大乘起信論裂網疏 5.89

5.89

'The stage of the pure mind,' in terms of the provisional, is the first stage of joy; in terms of the real, it is the stage of first arousing the mind. 'The ultimate stage' is the final mind of the ten stages, also called the stage of equal enlightenment.

'Spoken of as a realm based on the transforming consciousness': the sixth consciousness is transformed into the wondrous observing wisdom, and the seventh is transformed into the equality wisdom. The sixth and seventh consciousnesses possessed by sentient beings must have cognitive realms of objective conditions; therefore, relying on them, what is spoken of is provisionally designated as a realm.

'In actual realization there are no marks of a realm': because tathatā has no marks that can be grasped, correct wisdom does not grasp at marks, and it directly engages the essence and marks of tathatā as the objective-condition condition, rather than mutating and producing a semblance of tathatā as the objective-condition condition.

'This bodhisattva, by means of non-discriminating wisdom' clarifies that there is the seeing portion. 'Realizes the dharmakāya of tathatā that is free from verbal expression' clarifies that there is no form portion. This coincides precisely with Dharmapāla's Vijñaptimātratā. Ponder this! Ponder this!

Question: If, according to the real, the stage of first arousing the mind is called the stage of the pure mind, why did the earlier arousal of mind only state that one sees the Buddha's dharmakāya in a partial degree, whereas now it states that one realizes the dharmakāya of tathatā that is free from verbal expression? The purports of these texts differ greatly; how are they reconciled?

Answer: The earlier section was simultaneously clarifying provisional and real, and thus only said 'sees in a partial degree'; here, the provisional realization is identical to the real. Moreover, in terms of the realized tathatā, there are no divisions or measures, but in terms of the wisdom capable of realization, there are still differences between partial and full. Although there are partial and full, both are non-discriminating wisdom, just as the moon of the early night and the moon of the full moon night do not differ in the mark of their light.