金剛般若論會釋 3.37

3.37

Next, explaining the second verse, it reveals the causes and conditions for how he should not be viewed and why he cannot be seen. The first half is the initial part, revealing how he should not be viewed, meaning that the Tathāgata's dharmakāya and the Tathāgata's wondrous essence should not be seen by the coarse consciousness of ordinary persons and the two vehicles that grasps marks; hence it says, 'That wondrous essence of the Tathāgata / is the dharmakāya of the Buddhas.' The Tang translation text differs, and Kumārajīva's version lacks this latter verse. In both Paramārtha's version and this treatise, the first line states, 'By the Dharma one should see the Buddha,' which accords with Western inverted phrasing; if it followed the phrasing of this land, it would be 'One should see the Buddha by the Dharma.' The treatise explains that 'Dharma' has the meaning of tathatā. Why does it only teach contemplating the Buddha by the dharma of tathatā? Because the sūtra next says, 'The Guide has the Dharma as his body,' meaning that because the Buddha Guide has solely the Dharma as his body, one should only contemplate the Buddha by the dharma of tathatā. People become confused and give rise to doubt: 'The Buddha presently has wondrous marks of form and wondrous sounds; why is it not permitted to contemplate the Buddha by the marks of form and sound?' Therefore the treatise explains: because of taking suchness as condition, the pure bodies of the Buddhas are produced; this cannot be seen, and one should only see the Dharma. This means that solely by contemplating the suchness of form and sound are the wondrous form and wondrous sound of the Buddha fruit produced. Therefore, in the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the Buddhas say to Sadāprarudita: 'We abide in the state of non-mindfulness,' which refers to the golden body, great radiance, thirty-two marks, and so forth; these are secondary matters of the dharmakāya and therefore cannot be seen; one should only contemplate the Buddha's tathatā-dharmakāya. The dharmakāya is not seen by a mind that grasps marks; hence the treatise calls it 'how he should not be viewed'. Next, explaining the causes and conditions why he cannot be seen, which are the bottom two lines: 'The essence of the Dharma cannot be seen' reveals that the Buddha's dharmakāya is not an object of the coarse consciousness of ordinary persons and the two vehicles; 'that consciousness cannot know it' reveals that the coarse consciousness of ordinary persons and the two vehicles is not the cause for seeing the dharmakāya; thus these two lines are named 'the causes and conditions for not seeing'. The treatise re-explains: 'For what cause and condition is it impossible to see?', etc., and the text is easy to understand. 'Because without seeing the reality limit one definitely cannot know it': if one does not realize and see the reality limit, one definitely does not know it. Vasubandhu's treatise says: 'Only seeing form and hearing sound, / that person does not know the Buddha; / because the tathatā-dharmakāya / is not an object of consciousness.' The meaning of the explanation can be understood from this.