大般涅槃經疏 11.7

11.7

From "Kāśyapa addressed the Buddha" onward is the third part, debating the meanings. The text has three rounds: first, discussing the buddhadhātu; second, discussing exceeding human conditions; third, discussing dreaming and waking. In the first round, he first asks, and so forth. In the subsequent reply, that the Tathāgata sometimes speaks of self and sometimes speaks of non-self is termed the middle way. The *Madhyamaka-śāstra* states: "Within the dharmatā of all phenomena, there is neither self nor non-self." Both self and non-self are conventional designations. Saying "self" is conventional; saying "non-self" is real; neither self nor non-self is the middle way. Next is the second round of questions and answers: first the question, then the reply. In the reply, it first clarifies transgression, next clarifies non-transgression, and later re-clarifies transgression, as in the text, and so forth. In the third round of questions and answers there are two parts: first the question, then the reply. Sexual intercourse in a dream incurs no offense, but upon waking one should repent; if upon waking one praises it, one incurs an offense. The meaning in the *Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā* is also like this, and so forth. *Mahālaṅkā*, translated here as "red color," contradicts the subsequent text's "wearing red garments"; how is this reconciled? It is explained: the subsequent text speaks of the time before the precepts were established, whereas here it speaks of the time after the precepts were established. Another explanation: red also has many shades; a deep red is prohibited, like *gandha*; a light red is not prohibited, and so forth.