起信論疏筆削記 17.37

17.37

今所會通，則特異於彼。何者？且梵語劫波，此云時分，大劫、小劫、長時、短時，下至剎那，皆名時分。阿僧祇，此云無數，無數之言亦不定久近。如人經年不相見，便云無數時，竟日不見亦云無數時。修行時分意亦同此，謂始從具足凡位，發心修進，法爾經無數時，方得親證真如，名為見道，是一無數時。從見道已去，漸斷俱生二障，法爾又經無數時，方得不假功用，自然相應，至第八地，是第二無數時。從此任運進趣，消遣餘累，法爾又經無數時方得成佛，是第三無數時。斯則無數時是定有，然延促不可定也。若此所解，方有修行之人。況時無定體，唯心所現，故《法華》說：日月燈明佛說《法華經》六十小劫，時會聽者謂如食頃。又論釋經劫數之言：或云年歲、或日月等。又《攝論》云：處夢謂經年，覺乃須臾頃，故時雖無量，攝在一剎那。

The reconciliation presented here is markedly different from that. How so? The Sanskrit word kalpa means "period of time" here: great kalpas, small kalpas, long durations, short durations, down to a single kṣaṇa, are all called periods of time. Asaṃkhyeya means "innumerable" here; the expression "innumerable" also does not fix a long or short duration. Just as when people have not seen each other for a whole year, they say "innumerable times," and when they have not seen each other for a whole day, they also say "innumerable times." The meaning of the periods of time in cultivation is also like this: from fully possessing the ordinary status, generating the mind, and cultivating progress, naturally an innumerable time must pass before one can personally realize tathatā, which is called the path of seeing—this is the first innumerable time. From the path of seeing onward, gradually severing the two innate obstacles, naturally another innumerable time must pass before one attains effortless, spontaneous conformity and reaches the eighth bhūmi—this is the second innumerable time. From here, progressing effortlessly and clearing away the remaining burdens, naturally another innumerable time must pass before one attains Buddhahood—this is the third innumerable time. Thus, the "innumerable times" are definitely present, yet their extension or contraction cannot be fixed. Only with this interpretation will there be people who cultivate. Moreover, time has no fixed substance; it is merely manifested by the mind. Therefore the Lotus Sūtra says: When the Buddha Candrasūryapradīpa preached the Lotus Sūtra for sixty small kalpas, the listeners in the assembly thought it was like the span of a meal. Furthermore, a treatise explains that the scriptures' words for numbers of kalpas sometimes mean years, or months and days, and so forth. In addition, the Mahāyānasaṃgraha states: "Dwelling in a dream, one thinks years have passed; on waking, it is but a fleeting moment. Therefore, although time is immeasurable, it is subsumed within a single kṣaṇa."