大乘起信論裂網疏 3.8

3.8

問：若言東西有定方者，何故《大智度論》破云「若以日出處為東，則俱盧洲日於此處沒，復名為西。勝神洲日於此處午，復名為南。牛貨洲日於此處成半夜，復名為北。」今言定方，如何可通？答：大凡譬喻，皆就目前人所共知，以易例難、以淺況深而已。如滿月喻面，豈可求其眉鼻？雪山喻象，豈可責其尾牙？然即汝所引益顯妙義。若就此洲，則東西有定，定方之外無別知相，可喻如外無智。若約四洲，則東西無定，各隨眾生所知立名，所知之外無別實方，可喻智外無如。若互奪則兩亡，故云都無所得，離二取相；若雙照則宛爾，故云唯有如如及如如智也。

Question: If you say that east and west have fixed directions, why does the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa refute this, saying: 'If where the sun rises is east, then for Uttarakuru the sun sets there, and it is again called west. For Pūrvavideha the sun is at noon there, and it is again called south. For Aparagodānīya the sun makes midnight there, and it is again called north.' Now you speak of fixed directions; how can this be coherent? Answer: In general, metaphors are based on what is commonly known before people's eyes, using the easy to illustrate the difficult and the shallow to describe the deep, nothing more. Just as the full moon is a metaphor for a face, how could one seek eyebrows and a nose on it? A snowy mountain is a metaphor for an elephant, how could one demand a tail and tusks from it? However, what you have cited all the more reveals the profound meaning. If based on this continent, then east and west are fixed, and outside of the fixed directions there is no other mark of knowing, which can serve as a metaphor for there being no wisdom outside of suchness. If considered in terms of the four continents, then east and west are unfixed, names being established according to what sentient beings each know, and outside of what is known there is no separate real direction, which can serve as a metaphor for there being no suchness outside of wisdom. If they mutually negate, both perish; hence it is said that nothing at all is apprehended, being free from the marks of the two graspers. If they are simultaneously illuminated, they are distinctly apparent; hence it is said there is only tathatā and the wisdom of tathatā.