維摩經略疏 7.51

7.51

「彼有疾至涅槃等」，二、明破除法想。「為滅法想」者，知法想顛倒是其大患，無法而生法想即是顛倒，此即體如幻化。不同數人法想即癡、違順即貪恚，因有十使九十八使善惡業起，即有分段因果實疾，故言即是大患。乃至計有四人涅槃，皆是大患。「我應離之」者，離此顛倒二邊法想。此有二義：一、知所分別法皆如幻化，得離法想。二、知由心，則有分別。若體內心隨理三假所成，不自他等，玄義已明從假入空，四十八番破見，即無有無等四見法想。又用九百七十二番破思，即三界思惟法想究竟盡也。是為斯陀含乃至阿羅漢智斷，皆是菩薩無生法忍，即是體法假入空。「云何為離，離我我所」者，內心法想為我，計十法界為所。若體內心能起法想顛倒幻化不自他等，如前破者，即是離我。若體十界幻化虛假不自他等，即是離所。「云何離我我所」等者，前約離能觀我為內，所觀我為外，名不念二法。此中即生死界內為內，涅槃界外為外，名不念二法。若二邊皆空，名為平等，即是體假入法空。「謂我等涅槃等」者，如前所明，能起法想之心為我，此我即空；涅槃為所，所亦即空。空理無二，即是等也。亦應云生死為所，涅槃尚空，況生死法。

From "That ill [bodhisattva] ... nirvāṇa, etc." is the second part: explaining the eradication of the notion of dharmas. "In order to extinguish the notion of dharmas" means knowing that the inversion of the notion of dharmas is a great malady; giving rise to a notion of dharmas where there are no dharmas is precisely inversion, which is directly realizing them to be like illusory transformations. It is not like the masters of the Abhidharma, for whom the notion of dharmas is foolishness, and what opposes or accords with it is greed or resentment, whereby the ten envoys and the ninety-eight envoys give rise to wholesome and unwholesome karma, resulting in the actual illness of the causes and fruits of fragmentary [samsāra]; hence it is called a great malady. Even conceiving that the four types of persons have nirvāṇa is all a great malady. "I should abandon it" means abandoning this inverted notion of dharmas of the two extremes. This has two meanings: first, knowing that the differentiated dharmas are all like illusory transformations, one is able to abandon the notion of dharmas; second, knowing that it depends on the mind, there is then differentiation. If one directly realizes that the internal mind is formed according to principle by the three provisionalities, without self or other, as the *Profound Meaning* has already explained, entering emptiness from the provisional destroys views in forty-eight iterations, so that there are no notions of dharmas of the four views such as existence or non-existence; furthermore, using nine hundred and seventy-two iterations to destroy thoughts, the notions of dharmas of thought in the three realms are completely exhausted. This is the wisdom and severance from the sakṛdāgāmin up to the arhat, all of which are the bodhisattva's forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, which is realizing the provisionality of dharmas to enter emptiness. "What is abandonment? It is abandoning self and what belongs to self": the notion of dharmas in the internal mind is the self, and grasping at the ten dharma-realms is what belongs to it. If one directly realizes that the internal mind capable of giving rise to the notion of dharmas is inverted, illusory, and without self or other, as destroyed earlier, this is abandoning self. If one directly realizes that the ten realms are illusory, provisional, and without self or other, this is abandoning what belongs to self. "How to abandon self and what belongs to self" and so on: previously, abandoning the contemplating self was internal and the contemplated self was external, called not thinking of two dharmas. Here, inside the realm of birth-and-death is internal, and outside the realm of nirvāṇa is external, called not thinking of two dharmas. If both extremes are empty, it is called equality, which is realizing the provisional to enter the emptiness of dharmas. "Saying that the self is equal and nirvāṇa is equal": as explained earlier, the mind capable of giving rise to the notion of dharmas is the self, and this self is empty; nirvāṇa is the object, and the object is also empty. The principle of emptiness is non-dual, which is precisely equality. One could also say that birth-and-death is the object; if even nirvāṇa is empty, how much more so the dharmas of birth-and-death!