新華嚴經論 6

English (machine translation) 6

Language: English

That a bodhisattva of the first ground mostly becomes a king of a hundred illumination-entrances to the Dharma and transforms a hundred buddha worlds, and a bodhisattva of the second ground mostly becomes a king of a thousand illumination-entrances to the Dharma and transforms a thousand buddha worlds, is not like [the teachings of] the provisional teaching where there are truly delimited boundaries; rather, as with the previously discussed numerical methods, they mutually interpenetrate. It is also like a person who draws in space with a finger, creating hundreds of thousands of fine-dust counts, and then with a hand wipes them away until they are gone, yet in that space there is neither increase nor decrease. It is because of subjective ideation that one sees numerical increase or decrease in that empty space. This is also like that: all the increases and decreases in the Dharma-entrances of the grounds established for bodhisattvas are also like this. They are made for the sake of bringing sentient beings to completion, causing them to advance in cultivation; if all were uniformly equal, there would be no mind to advance. Ordinary persons have no mind to advance in cultivation; only when they generate the mind [to cultivate] and cultivate up to the point of non-cultivation do they first know that the myriad dharmas are without cultivation. But bodhisattvas of the ultimate teaching attain all upon attaining one, because in accord with the essence of the Dharma there is no before and after, just as the light and reflections in Indra's net interpenetrate and mutually enter one another, without earlier or later limits. It is also like hundreds of thousands of jewelled mirrors simultaneously facing a wondrous image: within each and every mirror the reflections enter one another, and their forms and images are uniformly equal. It is like the bodhisattvas in the stage of the buddha fruit: because they arise from the nature as the fundamental wisdom of the dharmakāya, and because they first realize this mind within the ten abodes. All their realms of Dharma-entrances completely rely upon the fundamental; because essence and function universally subsume [all] and completely interpenetrate, they return to being equal through the nature, being immediately equal. That there should still be any other unequal dharma is impossible. It is not like provisional learners whose emotional obstacles have not yet perished: from the ninth ground downward they have not yet seen the buddha nature, so the stages they establish all have fixed measures and can truly be attained, because not having seen the buddha nature, they possess the reflection of provisional suchness. Therefore the sūtra says: 'The distinctions among the ten grounds are like bird tracks in the sky.' The provisional establishment of increases and decreases in the Dharma-entrances of the stages is done to follow the sentiments of sentient beings. For one who embodies the Dao, the absolute and the conventional are immediately the absolute, because when one is absolute, all are absolute; there are no provisional dharmas at all. One must not form views of increase and decrease regarding this perfect teaching, assimilating it to gradual teachings. In this sūtra, all the oceans of assemblies of bodhisattvas, devas, dragons, various deities, and so forth are all assemblies of bodhisattvas in the ocean of the stage of the buddha fruit, not ordinary persons; for [the sūtra] wishes that those who enter become immediately identical to sages, making clear that the realm of Vairocana's embracing and transforming is as vast and pervasive as sentient beings. They are all assemblies of the stage of the buddha fruit, by virtue of the transformative protocol of host and companions. In this way, the assemblies of the stage of fruit-virtue congregate to establish the Dharma and reveal awakening to sentient beings. After establishing the Dharma, entering the 'Chapter on the Dharmadhātu', Mañjuśrī takes this Dharma-entrance of fruit-virtue out beyond the assembly in the Jeta Grove and travels eastward, wishing to benefit and gladden people in the city of Dhanyākara. On the road Śāriputra and six thousand monks generate the mind [for bodhi] and obtain ten ears and ten eyes. In the eastern assembly of the city of Dhanyākara, Sudhana universally seeks various spiritual friends, and in a single lifetime the fruit of buddhahood becomes roundly luminous. Five hundred upāsakas, five hundred upāsikās, five hundred boys, and five hundred girls are all like Sudhana; the text of the sūtra cannot describe them one by one in full detail, but all those in the same assembly are completely like this. If one lacks the causal conditions, one will not hear it at all, just as the arhats, monks, and others in the Jeta Grove, though in the same assembly, neither heard nor saw the Tathāgata preach this Avataṃsaka scripture. These five assemblies gathered together at the place of Mañjuśrī, heard this Dharma together, and were entirely of the class who realized it together. Therefore the sūtra says: 'This sūtra does not fall into the hands of other sentient beings.' As for those who can have deep faith, their state surpasses the class of provisional learners of the Three Vehicles, to say nothing of those who can realize it. Hence in the 'Chapter on the Leader of the Wise' this sūtra says: 'Among all classes of living beings in the world, / Few wish to seek the Śrāvaka Vehicle; / Those who seek the Pratyekabuddha [Vehicle] are fewer still; / Those who seek the Great Vehicle are extremely rare. / Seeking the Great Vehicle is still relatively easy; / To be able to have faith in this Dharma is exceedingly difficult.' Therefore one should know that in the sea-like assembly properly gathered, there were not yet any ordinary persons among humans; it was purely a gathering of bodhisattvas in the stage of the fruit of the buddhas to establish its doctrinal teaching. Mañjuśrī's transformation in the city of Dhanyākara first made clear the intention to use this doctrinal teaching to benefit and gladden sentient beings in Jambudvīpa. Sudhana and the other five assemblies collectively represent those who truly attain this Dharma; the remaining meanings are as explained above. The assemblies arriving in this way are purely arriving bodhisattvas of the stage of the fruit, making clear that fruit-virtues and functions are prepared for the superior capacity; there are no provisional-teaching bodhisattvas, Hīnayāna, humans, devas, or ordinary persons of cause and effect congregating in this assembly. Bodhisattvas of the provisional teaching up to the ninth ground do not participate in this assembly, to say nothing of ordinary persons. Why is this? Because they practice the six pāramitās. Even if there are those who practice the ten pāramitās, because they accomplish the fruit-virtue of the Dao through three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, this is not like this teaching, where one time is immediately all times, beyond what can be grasped by conceptual sentiment. In leaving the assembly in the Jeta Grove and Mañjuśrī travelling east, that the six thousand monks generated the mind on the road makes clear that it is allowed that śrāvakas also have the highest capacity, capable of entering this Supreme Vehicle. Moreover, those six thousand monks were all newly ordained under Śāriputra, had not yet rejoiced in the lesser fruit, and because of the sharpness of their capacity were only then able to generate the mind to reach this stream of stages. For those who have already ascended to the lesser fruit, sudden turning is difficult to achieve. As for Śāriputra, he is an echo-śrāvaka, not a real śrāvaka. That is to say, he had already ascended to the stage of buddhahood and entered the stream to receive ordinary persons. On account of this meaning, the arriving assemblies in this sūtra are not the same as those in the provisional teachings. Even if there are places where a transformed buddha gathers purely bodhisattvas without a lesser assembly, they are also not the same as this teaching. Why is this? Because some teachings state that if one accomplishes buddhahood directly from the cause, one does not traverse the five stages; or their marks of practice, essence, and function of the five stages are different, as has already been stated previously. By following these analogies, none are the same. Since the Dharma is not the same, the assemblies are also completely distinct. Furthermore, the arriving assemblies in this sūtra possess ten kinds of shared Dharmas, unlike the arriving assemblies in other sūtras: first, identity of physical body; second, identity of the fundamental wisdom of the dharmakāya; third, identity of compassionate wisdom; fourth, identity of the spoken wheel of Dharma; fifth, identity of place of origin; sixth, identity of the established principles; seventh, identity with the Buddha's cause and effect; eighth, identity in the master-disciple service of the Buddha; ninth, identity in the perfection of the saṃbhogakāya and lands; tenth, identity in harbouring doubts and obtaining benefit.

