新華嚴經論 37.3

37.3

In the first section, which is properly entering the Dharma door of the current stage, from "At that time, Sudhana..." down to "I only know this method of blending incense," five gates are established within this passage, and the remaining stages below also follow this model. First, mindfully recollecting the kalyāṇamitra's teaching and contemplating advancement; second, journeying by degrees to the elder's dwelling; third, paying homage and bowing at his feet; fourth, properly stating what is sought; fifth, the elder speaking of his own practice and conferring it upon Sudhana. In explaining the meaning according to the text: from "At that time, the youth Sudhana..." downward, there are ten doors of great vows, which clarify the entry into dedication of merit, using vows to harmonize and blend all ultimate and conventional, defiled and pure, wisdom and compassion, in an unhindered gate. Journeying by degrees indicates advancement. Reaching the vast land means giving rise to wisdom by means of vows, initiating boundless practices to guide and receive sentient beings. This extends to how, within the dust-mote lands of the worlds of the ten directions, in every single dust-mote there are boundless Buddha Dharmas and bodily activities to guide and receive sentient beings; all the dust-motes of the realms of the ten directions are like this, multi-layered and boundless like Indra's net. Because vows and practices are vast, the land is named Vast. In the fourth gate, properly stating what is sought, the elder answers, "I skillfully distinguish and know all incenses," which has two meanings: first, truly knowing worldly incenses; second, using incense to symbolize the Dharma. Truly knowing incenses means what the sūtra states, namely the general essence of all incenses, with burnt, applied, and powdered incenses set out in detail. From the origins of the king of incenses downward, it follows the types of karmic generation. As for the incenses generated: below, there are five kinds of incense among humans, one kind among rākṣasas, and four kinds among devas, making ten kinds of incense in total; their functions are fully set forth in the sūtra itself. Using the above incenses to symbolize the incense of the ten dedications of merit clarifies that the nature of incense is unattached and can generate all goods and extinguish all evils. It clarifies that great vows are unattached and can initiate immeasurable roots of goodness, raising clouds of immeasurable great wisdom, raining down immeasurable rain of pure Dharma, practicing immeasurable conduct of great kindness and compassion, and transforming immeasurable sentient beings to cause them to eliminate suffering and generate the supreme resolve. If there are no great vows, the generation of the great bodhicitta is not accomplished; even if one cultivates liberation, all belongs to the two vehicles. Among humans there is an incense named Elephant Treasury; this incense is produced through the fighting of dragons. When a single pill of it is burned, it raises a great cloud of incense that covers the royal capital, and for seven days it rains down a fine rain of fragrance; if it touches a body, that body becomes golden in color. This symbolizes how, at the time of initial resolve in the stage of the ten abodes, using the fragrance of the seven limbs of awakening to raise the cloud of great vows, one broadly undertakes compassionate practices to universally cover all sentient beings, seeking all-knowledge. With the dragon of śamatha-vipaśyanā fighting against the afflictions of the twelve links of dependent origination, penetrating emptiness boundlessly, one generates the fire of wisdom and burns the incense of great wisdom, raising clouds of kindness and compassion and raining down the rain of pure Dharma; sentient beings who are touched by it attain right awakening at the very time of initial resolve. If it touches clothes, palaces, and multistoried pavilions, they also turn golden in color; this clarifies that by giving rise to the incense of the dedication of merit through great vows, all forbearance, kindness, compassion, and contemplative wisdom of the world are united in the dharmadhātu's sovereign, pure Dharma. If it is blown by the wind into the palaces, and sentient beings smell it, for seven days and seven nights they are freed from all sorrow and suffering, not startled, not frightened, not disordered, not angry, turning to one another with loving hearts and pure intentions; this clarifies that hearing it progressively, they all rejoice, giving rise to the gate of great vows and producing the intention of the seven limbs of awakening. "Having known this, I expound the Dharma for them" clarifies that if one wishes to encourage sentient beings to generate the supreme mind of awakening, one must first encourage them to make vast vows and dedication of merit, giving rise to a heart of firm and sincere commitment, first blossoming the flowers of the thirty-seven