大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 19.14

19.14

復次祕密主！三昧門句，於此中空。加持一切法自在，佛得是故字本尊。「阿字第一句，明法普周遍，以字而圍遶。彼尊無有相，遠離於見相。無相諸聖尊，而現相中來。」阿字第一句，明法普皆圍遶。無相彼尊現離相無相尊相中而來者，佛為欲滿彼修真言行者令圓滿故，復說此三昧句也。於此中，空者謂阿字也。阿字即本不生不可得空也。猶此畢竟不可得不可得空，具足眾德、普攝一切佛法也。此攝，於梵音是攝取之攝，如攝取諸物令在己身之義也。由以此空加持力故，能攝一切法成佛也。此中自在者，梵音與觀自在之自在有異，此是攝取義，謂能攝取一切法也。如王者於其境內，隨意攝取皆得自在。如來法王於一切法自在，亦如是也。是故此字最為尊者，言此字即是尊，即為天為神。天者眾中之首，此字亦如是。於一切法中最為其尊，猶如世間地居中帝釋為第一，諸世仙聖中梵王為第一，諸聖智中佛為第一，此阿字於一切真言門中最為第一也。由此一字成無量功德，故無上也。明，即真言之別號也。明法普皆字圍遶者，謂從一字亦無量字生，無量明周匝圍遶，如前所說字輪也。雖有如是圍遶，而體即空寂無相。於無相中見相，即此相中而離於相。又於無相之中而現有去來等事，普應世間。當知皆是真言不思議加持之力也。以阿字加持自身故即同於空，於此空中而成就一切佛法。猶如世間萬物因空得成，而空本體無相，於無相中而現種種形聲也。尊是義，字是相，即前品義同也。

"Furthermore, Lord of Secrets! In this phrase of the samādhi gateway, emptiness resides within it. By empowering all dharmas with mastery, a buddha is attained; therefore this syllable is the presiding deity (adhidevatā).

'The syllable A is the first phrase;
The luminous Dharma is all-pervading,
Surrounded by syllables.
That deity has no characteristics,
Being far removed from visible marks.
All noble deities are formless,
Yet appear within form.'"

"The syllable A is the first phrase; the luminous Dharma is completely surrounded by them. That deity is formless, yet appears; the formless deity, devoid of characteristics, arrives within form"—in order to fulfill the aspirations of the practitioner of the mantra practice and make them complete, the Buddha again expounded this samādhi phrase.

Here, "emptiness" refers to the syllable A. The syllable A is the emptiness of the originally unborn and unobtainable. It is precisely through this emptiness of the ultimate unobtainability that all virtues are fully possessed, universally encompassing all buddha-dharmas. This "encompassing," in Sanskrit, has the sense of taking in or appropriating (parigraha), like gathering all things into one's own body. Through the empowering force of this emptiness, one can encompass all dharmas and achieve buddhahood.

Here, "mastery" (vaśitā) is different in Sanskrit from the "mastery" in Avalokiteśvara [Avalokitasvara]. This has the sense of encompassing, meaning being able to encompass all dharmas. Just as a king within his realm gathers and takes whatever he pleases with complete mastery, the Tathāgata, the Dharma King, likewise has mastery over all dharmas.

Therefore, this syllable is the most venerable. To say that this syllable is the "deity" (devatā) means that it is a deva or a spirit. A deva is the foremost among a host; this syllable is also like that. Among all dharmas it is the most venerable, just as in the worldly realm Śakra Devendra is foremost among terrestrial beings, Brahmā is foremost among sages and seers, and the Buddha is foremost among all noble wisdoms. This syllable A is foremost among all mantra gateways. Because immeasurable merits are accomplished through this single syllable, it is unsurpassed.

"Luminous" (vidyā) is another name for mantra. "The luminous Dharma is completely surrounded by syllables" means that from the one syllable, immeasurable syllables are born as well, and immeasurable luminous mantras encircle it all around, like the syllable-wheel explained previously. Although there is such surrounding, its essence is empty, tranquil, and formless. Seeing forms within the formless, right within these forms one is free from form. Furthermore, within the formless there appear activities such as coming and going, responding universally to the worldly realm. One should know that all of this is due to the inconceivable empowering force of mantras.

Because one empowers one's own body with the syllable A, it becomes identical with emptiness; and within this emptiness, all buddha-dharmas are accomplished. It is just as myriad things in the world are accomplished by relying on empty space, while the fundamental essence of space has no form, yet within the formless, manifold shapes and sounds appear. The deity is the meaning, and the syllable is the mark; the meaning is the same as in the preceding chapter.