維摩經義疏 6.5.2

6.5.2

以應三品眾生，故初云七日。 「又阿難！ 若聲聞人未入正位食此飯者，得入正位，然後乃消； 已入正位食此飯者，得心解脫，然後乃消； 若未發大乘意食此飯者，至發意乃消； 已發意食此飯者，得無生忍，然後乃消； 已得無生忍食此飯者，至一生補處，然後乃消。 此飯如是，滅除一切諸煩惱毒，然後乃消」。 有人言：飯是法門，非是飯食，故能令人得道。 今諸佛即飯為法門，現此一用，令人入道。 如有經云「菩薩有照法性天冠，著此冠時一切法性悉來現心。 」問：食香飯，云何令人得道？ 答：諸佛有善巧之言，亦有善巧之食，故聽言散味皆得道也。 又世治身病，既其有藥； 今治心病，亦應有藥，即香飯是矣。 什公云「食此飯時，體安心靜，發未曾有意。 飯尚如此，何況道耶？ 有此妙果，必有妙因，極大信樂、深達因果，達因果即解緣起，解緣起則見實相」，是故得道。 「阿難白佛言：未曾有也！ 世尊！ 如是香飯能作佛事」。 此下第二具明佛事不同。 就文為兩：第一正明佛事多門、二解悟入此門有大利益。 阿難嘆者，飯本益身，遂令得道，故稱未曾有也。 佛事者，教化眾生，令得悟道，蓋是諸佛之事也。 「佛言：如是如是！ 阿難！ 或有佛土，以佛光明而作佛事，有以諸菩薩而作佛事」。 如《華嚴經》如來默然，菩薩說法。 又即此經釋迦無言，而淨名弘道。 「有以佛所化人而作佛事」。 如須扇多佛，真形滅度，留化佛利益眾生。 「有以菩提樹而作佛事」。 佛在樹下得菩提，名菩提樹。 此樹隨所見聞而出形聲，並得悟道，故以樹為佛事。 「有以佛衣服、臥具而作佛事」。 昔閻浮提王得佛大衣，時世疾疫，王以衣著標上以示眾人，眾人歸命，病皆得愈，信敬益深，因是解脫。 「有以飲食而作佛事，有以園林、臺觀而作佛事」。 眾香國土以香為地苑園，令人悟道，即其事也。 「有以三十二相、八十種好而作佛事，有以佛身而作佛事」。 或示真形相好而得道。 又如洴沙王，以佛像與弗迦沙王，因是得悟也。 佛身者，令現身也。 「有以虛空而作佛事，眾生應以此緣得入律行」。 眾生根性不同，好有者，存身以示有； 樂空者，滅身以示無。 如文殊師利滅眾色像、現虛空相，以化阿闍世王。 如《密迹經》說。 「有以夢、幻、影、嚮、鏡中像、水中月、熱時炎，如是等喻而作佛事」。 自有眾生令其感夢而得悟道，或有現幻炎不真形色而得益者。 「或有以音聲語言文字而作佛事，或有清淨佛土寂漠、無言無說、無示無識、無作無為而作佛事。 如是阿難！ 諸佛威儀進止，諸所施為，無非佛事」。 有真佛土，皆法身菩薩，外無言說、內無識慮，而超悟於事表，正觀實相而得道也。 「阿難！ 有此四魔、八萬四千諸煩惱門，而諸眾生為之疲勞，諸佛即以此法而作佛事」。 什公云「佛事有三：一以善為佛事，謂說法放光等； 二以無記為佛事，即虛空等； 三以不善為佛事，謂示諸煩惱。 」醫有三品：下品之流，藥成非藥； 次品之者，能以藥為藥； 上品良醫，用非藥為藥也。 八萬四千者，三毒等分。 此四是諸煩惱根，從一一根出二萬一千，合八萬四千，從八萬四千出支流無量故。 名為八萬四千法門者，《賢劫經》有菩薩思惟：行何三昧，疾得八萬四千諸度？ 因以問佛。 佛答有三昧，名了法本，菩薩行之，疾得八萬四千諸度。 諸度者，佛功德有三百五十種門，一一皆以六度為因，便有二千一百諸度，用此對治四大六衰之患。 四大成眾生身，修諸度得淨法身，故治四大也。 六衰者，六塵惡賊，令人善法衰滅； 修行諸度，起入佛境，不畏六塵，故治之也。 四大為內、六衰為外，此之內外由煩惱起，故治。 三毒等分，各有二萬一千，合八萬四千。 「是名入一切諸佛法門。

In order to respond to the three grades of sentient beings, it was first said to be seven days. [The sūtra says:] "Moreover, Ānanda! If a śrāvaka who has not yet entered the right determinacy eats this food, he will enter the right determinacy, and only then will it digest; if one who has already entered the right determinacy eats this food, he will attain liberation of mind, and only then will it digest; if one who has not yet aroused the aspiration for the Great Vehicle eats this food, it will digest only when he arouses that aspiration; if one who has already aroused that aspiration eats this food, he will attain the forbearance of non-arising [dharmas], and only then will it digest; if one who has already attained the forbearance of non-arising eats this food, it will digest only when he reaches succession [to Buddhahood] in one life. This food is such that it eliminates all the poisons of the afflictions, and only then will it digest." Some say: "The food is a dharma-gate and not edible food; therefore it can cause people to attain the Way." Now, the Buddhas take the food itself as a dharma-gate, manifesting this single function to cause people to enter the Way. As a sūtra says: "The bodhisattva has a heavenly crown that illuminates the dharma-nature; when he wears this crown, all dharma-natures appear in his mind." Question: How does eating fragrant food cause people to attain the Way? Answer: The Buddhas have skillful words, and they also have skillful food; therefore, whether hearing the words or taking the taste, both attain the Way. Furthermore, in the world, since there is medicine to treat illnesses of the body, now to treat illnesses of the mind there must also be medicine—namely, this fragrant food. Master [Kumāra]jīva said: "When eating this food, the body is at ease and the mind is tranquil, arousing an unprecedented intention. If food is already like this, how much more so the Way? Having this wondrous fruit, there must be a wondrous cause; having supreme faith and joy, one