6.3

First, 'identity of physical body': as the various bodhisattvas in the five stages each come from the ten directions, from each direction the arriving assembly consists of bodhisattvas numerous as the fine dust particles of ten buddha-lands; all have golden bodies and blue-black eyes and hair. The physical bodies of bodhisattvas of the respective stages are mutually alike, and the assemblies of devas and the eight classes of beings are mutually alike within their respective categories, making clear that because the Dharma attained is identical, their retributions are also identical. As in the first assembly, there are fifty-five categories; although they distinctively clarify that practice-entrances and conversions are diverse, yet their marks of practice, bodily forms, and Dharma-entrances across the fifty-five categories mutually interpenetrate: one practice constitutes many practices, many practices constitute one practice; one body constitutes many bodies, many bodies constitute one body, because they are alike. The ten locations and ten assemblies, earlier and later, are similarly so by analogy.

6.4

Second, 'identity of the fundamental wisdom of the dharmakāya': the oceans of assemblies throughout the ten locations and ten assemblies all share the Tathāgata's dharmatā-kāya and fundamental wisdom. Even if newly learning ordinary persons were to enter the assembly, upon seeing and hearing the Buddha Dharma they would realize and enter in a single kṣaṇa, all being equal to the fundamental wisdom of the Tathāgata's dharmatā-kāya; thus none who enter the assembly and see and hear the Dharma fail to be identical with the Buddha's body and wisdom. When the five hundred arhats were physically present within the assembly, they neither saw nor heard, neither knew nor perceived this great assembly or the Dharma-entrances spoken. This is unlike the bodhisattvas of the provisional teachings, those of the Two Vehicles, humans, devas, and the eight classes, who meet the Buddha in the same assembly yet whose hearing of the Dharma and gaining of benefit are entirely disparate.

6.5

Third, 'identity of compassionate wisdom': the fundamental wisdom and discriminating wisdom of the dharmakāya, and compassion, are identical in essence; understanding and practice unite, because Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and the buddha fruit are from beginning to end a single Dharma. As with the Three Jewels in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra: the Buddha is the Buddha Jewel, Mañjuśrī is the Dharma Jewel, and Samantabhadra is the Saṅgha Jewel; this is the ancient standard Dharma of the buddhas of past and present. If united, then all are identical, because it is fundamentally so, not produced and not subject to formation and destruction.

6.6

Fourth, 'identity of the spoken wheel of Dharma': as in the sūtra where the bodhisattvas of the five stages each come from the ten directions, from each direction bodhisattvas numerous as the fine dust particles of ten buddha-lands come to this assembly; throughout the worlds of the ten directions it is entirely like this, gathering like clouds at the same time. With different mouths but the same voice, the sea-like assemblies of the ten directions simultaneously speak verses, all with identical phrasing and sentences, their names exactly matching without any distinction whatsoever. Because their wisdom is identical and their Dharma practice is identical, the Dharma-entrances spoken throughout the worlds of the ten directions are uniformly identical. It is not like the assemblies of other sūtras, where understanding and practice are differentiated, and sometimes attained and sometimes not attained.

