金剛般若論會釋 2.72

2.72

Question: 'This seeking instruction is spoken regarding Dīpaṃkara: was there a dharma attained or not? Immediately prior to this, regarding leaving behind the taste of quiescence, it was again spoken regarding Dīpaṃkara Buddha. Earlier, regarding not parting from the Buddha's arising [in the world], it was also spoken regarding whether bodhi was attained under Dīpaṃkara. What is the difference among these three places? Buddhas are extremely numerous; why is Dīpaṃkara Buddha the only one mentioned?' Answer: 'First, speaking of Dīpaṃkara was to abandon the obstacle of having heard little, cultivating the practice of not parting from the Buddha's arising. It states that I was once an eighth-stage bodhisattva, spontaneously cultivating both truth and convention without arising, already capable of enduring, thinking on, and upholding all dharmas, yet for the sake of broad learning, I still did not part from Dīpaṃkara to cultivate that practice. You now still abide in the initial part of the ten dedications; why do you not cultivate the practice of not parting from the Buddha, to seek broad learning and accomplish the unarisen, and so forth? Second, speaking of Dīpaṃkara was to set forth an analogy for comparison: when I was an eighth-stage bodhisattva, the merit attained from making offerings to that Buddha Tathāgata for an eon was still not equal to the merit attained from reciting and practicing this sūtra; how much less should you, now abiding in the middle part of the ten dedications, not practice and cultivate this sūtra? Now speaking of Dīpaṃkara reveals that in the eighth stage, one still seeks instruction to advance in the unarisen, spontaneously cultivating the endurance of the unarisen dharma; how much less should one now abiding in the summit stage of the application of effort (prayoga) not seek instruction to advance in the unarisen and enter the stage of endurance? Because the cause of the endurance of the unarisen has five periods: 1. the stage of provision (saṃbhāra-avasthā), relying on causal consciousness-only to cultivate the unarisen generally; 2. the stage of application of effort (prayoga-avasthā), which is precisely this stage, beginning to rely on wisdom derived from cultivation to cultivate the unarisen specifically; 3. the stage of the path of seeing (darśana-mārga), beginning to realize untainted naturelessness and non-arising; 4. the eighth stage, beginning to be able spontaneously to advance into the unarisen; 5. the Buddha stage, mastery. There are four causal stages and one fruition stage. This may also be called contemplation with wisdom as it truly is (yathābhūtajñāna); the essence of contemplation with wisdom as it truly is pervades the untainted. For this reason, the earlier sūtra's three mentions of Dīpaṃkara are not redundant. This sūtra mostly speaks of the nature of signlessness, non-arising, and ultimate truth. At the time of Dīpaṃkara, the Buddha spontaneously and continuously attained this path; spreading his hair and scattering flowers, he surpassed eight eons, and the footprint where his hair covered the mud still exists today. Because it produces abundant faith, it is exclusively pointed to and spoken of.'