deeply penetrates cause and effect; penetrating cause and effect, one understands dependent arising; understanding dependent arising, one sees the true mark"—therefore they attain the Way. [The sūtra says:] "Ānanda addressed the Buddha, saying: 'Unprecedented, World-Honoured One! Such fragrant food can perform the Buddha's work!'" Below this is the second [section], explaining in full that the Buddha's work differs. In terms of the text, there are two parts: first, correctly explaining that the Buddha's work has many gates; second, that understanding and entering this gate brings great benefit. Ānanda's praise means that food originally benefits the body, yet here it ultimately causes one to attain the Way; thus he calls it unprecedented. "The Buddha's work" means teaching and transforming sentient beings to cause them to attain awakening to the Way; this is indeed the work of the Buddhas. [The sūtra says:] "The Buddha said: 'So it is, so it is, Ānanda! In some Buddha-lands, the Buddha's radiance performs the Buddha's work; in some, the bodhisattvas perform the Buddha's work.'" As in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the Tathāgata remains silent and the bodhisattvas preach the Dharma. Also, in this very sūtra, Śākyamuni is wordless while Jingming propagates the Way. [The sūtra says:] "In some, the Buddha's transformation-persons perform the Buddha's work." Like the Buddha Śānta, whose true form entered extinction, leaving transformation Buddhas to benefit sentient beings. [The sūtra says:] "In some, the Bodhi tree performs the Buddha's work." The Buddha attained bodhi beneath the tree, hence it is named the Bodhi tree. This tree produces forms and sounds according to what is seen and heard, and in both cases [beings] attain awakening to the Way; hence it uses the tree to perform the Buddha's work. [The sūtra says:] "In some, the Buddha's robes and bedding perform the Buddha's work." Formerly, a king of Jambudvīpa obtained the Buddha's great robe; at that time there was a pestilence in the world, and the king placed the robe upon a banner to show it to the multitude; the multitude took refuge, their illnesses were all cured, their faith and reverence grew deeper, and through this they attained liberation. [The sūtra says:] "In some, food and drink perform the Buddha's work; in some, parks, groves, and observation towers perform the Buddha's work." In the Land of Varied Scents, using fragrance for the ground and gardens to cause people to attain awakening to the Way is just such a matter. [The sūtra says:] "In some, the thirty-two marks and eighty minor signs perform the Buddha's work; in some, the Buddha's body performs the Buddha's work." Some show the true form with its marks and signs and attain the Way. Moreover, as with King Bimbisāra, who gave an image of the Buddha to King Pukkusāti, through this he attained awakening. As for "the Buddha's body", it means making his body manifest. [The sūtra says:] "In some, empty space performs the Buddha's work, and sentient beings, relying on this condition, are able to enter the practice of discipline." The capacities and dispositions of sentient beings differ: for those fond of existence, he preserves his body to show existence; for those who delight in emptiness, he extinguishes his body to show non-existence. Just as Mañjuśrī extinguished all physical forms and manifested the appearance of empty space to transform King Ajātaśatru, as recounted in the Guhyakādhipati Sūtra. [The sūtra says:] "In