金光明經文句 2.16

2.16

從「爾時四佛」下三品半文，是第二正說段。凡三說不同。一云：〈壽量〉明常果為宗，常果契性，性即是體，二義宛然不須多惑。下〈懺悔品〉滅惡、〈讚歎品〉生善、〈空品〉導成，即是經用也。二云：〈壽量〉明宗、〈懺〉、〈歎〉明用、〈空品〉明體，此乃以因中所用之性為果上所顯之體。於義不便，故不用之。三、三藏云：正說有兩段，〈壽量〉是果段、〈三身〉是因段，二文各有序。虛空藏問為因段序，直是發問，於序義弱。師云：〈三身〉成果上義，非因義也，是故不用。初家所說好，與今意同。新舊兩文凡三處明宗：初是四佛拂疑，明應化之壽非思算所知。迹既長遠，本難窮極，上根人聞迹悟本也。若未悟者，王子明蚊蚋脚可以作城樓，鼠登兔角梯、食月除脩羅，明法身無舍利，如來真實身，舍利無是處。中根人直聞理本而悟迹也。若未悟者，釋迦論三身共說，廣分別之，本迹俱解。是為三番明宗顯體。〈懺品〉別論滅惡，通亦生善；〈歎品〉別論生善，通亦滅惡；〈空品〉導成，俱是經用也。今之四卷，止有一番明宗。文為四：初四佛說偈、二信相歡喜、三當機得道、四四佛還本。說偈又二：一經家敘、二四佛喻說。問：四佛說偈，為各為共？答：經既無文，不可定判。或宜聞共說，異口同音；或宜聞別說，各引一喻。見亦如是，若見四佛同尊特身，一身一智慧者，即是常身，弟子眾一故。若見四佛佛身不同，即是應化，弟子眾多故。分八偈為二意。初云：前四偈立譬、次一偈合譬、次二偈斷疑、次一偈結釋。次云：前四偈為譬本、後四偈合釋。兩途俱可用。舊云：四偈止譬其壽長，更無別意。是義不然。諸佛之教上中下善，其言巧妙、其義深遠，此中正是常宗斷疑。一經之要處何容無義？且作三意消文：一對四諦、二對四念處、三對四德。四諦理通因果，四念論因、四德論果。若論果壽宜對四德，果不孤起，故念處明因；因果有本，故對四諦也。上以四佛對四諦智，今以四佛所說對四諦理。舊讀四諦文，云：知苦如苦相、知集如集相。相是其事，齊事而知，於理不顯。今明：知苦如苦相，如是其理、相是其事，即事而真，事理雙達。餘三諦亦如是。如是釋者，於四諦理義便也。又一解：知苦是知俗，如是知真，相是知中，中是實相，故今以相為中也，此則三諦具在一文。知苦既然，下集道滅亦如是（云云）。明識四諦是脩長壽境，故約四諦對偈也。一切諸水者，此對集諦。《大經》云「有河洄澓沒眾生」，即其義也。水體潤生，如集能資長。鼓怒浩澣無處不有，集亦如是，沒溺凡聖亘界內外也。諸須彌山者，此對苦諦。小《般若》以身為須彌，即其義也。山體結構磐峙水上，如苦報積聚，為集作果，繫縛界內外色心也。大地微塵者，此對道諦。《法華》云「其所說法皆悉到於一切智地」，即其義也。地體能容載水陸兩途，如通別道到此彼岸。虛空分界者，此對滅諦。《法華》云「常寂滅相，終歸於空」，即其義也。空體盡淨，五翳所不能染、三光所不能淨。如滅諦，滅無二十五有，及滅化城涅槃也。四諦理遍一切處即法身，四諦智稱境而知即報身，從體起用同其長短即應身。信相但見應短、不見應長，應尚不達，寧知報法？四佛舉四喻喻其應長，水滴山斤地塵空界尚無能思算得其邊表，況復智冥於法，淵哉玄哉、信無底際，曠矣大矣，豈有垠涯？舉應迹以釋報法，豁然明悟，斷疑之巧為若此也。釋此偈妙為若此也，行者思之思之。四偈對四念處者，念處之觀本在苦諦，唯應約須彌山偈而論，今則通對也。一切諸水對受念處，受能含納如海多容故也。須彌山對身念處，色相與質礙相類故也。大地對於想行念處，想取行行如地容載故也。空界對心念處，心但有名如空無相故也。若觀四念處是脩長壽因，若念處得道即是長壽果，故用念處對四偈也。若觀四枯念處，破凡夫之四倒；若觀四榮念處，破二乘之四倒；若觀中道念處，則非榮非枯，於其中間而般涅槃，成五種解脫，謂色解脫乃至識解脫。脫五陰縛名五解脫，洞達五陰空無所有名五般若，冥五陰現名五法身，雖三分別，不一不異、不縱不橫，名祕密藏，號大涅槃。《仁王》呼為法性色、法性受想行識。陰之法性即是法身，智冥法性即是報身。法報皆非常非無常，而能起用為常為無常，常用則長、無常用則短。信相但見無常、不能見常，於用未達，況解其本？四佛舉喻明其用常，迹常無邊非思算所得，況復體理寧可心知？信相迷除，豁如雲卷，斷疑之巧為若此也。四偈對四德者，水潤生榮對常德，山能高出對我德，碎地為塵對淨德，空無苦受對樂德。四德成就是果上所剋，果與理冥，冥於非常非無常，能起常無常用；冥於非我非無我，起我無我用；冥於非淨非不淨，起淨不淨用；冥於非樂非不樂，起於樂無樂用。信相但見無常無樂、不見常樂，於應尚迷，何能識本？四佛舉四德之用非思算所知，體本報法杳然慮外。信相聞說，非但疑除惑斷，增信生解，故歡喜踊躍得之於懷（云云）。

From "At that time the four Buddhas" onward for three and a half chapters is the second part, the main discourse section. There are three different explanations in all. The first states: "[The Chapter on the Span of] Life" clarifies the eternal fruit as the principle; the eternal fruit tallies with the nature, and the nature is precisely the substance. The two meanings are distinctly evident and require no further confusion. Below, the "Chapter on Confession" extinguishes evil, the "Chapter on Praise" generates good, and the "Chapter on Emptiness" guides to consummation; these are precisely the sūtra's function. The second states: "[The Chapter on the Span of] Life" clarifies the principle; "Confession" and "Praise" clarify the function; and the "Chapter on Emptiness" clarifies the substance. This takes the nature functioned upon in the cause as the substance revealed upon the fruit; this is inconvenient in meaning, and therefore we do not adopt it. The third, Tripiṭaka [master Paramārtha], says: The main discourse has two sections; "[The Chapter on the Span of] Life" is the fruit section, and "The Three Bodies" is the causal section, each text having its own introduction. Ākāśagarbha's inquiry serves as the introduction to the causal section, which is merely an inquiry and is weak in its meaning as an introduction. Our master [Zhiyi] says: "The Three Bodies" accomplishes the meaning upon the fruit, not the causal meaning; therefore, we do not adopt it. What the first school says is good, and accords with our present intent. In both the new and old texts, the principle is clarified in three places in total: First, the four Buddhas brush aside doubts, clarifying that the lifespan of the responsive manifestation is not what thought and calculation can know. Since the traces are already so long and distant, the source is hard to fathom completely; people of superior faculties hear the traces and awaken to the source. If they have not yet awakened, the Prince clarifies that the legs of gnats and mosquitoes can be used to make city watchtowers, and rats climbing the ladder of rabbit horns can eat the moon and eliminate the asuras, clarifying that the Dharma-body has no relics: the Tathāgata's true body has no place for relics. People of middling faculties directly hear the rational source and awaken to the traces. If they have not yet awakened, Śākyamuni discusses the three bodies in a shared discourse, analyzing them extensively, so that both source and traces are understood. These are the three rounds of clarifying the principle and revealing the substance. The "Chapter on Confession" specifically addresses the extinction of evil, and generally also generates good; the "Chapter on Praise" specifically addresses the generation of good, and generally also extinguishes evil; the "Chapter on Emptiness" guides to consummation; these are all the function of the sūtra. In the present four-fascicle text, there is only one round of clarifying the principle. The text consists of four parts: first, the four Buddhas speak verses; second, Ruciraketu rejoices; third, those of immediate capacity attain the Path; fourth, the four Buddhas return to their origins. Speaking the verses also has two parts: first, the sūtra-compiler's narration; second, the four Buddhas' metaphorical explanation. Question: Did the four Buddhas speak the verses individually or together? Answer: Since the sūtra has no text [stipulating this], it cannot be definitively judged. Perhaps it was suitable to hear them speak together, with different mouths but the same voice; or perhaps it was suitable to hear them speak separately, each citing one metaphor. Seeing them was also like this: if one saw the four Buddhas possessing the same exalted and distinct body, with one body and one wisdom, this was the eternal body, because the assembly of disciples was one; if one saw that the Buddha-bodies of the four Buddhas were different, this was the responsive manifestation, because the assembly of disciples was diverse. The eight verses are divided into two intentions. The first states: The first four verses set up the metaphors; the next one verse joins the metaphors; the next two verses sever doubts; the next one verse concludes with an explanation. The second states: The first four verses are the basis of the metaphors; the latter four verses join and explain them. Both approaches may be used. The ancients said: The four verses merely metaphorize the length of his life, with no further meaning. This meaning is not correct. The teachings of the Buddhas are good in the beginning, middle, and end; their words are skillful and their meanings profound. Here it precisely severs doubts concerning the eternal principle; how could the essential point of a sūtra lack meaning? Let us temporarily explain the text according to three intentions: first, correlated with the four truths; second, correlated with the four applications of mindfulness; third, correlated with the four virtues. The principle of the four truths encompasses both cause and fruit; the four applications of mindfulness treat the cause; the four virtues treat the fruit. If one discusses the fruit of life, it should be correlated with the four virtues; since the fruit does not arise in isolation, the applications of mindfulness clarify the cause; since cause and fruit have an origin, they are correlated with the four truths. Above, the four Buddhas were correlated with the wisdom of the four truths; now what is spoken by the four Buddhas is correlated with the principle of the four truths. The old reading of the text on the four truths says: knowing suffering according to the mark of suffering, and knowing the accumulation according to the mark of accumulation. The "mark" is its concrete aspect; knowing merely according to the concrete aspect does not illuminate the principle. Now we clarify: knowing suffering according to [suchness] and the mark of suffering: suchness (ru) is its principle, and mark (xiang) is its concrete aspect; reaching truth through the concrete aspect, both concrete aspect and principle are penetrated. The remaining three truths are also like this. Explaining it