新華嚴經論 7.22

7.22

First, explaining Vairocana's initial realization of correct awakening: this refers to the single chapter, the "Wondrous Adornments of the Rulers of the World". "Initial realization of correct awakening" means that through his own body and mind he has fully verified all dharmas equally throughout the three periods of time, past and present. Within a single thought-moment there is no mark of long or short duration; yet within a single thought-moment he also does not destroy sentient beings' cognition of long or short kalpas across the three periods of time, nor the cognition of sentient beings' various distinct views and understandings—as the sūtra says: "Wisdom enters the three periods of time without coming or going." There are ten such kinds of wisdom, all fully explained in the sūtra. All of the forty chapters of this sūtra, from beginning to end, were universally and simultaneously sealed in an instant at the time of the initial realization of correct awakening through the samādhi-gate of the wisdom-seal of the dharmadhātu ocean: displaying physical forms and uttering vocal sounds to preach the dharmas of all buddhas; universally proclaiming and diffusing them throughout the ocean of lands in all dust motes; and entering nirvāṇa—without departing from one time, one juncture, and one nature, all are just this, because reality is thus. The past buddhas and future buddhas, past and present, are just like this: entirely within a single time, manifesting distinct dharmas in accordance with sentient beings. Past and present penetrating one another is called "initial". Conforming to reality being thus is called "realization". Relying on reality being thus, not fabricated by the mind, is called "correct". Wisdom penetrating this principle is called "awakening". This sūtra had thirty-four chapters in the Jin dynasty translation, and now in the Tang dynasty it has been translated again into thirty-nine chapters. Furthermore, examining the Pusa yingluo benye jing, it says: "Disciples of the Buddha! Formerly, in the sixth heaven, I preached the path of the ten grounds to transform gods and humans; now I therefore briefly open up the mind-ground of sentient beings for you to receive and practice." Furthermore, a later passage says: "Disciples of the Buddha! The mind of the forty-first ground is called the mind entering the dharmadhātu." Furthermore, a passage following that says: "Disciples of the Buddha! Formerly, in the third dhyāna, I gathered the assemblies of the eight dhyāna heavens and preached for the bodhisattvas in the position of succession to buddhahood in one life on entering the samādhi-absorption of the Buddha-flower, expounding a hundred myriad kotis of verses. Now, by briefly explaining the meaning of a single verse, I open up the minds of sentient beings for you to receive and uphold." This chapter comes right after the "Chapter on the Ten Grounds" and represents the stage of virtual awakening of the eleventh ground. Calculating the name of this chapter, it should again be titled "Chapter on the Buddha-Flower", as it is named according to reality. Furthermore, a later passage says: "Disciples of the Buddha! Formerly, when I preached the ocean of the dharmadhātu beneath this tree, eighty thousand immaculate bodhisattvas manifested physical bodies and attained buddhahood. Therefore now, for this great assembly, I briefly open up the sphere of practice of the buddha fruit for you to reverently receive on your crowns." According to the Yingluo benye jing, this refers to having finished preaching the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, transforming sentient beings of the three vehicles, and proceeding beneath the bodhi tree to reiterate in two tiers the Dharma-gates of the five stages of the Avataṃsaka preached at the time of the initial realization of correct awakening, fully as stated in that sūtra. Because the Avataṃsaka Sūtra lacks the single chapter on the eleventh ground, we now collate and cross-check it with that text, and only then is the sequence understood. Those who hear this later need not give rise to doubt; simply consult that sūtra for verification, and black and white will become clear. Now, by counting the "Buddha-Flower Chapter" on the eleventh ground preached in the third dhyāna, there are altogether ten locations, ten assemblies, and forty chapters, all spoken simultaneously within an instant through the ocean-seal Dharma-gate at the time of the initial realization of correct awakening. Because, relying on the fundamental reality, there is no before or after; because reality is fundamentally thus; and because the fundamental body and fundamental wisdom reveal the fundamental reality, there is no such thing as repeatedly gathering at the Universal Light Hall or having three assemblies. If one speaks of layer upon layer of endless tiers, one does not speak of three assemblies, because the gate of the dharmadhātu ocean subsumes all three periods of time; before and after in a single thought-moment are entirely a single time, nor is there going thither and returning here. The Tathāgata merely reveals everything simultaneously through the ocean-seal gate of manifesting the physical body in response by means of fundamental wisdom. Now, to say that there are three repeated assemblies in the Universal Light Hall is not so; it is entirely a teaching sealed simultaneously at one time. As the sūtra says: "The Tathāgata, within a single utterance, expounds an ocean of boundless sūtras." It is merely according to the categories of Dharma-gates, to symbolize the Dharma, that the names of the bodhisattvas differ; they are not assemblies that arrived earlier or later. Within the ocean of the dharmadhātu, one must not mentally conceptualize before and after, for that violates the fundamental reality. Manifesting the affairs of the three periods of time within a single thought-moment is for the sake of sentient beings; it is not that the fundamental reality has three periods of time. This is to clarify the fundamental reality, which cannot be judged from the branches. The carts in front having already overturned, those behind must change their track; one cannot simply defer to earlier authorities as a mirror for reflection. Examining the intention of the sūtra, there is no mention anywhere of "repeated assemblies"; it is because of the textual narrative that the Dharma-gates seem to have the sense of repetition. Without examining the sūtra's meaning within the chapters, one misses that all of them narrate, before and after, Dharma-gates of the wisdom-function that comprehensively encompass one time, one juncture, and one dharmadhātu. For instance, the "Chapter on the Ten Samādhis" and the "Chapter on Transcending the World" both say, "At that time, the World-Honoured One was in the bodhimaṇḍa in the kingdom of Magadha, having newly realized correct awakening, and in the Universal Light Hall entered the samādhi of the instant." This is merely that the names of the bodhisattvas differ according to the Dharma stages; it is not that the Tathāgata left and returned again, for the Universal Light Hall is the essence of the fruit-wisdom of the dharmadhātu. At the juncture of a single time, principle and phenomena are unified without departing from the gate of unconditioned concentration, because the gate of the ten concentrations is the essence of the dharmadhātu. The practice of Samantabhadra is the function of the dharmadhātu, which is the "Chapter on Transcending the World". Unifying these two chapters, they do not depart from the Universal Light Hall, the great mansion of the virtues of the fruit and the primary capital of wisdom. Preaching three times in this way is entirely a preaching at one place, at one time, in one dharmadhātu, and in one assembly; it is not coming and going before and after as seen by everyday sentiments. Extending to the remaining nine assemblies, they are all within one assembly, at one time, in one dharmadhātu, and in one ocean of wisdom; the tiers of Dharma-gates appear and disappear simultaneously without obstacle or hindrance. Now, within the one dharmadhātu, in accordance with the gates of the aspects of practice used as expedients in progressive cultivation, places are lodged to symbolize the Dharma in order to divide into the ten locations. The ten assemblies are: