大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 4.7

4.7

The sūtra says: "Finding an auspicious day, an early morning, a fixed day, when the divisions of time, the presiding lunar mansions, and the planetary grahas are all concordant, and encountering auspicious omens before the time of the meal"—this uses the occasion of selecting the site to explain the sub-elements of selecting the time. In all ritual acts that are performed, they must correspond to the meaning of the time. Now, as one is about to select and prepare this ground, one therefore alerts and awakens the earth deity on an auspicious day. The other ritual occasions may be understood by analogy. "An auspicious day and an early morning" means that the performance of the rite should use the waxing fortnight of the moon (śuklapakṣa). Among these, the first, third, fifth, seventh, and thirteenth days are all auspicious and suitable for constructing a maṇḍala. Furthermore, the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of the month are the supreme ones; on reaching these days, one should always recite and also apply extra effort. "A fixed day" (niyata-divasa): in Western calendrical methods, one calculates the short months to determine which day it should fall upon; if a short month falls within the bright fortnight, the fifteenth day of that month belongs to the dark fortnight (kṛṣṇapakṣa) and is unfit for use. Moreover, calendrical methods calculate the mean motion degrees of the sun and moon to establish the mean new moon, with alternating short and long months. Because the sun and moon also have variations of speed in their mean motion—sometimes exceeding the mean motion and sometimes falling short of it—the true new moon may advance or recede by one day, and the true full moon may fall on either the fourteenth or the sixteenth day. In general, when the full moon is completely round, it is designated the fifteenth day of the bright fortnight; when the moon is exactly half, like a bowstring, it is the eighth day. Simply by determining it based on these standards, one obtains the fixed day. "Divisions of time" (muhūrta): in Western calendrical methods, day and night each have thirty muhūrtas, each with a distinct name. For instance, in daytime one measures the length of the shadow to calculate it: doing things at a certain muhūrta is auspicious, at a certain muhūrta is ominous, and at a certain muhūrta is neutral; each has its own category and symbol. As for "presiding lunar mansions," this refers to the twenty-seven nakṣatras. The celestial circuit is divided into twelve houses, just like the twelve solar stations here; each station has nine quarters (pādas). The entire celestial circuit comprises one hundred and eight pādas; each nakṣatra receives an equal four pādas, which constitutes the distance traveled by the moon in one day's journey. Passing through twenty-seven days, the moon traverses one complete circuit of the sky. Calculated according to the calendar, the nakṣatra in which the moon resides is the presiding nakṣatra of that day. The nakṣatras are classified as superior, intermediate, and inferior; their natures differ as hard, soft, restless, or still; and the ritual acts performed should also be made to accord with them. As for "the grahas," there are nine types of grahas: namely, the seven heavenly bodies—sun, moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn—together with Rāhu and Ketu, making nine grahas in all. Rāhu is the deity of the eclipse conjunctions. Ketu translates properly as "banner," and the banner-star refers to comets. Aside from these two grahas, the remaining seven heavenly bodies preside over the days in succession; their natures and types also comprise both good and evil, as explained in the Sanskrit calendrical treatises. As for "the time before the meal": day and night each have three divisions of time. Before the meal one may perform rites for averting disasters (śāntika); in the evening one may perform rites for increasing prosperity (pauṣṭika); and at night one may perform rites for subjugation (ābhicāruka). Entering the maṇḍala for abhiseka accords with the averting of disasters; therefore it says "before the meal." "Encountering auspicious omens": this means that when performing the rite, various extraordinary signs of forms, sounds, and so forth appear either on the ground or in the sky. On the ground: for instance, encountering a maiden holding a jar of the five products of a cow or a jar of scented water; or the objects she holds are of the same type as the wheel-seal and so forth; or it is an object revered in the world; or a vessel filled clean to the brim with white unpolished rice; or her clothing is stately, fresh, and beautiful; or she speaks various auspicious and harmonious words—these are all signs of accomplishment. In the sky: for instance, suddenly beholding celebratory clouds and auspicious vapors suffused with the five colors; or a bright, iridescent rainbow appearing out of season; or a flame-colored, fluttering shape resembling the accomplishment of a homa; or a display of five colors beside the sun; or a human form resembling someone abiding in tranquility; or fine and exquisite sounds in the sky, such as those of white cranes, peacocks, mandarin ducks, or wild geese, clear, harmonious, and pleasing to the human ear. Such as these are all likewise signs of accomplishment. The reason why one must accord with conventional truth is that the maṇḍala of the ultimate truth is subtle and quiescent; even people of pure faith and candid mind find it hard to accept with faith, how much more so those who harbor doubts? Because the persons to be saved have previously practiced the Vedic rituals and technical sciences (śilpakarmasthāna-vidyāsthāna), if they saw that the divisions of time for constructing the maṇḍala were erroneous, they would worry that it might bring misfortune, and would thus give rise to suspicion, saying: "I have heard that those with the wisdom of dhāraṇī understand everything without exception. Yet looking at them now, they cannot even select a good star or an auspicious time; how much less could they understand other profound matters?" Because of doubting the master and doubting the Dharma, they would lose their firm faith and instead invite severe transgressions. Therefore one must accord with their inclinations and capacities. Furthermore, such planetary grahas are themselves a kind of gateway of good spiritual friends (kalyāṇamitra) within the maṇḍala. Those fundamental deities are able to accord with worldly affairs and produce skillful means of adhiṣṭhāna. Because the ācārya skillfully chooses the auspicious time, it inherently correlates with the fundamental vows of those mantras, granting adhiṣṭhāna to enable freedom from all obstacles. Furthermore, the various gateways of conventional truth are all emblems of the dharmadhātu. What is called "an auspicious day and early