in this way is convenient for the meaning of the principle of the four truths. Another interpretation is: knowing suffering is knowing the conventional; suchness is knowing the real; the mark is knowing the middle; the middle is the true mark; therefore, we now take the mark as the middle. Thus the three truths are completely present in a single phrase. Since knowing suffering is like this, accumulation, path, and cessation below are also like this (and so forth). Clearly understanding the four truths is the sphere for cultivating long life; therefore, we correlate the verses according to the four truths. "All the waters": this correlates with the truth of accumulation. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says, "There is a whirlpool river that submerges sentient beings"; this is precisely its meaning. The substance of water moistens and gives birth, just as accumulation can nourish and grow. Surging and billowing vastness is found nowhere absent; accumulation is also like this, submerging both ordinary beings and sages, spanning inside and outside the realms. "All Mount Sumerus": this correlates with the truth of suffering. The Minor Prajñā[pāramitā] takes the body as Sumeru; this is precisely its meaning. The mass of the mountain is formed and stands solid upon the waters, just as the retribution of suffering accumulates, serving as the fruit for accumulation and binding form and mind inside and outside the realms. "The minute dust of the great earth": this correlates with the truth of the path. The Lotus Sūtra says, "The Dharma that he expounds all reaches the ground of all-knowledge"; this is precisely its meaning. The substance of the earth can contain and support both water and land ways, just as the common and distinctive paths reach this and the other shore. "The divisions and boundaries of empty space": this correlates with the truth of cessation. The Lotus Sūtra says, "Its constantly quiescent and extinguished mark ultimately returns to emptiness"; this is precisely its meaning. The substance of space is utterly pure; the five cataracts cannot defile it, and the three luminaries cannot purify it. It is like the truth of cessation, extinguishing into non-existence the twenty-five states of existence, as well as extinguishing into the nirvāṇa of the conjured city. The principle of the four truths pervading all places is the Dharma-body; the wisdom of the four truths knowing in accordance with the objective sphere is the reward body; giving rise to function from substance to conform in length or brevity is the responsive body. Ruciraketu merely saw the responsive [lifespan] as short, and did not see the responsive [lifespan] as long; since he had not even penetrated the responsive, how could he know the reward and Dharma [bodies]? The four Buddhas cited four metaphors to metaphorize the length of his responsive [life]: drops of water, pounds of mountains, dust of the earth, and the boundaries of space cannot even be thought of or calculated so as to find their edges; how much less can the wisdom that is darkly merged with Dharma—so profound, so unfathomable, truly without bottom or limit, so vast and great, how could it have bounds? Adducing the responsive traces to explain the reward and Dharma [bodies], he had a sudden and clear awakening; such was the skillfulness in severing doubts! Such was the marvel in explaining these verses; let practitioners ponder this, ponder this! Correlating the four verses with the four applications of mindfulness: The contemplation of the applications of mindfulness is fundamentally based on the truth of suffering, and should properly be discussed only with reference to the Mount Sumeru verse; here, however, they are correlated comprehensively. "All the waters" correlates with the application of mindfulness to feelings, because feelings can contain and receive, like the sea with its immense capacity. "Mount Sumeru" correlates with the application of mindfulness to the body, because form-marks and physical obstruction are similar in