6.7

Fifth, 'identity of place of origin': because those who come to the assembly among these bodhisattvas of the five stages arrive from all places in the ten directions. Furthermore, throughout the worlds and fine dust particles of the ten directions, each and every bodhisattva dwells together; because they abide in the essence of the dharmadhātu, subjective thoughts of self and other, this and that, far and near are completely exhausted, so they never depart from a single dust particle, nor is there fundamentally any entering. It is not like the provisional teachings where, three asaṃkhyeya kalpas not yet fulfilled and various views not yet extinguished, having arrived here they each return to their own lands. Nor do they discuss how the realm of a single dust particle is the complete dharmadhātu. Thus their supernatural transformations are all limited, and all say that supernatural power is not the fundamental Dharma.

6.8

Sixth, 'identity of the established principles': because the practice-entrances of the bodhisattvas of the ten faiths, ten abodes, five stages, and six stages are identically established throughout the worlds of the ten directions; because the buddhas of past and present in the worlds of the ten directions share this Dharma; they suddenly reveal cause and effect within a single kṣaṇa. That Dharma has no coming, and no before or after. It is not like the provisional teaching where the cause precedes and the fruit succeeds, where one first begins to see the nature only when the stages of the ten grounds are completed, and bodhisattvas before the grounds are ordinary persons. Even if someone before the grounds becomes a buddha, it is attributed to the power of their vows and not to the fundamental Dharma. Or it is attributed to a bodhisattva above the grounds leading ordinary persons to arouse superior practices, not discussing that the fundamental Dharma is fundamentally the Buddha. The principle established in this Avataṃsaka Sūtra directly discusses the entrance of the Buddha's own vehicle of fundamental wisdom, without discussing the opening of the Three Vehicle entrances or the establishing of many kalpas in the provisional teachings. It directly clarifies that sentient beings fundamentally have no creator in their own essence, and that their nature is fundamentally the true Buddha-wisdom of the dharmadhātu, taking this as that which is ridden.

6.9

Seventh, 'identity with the Buddha's cause and effect': since Mañjuśrī's body of wisdom of the dharmakāya, the fruit-virtues of the buddhas, and Samantabhadra's practice-entrances are fundamentally a single Dharma. Because all these sea-like assemblies are identical with it, at the very moment of initial aspiration one immediately achieves correct awakening. For those who attain this Dharma within a single kṣaṇa, it is not permitted that it be attained at any other time outside that kṣaṇa, for that would not be the fundamental Dharma. If someone, within the Buddha Dharma, perceives the Buddha achieving the Dao and generates views based on the extension or contraction of kalpa-measures and locations, their faith is not yet established, not to mention cultivating the Dao or seeing the Dao. Therefore, cultivators of the Dao must not be deluded by following such sentiments, falsely claiming to cultivate the Dao while revolving in birth and death without cessation. This is conceptual calculation, not the Buddha Dharma. Therefore, the arriving assemblies of this sūtra are all equal to the Dharma of the stage of the buddha fruit, and in turn accomplish the Dharma of the stage of the buddha fruit. If anyone sees, hears, awakens, and enters, they are all identical to the stage of the buddha fruit, because they rely on the fundamental Dharma of wisdom.

6.10

Eighth, 'identity in the master-disciple service of the Buddha': just as the reflections in Indra's net mutually interpenetrate, for the bodhisattvas in the ocean of the dharmadhātu of these ten assemblies, throughout all buddha-places in the dharmadhātu there are their bodies serving the buddhas; while perfecting the gate of reverence between master and disciple they can be identical with the buddha fruit, so that the reverence between master and disciple is not lost. It is not like the provisional teachings, where there are self and other buddhas, and where one comes from that buddha's place and returns to one's own land. It is not like this teaching, where without moving from the original place and without exercising supernatural powers, but by relying on the fundamental Dharma, they constantly and pervasively fill [all places] to attend upon and serve the buddhas, able to unite identity and difference.

6.11

Ninth, 'identity in the perfection of the saṃbhogakāya and lands': because faith and cultivation are aroused based on the ultimate Dharma. Since the Dharma is constant and pervasive, the body is also pervasive; relying on the Dharma, wisdom, and practice, body and land are both complete. This is because when one is complete, all are fulfilled; because unconditioned wisdom is ultimately without measures of large or small; because they rely on the fundamental dharmakāya and wisdom-body; and because primary and circumstantial retributions are also equal.