some, dreams, illusions, shadows, echoes, reflections in a mirror, the moon in the water, heat mirages—similes such as these—perform the Buddha's work." There are sentient beings whom he causes to feel dreams and attain awakening to the Way, or there are those who obtain benefit from manifested illusions and mirages that are not real forms. [The sūtra says:] "Or in some, sounds, language, and letters perform the Buddha's work; or in some, pure Buddha-lands that are tranquil, without words, without preaching, without indication, without consciousness, without action, and unconditioned, perform the Buddha's work. Thus, Ānanda, the comportment, moving, and resting of the Buddhas, all that they undertake, is nothing other than the Buddha's work." There are true Buddha-lands where all are dharmakāya bodhisattvas, externally without speech and internally without conscious deliberations, who transcend and awaken beyond phenomena, contemplating the true mark directly and attaining the Way. [The sūtra says:] "Ānanda! There are these four māras and the eighty-four thousand gates of afflictions, by which sentient beings are wearied, and the Buddhas take these very dharmas to perform the Buddha's work." Master [Kumāra]jīva said: "The Buddha's work is of three kinds: first, using the wholesome as the Buddha's work, meaning preaching the Dharma, emitting light, and so forth; second, using the indeterminate as the Buddha's work, namely empty space and the like; third, using the unwholesome as the Buddha's work, meaning manifesting the afflictions." Physicians are of three grades: those of the inferior grade turn medicine into non-medicine; those of the middling grade can use medicine as medicine; the fine physician of the superior grade uses non-medicine as medicine. As for the eighty-four thousand, there are the three poisons and equal parts [of all three]. These four are the roots of all afflictions; from each root emerge twenty-one thousand, together making eighty-four thousand, and from the eighty-four thousand emerge limitless branches. As for why they are called the eighty-four thousand dharma-gates, in the Bhadrakalpika Sūtra a bodhisattva pondered: 'Practising which samādhi will one swiftly attain the eighty-four thousand pāramitās?' Thereupon he asked the Buddha. The Buddha answered that there is a samādhi called 'Comprehending the Root of Dharmas'; if a bodhisattva practises it, he swiftly attains the eighty-four thousand pāramitās. As for the pāramitās, the Buddha's merits have three hundred and fifty gates; each takes the six pāramitās as its cause, thereby yielding two thousand one hundred pāramitās, which are used to remedy the afflictions of the four great elements and the six deteriorations. The four great elements compose the body of sentient beings; by cultivating the pāramitās, one attains the pure dharmakāya, hence they remedy the four great elements. As for the six deteriorations, they are the evil thieves of the six sense-objects, which cause one's wholesome dharmas to deteriorate and perish; cultivating the pāramitās, one arises to enter the Buddha's realm and does not fear the six sense-objects, hence they remedy them. The four great elements are internal, and the six deteriorations are external; this internal and external arise from afflictions, hence they are remedied. With the three poisons and equal parts, there are twenty-one thousand each, combining to make eighty-four thousand. [The sūtra says:] "This is called entering the dharma-gate of all Buddhas."