新華嚴經論 7.19

7.19

Those expounded above are all what the sacred teachings of the three vehicles and the One Vehicle expound distinctively according to faculties and capacities; according to the sacred teachings, they naturally harmonize. If one wished now to cite various meanings extensively, the text would become overly cumbersome. Faculties have myriad variations, and teachings differ according to faculties. Now, by briefly dividing into ten general points concerning the differences in length and brevity of attaining the fruit, the intention is to lead one to know the provisional and turn toward the ultimate, not lingering in vain vehicles, and to enter the gate of reality to swiftly accomplish the Buddha Way. Like the dragon girl, who shattered the fixed kalpas of the three vehicles and accomplished the real gate of a kṣaṇa. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra's bestowing the prophecy of attaining Buddhahood within the Bhadrakalpa upon the butcher Guāṅ'é refutes the teaching that icchantikas lack the [Buddha-]nature, surpassing the labor of three asaṃkhyeya kalpas. The son of heaven in Tuṣita illustrates the supreme power of the teaching of the One Vehicle: hearing it, he produced faith; because he did not cultivate, even though he fell into hell, it could still form a seed; touched by the radiance on his body, he came to be reborn in the Tuṣita heaven and ascended to the rank of the ten grounds, just as expounded in the 'Chapter on the Merits of the Radiance of the Minor Marks.' Citing this single matter is intended to cause one to have faith in this Vehicle of all the Buddhas. Because it is difficult to believe, having faith definitely forms a seed; since the internal perfuming of faithful understanding will definitely lead to attaining Buddhahood, even if one momentarily clings to pleasure, upon encountering suffering one will immediately cultivate. If one reaches the initial mind of the ten abodes, one's rank is equal to the ten grounds, without any further retrogression. As for the youth Sudhana attaining Buddhahood in a single lifetime, this clarifies that at the initial mind of the ten abodes, within a single kṣaṇa sentiments are discarded and thoughts exhausted; with the three times [collapsed into] a single thought, nothing further is produced, which is called 'a single lifetime'—not taking a lifetime of time divisions where sentiments are maintained and kalpas established. Such non-production immediately completes the Buddha-fruit. Because it is like the original birth, it is called 'a single lifetime.' It is just like the dragon girl: when sentiments are exhausted and time vanishes in a single kṣaṇa, that is termed 'Buddha.'