新華嚴經論 8.61

8.61

第九會在普光明殿者，明從此處而起信心，發行修十住、十行、十迴向、十地、十定、十通、十忍，乃至〈如來出現品〉佛果位終，皆悉不離普賢舊行。是故佛果向前十住已上，自乘普賢行滿，即〈如來出現品〉前三十六品經是。〈普賢行品〉是佛果位後自行已滿，純是利他普賢行故，〈出現品〉後〈離世間品〉是。為從第二會普光明殿中起信心已，經過五位始終因果，不離本跡，諸佛果滿舊普賢門。於〈十定品〉中亦其此處，明以法身定體圓通，始終一際一處，三法同一，不移普光明殿報居之宅，齊頭並印，無有重會三會去已還來。古人釋此會為重會三會普光明殿，以法界門不可作世情思想解故。如善財從覺城東大塔廟處妙德之所，信心經過五十箇位門，至德生童子、有德童女，為未是佛果以前自利利他普賢行終故。十二位中妙覺之位，見慈氏如來，是佛果終位。令其善財却見文殊，明今至果，不離舊所初信之門菩提理智，便聞普賢名、便見其身、等普賢身者，彼明果後普賢之行。經云「更入無量三昧」者，為明證過佛果位內二種愚故。二愚者：一迷阿僧祇廣大數愚、二佛位之內隨好功德廣大愚。此之二法唯佛究竟，自利進修五位菩薩未過故。以是義故，此兩品經如來自說。及〈法界品〉如來不思議神力說，為明法界是一切諸佛共所究竟果故，以將此品示悟眾生。餘三十七品是當位菩薩說。《勝鬘經》云「無明住地，佛地方除。」三乘三祇之果，及淨穢別執菩薩還歸本土，二見順情多不相似。如法界因果，當念不遷、不虧階級，總別一多通融，方便全殊。此普光明殿說〈離世間品〉，明信心及究竟佛果普賢行總不離舊跡。亦如慈氏樓閣內普現三世，一念普觀三世諸佛及以菩薩、一切眾生，視如即夕，無有古今，即其義也。

Regarding the ninth assembly being in the Universal Light Hall: this clarifies that from this place faith arose, initiating the cultivation of the ten abodes, ten practices, ten dedications of merit, ten grounds, ten samādhis, ten superknowledges, and ten forbearances, up to the completion of the stage of the Buddha fruit in the Chapter on the Manifestation of the Tathāgata, none of which departs from the old practices of Samantabhadra. Therefore, advancing toward the Buddha fruit from above the ten abodes, one fulfills one's own vehicle of Samantabhadra's practices; this is represented by the thirty-six chapters of the sūtra preceding the Chapter on the Manifestation of the Tathāgata. The Chapter on Samantabhadra's Practices represents the post-Buddha-fruit stage where one's own practice is already complete, consisting purely of Samantabhadra's practices for benefiting others; this is represented by the Chapter on Leaving the World following the Chapter on Manifestation. Because after giving rise to faith in the second assembly at the Universal Light Hall, one passes through the five stages from beginning to end, cause and effect, without departing from the fundamental trace, all Buddhas fulfill the fruit through the former gate of Samantabhadra. This place is also present in the Chapter on the Ten Samādhis, showing that through the perfect integration of the dharmakāya's essence of concentration, beginning and end are a single juncture and a single place, the three dharmas being one and the same, without moving from the abode of fruition in the Universal Light Hall, imprinted simultaneously without any reassembly, triple assembly, or departure and return. Ancient masters interpreted this assembly as a reassembly or triple assembly at the Universal Light Hall, because the gate of the dharmadhātu cannot be understood through mundane conceptual thoughts. It is like Sudhana setting out from the place of Wondrous Virtue at the Great Stūpa east of the City of Awakening, passing through fifty stage-gates in faith, up to the boy Gopaka and the girl Gopā, which mark the end of Samantabhadra's practice of self-benefit and benefiting others before the Buddha fruit. Among the twelve stages, the stage of Wondrous Awakening, seeing the Tathāgata Maitreya, is the concluding stage of the Buddha fruit. Causing Sudhana to turn back and see Mañjuśrī clarifies that arriving at the fruit today does not depart from the bodhi principle and wisdom of the gate of initial faith at the old site; he then hears Samantabhadra's name, sees his body, and becomes equal to Samantabhadra's body—this clarifies Samantabhadra's practice after the fruit. When the sūtra says, 'he further entered immeasurable samādhis,' this clarifies overcoming the two kinds of ignorance within the stage of the Buddha fruit. The two kinds of ignorance are: first, the ignorance of confusion regarding the vast number of asaṃkhyeyas; second, the vast ignorance regarding the accompanying marks and merits within the Buddha stage. These two dharmas are perfected by the Buddha alone; the bodhisattvas of the five stages advancing in self-benefit have not yet surpassed them. For this reason, these two chapters of the sūtra were spoken by the Tathāgata himself. And the Chapter on the Dharmadhātu was spoken through the Tathāgata's inconceivable spiritual power, clarifying that the dharmadhātu is the fruit perfected in common by all Buddhas, using this chapter to instruct and awaken sentient beings. The remaining thirty-seven chapters were spoken by the bodhisattvas of the respective stages. The Śrīmālā Sūtra says: 'The ground of the entrenchment of ignorance is eradicated only at the Buddha stage.' The fruit of the three vehicles across three asaṃkhyeyas, and the bodhisattvas attached to distinctions between purity and impurity returning to their native lands—these two views accord with mundane sentiment and mostly do not resemble this. As for the cause and effect of the dharmadhātu, it does not shift from the present thought, nor does it diminish the gradations; the universal and the particular, the one and the many harmonize, and the expedient means are utterly different. The exposition of the Chapter on Leaving the World in this Universal Light Hall clarifies that faith and the ultimate Samantabhadra practice of the Buddha fruit never depart from the old traces. It is also like the triple world being universally displayed within Maitreya's tower, where in a single thought one universally contemplates the Buddhas of the three times, as well as bodhisattvas and all sentient beings, viewing them as if [happening] this very evening without past or present; such is its meaning.