注維摩詰經 1.3

1.3

維摩詰不思議經者，蓋是窮微盡化、絕妙之稱也。其旨淵玄、非言象所測，道越三空、非二乘所議，超群數之表、絕有心之境，眇莾無為而無不為、罔知所以然而能然者，不思議也。何則？夫聖智無知而萬品俱照、法身無象而殊形並應，至韻無言而玄籍彌布、冥權無謀而動與事會，故能統濟群方、開物成務，利見天下、於我無為，而惑者覩感照因謂之智、觀應形則謂之身、覿玄籍便謂之言、見變動而謂之權。夫道之極者，豈可以形言權智而語其神域哉！然群生長寢、非言莫曉，道不孤運、弘之由人，是以如來命文殊於異方、召維摩於他土，爰集毘耶，共弘斯道。此經所明，統萬行則以權智為主、樹德本則以六度為根、濟蒙惑則以慈悲為首、語宗極則以不二為門。凡此眾說，皆不思議之本也；至若借座燈王、請飯香土、手接大千、室包乾象，不思議之迹也。然幽關難啟，聖應不同。非本無以垂跡、非跡無以顯本，本跡雖殊而不思議一也，故命侍者標以為名焉。

The Inconceivable Sūtra of Vimalakīrti: this is indeed a designation that exhausts the subtle and reaches the utmost of transformation, unmatched and wondrous. Its purport is unfathomably profound, not to be measured by words or images; its Way surpasses the three emptinesses, not to be debated by the two vehicles; it transcends the realm of all enumerations and cuts off the domain of the deliberate mind. Dim and vast, it is non-action yet leaves nothing undone; not knowing how it is so, yet able to be so—this is the inconceivable. Why is this? Holy wisdom is without cognition, yet all kinds of things are simultaneously illuminated; the dharmakāya has no image, yet distinct forms concurrently respond; the ultimate tone has no words, yet the arcane scriptures spread everywhere; dark expedients involve no contrivance, yet their movements accord with circumstances. Therefore, it can universally deliver all realms, open up beings, and accomplish affairs, benefiting the world while remaining in non-action for oneself. Yet the deluded, observing the resonance and illumination, call it wisdom; seeing the responsive forms, call it a body; beholding the arcane scriptures, call it words; and watching transformations, call it expedients. How could the utmost of the Way be spoken of in its divine realm through forms, words, expedients, or wisdom! Yet sentient beings sleep for a long night, and without words they cannot be awakened; the Way does not operate in isolation, and its propagation depends on people. For this reason, the Tathāgata commanded Mañjuśrī from a different direction and summoned Vimalakīrti from another land, gathering them in Vaiśālī to propagate this Way together. What this sūtra illuminates takes expedients and wisdom as primary in unifying all practices, establishes the six pāramitās as the root for planting virtuous foundations, places loving-kindness and compassion at the head for delivering the ignorant and deluded, and takes non-duality as the gate for speaking of the ultimate principle. All these various teachings are the fundamental basis of the inconceivable. As for borrowing seats from Pradīparāja, requesting food from the land of fragrances, lifting the chiliocosm in hand, and enclosing the cosmic heavens in a single room—these are the manifest traces of the inconceivable. Yet the profound portals are difficult to open, and holy responses vary. Without the fundamental basis, there would be no means to manifest traces; without the manifest traces, there would be no means to reveal the fundamental basis. Although the fundamental basis and manifest traces differ, the inconceivable is one; therefore, [the Buddha] commanded his attendant to designate this as the title.