6.12

Tenth, their sameness in harbouring doubts and obtaining benefits: just as in the first assembly, the fifty-five multitudes doubted at the same time and in their minds concurrently made requests, and the Tathāgata emitted light to reveal the fruit-virtues, so that they obtained benefits at the same time, each of the multitudes obtaining one dharma, and each person obtaining the dharmas of all persons; so too is it for all nine assemblies below. The ten kinds of shared dharmas of the assemblies described above bear no resemblance at all to the other teachings. This fundamental wisdom and fundamental dharma, this ancient Buddha's fundamental dharma of fundamental time and fundamental place, the ocean of the original multitudes of the practice-gates of the six stages, fills space and the finest dust motes, gathering simultaneously in layer upon layer like this. The ocean of the great assemblies in this sūtra, from beginning to end, entirely manifests and symbolizes the gates of the Buddha's cause and effect of the five stages and six stages upon which the Tathāgata travels; not a single person attains the fruits of the three vehicles. All of them, through the initial mind of the ten abodes of this dharma, have essence and function equal to the Buddha; relying on the ocean of fundamental wisdom, neither increasing nor decreasing in the nature of the dharma-essence, they spontaneously benefit living beings. The characteristics of the practices of the incoming multitudes across the ten places and ten assemblies will be distinguished and appraised as the text is explained.

6.13

Eighth, explaining the distinction between principle and phenomena in the dharma-gates dispensed: In the provisional teachings of the nirmāṇa-buddhas, it is said that sentient beings have Buddha-nature while insentient things have no Buddha-nature, and that all grasses and trees cannot achieve the Way, turn the wheel of the Dharma, and so forth. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra, by contrast, is the ultimate teaching that transcends sentiment, unlike the provisional lineages of those nirmāṇa-buddhas which teach by adapting to ordinary beings. For example, regarding the lands from which the ten Forest Bodhisattvas such as Guṇavyūha Bodhisattva came, those lands are also named 'Wisdom', and all realms are collectively called the essence of wisdom. Why is this so? Because there are neither sentient beings nor insentient things. Why is that? Because there are no dualistic views. Since it is the realm of the one true wisdom, there is no one who achieves Buddhahood and no one who fails to achieve it. Sentient beings and insentient things are spoken of based on karma. When speaking of achieving Buddhahood, it does not pertain to karma. If it does not pertain to karma, it is neither sentient nor insentient. How could one grasp at the dharma that transcends sentiment and assert that there is achieving Buddhahood or not achieving Buddhahood? Being sentient there or insentient here belongs to karma, not to the Buddha's liberation. How could one use the fetters of one's own sentimental karma to conjecture in this way about sentient and non-sentient, achieving and not achieving? As the sūtras say: 'These dharmas are characterized by emptiness: neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure'; 'These dharmas abide in their dharma-positions; the marks of the world are permanently abiding.' Is a Way such as this sentient or non-sentient? In the great meaning within this Avataṃsaka Sūtra, originally there are neither ordinary beings nor sages, neither sentient nor non-sentient; the entirely true dharma-essence is the single realm of the Buddha's wisdom, and there is nothing else besides. Do not use the sentimental calculations of ordinary beings to make false conjectures. If one retains sentimental fetters, seeing sentient beings achieve Buddhahood and seeing insentient things not achieve Buddhahood, this is the karmic grasping of one's own body. One who understands in this way will never achieve Buddhahood. To say that the nature of principle pervades insentient things yet, unlike sentient beings, they do not achieve Buddhahood—this is because one has not yet seen the emptiness of dharmas, does not rely on ultimate wisdom, and has not realized that the various marks of the world are fundamentally and permanently abiding; seeing only the marks of arising and ceasing transformed in accordance with sentimental consciousness, one makes false conjectures, saying that insentient things merely have that principle pervading them. In achieving Buddhahood, could there be another Buddha outside of principle? If principle is itself the Buddha, within this principle sentient and insentient originally have no distinct marks; how could one establish sentient and non-sentient based on false views? If the Buddha were insentient, he should be unable to achieve Buddhahood. If one achieves great bodhi, one does not rely on these two views; therefore, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra reconciles the provisional to return to the ultimate. The sūtra says: 'The meanings of the various natures and marks—only I and the Buddhas of the ten directions can know these matters. Śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and non-retrogressing bodhisattvas—all such provisional students of the three vehicles cannot understand them.' It is extensively explained as in that sūtra. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, there are no sentient beings and insentient things, but only the realm of wisdom; all mountains, rivers, and trees can manifest the bodies of Buddhas and bodhisattvas and expound the Dharma, being able to be identical with and distinct from the Buddha's essence, sovereign and unobstructed. The Buddha's dwelling, establishing, and sovereign adornment within the worlds has various realms and distinct adornments. In the wondrous kṣetras and adornments of the lands, within each realm and inside each minute mote of dust, the Buddha's body appears; the oceans of kṣetras are manifold and the Buddha's bodies are inexhaustible, and the pores of the Buddha's body are likewise. Realms are layer upon layer; the Buddha's bodies are inexhaustible and mutually penetrate, being able to be identical and distinct, completely identical and completely different; pure and defiled lands are unhindered and unobstructed, with no discussion of such things as sentient and non-sentient. Therefore, it is now said that the gates of teaching dispensed are distinct. Furthermore, in the provisional teachings, the various practices come first, and the Buddha-fruit follows after the ten grounds. In this teaching, the fundamental wisdom of the Buddha-fruit is realized first, and discriminating wisdom mutually supports it; the characteristics of cause and effect are penetrated simultaneously at once; across the initial, intermediate, and final stages, when one is accomplished all are accomplished, and when one is destroyed all are destroyed. Unlike other teachings where one cultivates ground by ground among all grounds, here nature is simultaneous, time is simultaneous, practice is simultaneous, and wisdom is simultaneous. Contemplate this using wisdom by cultivating concentration and wisdom; do not understand it through sentiment.

