維摩經義疏 6.7.3

6.7.3

From "Neither a field of merit nor not a field of merit; neither deserving offerings nor not deserving offerings" onward: disdaining it incurs guilt, hence it is not a field of merit; revering it brings merit, hence it is not 'not a field of merit'. Being not 'not a field of merit', it is deserving of offerings; being not a field of merit, it is not deserving of offerings. Some say: the dharmakāya receives nothing, hence it is not a field of merit; yet responding to beings it receives offerings, hence it is not 'not a field of merit'. Furthermore, it is not the same as a good person, hence it is not a field of merit; nor is it the same as a guilty person, hence it is not 'not a field of merit'. "Neither taking nor discarding": being not merit, it does not take; being not 'not a field of merit', it does not discard. From "Neither having characteristics nor lacking characteristics" onward: quiescent and formless, hence it is not characteristics; possessing the thirty-two marks, hence it is not lacking characteristics. From "Identical with the reality limit, equal to the nature of phenomena" onward: the dharmakāya being markless is itself the reality limit; yet someone might consider the Buddha to be different, hence it says "identical". From "Unweighable, immeasurable, surpassing all weighing and measuring" onward: its substance is neither light nor heavy, hence it cannot be weighed; its limits cannot be fathomed, hence it cannot be measured. From "Neither great nor small" onward: greater than heaven and earth, it cannot be deemed small; fine enough to enter where there is no space, it cannot be deemed great. Being able to be great or small, it has no greatness or smallness. From "Neither seen nor heard, neither sensed nor known" onward: not being matter, it is not seen; not being sound, it is not heard; not being smell, taste, or tangibility, it is not sensed by the three faculties; not being mental objects, it is not known by the mind. "Free from all bonds": since it is neither seen, heard, sensed, nor known, where could bonds arise? From "Equaling all wisdom, identical with all living beings, without discrimination among phenomena" onward: wisdom equals the wisdom of the masses of wisdom, and the person equals the person of the multitude; by viewing in this way, there is no discrimination. Furthermore, being identical with the wisdom of the multitude, it is said to equal all wisdom. Nor is there a Buddha who is a great sage distinct from those living beings, hence it says "identical with all living beings". When persons and phenomena are viewed equally, conceptual thought ceases, hence "without discrimination among phenomena". From "Utterly without fault, without turbidity, without affliction" onward: the three types of karma being free of error, it is utterly without fault; without fault, hence without turbidity; without turbidity, then without affliction. From "Without action, without arising, without birth, without cessation" onward: the dharmakāya is unconditioned, cut off from doing and creating; who could act to make it arise, or bring it to birth so as to cause it to cease? "Without fear, without sorrow, without joy, without aversion, without attachment": if there were birth and cessation, that would be fearful phenomena, and one would rejoice in birth and grieve over cessation. Once joy and grief arise, aversion and attachment are possible, yet the dharmakāya is free from both. "It was not, it will not be, and it is not now; it cannot be differentiated or revealed by any words. World-Honoured One! The Tathāgata's body being such, one should view it thus. Those who view it in this way are called viewing correctly; if one views it otherwise, it is called viewing wrongly." This concludes the summary of the Buddha's body and encourages its observation. From "At that time, Śāriputra asked Vimalakīrti: 'Where did you die to come and be born here?'" onward is the second part, next explaining the inconceivable traces. In the text there are two parts: first, clarifying Jingming's meaning of birth and non-birth; second, manifesting the realm of Akṣobhya Buddha. Śāriputra raised the question for three reasons: first, seeing that his spiritual virtue was extraordinary, the place he came from must be sublime, so he asked where he had come from; second, above it was said that one should view the Buddha just as one contemplates the true mark of one's own body, and the true mark is unborn, yet now he manifests having birth—seeking to establish the meaning of contemplating oneself, he asked concerning dying and being born; third, having previously revealed the dharmakāya, he next unfolds the function of traces, and for this reason he asks. "Vimalakīrti said: 'Is there death and birth in the Dharma you have attained?' Śāriputra said: 'There is no death and birth.' 'If phenomena have no mark of death and birth, why do you ask: "Where did you die to come and be born here?" What do you think? Just as an illusionist creates men and women by illusion, is there death and birth?' Śāriputra said: 'There is no death and birth.' 'Have you not heard the Buddha say that all phenomena have illusory marks?' He answered: 'Indeed.' 'If all phenomena have illusory marks, why do you ask: "Where did you die to come and be born here?" Śāriputra! Death is the mark of decay of deceptive phenomena, and birth is the mark of continuity of deceptive phenomena. Although a bodhisattva dies, he does not exhaust his roots of goodness; although he is born, he does not foster evils'" onward: good and evil are both nothing but the continuity and decay of deceptive phenomena. Yet when ordinary beings are born, they foster evil, and when they die, they exhaust goodness; when bodhisattvas are born, they foster goodness, and when they die, they exhaust evil. Although death and birth are the same, fostering and exhausting are not identical, yet both are marks of deceptive decay—how are they different from illusory transformations? From "At that time, the Buddha told Śāriputra: 'There is a realm named Abhirati, and the Buddha is called Akṣobhya. This Vimalakīrti died in that realm to come and be born here.' Śāriputra said: 'How unprecedented, World-Honoured One! That this person could forsake a pure land to come and delight in this place of much anger and harm.' Vimalakīrti said: 'Śāriputra! What do you think? When sunlight appears, does it merge with darkness?' He answered: 'No. When sunlight appears, all darkness is absent.' Vimalakīrti said: 'Why does the sun travel through Jambudvīpa?' He answered: 'Wishing to illuminate it with light and dispel darkness for its sake.' Vimalakīrti said: 'A bodhisattva is just like this: although born in an impure Buddha-land to transform living beings, he does not merge with foolish darkness, but only extinguishes the darkness of the afflictions of living beings'" onward: previously he clarified non-birth, and here he reveals the place of origin, proclaiming in response to beings that his coming is originally not without benefit. Non-birth is the dharmakāya; birth refers to responding traces. Furthermore, when the Buddhas teach the Dharma, they always rely on the two truths: non-birth concerns the ultimate, while birth pertains to the conventional. From "At that time, the great assembly yearned, wishing to see Akṣobhya Tathāgata of the Abhirati world and his assembly of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas. The Buddha, knowing the thoughts of the entire assembly, told Vimalakīrti: 'Good son! Manifest for this assembly the realm of Abhirati, Akṣobhya Tathāgata, and the assembly of bodhisattvas and śrāvakas, for all the assembly wish to see them'" onward: this passage is the second, clarifying why the realm of Akṣobhya is manifested. There are three reasons: first, wishing to cause this assembly to cultivate the practices of a pure land so that they may attain rebirth there; second, wishing to reveal Jingming's inconceivable virtue; third, about to return to Abhirati, the place of his original birth. Forsaking this pure land to enter this defiled realm illustrates the conditions of the Mahāsattva's compassion. The text has four clauses: first, the great assembly wishes to see; second, Jingming manifests the land; third, the assembly gains benefit; fourth, returning to his original abode. This is the first passage.