大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 85.2

85.2

Second, the commentary on the final assembly. Now to begin: concerning the passage starting from "Now, the ocean of the complete teaching," this text has two parts: first it introduces the topic, and then from "Therefore, it is not sudden" it explains it. The preceding introduction contained three pairs; now the commentary's explanation has two parts: first, stating the reasons for the three pairs; second, explaining the meanings such as encompassing. First, the former: If there were no sudden realization of the dharmadhātu, how could the perfect wondrousness of this sūtra be revealed? If Sudhana did not make gradual progress, how could sentient beings enter into it? If the Buddha were not the host in the original assembly, how could the final assembly have been compiled into a sūtra? If Sudhana in the final assembly did not achieve benefit, how could the reality of the sudden realization in the original assembly be demonstrated? However, this single pair comes from Master Sengzhao's Preface to the Commentary on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa. Differentiating the root and the traces within the inconceivable, he said: "Regarding what this sūtra illuminates: to unify the myriad practices, it takes expedient cognition as primary; to establish the root of virtue, it takes the six pāramitās as the foundation; to rescue the deluded, it takes compassion as the foremost; and to express the ultimate purport, it speaks of non-duality. All these various discourses are the root of the inconceivable. As for borrowing thrones from the King of Lamps, requesting food from the Fragrant Land, taking the great trichiliocosm in hand, and enclosing heaven and earth in a single room—these are the traces of the inconceivable. Yet the profound gate is difficult to discern, and holy responses vary. Without the root, there is nothing with which to leave traces; without traces, there is nothing with which to reveal the root. Although root and traces differ, their inconceivability is one." Here we merely borrow his words without adopting his specific meaning, taking the two assemblies themselves as the root and traces. As for "without persons, there is no way to realize the Dharma," the Dharma neither declines nor flourishes, and its propagation relies on people. As for "without the Dharma, there is no way to perfect persons," without realizing the source of one's nature, how could one be called a bodhisattva? Therefore, the Madhyamakaśāstra states: "Through the Dharma we know there are persons, and through persons we know there is the Dharma. Apart from the Dharma, where are there persons? Apart from persons, where is there the Dharma?"