morning" points to the auspicious morning of the union of the bodhicitta. The ācārya of profound practice, abiding in yoga, observes when the person to be saved originally planted the roots of goodness—whether long ago or far in the past; to whom the causes and conditions belong; and from what circumstances they arose. For instance, when a practitioner first generates the mind [of bodhi], it may be through seeing the Buddha preach the Dharma, or beholding a spiritual transformation, or seeing various pitiable sufferings; or they may generate the mind for the path toward a bodhisattva, śrāvaka, or pratyekabuddha; or through making offerings of flowers, incense, and so forth to the above fields of merit, their mind experiences joy and they immediately generate a vow aspiring to the fruit of Buddhahood. Because their past causes and present conditions mutually stimulate each other, their diverse capacities and awakenings differ. At such a time the bodhicitta may possess the power of tranquility; or at such a time it may possess the power of advancement; or at such a time it may possess the power of fierce majesty. If one establishes it in accordance with the skillful means of the various siddhāntas, the efforts will not be in vain and no obstacles will arise. As for "a fixed day": the sun is an analogy for the body of the fundamental deity; the moon is an analogy for cultivating the yogic practice. Because the moon of the practitioner's focused mind is sometimes bright and sometimes dim, or initiates practice too quickly or initiates practice too slowly, or exceeds the Middle Way or falls short of the Middle Way, this causes the time of capacity and awakening to have waxings and wanings. According to normal principles, it may be established when reaching a certain condition and a certain time; yet conditions and objects shift, so that it may ripen before reaching that time and place, or ripen only after passing that time and place. Such adaptations must all be skillfully known; hence it is called "a fixed day." As for "the divisions of time": regarding the practitioner's own ten minds in each and every bhūmi, each mind possesses cause, root, and fruit, making thirty minds in all. Within these thirty muhūrtas, one should also carefully and minutely examine: at what time can afflictions be subdued? At what time can virtues be increased? At what time should one abide with a tranquil mind in accord with the Middle Way? This is called understanding the subtle characteristics within time. As for "presiding lunar mansions": these are the conditions and objects through which the moon of the practitioner's yoga traverses; in all conditions and objects, one perceives the nature of the mind. Just as the arrayed nakṣatras differ in size and form, yet none fails to be round and luminous. As the moon's transit passes through the twenty-seven nakṣatras, because the nakṣatras it traverses differ in goodness and badness, the worldly divinations observing the moon also vary accordingly. For example, the Winnower nakṣatra (Mūla/Pūrvāṣāḍhā) likes wind; when the moon enters the Winnower, wind arises. The Net nakṣatra (Rohiṇī) likes rain; when the moon enters the Net, rain falls. The practice of bodhi is also like this: encountering conditions and confronting objects, its strength differs, causing the skillful means applied in subduing, gathering in, and tranquil practice to adapt accordingly. If the ācārya can profoundly examine capacities and conditions and clearly understand these matters, this is called being skilled in observing the presiding lunar mansions. As for "the nine grahas": the Sanskrit is graha, which means "to grasp and hold." The ācārya should observe what matter the hand of their mental power is capable of grasping and holding, so that the secret mudrā transmitted will not be rendered futile. For example, only a bodhisattva with a vajra mind can grasp the vajra wisdom mudrā of the buddhas; if it is conferred upon a person of lower bhūmis, it is termed a discordance with the planetary grahas. Among the nine grahas, the sun is an analogy for the fundamentally pure bodhicitta, which is the very essence of Vairocana. The moon is an analogy for the practice of bodhi: on the fifteenth day of the bright fortnight all practices are perfected, an analogy for attaining bodhi; on the fifteenth day of the dark fortnight all practices are exhausted, an analogy for entering parinirvāṇa; its rising and falling with time in between is an analogy for the power of skillful means. One should know that this already encompasses the gateway of the hundred-syllable vidyā. The Saturn graha holds the central womb (garbha); Mercury holds the lotus retinue on the right side; Venus holds the vajra retinue on the left side; Jupiter holds the fruit-virtues of the Tathāgata above; and Mars holds the greatly powerful vidyā-rājas below. Furthermore, these five grahas hold the five-colored thread (sūtra): Saturn is faith, Jupiter is vigor, Venus is mindfulness, Mercury is samādhi, and Mars is wisdom. As for the remaining two grahas, Rāhu governs obscuring obstacles and Ketu governs the appearance of inauspiciousness, and therefore they do not preside over the days. The initial division of the day is like the manifestation of the pure mind; the middle division of the day is like the launching of the manifold practices; the final division of the day is like the myriad virtues having been perfected and active effort gradually ceasing. The initial division of the night is like the stage of personal realization abiding in great nirvāṇa; the final division of the night is like recollecting the fundamental vows and generating the power of adhiṣṭhāna. Going around and returning to the beginning, revolving without end, the substance of the sun is one, yet the divisions of time differ across the four continents. Now, in this maṇḍala, the intention is to unfold the sun of bodhicitta; hence one selects the time before the meal. As for "encountering auspicious omens": this mind is without characteristics and without domain, neither conditioned nor unconditioned; even when observed closely with the five eyes of the Buddha, its appearance cannot be seen, yet there are various signs of the arising of roots of goodness that can be apprehended and known. If one is an ācārya who has seen the truth, one will naturally comprehend them directly; if one has not yet seen the truth, one should observe their domains within samādhi: either seeing that when they practice the six pāramitās, the various six hindrances cannot obstruct them, or that they are praised by sentient beings and even receive the prophecy of bodhi; or, like the various marks of the mudrās mentioned before, they appear luminously, remarkably, and extraordinarily in samādhi. Categorizing them through cause and effect, they can be understood mentally, up to the point where the mutual inclusion of the universal gateway can also be known.