6.14

Ninth, to explain the differences in attaining fruition with the various three vehicles: As the sūtras explain, for śrāvakas he expounded the Dharma of the four truths to turn away birth, old age, sickness, and death; for pratyekabuddhas he expounded the practice of the twelve links of dependent origination; and for bodhisattvas he expounded the six pāramitās. Now, this Avataṃsaka Sūtra also expounds the Dharma of the four truths, but it is not the same as the four truths for śrāvakas. As extensively clarified in the "Chapter on the Four Truths," all these four truths clarify that suffering and accumulation are fundamentally real and are originally the fundamental wisdom, unlike the three vehicles, which have longing and aversion. Furthermore, bodhisattvas of the fifth ground practice the contemplation of the ten truths; all the buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions turn the wheel of the Dharma of the four truths, differing only in accordance with the sounds appropriate to the various categories [of beings], just as in the worldly realm all the methods of Confucius and Laozi for governing sentient beings are entirely the Dharma of the four truths, differing only in depth according to what the capacity [of the vessel] can receive; whether expounding the twelve divisions of teachings or delivering spells, all are subsumed under the wheel of the Dharma of the four truths. Śrāvakas merely receive one portion of the teaching for severing suffering according to their faculties. As for the Hīnayāna method of severing suffering, it is extensively explained in the Hīnayāna treatises and sections. Speaking provisionally in terms of the destinations of fruition attained by the general characteristics of the four vehicles: Śrāvakas contemplate the two truths of suffering and accumulation, give rise to deep disgust and detachment, practice contemplations on impermanence, impurity, white bones, fine dust, and the like, and understand that the body is empty and quiescent. Accompanying this empty and quiescent state, their wisdom is extinguished and their body perishes, without generating compassion or wisdom; this is called cessation. Taking this place of cessation, they call it nirvāṇa. Even if they subsequently emerge from absorption, they are free from the worldly faults of the three poisons and the like, because prior to the path they cultivated these various contemplations to subdue them through meditation, just like charming a poisonous snake. Furthermore, they cultivate the emptiness of persons, knowing that the cessation of mental nature is originally without a self. By means of this Dharma of personal selflessness, they empty the karma of the three poisons and do not give rise to compassion or wisdom, never departing from this cultivation whether entering or emerging from absorption. Not departing from this, they are ultimately unified with emptiness; their compassionate mind abruptly subsides, and this is called the truth of cessation. Quelling and subduing all sufferings is called the truth of cessation. Taking this truth of cessation, it is called the truth of the path. As the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra states: "Just as an intoxicated person awakes only after the wine has worn off, so too is the awakening of these beings: they attain the supreme body of a Buddha." Such beings as these do not rely on the Buddha's wisdom and cultivate exclusively empty absorption. Learning of their error from this, when they turn their minds to follow the correct path, they are able to achieve the Buddha body. As the sūtra says: "Those who have entered eternal cessation are rebuked for clinging to quiescence and instructed to practice early, for they should not undergo eternal cessation. In order to cultivate birth, nirvāṇa is not eternal cessation." These are reconciliations found within the Mahāyāna sūtras themselves. In the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, there is no such text at all. As for the class of pratyekabuddhas, they know that the phenomena of the twelve links of dependent arising are originally unreal and in their own nature completely empty; they know that their own bodies and minds are inherently without a master; with body and mind having no master, their nature is constantly devoid of self; and because there is no self, ignorance is thereupon extinguished. Because ignorance is extinguished, the twelve links are extinguished, and roaming freely according to their inclinations, they abide alone as solitary realizers. Being different from śrāvakas, they do not tend toward quiescence; being different from bodhisattvas, they lack compassion and wisdom. Solely because they do not tend toward quiescence, they are superior to śrāvakas; solely because they can [only] preserve the Dharma [for themselves], they are inferior to śrāvakas. For śrāvakas, upon hearing the Mahāyāna scriptures spoken by the Buddha, can also propagate them, though they have not personally realized them, as Vimalakīrti admonished: "Do not use a mind of arising and ceasing to expound the Dharma of the true mark." Provisional teaching bodhisattvas who have just turned away from the two vehicles, as well as minor bodhisattvas who are not yet fully endowed with great compassion and wisdom, are like those in the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra and the like. For them, only the six pāramitās are spoken, to guide those of lesser faculties and bring them to mature in wisdom. Because they exclusively cultivate karmic absorption and stagnate in unknowing, only the six pāramitās are spoken. Because their faculties are inferior, they still fear birth and death; the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth pāramitās have not yet been taught to them, for the expedient pāramitās fulfill their great compassion so that they can remain in birth and death and ferry others across. As in the Benevolent