新華嚴經論 13.4

13.4

2. Explaining the essence and function of the samādhi: As for the essence of this samādhi, it takes the fundamental wisdom of the dharmadhātu as its essence and discriminating wisdom as its great function. Furthermore, it takes the fundamental wisdom of the dharmadhātu as its essence and the wisdom that accords with sentient beings as its function. Furthermore, it takes entering samādhi as its essence and arising from samādhi as its function. Furthermore, it takes having neither arising nor entering as its essence, and both entering and arising as its function. Furthermore, it takes both entering and arising as its essence; this can be seen by inferring from its meaning. To state the essentials: provisionally, within the rules for transforming sentient beings, entering samādhi is used to explain the essence, and then arising from samādhi to reveal the ten names of samādhi is the function. Among these ten names of samādhi, they collectively take the unattached, non-abiding nature of wisdom of the dharmadhātu as their essence; this essence is also called the Śūraṅgama Samādhi, which serves as the essence for the ineffable approaches to samādhi and all wisdom of all Buddhas. As in the praise of virtues, just as the sūtra says, "Whirling through the oceans of worlds, there are none it does not enter," this is the function of the samādhi, being the name for penetrating throughout all phenomena of sentient beings. "Ocean" means vast and great. "Whirling" means extremely profound. This explains that the essence and function of this samādhi are vast, great, extremely profound, and inexhaustible, because the practices among all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and sentient beings of the six destinies across the ten directions are all pervaded. This samādhi answers all of the previous thirty-seven questions completely. Previously, with the Buddha's spiritual power, among the thirty-seven questions, the questions such as what the Buddha-ground, the Buddha-ocean, and the Buddha's eyes, ears, and nose are were answered. Now, Samantabhadra's samādhi answers the questions among the previous thirty-seven questions such as what the ocean of bodhisattva practices and the ocean of samādhis are, because it intends to show that the Buddha's practices and the bodhisattva's practices are thoroughly unified in essence and function. Taking the Buddha as the essence and Samantabhadra's ocean of practices as the function, because this essence and function encompass all phenomena, there is no phenomenon that is not exhausted. The Buddha's eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are the essence; being able to universally know the activities of sentient beings is the function. Below, the Tathāgata bestows wisdom upon Samantabhadra, showing that Samantabhadra's wisdom tallies with the Buddha's fundamental wisdom without being different, so that future believers will naturally know that the Buddha's fundamental wisdom is of one essence, non-dual, and free of doubt. That the Buddhas of the ten directions stroked his crown with their hands indicates guiding, receiving, and certifying. That it says Samantabhadra arose from samādhi shows where the essence of concentration functions according to capacities. Furthermore, they obtain benefits based on their capacities, which is called arising into its inexhaustible functions. It briefly lists ten to represent inexhaustibility. The remaining meanings are themselves fully explained in the sūtra text. In main import, the Buddha's fundamental wisdom is the essence of samādhi, and Samantabhadra's practice is the function.