大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 90.12

90.12

Regarding the commentary's "Now, first, initially hearing the former person's teaching," etc.: the commentary text has three parts: first, generating thirst and yearning; second, clarifying the place of cultivation; third, directly cultivating contemplation. Within the second part there are three divisions: first, explaining in terms of representation; second, explaining in terms of phenomena; third, comprehensively explaining the meaning of the text from "However, this scripture" onward, which means: why does one return to the diamond ground to initiate contemplation? Within this there are two points: first, it extensively demonstrates the intent, stating that the Avataṃsaka is completely equipped with everything, and the ten assemblies should be likewise. There should be a tenth assembly that integrates the branch to return to the root as a repeated assembly. The "bodhimaṇḍa" refers to the seat of awakening, which is the arising of the fundamental assembly. The eight assemblies within it are called branch assemblies, meaning that the tenth assembly integrates the previous eight assemblies back into the initial assembly, because there is nothing that does not flow forth from this dharmadhātu, and nothing that does not return to this dharmadhātu. Later, regarding "For now, relying on the text": since it clarifies that there are not ten, it relies on the ninth [assembly] to clarify these three: first, the fundamental assembly; second, the branch assemblies; third, Samantabhadra himself serving as the assembly that integrates the branch to return to the root. There are two kinds of "fundamental": Jetavana is the root of this assembly, whereas returning now to the bodhimaṇḍa is the root of all assemblies.