Kings Sūtra, outer and inner ordinary beings cultivate the six pāramitās to become six kinds of human kings; from forbearance upwards, the four pāramitās all make four kinds of wheel-turning kings; and the ten sages of the ten grounds cultivate the ten pāramitās to become ten kinds of heavenly kings. Furthermore, other sūtras gradually turn the faculties of those two vehicles' partial learners and sudden learners to accomplish their compassion and wisdom; although they cultivate the ten pāramitās, they still cultivate the provisional contemplation of tathatā, contemplating all phenomena as originally serene, unchanging, and unaltering in their own nature, smashing the dual clinging to emptiness and existence to accomplish the Dharma gate of non-arising and non-ceasing, yet still contemplating in an intentional manner. Up through the ninth ground they have not yet clarified the Buddha-nature, because cultivating that provisional wisdom actually constitutes an obstacle, as explained previously. For those of superior faculties, this sūtra suddenly reveals the fundamental wisdom: at the very beginning of giving rise to the mind on the stage of the ten abodes, one's wisdom is already identical to that of a Buddha. Such is the meaning of Sudhana's attaining the radiant wisdom that recollects all buddhas atop Mount Sugopita. Because one relies on the Dharma of fundamental wisdom, there is nothing to cultivate; because there are originally no obstacles, compassion and wisdom operate effortlessly, accomplished without fabrication; following conditions throughout the six destinies, there is nothing that is not the dharmadhātu. One comprehends that dependently arisen phenomena are in their own nature constantly real and require no further cultivation or action; all thoughts and deliberations arise from wisdom. One only knows to manifest form bodies effortlessly in response to others, preaching the Dharma in accordance with capacities like an echo answering a sound; constantly dwelling in the stream of birth and death, the dharmakāya is eternally quiescent; though passing through many kalpas, its essence does not shift in time. Entering death and emerging into birth is not a matter of vanishing and being born, for it follows conditions in accord with the Dharma of great compassion and wisdom. The Dharma is naturally like this; its nature is devoid of affliction, not abiding in realization or cultivation. Because the Dharma is like this, both the dragon girl and Sudhana fully manifested this. This Dharma is difficult to believe; those of the three vehicles fold their hands, defer from afar, and claim this is a magical transformation, not something a person can cultivate; they only speak of asaṃkhyeya kalpas and establish kalpas according to sentiment—how could they believe this timeless gate of wisdom? Therefore the sūtra says: "To be able to believe in this Dharma is extremely difficult," which refers to precisely this. Even if one exerts painful effort in cultivation through many kalpas, having attainments and seeking, creating long or short, creating right or wrong, creating success or failure, renouncing the body and destroying life, how could there ever be a time of becoming a Buddha? How could that compare to entering the realm of the Buddha's wisdom to cultivate and learn right from the initial mind? Would that not save effort and avoid wasting labor? For this reason, the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and provisional teaching bodhisattvas do not truly understand the four truths, the twelve links, and the realm of the real wisdom of the tathatā-dharmakāya; all these are Vairocana's expedient means to guide their practice toward this true ocean of the Avataṃsaka, causing them to return to the fundamental Dharma and act according to wisdom. The grounds cultivated by them are all carried out in accordance with wisdom without generating a subject mind, thereby accomplishing all-knowledge, unlike the other teachings where antidotes are separately applied on each ground. Merely at the concluding mind of the ten faiths and the initial stage of the ten abodes, one spontaneously understands the broad and level dharmadhātu, the realm of fundamental wisdom, where ordinary and noble are not different, and reality is completely disclosed in its entirety; one sees neither sentient nor insentient, neither possessing nature nor lacking nature—such bonds and obstacles naturally do not arise in accordance with the Dharma. As the sūtra says: "The Tathāgata, having attained complete enlightenment, appears in the world; by means of his own wisdom, he universally sees sentient beings attain complete enlightenment, with sentiments of good and evil severed, nature and characteristics without difference. Although he liberates sentient beings, there is no one liberated; this is called planting all roots of goodness in the likeness of the Tathāgata." When this Dharma is entrusted and circulated, its depth and subtlety are entirely distinct from the three vehicles. Provisional learners of the Mahāyāna, the two vehicles, and humans and devas do not hear such Avataṃsaka scriptures. Only those of the very highest faculties, bodhisattvas and the like who aspire to the stages of the Buddha's cause and fruition, can hear it; clear evidence of this exists within the four vehicles mentioned above. In this way, since the vehicles mounted are different, their vision of the truths is entirely distinct; around a single term, their depth and shallowness are completely separated. Furthermore, as expounded in the "Chapter on the Ten Grounds" of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, a bodhisattva of the fifth ground cultivates ten kinds of contemplation of the four truths, and a bodhisattva of the sixth ground cultivates ten kinds of contemplation of the twelve links. Because of this, it is not the same as the four truths and twelve links of the three vehicles.

