金光明經文句 1.5

1.5

"At one time": Master Sengzhao said: "It is the time of the auspicious assembly when the Dharma King initiated his dispensation." The Tripiṭaka [Master] said: "High times and low times are both [unfit]: if exceeding or falling short, one is incapable of hearing the Dharma. Only when there is an even time is it 'one time.'" Personally, I hold: during high times, an arrogant mind is active; during low times, one is indulged in the five desires; when neither indulged nor arrogant, it is an even time. The Master explains: it is the time when sentient beings feel a need for the Dharma and the Buddha compassionately responds with teaching—the time of capacity and response; it is also the time of generating the genuine and perceiving the truths; it is also the time when the Dharma eye is brightly illuminating the world; it is also the time when the Buddha eye illuminates the Middle (and so forth). As for saying "one": if there are prior thoughts and subsequent awakenings, these two are not one; it is the time when conceptual thought and delusion are severed and one opens into awakening, hence it is said "at one time." As for the contemplative interpretation: entering emptiness from provisionality is at one time with the real; emerging from emptiness into provisionality is at one time with capacities; the correct contemplation of the Middle Way is at one time with dharmatā (and so forth).