新華嚴經論 3.62

3.62

Third, regarding the distinction of the host and companion expressed in the questions and answers: this explains the essence and function of the questions and answers throughout this scripture, and the broad meaning of the vehicle's tenet that is mounted. In terms of their general characteristics, there are three endowed virtues: first, the Buddha; second, Mañjuśrī; third, Samantabhadra. The Buddha represents the fruit virtue that is beyond words: it should be ineffable, uncultivable, unattainable, and unrealizable; yet due to the cause, the fruit is naturally attained. Mañjuśrī represents the causal stage that can be spoken of: through this, he expounds the dharmakāya's fruit virtue and encourages the cultivation of Samantabhadra['s practice]. One's own practice can be practiced, practicing his ocean of practices so that it pervades the dharmadhātu. Using these three virtues, one undertakes to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings. Mañjuśrī accomplishes the praise of the dharmakāya's fundamental wisdom, and Samantabhadra accomplishes the active virtues of discriminating wisdom. All Buddhas rely on these two venerable ones as teachers and models, and thereby can accomplish the ultimate fruit of great bodhi. Sometimes Samantabhadra is called the eldest son, because he establishes practice to bring sentient beings to completion. Sometimes Mañjuśrī is called the youngest son, because he is the first when Vairocana initially generates the mind to realize the dharmakāya's fundamental wisdom of Buddha-nature; because he is the earliest to realize the dharmakāya's fundamental wisdom of Buddha-nature, and because he is the household of wisdom where the noble nature of all Buddhas is newly born. Because he is the foremost in awakening the unenlightened and illuminating [truth], he is the youngest son. He presides over the northeast direction, which is the Gen hexagram; Gen is the youngest son. It is also the mountain and the stone, situated between chou and yin, representing the first light at dawn when the marks of darkness are already gone but the sunlight has not yet shone forth—symbolizing the beginning of awakening the unenlightened. In the ten abodes, generating the mind is the initial seeing of the Way; therefore Mañjuśrī is pointed out as residing on Mount Qingliang in the northeast. This also provisionally takes the position of the realm of this Jambudvīpa, recording the Dharma as being in the world so that it may be easily understood. Furthermore, a sūtra says, 'Mañjuśrī is in all places,' which clarifies that the dharmakāya is all-pervasive. It also says, 'Passing beyond worlds as numerous as the dust motes in ten Buddha-lands to the east, there is a golden world, wherein dwells Mañjuśrī.' And, 'The Mañjuśrīs of the ten directions have all come from their respective realms of the golden world.' Gold is white in substance, but its appearance is yellow. Substance white and appearance yellow clarifies the dharmakāya Buddha-nature's wisdom. The substance is pure and clean, not belonging to the shape of white color. The body and mind are without defilement, unlike the white of worldly colors. The dharmakāya Buddha-nature has neither mind nor body; naturally unconditioned, its conditions are pure, each and every thing is without mind, and there is only non-abiding wisdom—this is called pure and clean. If bodhisattvas realize such a nature and such a wisdom-body, it is entirely yellow; yellow is the color of good fortune and celebration. Being free from greed and anger, it has the virtue of harmonious energy, wisdom, and compassion that benefits beings. A sūtra says: 'Realized bodhisattvas are all of real gold color.' Therefore, saying that Mañjuśrī comes from a golden world clarifies that phenomena in all places are all real, representing the one real dharmadhātu. As for Samantabhadra being the eldest son, his position is at mao in the east, which is the Zhen hexagram. Zhen is the eldest son, the head, the leader, the azure dragon, celebration, and spring birth; it is the beginning of establishing the Dharma. The worldly and Buddhist teachings both take the east as the head and beginning, symbolizing the sunrise shining universally upon the myriad things so that all are clear and bright, capable of carrying out activities and applying them in accordance with conditions. Samantabhadra is the leader of practice, and therefore he is the eldest son. Avalokiteśvara is the leader of compassion, positioned in the west, residing in the western hollow of the Vajra Mountain, expounding the scriptures of loving-kindness and compassion. The west is the position of you, and you is the Dui hexagram. Dui is metal, the white tiger, ominous danger, and autumn killing; therefore the compassionate Avalokiteśvara presides over it. Practicing loving-kindness in places that are unwholesome is [the work of] Avalokiteśvara. The three dharmas of Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and Avalokiteśvara are the common practice of the Buddhas of the ten directions; he is the kalyāṇamitra in the seventh stage of compassion among the ten dedications of merit for the youth Sudhana, the remaining extensive meaning of which will be further clarified later. The Buddha Dharma is beyond words, but through the use of worldly dharmas, it is represented by relying on matters. Whatever has verbal expression is all a worldly dharma. Without words, how could the unenlightened be reached? For this reason, using the three virtues of the Buddha, Mañjuśrī, and Samantabhadra to serve mutually as host and companion establishes the model and serves as the foremost