6.15

Tenth, explaining the difference in the transmission and propagation of the Dharma repository: As stated in this 'Chapter on the Manifestation of the Tathāgata': 'Sons of the Buddha! This Dharma gate is not spoken by the Tathāgata for other sentient beings; it is spoken solely for bodhisattvas who are advancing toward the Great Vehicle, solely for bodhisattvas who ride the inconceivable vehicle. This sūtra's Dharma gate does not enter the hands of any other sentient beings, except for bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. Sons of the Buddha! Just as, for example, the seven treasures of a wheel-turning sage king display the wheel-turning king by virtue of these treasures, and these treasures do not enter the hands of other sentient beings, except for the eldest son born of the primary consort who is fully endowed with the marks of a sage king; if the wheel-turning king lacks such an eldest son endowed with the multitude of virtues, then after the king's life ends, these treasures will all scatter and disappear within seven days. Sons of the Buddha! The rare treasure of this sūtra is also like this: it does not enter the hands of any other sentient beings, except for the true sons of the Tathāgata, the Dharma King, who are born into the Tathāgata's household and have planted the various good roots of the Tathāgata's marks. Sons of the Buddha! If there are no such true sons of the Buddha, this Dharma gate will scatter and perish before long. Why is this? All those of the two vehicles do not hear this sūtra, let alone uphold, read, recite, copy, distinguish, and explain it; only bodhisattvas can do so. Therefore, bodhisattvas, upon hearing this Dharma gate, should give rise to great joy, and with a reverent mind respectfully receive it upon the crowns of their heads. Why is this? Because bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who faithfully delight in this sūtra will swiftly attain anuttarā samyaksambodhi.'

To explain: 'Born into the Tathāgata's household' means that one self-awakens to one's own body's fundamental wisdom of the dharmakāya, which is equal in nature and characteristic with the Buddha's true nature, sharing the identical flavor of non-nature. Blended into the dharmadhātu, emotions of self and other are exhausted; solely the Buddha's wisdom brightly illuminates the ten directions. Being without nature, without dependence, and without the nature of saṃsāra—this is called being born into the Buddha's household. By the power of the unconditioned, equal compassion and wisdom of one's own essence, one carries on and glorifies the true Dharma and governs sentient beings, subduing them with the Dharma in accordance with what should be done, causing sentient beings to cure their karma of saṃsāra, making them delight in all peaceful and joyful dharmas—this is called upholding the laws of the Buddha's household. Furthermore, it says: 'have planted the various good roots of the Tathāgata's marks.' To explain: One realizes the Buddha's dharmakāya, whose nature is identical with the dharmadhātu and identical with the Buddha's compassion and wisdom; having faith and practicing like this, principle and phenomena are not distinct, nature and characteristics are equal. Students such as this plant the marks of the Tathāgata and share the Buddha's good roots; it is not like the provisional teachings that are entrusted to the three vehicles to be propagated in common by śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. Furthermore, whereas the teachings of the three vehicles are mostly entrusted to the various āryas and to ordinary people who have not yet been born into the Buddha's household, this sūtra is entrusted to ordinary people of supreme, great aspiration who solely seek the Tathāgata's inconceivable vehicle and birth into the Buddha's household. If there are no ordinary people of great aspiration seeking this Dharma gate to be born into the Tathāgata's household, this sūtra will perish. Why? Because this sūtra is difficult to believe. Even if there are āryas, if ordinary people neither believe nor realize it when it is preached, this sūtra will perish. If it were not entrusted in this way to ordinary people born into the Buddha's household, then since bodhisattvas of the ārya stages are as numerous as the dust motes in all Buddha worlds, why would the Tathāgata worry about this sūtra scattering and perishing? One should understand it thus. The Tathāgata's intention is to cause ordinary people who will be born into the Buddha's household to arouse faith and practice; he does not mind the multitude of bodhisattvas who already equal the Buddha's stage. All practitioners should know this. Why are the teachings of the three vehicles mostly entrusted to the various āryas to bring about their propagation, as well as to ordinary people who have not yet been born into the Buddha's household? Because the dharmas of the three vehicles have not yet transcended emotional dust, their explanation of the Dharma is not yet ultimate, and they are easy to believe and understand; thus he lets ordinary people and āryas praise them together so that the teachings circulate and good roots are not severed. They do not transcend the scope of emotion, unlike the culmination of these ten faiths where an instant (kṣaṇa) is itself buddhahood. For this reason, the teachings of the three vehicles merely guide gradually those who have not yet transcended emotional dust, taking three asaṃkhyeya kalpas before they can become buddhas; since teachings that accord with emotion are easily believed by such capacities, when ordinary people and āryas praise them together, they can all circulate. This is unlike the Avataṃsaka, where the fundamental wisdom of the buddhas of the ten directions and the discriminating wisdom of great kindness and great compassion transcend emotional dust, and the teaching is so profound that it is difficult to believe; hence, it must wait for someone to enter and realize the stage of the ten abodes, being born into the Buddha's household as a true son of the Buddha, before it is truly propagated. If there is merely an ārya who preaches it but no one realizes it, this is not called propagation. If there is merely an ordinary person who expounds the teaching without realization, this also is not called propagation. This is because their own understanding of the Dharma is not clear, doubts and sentiments still remain, and they cannot shatter the darkness of others; they have not yet definitively known the Buddha's intent. For this reason, one must wait for someone to enter and realize it, sharing the wisdom-mind of the buddhas, before one can definitively know the Buddha's teaching gate. For this reason, it is entrusted to ordinary people of great aspiration who enter into realization; only then is it called propagation. Merely hearing it without tallying with it is not called propagation.

