勝鬘寶窟 3.41

3.41

「世間言說故有死有生」下，此第二明不一義，亦先明生死、次辨不一。第一義中本來無有生死，何故聖人說有生死？是故今明於顛倒眾生故有生死，佛隨顛倒故說有生死。龍樹云：「於生死人有生死，於不生死人則無生死。」「死者諸根壞」，前牒生死與藏不異，故須辨生死。今欲牒生死與藏不一，故須辨生死。前後有此二意異，故兩處生死非生死義異也。又既隨顛倒世間說有生死，故今示生死之相。「諸根壞」者，眼等諸根壞，五受中捨受根壞。「生者新諸根起」，由業煩惱力，未來還生，為起。五受根中是喜受根起，四識住中喜潤故。亦是十二緣中識支也。「非如來藏有生有死」者，此正明不一義。顛倒故有生死，非如來藏體有生死。《法華經》云「無有生死，若退若出。」天親云：「如來藏性清淨，故《法華經》兩句，還是此經初句。明眾生界即涅槃界，此是二不二義。如來藏體性清淨無有生死故，是明不二二義。」若不見《法華論》，釋此二句便不分明。問：何故有不二二、二不二義？答：於佛未始二，六道常法身；於緣未始一，法身常六道。譬如病眼人，於空常見華，是故空成華。如不病眼人，知華常是空。以有此二義，故明二不二、不二二義也。若依前第二師，初明生死二即如來藏，此是空如來藏。今明非如來藏有生死，此明不空如來藏。今且依前釋。「離有為相」者，釋成不一。以離有為故非死。「常住不變」，釋離有為。約凡夫有三不變：一不為煩惱水漬變、二不為業風吹變、三不為生老死火燒變故。菩薩不變有二：一不為變易陰生所變、二不為變易陰滅所變。佛不變有四：以常故不生、以悼相故不死、清淨故不病、不變故不老也。「是故如來藏是依、是持、是建立」者，結也。以體是無為常住，故能為眾生作依持建立。是所依處名依，持者連持令不斷絕，建立者始終令得成佛。三藏師意，依者即自性住佛性，不從緣有，名為自性體是常法，故名為住。以是常住，為生死作依也。持者即引出佛性，由有佛性，故得修行顯出本有之法，故名為持。建立者即至得果性，以有佛性，故成果德，名為建立。

From 'Because of worldly conventional speech there is death and there is birth' onward: this is the second part, explaining the meaning of non-identity. It also first explains samsāra, and then distinguishes non-identity. In the ultimate truth there is originally no samsāra; why do the sages say there is samsāra? Therefore it now explains that there is samsāra for inverted sentient beings, and the Buddha accords with their inversion in speaking of the existence of samsāra. Nāgārjuna said: 'For a person of samsāra there is samsāra; for a person not of samsāra there is no samsāra.' 'Death is the destruction of the faculties': previously, it cited samsāra as not being different from the garbha, and therefore needed to distinguish samsāra; now, it wishes to cite samsāra as not being identical with the garbha, and therefore needs to distinguish samsāra. Because there are these two different intentions before and after, the meaning of samsāra and non-samsāra in the two places is different. Moreover, since it speaks of the existence of samsāra in accordance with the inverted world, it now shows the characteristics of samsāra. 'Destruction of the faculties' means that the faculties such as the eyes are destroyed, and among the five feelings, the faculty of equanimity is destroyed. 'Birth is the arising of new faculties': through the power of karma and afflictions, one is reborn in the future, which is 'arising.' Among the five feeling faculties, this is the arising of the faculty of joy, because in the four stations of consciousness there is moistening by joy. It is also the consciousness link among the twelve links of dependent origination. 'It is not that the tathāgatagarbha has birth and death': this directly clarifies the meaning of non-identity. It is due to inversion that there is samsāra; it is not that the substance of the tathāgatagarbha has birth and death. The *Lotus Sūtra* says, 'There is no samsāra, neither falling back nor emerging.' Vasubandhu says: 'The nature of the tathāgatagarbha is pure; hence these two lines of the *Lotus Sūtra* are still the initial line of this sūtra. Explaining that the realm of sentient beings is itself the realm of nirvāṇa is the meaning of non-duality of the two. Because the essential nature of the tathāgatagarbha is pure and without birth and death, this explains the meaning of the duality of non-duality.' If one does not see the *Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa*, explaining these two lines will not be clear. Question: Why is there the meaning of duality of non-duality, and non-duality of duality? Answer: From the perspective of the Buddha there has never been duality; the six destinies are constantly the dharmakāya. From the perspective of conditions there has never been unity; the dharmakāya is constantly the six destinies. For example, a person with diseased eyes constantly sees flowers in the sky, and therefore the sky becomes flowers. Just as a person without diseased eyes knows that the flowers are constantly empty space. Because these two meanings exist, it explains the meanings of the non-duality of duality and the duality of non-duality. If we follow the second master mentioned above: first, explaining that the two of birth and death are themselves the tathāgatagarbha refers to the empty tathāgatagarbha; now, explaining that it is not that the tathāgatagarbha has birth and death refers to the non-empty tathāgatagarbha. For now we follow the previous explanation. 'Apart from conditioned characteristics': this explains and establishes non-identity. Because it is apart from the conditioned, it is not death. 'Permanently abiding and unchanging': this explains being apart from the conditioned. With respect to ordinary beings there are three kinds of unchanging: first, not being changed by being soaked in the water of afflictions; second, not being changed by being blown by the wind of karma; third, not being changed by being burned by the fire of birth, old age, and death. Bodhisattvas have two kinds of unchanging: first, not being changed by the arising of the aggregates of inconceivable transformation; second, not being changed by the ceasing of the aggregates of inconceivable transformation. The Buddha has four kinds of unchanging: because he is permanent he is unborn; because he is free from agitation he does not die; because he is pure he is without illness; because he does not change he does not age. 'Therefore, the tathāgatagarbha is the support, the sustainer, and the foundation': this concludes it. Because its substance is unconditioned and permanently abiding, it can act as the support, sustainer, and foundation for sentient beings. Being the place relied upon, it is called the 'support.' 'Sustainer' means linking and maintaining them so that they are not broken off. 'Foundation' means causing them from beginning to end to attain buddhahood. In the view of the Tripiṭaka Master: 'support' is the naturally abiding buddhanature; not existing from conditions, it is called 'natural,' and its substance being a permanent dharma, it is called 'abiding.' Because it is permanently abiding, it acts as a support for samsāra. 'Sustainer' is the elicited buddhanature; because buddhanature exists, one can practice and manifest the originally existing dharma, hence it is called 'sustainer.' 'Foundation' is the attained fruitional nature; because buddhanature exists, one accomplishes the fruitional virtues, hence it is called 'foundation.'