維摩經義疏 6.5.2

6.5.2

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."