大乘起信論裂網疏 5.92

5.92

未證法身已前，縱令下化眾生，皆是上求佛道，以自利利他種種方便皆為證會真如體故。已證法身之後，縱令上求佛道，皆為下化眾生，則如今文所明也。種性同等者，具足本有聞熏二種子也。諸根同等者，六處殊勝無差別也。發心同等者，同發三心也。作證同等者，同證真如也。未發心前，容有善根深淺、煩惱厚薄、諸根利鈍、方便勤惰之不同。既發心後，入同生性，無功用道決無差別，但由眾生根欲性異，故示現有差別耳。言三無數劫者，時無實法，唯依妄想建立。且如俗傳，黃粱一夢便同四十餘年；世上千年，山中不過七日。又如經中，仙人執善財手，便歷微塵數劫；讚佛五十小劫，大眾謂如半日。是知非約凡情所計年月日時以談劫量也。良由無始無明雖無實體，而返迷歸悟似有階差，縱令演若歇狂，本頭如故，而喘息亦必久久方安。狂風頓息，大海安瀾，而微波亦必久久方定。太陽一出，昏霧頓收，而潤濕亦必漸漸方除。阿伽一服，萬病頓祛，而精力亦必漸漸方復。久客到家，行程頓息，而家庭事務亦必次第料理。聖王登極，大業頓定，而政治禮樂亦必次第敷陳。故於真如無時劫中，依生滅門而立三無數劫，謂初發心住至十迴向，名初無數劫；初歡喜地至七遠行地，名二無數劫；八不動地至等覺位，名三無數劫。至於較量劫量，則或約所承事佛以明分劑，或約天衣拂石以明久遠，事非一概。又就三無數劫論行相者，或云伏惑未斷，或云斷正扶習，或云次第除惑，或云因該果海，皆是悉檀隨機利益，豈可定執？今云皆悉同等，乃約因該果海者以論三祇，祛彼謂三僧祇一念能越之大慢魔見耳。須知十世古今，始終不離當念。故前文云「若聞無量阿僧祇劫，勤修種種難行苦行，方始得佛，不驚不怖，以決定信一切諸法，從本已來性涅槃故。」豈執三祇為漸，一念為頓耶？言根欲性異者，過去所成名根，或有利、或有鈍。現在所欣名欲，或喜速、或喜遲。未來種子名性，或已熟、或未熟也。初明所證竟。

Prior to realizing the dharmakāya, even if they transform sentient beings below, this is entirely seeking the Buddha path above, because the various expedients of self-benefit and benefiting others are all for the purpose of realizing and joining with the essence of tathatā. After having realized the dharmakāya, even if they seek the Buddha path above, this is entirely for transforming sentient beings below, which is precisely what the present text clarifies. That their gotra is equal means that they are fully endowed with the two kinds of seeds: innate and hearing-perfumed. That their faculties are equal means that the six bases are superior and without differentiation. That their aspiration is equal means that they equally generate the three minds. That their realization is equal means that they equally realize tathatā. Prior to generating the aspiration, there may indeed be differences in whether wholesome roots are deep or shallow, afflictions heavy or light, faculties sharp or dull, and expedients diligent or indolent. Once the aspiration is generated, entering the nature of common birth, the path of effortlessness is definitively without differentiation; it is solely due to differences in the faculties, desires, and natures of sentient beings that they manifest distinctions. As for the expression 'three incalculable eons,' time has no real entity and is established merely based on false conceptualization. Take, for instance, the popular lore: a dream of yellow millet equated to over forty years; a thousand years in the world was no more than seven days in the mountains. Or again, as in the sūtras: when the ṛṣi took Sudhana's hand, subtle dust-mote eons elapsed; when the Buddha was praised for fifty intermediate eons, the great assembly perceived it as half a day. From this one knows that the duration of eons is not spoken of in terms of the years, months, days, and hours calculated by ordinary sentiments. For indeed, although beginningless ignorance has no real essence, returning from delusion to enlightenment appears to have stages: even if Yajñadatta halts his madness and his original head is as it ever was, his panting breath must also take a long time to calm. When the wild wind suddenly subsides and the great ocean is calm, its subtle ripples must also take a long time to settle. When the sun emerges and the murky fog suddenly dissipates, the damp moisture must also be removed only gradually. When the agada medicine is ingested and the myriad illnesses are suddenly banished, one's vigor must also be restored only gradually. When a traveler of long standing arrives home, his journeying suddenly ceases, yet household affairs must also be attended to in sequence. When a sage king ascends the throne, the great undertaking is suddenly settled, yet governance, rites, and music must also be laid out in sequence. Therefore, within the eonless state of tathatā, three incalculable eons are established based on the aspect of arising and ceasing: from the abode of initial aspiration to the ten dedications is called the first incalculable eon; from the first ground of joy to the seventh ground of far-reaching is called the second incalculable eon; from the eighth ground of immobility to the stage of equal enlightenment is called the third incalculable eon. As for calculating the measure of eons, the limit is clarified either in terms of the Buddhas served, or their vast duration is clarified in terms of celestial robes brushing a rock; the matter is not uniform. Moreover, regarding the modes of practice in the three incalculable eons, some say afflictions are subdued but not yet severed, some say correct delusions are severed while habits are retained, some say afflictions are eliminated in sequence, and some say the cause encompasses the ocean of fruition—these are all siddhāntas benefiting according to capacity; how could one hold to them fixedly? The present statement that 'they are all equal' discusses the three incalculable eons in terms of the cause encompassing the ocean of fruition, specifically dispelling the demoniac view of great arrogance which claims that the three incalculable eons can be transcended in a single thought-moment. One must know that the ten periods of past and present, beginning and end, never depart from the present thought-moment. Therefore the earlier text states: 'If one hears that only after diligently practicing various difficult and bitter austerities for immeasurable asaṃkhyeya eons will one finally attain Buddhahood, one is neither shocked nor terrified, because one definitively believes that all phenomena are from their origin intrinsically nirvāṇa.' How could one cling to the three incalculable eons as gradual and a single thought-moment as sudden? As for 'faculties, desires, and natures being different': that which was formed in the past is called faculties, which may be sharp or dull. That which is desired in the present is called desires, which may favor speed or slowness. The seeds of the future are called nature, which may be ripe or unripe. The first part, clarifying that which is realized, is concluded.