起信論疏筆削記 17.37

17.37

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."