6.16

Fourth, explaining the similarities and differences in attaining buddhahood: The wisdom body is vast and boundless, encompassing the ten thousand phenomena to form its body; the ten thousand phenomena are formless, of identical essence with the wisdom body. Straying from the real, they are mutually separated; attaining the origin, their forms are identical. Merely because turning away from the origin causes characteristics to differ, the forms of transformation are each distinct: one may see a frail form beneath the tree of awakening, a diminutive body resting upon a grass mat; or one may see the wondrous mark of dwelling on a lotus in Akaniṣṭha Heaven; or one may see the jewel bodhi tree residing in a pure land to realize reality; or one may see cultivation through distant kalpas; or one may see realization in a single instant (kṣaṇa); or one may see the saṃbhogakāya perfected with a boundless ocean of marks; or one may see the nirmāṇakāya dividing its body, endowed with the thirty-two marks. Such distinct forms and extraordinary appearances pervade sentient beings; since the emotional faculties have ten thousand distinctions and a thousand differences, how could words fully describe them? Now, briefly addressing the stream of provisional and ultimate [teachings] of the four vehicles as commonly experienced by humans and devas, I will briefly formulate ten gates on the differences in attaining the path, so as to enable beginners to arouse faith and develop understanding, eliminate doubt and recognize the origin, depart from provisional sentiments, and aspire to superior virtue. The ten gates are: first, the difference in the body that attains buddhahood; second, the difference in the time of attaining buddhahood; third, the difference in the bodhi tree; fourth, the difference in the seat sat upon; fifth, the difference in the great assembly; sixth, the difference in manifesting marks; seventh, the difference in turning the wheel of Dharma; eighth, the difference in the place of turning the wheel of Dharma; ninth, the difference in the adornment of the great congregation; and tenth, the difference in the Dharma gates received.

6.17

First, regarding the difference in the body that attains buddhahood: This body of Vairocana Buddha, as the sūtra explains, has ninety-seven kinds of marks and is an endless-mark body, not a body of thirty-two marks and eighty minor signs.

6.18

Second, regarding the difference in the time of attaining buddhahood: In the provisional teachings, after the Buddha was born, the time when he leapt over the city walls to go forth from the household life and attained equal, correct awakening beneath the bodhi tree is taken as the time. In the case of Vairocana Buddha, the reality is not like this. The Tathāgata established transformed marks so that, in order to cross over sentient beings of the three vehicles, they should see such going forth and attaining buddhahood. In the real dharmadhātu ocean of the Avataṃsaka, it is not like this. As the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra says: 'Since I attained buddhahood, immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas have passed.' This is turning those people of the three vehicles toward the ultimate to speak of it. This Vairocana Buddha, relying on the original dharmadhātu, attains great bodhi and remains reliant on the original dharmadhātu: without beginning and without end, neither emerging nor submerging, neither formed nor destroyed, without temporal distinctions. This sūtra says: 'The Tathāgata does not appear in the world, nor does he enter nirvāṇa.' This is the ultimate explanation. Furthermore, wearing a flower crown upon his head, fundamentally he did not go forth from the household life, and there are entirely no matters of the eight marks. If one can know that the Tathāgata neither emerges nor submerges, is neither formed nor destroyed, then one knows that the Tathāgata constantly abides in the world and constantly turns the wheel of the Dharma; this is Vairocana's appearance in the world. Furthermore, descending from Tuṣita Heaven, sending down his spirit into his mother's womb, turning the wheel of the Dharma, and entering nirvāṇa do not exceed the boundary of a single instant (kṣaṇa). Before he has even descended from that heaven, before he has even emerged from the mother's womb, here he has already entered nirvāṇa, and all matters are entirely completed.

6.19

Third, regarding the difference in the bodhi tree: Among the three vehicles, the tree of the path seen by the Buddha is wood, its height matching the human world. In the One Vehicle, the tree where the Tathāgata dwells when attaining the path is a jewel tree, rising above the six [desire] heavens. Like the tree manifested within the body of Vajragarbha, its height is one million three-thousand-great-thousand worlds, and its girth is one hundred thousand three-thousand-great-thousand worlds, because its great principle pervades all places collectively.

6.20

Fourth, regarding the difference in the seat sat upon: In the three vehicles, the nirmāṇakāya attains the path having abandoned glory and resting upon a grass mat. In this One Vehicle, the fundamental body attains the path sitting upon a lion throne of precious lotus flowers, adorned with wondrous gems and fully equipped with all embellishments.

6.21

Fifth, regarding the difference in the great assembly: The entire great assembly surrounding Vairocana consists of the retinues of Samantabhadra, Mañjuśrī, and the like. Even those who have newly generated the resolve are all members of an assembly who seek the dharmadhātu of the Buddha-fruit in their minds. They are not those of the provisional study of the three vehicles, who seek the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha paths to weary of suffering, or seek the bodhisattva path to delight in being born in a pure land. Even if members of the śrāvaka assembly were present, if they have not turned their minds, they are like the deaf and do not hear, neither knowing nor seeing the preaching of this extremely profound Avataṃsaka classic. Nor are they an assembly that attains the fruit as a result of having previously passed through three asaṃkhyeya kalpas; they are all an assembly whose wisdom is perfected across multiple kalpas in a single boundary, without earlier or later times.

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新華嚴經論 — Classical Chinese