中觀論疏 2.6

2.6

Question: If directly contemplating emptiness is prajñā, and not realizing emptiness [as final] is expedient means, then directly illuminating existence should also be named prajñā, and illuminating existence without clinging should be named upāya. Answer: To explain it according to Kumārajīva's intention: although contemplating emptiness without realizing it is upāya, it receives its name from prajñā, suppressing the designation of ingenuity. Likewise, although the meaning of illuminating existence is prajñā, it receives its name from upāya, suppressing the designation of prajñā and taking its name from expedient means. Master Sengzhao precisely applied this intention, saying: "Directly penetrating the characteristics of dharmas is termed wisdom; illuminating emptiness without realizing it [as final] and engaging with existence without clinging to it—these two aspects of ingenuity are termed upāya." Question: Is it also permissible that the meaning of directly illuminating emptiness is named prajñā, while illuminating emptiness without realizing it, illuminating existence, and engaging with existence without clinging—these three aspects—are all upāya? Answer: There is also this meaning. Prajñā directly illuminates the real mark of all dharmas, and is therefore called the substance, and the substance has no duality. Expedient means is the ingenious functioning of prajñā, and the functioning has many facets. First, being able to illuminate emptiness without realizing emptiness [as final]—this is one ingenuity. Next, contemplating emptiness and immediately being able to illuminate existence—this is a second ingenuity. Third, engaging with existence and being able to be free from clinging—this is a third ingenuity. Taken together, these ingenuities are all named expedient means. Therefore, taking gold as the substance, all the various ingenuities upon the gold are named expedient means. Question: This contradicts the previous explanation; how are they to be harmonized? Answer: Illuminating both emptiness and existence together are both called prajñā, and taking both ingenuities together is called expedient means. Thus prajñā fully illuminates emptiness and existence, and expedient means fully possesses the two ingenuities of emptiness and existence. Therefore, taking prajñā as wisdom, wisdom has two illuminations; expedient means does not bear the name of wisdom, so it is only called the two ingenuities. This is explained in terms of the two illuminations and the two ingenuities. If directly illuminating the real mark is named prajñā, and contemplating emptiness without realizing it as well as illuminating existence without clinging are taken as the functioning of prajñā, they are therefore both named expedient means. This is explained in terms of one substance and many facets of functioning. These are merely combining or separating according to the occasion; none of the meanings are contradictory, and different textual passages are all reconciled. Though the three modes are different, they are still of one single meaning. Question: If the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa takes the two wisdoms as the parents of the Dharma body, why does the Yingluo jing take the two truths as the parents? Answer: If the two wisdoms are called the Buddha, and the two wisdoms are produced from the two truths, then the two truths are taken as the parents. If one says that the two wisdoms give birth to the Buddha and thus the two wisdoms are the parents, while the two wisdoms in turn are produced from the two truths, then the two truths are the grandparents. And the two truths are in turn corrected through the eight negations, so the eight negations are the ancestors of the ancestors. Therefore, that the eight negations are the central destination of all teachings and the primal origin of all the noble ones is made clear here.