大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 4.50

4.50

The sūtra says: "Lord of Secrets! Those without past habituation in the Mahāyāna who have never contemplated the practice of the Mantrayāna cannot see, hear, rejoice in, or faithfully accept even a small fraction of it. Furthermore, Vajrasattva! If those sentient beings in the past advanced through the immeasurable gateways to the path of the Mahāyāna and the Mantrayāna and have previously practiced it, it is for their sake that these names and numbers have been limited and established." This means: if sentient beings have not planted wholesome roots before immeasurable buddhas over a long time in the past and have never practiced this Secret Vehicle, then hearing it suddenly, they will not be able to faithfully accept it. If the transmitter of the Dharma merely, out of a wholesome mind, expounds it to those with the wrong capacity, it may increase their slander and sever their wholesome roots. Therefore the Lotus Sūtra says, "Those without wisdom who harbor doubt and regret will be lost forever." Among the sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions, few have the aspiration to seek the śrāvaka path; those who seek the pratyekabuddha path are even fewer; those who seek the Mahāyāna are extremely rare; yet seeking the Mahāyāna is still relatively easy, whereas having faith in this Dharma is the most difficult. Therefore, viewing with the universal eye, those capable of receiving this Dharma are like dust motes or water drops compared to Mount Sumeru and the great ocean. Since one must protect their minds and speak it only at the proper time, how could one not briefly establish names and numbers? The phrase "advancing through immeasurable gateways" also explains the name and meaning of maṇḍala. A maṇḍala is called an 'aggregation'; now the Tathāgata's true merits are gathered in one place, so that distinctive wisdom mudrās as numerous as the dust motes of ten worlds converge like the spokes of a round wheel, flanking the heart-king Vairocana and enabling all sentient beings to advance through universal gateways; therefore it is called a maṇḍala. What is meant by 'abbreviating this by establishing names and numbers' is, for instance, using the five inflections of the syllable A to unify the Tathāgata's boundless internal virtues, and using the hundred vidyās of the syllable wheel to encompass the Tathāgata's universal-eye Dharma gateways—this is abbreviation of names. Opening an altar of eight petals through upāyas as numerous as the dust motes of lands, and setting a limit of ten people through boundless mahākaruṇā—this is abbreviation of numbers. However, when learners awaken and enter in accordance with a single Dharma or vidyā-path, this is universally entering all dhāraṇī gateways. It is like seeing the king from a single gate, which is entering throughout thousands and tens of thousands of doors. If one cannot practice as spoken, then even if one broadly reveals it through various literary expressions, it will be of no benefit. Therefore the third section next explains that limiting and abbreviating names and numbers does not itself obstruct the broad. Thus the sūtra says: "That ācārya should also make such a vow with a mind of mahākaruṇā: for the sake of liberating the boundless realm of sentient beings, he should gather in immeasurable sentient beings and establish for them the conditions for the seed of bodhi." This means that establishing this maṇḍala ensures that whoever sees, hears, touches, or knows it, down to raising a hand, bowing the head, or having a single thought of rejoicing in accordance, will definitely achieve anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Therefore, although the ācārya must not confer upon them the full-limbed consecration by mistaking their capacity, could the karmic conditions of the tied jewel and the poisoned drum ever cease? Hence he must bring forth a mind of mahākaruṇā and strive to make it reach far and wide. Furthermore, it is like a household that possesses a secret treasure: fearing that thieves might peek at it, they cover it with ragged clothes. This maṇḍala Dharma gateway is just like this: because the secret treasury cannot be proclaimed directly, he reverses his esoteric intention and conceals it with upāyas that possess marks. Saying here that it is limited to ten people pertains merely to the conventional-truth maṇḍala. But the ācārya himself should cultivate his mind-ground, paint the maṇḍala of mahākaruṇā, and liberate people with the universal eye—the more, the better; do not understand it merely according to the words.