瑜伽師地論略纂 11.45

11.45

Regarding the treatise's statement, "Furthermore, a single Tathāgata is universally capable of performing Buddha-activities in a single great trichiliocosm; therefore, the appearance of a second Tathāgata in the world would be of no benefit": this explains the intention behind there not being two Buddhas in a single world. Question: If a single Buddha's supernatural power is boundless, capable of reaching throughout the ten directions and benefiting all, could it be that by this supernatural power the Buddhas of the ten directions do not appear in the world? Why then say that two Buddhas do not appear in a single trichiliocosm? The doctrinal explanation is: It is not so. Although a Buddha's supernatural power is boundless, provisionally speaking from the perspective of external marks, he performs Buddha-activities in a single trichiliocosm; therefore, in a single buddha-world there are no two Tathāgatas. There is a measure for appearance; hence it is only a trichiliocosm, not the rest of the ten directions.