維摩經略疏 1.89

1.89

Question: In the sudden teaching of the Avataṃsaka, one may explain various Dharma gates in terms of practice; but in this vaipulya sūtra and in the Hīnayāna teachings, how can one also explain meanings in terms of contemplative practice? Answer: Since this sūtra says: "The liberation of the buddhas should be sought in the mental activities of sentient beings," if one does not interpret it in terms of contemplative practice, how could it match this text? If one did not correlate Vaiśālī and the Āmra Grove with the various Dharma gates, one would not be able to explain them in terms of the contemplation of mind; then how could one seek the liberation of the buddhas in the mental activities of sentient beings? If one does not seek liberation in the mind, how can one abide in inconceivable liberation? If one does not abide in inconceivable liberation, how could one see all buddha-lands in a single pore, transforming and appearing freely, as explained at length in the chapter "The Inconceivable"? Moreover, how could it be as in the Avataṃsaka, where immeasurable worlds all arise conditioned by the mind, and immeasurable buddha-lands all appear in a single pore? If you say that Hīnayāna cannot be explained in terms of the contemplation of mind, why did the Buddha, in the śrāvaka sūtras, speak of eleven dharmas for the ox-herder, each of which inwardly corresponds to the monk's contemplation of mind? Are not instances like these the meaning of contemplating the mind in correspondence to the Dharma gates in the vaipulya and Tripiṭaka sūtras?