華嚴五十要問答 1.16

1.16

問：一念成佛與多劫成佛差別云何？答：依小乘教，世界成壞大劫滿三阿僧祇，定得成佛，無一念成佛者。依三乘教，或一念成佛，此有二義：一由覺理位滿足時唯一念故；二會緣從實時，法性無多少長短，一成即一切成、一切成即一成故。若據一三千界，定三僧祇成佛，此依《華嚴》一百二十數說僧祇義。若通餘世界，亦不定三僧祇，如《勝天王經》說。依一乘義，成佛時節竝皆不定，為十方世界時節不同因陀羅世界等，竝據當分報位說有為諸劫相作及相入等，故無定時，仍不違時法也。

Question: What is the difference between becoming a buddha in a single thought-moment and becoming a buddha over many kalpas?

Answer: According to the Hīnayāna teaching, one is definitely able to become a buddha only when the great kalpas of cosmic formation and destruction fulfill three asaṃkhyeyas; there is no becoming a buddha in a single thought-moment. According to the triyāna teaching, one may become a buddha in a single thought-moment. This has two meanings: first, because the moment the stage of awakening to the principle is fulfilled is only a single thought-moment; second, when converging conditions into reality, the nature of dharmas has neither much nor little, long nor short—one's attainment is the attainment of all, and the attainment of all is one's attainment. If based on a single trichiliocosm, becoming a buddha definitely takes three asaṃkhyeyas; this relies on the meaning of asaṃkhyeya according to the one hundred and twenty numbers of the Avataṃsaka. If extended to other worlds, it is also not definitely three asaṃkhyeyas, as spoken in the Suvikrāntavikrāmiparipṛcchā-sūtra. According to the Ekayāna meaning, the time periods for becoming a buddha are all indeterminate, because the time periods in the worlds of the ten directions, such as the Indra-net worlds, are different; all are spoken based on the respective saṃbhoga-stages, where conditioned kalpas mutually create and interpenetrate one another, so there is no fixed time, yet this does not contradict the dharma of time.