means of transforming and benefiting sentient beings. The Buddha gathers all fruits; Mañjuśrī gathers all causal and fruitional dharmakāya fundamental wisdom that is practiced; Samantabhadra gathers all causal and fruitional active bodily discriminating wisdom. For this reason, sometimes Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra are said to be the mothers of all Buddhas, and sometimes Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra are said to be the youngest son and eldest son; the three mutually embody the essence and function of the one dharmadhātu. That is, Mañjuśrī is the gateway to the initial dharmakāya fundamental wisdom upon first seeing the Way; Samantabhadra is the gateway to carrying out practices after first seeing the Way; and the Buddha is the unconditioned essence within these two matters. Therefore, through Mañjuśrī's dharmakāya, the dharmakāya fundamental wisdom expounded in this entire teaching is encompassed, providing for all sentient beings upon their first seeing of the Way; through Samantabhadra, the active gateway of discriminating wisdom expounded in this entire teaching is encompassed, providing the gateway of carrying out practices for all sentient beings; and the complete endowment of both Dharma and practice is named 'Buddha.' There is no such representation in the teachings of nirmāṇakāya Buddhas. In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Buddha conceals his body and does not appear. What the Himalayan Youth attained in the past was the realization that 'all conditioned phenomena are impermanent, they are the dharma of arising and ceasing,' exclusively representing the dharmakāya nirvāṇa, because there was no practice. In the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the Bodhisattva Sadāprarudita sought the perfection of wisdom, being endowed with the six pāramitās, but did not yet have the ten pāramitās such as the pāramitā of expedient means, vow power, and wisdom; this was merely to guide those of small capacity among śrāvakas, humans, and devas, who were not yet capable of hearing the pāramitās of expedient means, vow power, and wisdom. That the pāramitā of expedient means is absent from the six pāramitās is because the pāramitā of expedient means practices in non-ways, and those of small capacity are not yet capable of hearing it. Why is this so? Because they have fear and clinging. Furthermore, in that sūtra there are mostly śrāvakas engaging in questions and answers with the Buddha, not great bodhisattvas. Even when there are bodhisattvas, they are not Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra. Even when there is Mañjuśrī, there is no Samantabhadra, representing that practice is not yet complete; even when there is Samantabhadra, there is no Mañjuśrī, clarifying that they have not seen the dharmakāya's fundamental wisdom; even when there are Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra, they do not question and answer each other, clarifying that principle and phenomena are not fully penetrated. Moreover, it is not stated that Mañjuśrī is in all places, or that Samantabhadra practices the multitude of practices in all places and within dust motes. Furthermore, the nirmāṇakāya Buddha himself serves as the host of the questions and answers, and there is only causal practice and fruit, awaiting the completion of three asaṃkhyeya kalpas; in order to guide those of small capacity, it is not taught that cause is immediately fruit, that principle and phenomena are perfectly interfused, that the initial mind of the ten abodes is itself the Buddha, that there is neither anterior nor posterior limit, that the dharmadhātu is instantaneously realized, and that the true and conventional are both real. Based on these differences, if one takes the teachings spoken by nirmāṇakāya Buddhas as examples, none are like this scripture. All other teachings are provisional establishments, guiding those various faculties so that all come to this ocean of the Avataṃsaka and enter the one real realm of Vairocana. Subduing through the emptiness contemplation of the three vehicles, manifest ignorance does not arise and is not accomplished, because fundamental wisdom is fully endowed with discriminating wisdom. They rejoice in being born in other lands and revile this Sahā world; even if there are those who remain, it is still called 'retaining delusions.' Furthermore, in this scripture, the youth Sudhana relies upon the ten abodes to universally practice through the five stages, because the active aspects of the Dharma gates are universally practiced to fullness; as the ten abodes internally possess the active gates of the ten grounds, this represents that the virtues and functions of this Dharma are complete, unlike the practices of other teachings. It is like the Himalayan Youth seeing one kalyāṇamitra and attaining one Dharma gate, and Sadāprarudita was also like this. In the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, it is briefly shown that the Dragon Maiden attains Buddhahood, yet still pointing to the south; this is not the mutual perfection of self and other of the dharmadhātu, so the hosts of the questions and answers remain distinct, and the teacher of the doctrine is just the nirmāṇakāya Buddha. Establishing transformation in an impure land to make it pure is not a true pure land; still moving the various humans and devas to place them in other lands, both sides remain uncompleted. If one were to speak of the distinctions between this scripture and other scriptures, the matters are vast and difficult to exhaust; to state it briefly, it is provisionally like this.