nature. "The great earth" correlates with the applications of mindfulness to perception and volitional formations, because perception grasps and formations act, just as the earth contains and carries. "The boundaries of space" correlates with the application of mindfulness to the mind, because the mind has only a name, just as space is devoid of marks. If one contemplates the four applications of mindfulness, it is the cause for cultivating long life; if one attains the Path through the applications of mindfulness, it is precisely the fruit of long life; therefore, we use the applications of mindfulness to correlate with the four verses. If one contemplates the four withered applications of mindfulness, one destroys the four inversions of ordinary beings; if one contemplates the four blooming applications of mindfulness, one destroys the four inversions of the two vehicles; if one contemplates the Middle Way applications of mindfulness, then being neither blooming nor withered, one attains parinirvāṇa in their midst and accomplishes the five kinds of liberation, namely the liberation of form up to the liberation of consciousness. Being liberated from the bonds of the five aggregates is called the five liberations; penetrating thoroughly the five aggregates as empty and non-existent is called the five wisdoms; darkly merging with the five aggregates so they manifest is called the five Dharma-bodies. Although differentiated into three, they are neither one nor different, neither vertical nor horizontal; this is called the secret storehouse, designated as the Great Nirvāṇa. The Benevolent Kings Sūtra calls them dharmatā-form and dharmatā-feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. The dharmatā of the aggregates is precisely the Dharma-body; wisdom darkly merged with dharmatā is precisely the reward body. Neither Dharma nor reward [bodies] are either permanent or impermanent, yet they are able to give rise to function as permanent or impermanent: when the permanent is functioned, it is long; when the impermanent is functioned, it is short. Ruciraketu merely saw the impermanent and was unable to see the permanent; having not even penetrated the function, how much less could he understand the source? The four Buddhas cited metaphors to clarify that its function is eternal; the eternity of the traces is boundless and cannot be attained by thought and calculation, how much more so could the substance and principle ever be known by the mind? Ruciraketu's delusion was eliminated, clearing away as if clouds were rolling back; such was the skillfulness in severing doubts! Correlating the four verses with the four virtues: Water moistening and producing lush growth correlates with the virtue of permanence; a mountain being able to tower lofty correlates with the virtue of self; crushing the earth into dust correlates with the virtue of purity; space being free from painful feeling correlates with the virtue of bliss. The consummation of the four virtues is what is attained upon the fruit; the fruit darkly merges with principle: merging with neither permanence nor impermanence, it can give rise to the functions of permanence and impermanence; merging with neither self nor non-self, it gives rise to the functions of self and non-self; merging with neither purity nor impurity, it gives rise to the functions of purity and impurity; merging with neither bliss nor non-bliss, it gives rise to the functions of bliss and non-bliss. Ruciraketu merely saw impermanence and non-bliss, and did not see permanence and bliss; since he was still deluded about the responsive, how could he recognize the source? The four Buddhas cited the functions of the four virtues as not what can be known by thought and calculation; the substance and source, the reward and Dharma [bodies], were far beyond thought. Hearing this explained, Ruciraketu not only had his doubts removed and confusions severed, but his faith increased and understanding arose, so that he rejoiced and leapt with joy, grasping it in his heart (and so forth).