金光明經玄義 2.26

2.26

Third, clarifying the gist. 'Gist' means the essential pivot. Commentators have taken either the fruit as the gist, or the cause as the gist, or both cause and fruit together as the gist. Examining the 'Chapter on the Lifespan' now, although it explains the causes of giving food and not killing, it matches the cause to the fruit, and the fruit is the primary purport. Although the 'Chapter on Distinguishing the Three Bodies' also asks about the cause, the Buddha answers with the trikāya, so the fruit is still the primary purport. The present purport takes solely the fruit of buddhahood as the gist. Why so? The eternal substance of dharmatā is extremely profound and subtle; if one wishes to reveal it, it cannot be accomplished without the fruit. One should know that the fruit is the crucial pivot for revealing the substance; just as when the head-rope of a net is lifted, the meshes fall into order, so the intention in taking the fruit as the gist lies here. Further relying on the sūtra, we make this meaning clear again. The text says, 'The lifespan attained by Śākyamuni Tathāgata.' Śākyamuni is the fruit-person; lifespan is the fruit-dharma. The fruit-person realises the fruit-dharma, merging with dharmatā. Since dharmatā is neither existent nor non-existent, neither permanent nor impermanent, the fruit-person and fruit-dharma are also neither permanent nor impermanent. Since dharmatā can be permanent and can be impermanent, the fruit-person and fruit-dharma can also be permanent and can be impermanent. When the four buddhas resolve doubts, they cite the weight of mountains, the drops of the ocean, the dust of the earth, and the realm of empty space, which no one can calculate to know their quantity, thereby clarifying that it can be permanent; passing into extinction at eighty is being able to be impermanent. Seeing the impermanence of passing into extinction at eighty, one cannot reckon its permanence. If one cannot even know its permanence, how could one know its being neither permanent nor impermanent? If one does not proceed from the fruit, this meaning is difficult to illuminate. Once the fruit is cited to merge with the principle, the meaning of revealing the substance becomes evident. The meaning of taking the fruit as the gist is like this. Furthermore, explaining the fruit differs: one may clarify the fruit in terms of the wisdom virtue of unexcelled bodhi, or one may clarify the fruit in terms of the abandonment virtue of great parinirvāṇa. If one cites the wisdom virtue, all goods are universally assembled, and one naturally knows that the abandonment virtue exists. If one cites the abandonment virtue, all evils are eternally extinguished, and one naturally knows that the wisdom virtue exists. Each cites one side, and one must not be one-sidedly attached. The present sūtra cites lifespan to clarify the fruit; lifespan is the fruit-retribution, and 'fruit-retribution' is a general term, encompassing wisdom and abandonment. Wisdom and abandonment also encompass the trikāya on the level of the fruit. Since the trikāya on the level of the fruit merges with dharmatā, and dharmatā is neither permanent nor impermanent, the trikāya is also neither permanent nor impermanent. Since dharmatā can be permanent and can be impermanent, the trikāya can also be permanent and can be impermanent. If it can be impermanent, that is the lifespan of the nirmāṇakāya. When permanence is discussed in contrast to impermanence, being able to be permanent is the lifespan of the saṃbhogakāya. The saṃbhoga- and nirmāṇakāyas merge with dharmatā; since dharmatā is neither permanent nor impermanent and cannot be calculated, the saṃbhoga- and nirmāṇakāyas are also neither permanent nor impermanent and cannot be calculated. How could one, seeing that the trace is short, say that the Buddha's lifespan is definitively short? This fails to understand the idea that the fruit can reveal the substance. Moreover, just as the Buddha is not a deer or a horse, yet can manifest as a deer or a horse—are the deer and horse definitively the Buddha? The deer and horse are what the Buddha's transformation creates, not the Buddha's body. Dharmatā can be long or short, but length and shortness are not dharmatā. If one understands this meaning, the fruit can reveal the substance: the meaning of permanence is established, the meaning of neither permanent nor impermanent is established, the meaning of impermanence is established, and the meaning of the fruit being the essential gist is established. If not, none of the meanings can be established. Formerly, it was held that the passage on the weight of mountains and the drops of the ocean indicates impermanence, and the demarcations of empty space were taken to mean unconditioned space; furthermore, citing the 'Chapter on Giving Up the Body', seeking the dwelling place of eternal bliss was taken to mean the three unconditioned states as permanence, and freedom from birth and death as bliss. These all interpret the Mahāyāna tortuously through Hinayāna ideas; with such interpretations, nothing can be established, and they are not the essential gist.