大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 17.23

17.23

Next is the answer regarding the measure of observing the precepts. Since it has a beginning, it must have an end; therefore the Buddha answers that it continues until seeing the lakṣa. As for the recitation count of the mantra, it always corresponds to completing the observances of the times and months. In an introductory, superficial sense, observing the mantra precepts involves limiting the precepts one keeps and limiting the count one recites—meaning once, ten times, up to a lakṣa and so forth, or for one night, one month, up to years. Thus here the Buddha says that one finishes only upon reaching the lakṣa. In a superficial sense, a lakṣa is one hundred thousand repetitions. But here it is not so: lakṣa means 'seeing'. When one sees reality, this mantra practice is then completed; otherwise, there is no stopping halfway. It is not like worldly reciters who limit it to such and such an amount, seeking merely shallow, superficial results. However, recitation here should first establish the upāya of the three equalities as explained above, namely the mantra, the mudrā of the body, and visualization of the deity. When seeing the deity, one's mind abides in resonance, and nothing can shake or disturb it. One also visualizes the recited mantra flowing from the deity's heart and entering one's own mouth without interruption, like a flower garland. One thereby fills one's body with such virtues of the Buddha, and they no longer flow out from the body. When it is about to reach fulfillment, signs gradually appear: either the signs of siddhi as spoken of in its own section; or various ailments and afflictions of one's own body being healed; or small insects and the like no longer infesting one's body, which becomes radiant, pure, and free from defilements; or having formerly had dull faculties and inferior wisdom, one now attains unforgetting dhāraṇī, able to expound multiple meanings from a single syllable, even chanting verses without any mental hindrance. These are the preliminary signs. Therefore the Buddha says that it is completed only when seen. Lakṣa has the meaning of 'seeing', and also the meaning of 'siddhi'. When the practitioner's mind abides in samādhi and sees the deity in tranquil, correct stabilization, even if Mount Sumeru, king of mountains, were to collapse and quake, it could not shake or disturb his mind. Or when facing various strange apparitions, such as the terrifying māra deeds in the bodhimaṇḍa, he can remain calm without fear; even the exquisite maidens of the māra palace cannot sway his resolve or provoke distracted thoughts. Why is this? Because he is sustained by abiding in the precepts of reality. One should know that at that time, he is not far from the path of seeing. Or at times, the taste of all food, even if bitter and astringent, becomes like amṛta; through this cause, his body is gladdened, and the coarse, vile tastes of the five desires cannot move him—this is the sign of greed being extinguished. The sign of anger being extinguished is that, because the practitioner's six faculties are gradually purified, it is like walking in a great wilderness at the height of heat, amid blazing sunlight and scorching sand, suddenly coming upon a clear spring to wash and bathe oneself; at that time, wrath, malice, and the like cannot disturb him. Furthermore, 'equal to gold and stone' refers to the three equalities. 'Months, times, and counts' are all the limits of recitation. In addition, lakṣa has the meaning of a target, like hitting the mark in archery. This is like the archery metaphor in the Śūraṅgama and the Mañjuśrī sūtras. Abiding in genuine truth and naturally according with it is the meaning of lakṣa.