limbs of awakening practices; only then is one fit to speak to them of the truly ultimate Way. Encouraging cultivation like this, not one in ten thousand is lost. Mount Malaya is located in the realm of the country of Malakūṭa in South India; this country takes its name from this mountain. This mountain produces much white sandalwood; the sandalwood produced on this mountain is called ox-head. If one rubs it on one's body, even if one enters a pit of fire, the fire cannot burn one. This clarifies that in the abode of cultivating the ground, one gives rise to the power of great vows and the power of dedication of merit, taking the principle of the essencelessness of the dharmakāya of the uppermost ten good deeds to form the essence of the precepts, applying it to one's body; dedicating merit to enter the fire-pit of birth and death, the fire of greed, anger, and affection cannot burn or harm one. In the ocean there is an incense called Invincible; if it is smeared on drums, conches, and horns, when their sound sounds forth, all enemy armies naturally retreat and disperse. This clarifies that in the abode of practice, having perfected forbearance toward phenomena, one returns and enters the ocean of birth and death to teach and transform sentient beings. With a mind of forbearance, hearing the drum of all good and evil sounds, evil and heterodox enemies naturally retreat and disperse. Beside Lake Anavatapta there is an aloeswood incense called Lotus Treasury; a single pill of it is as large as a hemp seed. If it is burned, the fragrance of that single pill universally perfumes the realm of Jambudvīpa, and sentient beings who smell it are freed from all sins, their precepts pure. This clarifies that in the abode of noble birth, one penetrates the karma of the three realms without hindrance, constantly born into the house of the Buddha, stainless and pure. This is identical to the stage of the fourth ground where one transcends the karma of the three realms, and with the mind of one's original four universal vows, returns and enters the great lake of the four currents of birth and death to teach and transform all sentient beings drowning in birth and death, without any defilement; hence it is named Lotus Treasury. Expounding the fragrance of the subtle Dharma universally perfumes the ten directions; those who smell it have their sins eradicated and their precepts purified. On the Snowy Mountains there is an incense called Aruṇa, which is a red incense. It can be used to dye crimson; if sentient beings smell this incense, their minds are definitively freed from all defilements. This is the door of the dhyāna-pāramitā in the abode of endowed skillful means: by dedicating merit through great vows to birth and death, one causes all sentient beings to leave all defilements, practicing the dhyāna-pāramitā and attaining entry into the stainless samādhi. The Snowy Mountains symbolize that the essence of meditative concentration is intrinsically white, pure, and stainless. In the realm of rākṣasas there is an incense called Ocean Treasury, which is used only by wheel-turning kings; if a single pill is burned to perfume them, the king and his four armies all soar into the air. This clarifies and symbolizes that in the sixth abode of the upright mind, taking the wisdom of the three emptinesses, one enters the ocean of birth and death as a rākṣasa; taking the wheel-turning king of prajñā, one burns the wisdom Ocean Treasury incense, perfuming the king of the ocean of birth and death. The four kinds of māras all ascend into the emptiness of phenomena. From here downward, it generally symbolizes that the ten dedications of merit take the vows and practices of the ten abodes and ten practices, harmonizing birth and death with nirvāṇa, the two wisdoms of ultimate and conventional, and the two gates of compassion and wisdom, rendering them sovereign. The ten grounds cultivate according to this, accomplishing the principle of the unconditioned pratītyasamutpāda of the dharmadhātu's own nature; this is symbolized by burning incense, applying incense, and blending incense, so that learners may easily understand; all should follow this model to know it. If in the ten abodes, ten practices, and ten grounds there were not the power of the great wisdom of dedication of merit, one would only attain the path of the two vehicles, and there could be no becoming a Buddha. Therefore, cultivators must fully understand its meaning and clearly contemplate the six characteristics of the teaching's intention: general and particular, identical and different, integration and disintegration. From "I only know this method of blending incense," it clarifies the incense of sovereignty over the two truths of ultimate and conventional, wisdom and compassion, vows and practices, birth and death and nirvāṇa, and defilement and purity, and symbolizes this by the name Blue Lotus Flower. Below, praising virtue and advancing. The remaining meanings are clear in the text itself.