then eternally abiding, which is called ultimate enlightenment." This is precisely the characteristic of the non-duality of the initial and fundamental. Next above, after the treatise finishes explaining fundamental enlightenment, it says: "Why is this? The meaning of fundamental enlightenment is spoken in contrast to the meaning of initial enlightenment, because initial enlightenment is identical to fundamental enlightenment." It also says: "If one attains thoughtlessness, then one knows the mind's characteristics of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing. Because of thoughtlessness and so forth, there is in truth no difference of an initial enlightenment; because the four characteristics exist simultaneously and none has independent standing, originally equal, they are identical to the one enlightenment." Therefore, taking initial enlightenment as identical to fundamental enlightenment, with no further difference between initial and fundamental, constitutes the correspondence in a single thought-instant. It is also because in a single thought-instant one suddenly awakens to all phenomena; hence the Vimalakīrti says: "Knowing all phenomena in a single thought-instant is the bodhimaṇḍa, because it accomplishes all-knowledge." The rest can all be understood.