新華嚴經論 2.6

2.6

Second, the difference in the adornments of the realm: When this Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra was spoken, the auspicious and blessed ground of the twin śāla trees measured thirty-two yojanas in length and breadth, filled by the great assembly without any empty space. At that time, the Bodhisattvas of Boundless Body from the four directions, along with their retinues, occupied seats [measuring] perhaps like the point of a needle or the tip of an awl; great bodhisattvas from as many Buddha-worlds throughout the ten directions as fine dust motes all gathered and assembled. Furthermore, the text says: 'At that time, through the Buddha's spiritual power, the great trichiliocosm became completely supple and soft, free of hills, ruins, sand, earth, gravel, stones, thorns, and poisonous weeds, adorned with various jewels, just like the Sukhāvatī world of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life in the west. At that time the great assembly all saw the Buddha-worlds throughout the ten directions as numerous as fine dust motes, just as one observes one's own body in a bright mirror; observing all the Buddha-lands was also like this.' Furthermore, the later text says that the twin śāla trees suddenly turned white, as extensively recounted in the sūtra.
When the Avataṃsaka Sūtra was spoken, there were ten oceans of worlds of the Lotus Treasury, with twenty tiers above and below. In the lowest tier, to speak briefly, there is a circumference of vast lands as numerous as the fine dust motes of ten Buddha-worlds, each land having as its retinue small lands as numerous as the fine dust motes of ten Buddha-kṣetras, multiplying progressively above. In these ten worlds of the Lotus Treasury, diamond forms the ground; trees, terraces, towers, pavilions, palaces, halls, ponds, and oceans are all adorned with various jewels, as the sūtra says: 'Thus have I heard: At one time the Buddha was in the country of Magadha, in the bodhimaṇḍa of the Dharma of the araṇya, having first attained true awakening. The ground was firm and made of diamond, adorned with supreme, wondrous jewel wheels, various jewel flowers, and pure maṇi gems, with boundless oceans of forms and appearances manifest. Thus down to all the adornments of all Buddha-lands across inconceivable kalpas were completely contained and manifest.' The text spanning two sheets in between is praise of all the adornments of the Buddha's realm. Furthermore, the later text of the 'Chapter on the Flower Treasury World' extensively describes such adornments; these are precisely the adornments of the Tathāgata's own true saṃbhoga[kāya], not a temporary transformation brought about through the Buddha's spiritual power to purify it for the sake of sentient beings as in this Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. Why is this so? Because the assembly that came for this Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra was a mixed assembly of the faculties of the three vehicles; if not sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, they would lack the capacity to see it on their own. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the faculties of the One Vehicle are pure, without any mixed assembly. Because the śrāvakas had different faculties, even though present within that assembly, they did not see it from the beginning. Although the sūtra also mentions [manifestations] 'through the Buddha's spiritual power', the later text also states 'because the Dharma is naturally so.' Furthermore, as for the expression 'the Buddha's spiritual power': responding to the genuine is called 'spiritual'; unlike what is real, it is for ordinary persons that he adds [power] to let them see temporarily—this is named 'spiritual'. One should know that the adornments of the Lotus Treasury fundamentally illuminate the true saṃbhoga[kāya], whereas the spiritual power of the Mahāparinirvāṇa [Sūtra] is a temporary, provisional application. Moreover, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra places the Buddha's pure land in the west, beyond Buddha-lands as numerous as thirty-two sands of the Ganges, and not in this place; thus one clearly knows it is a transformation and not the real.