華嚴五十要問答 1.24

1.24

問：佛及菩薩因果二位云何差別？答：依小乘教，一人依一界，依一心次第成佛。因果相稱，現量可知；但斷惑因果，盡不盡別。若依三乘，多身、多心、多處現成，非一行業。佛亦如此，一切處成，唯蓮華藏世界海佛及三世間智正覺之一分，義相可知。但分齊邊量，從此三千世界有情，準十方處以為邊量，不論因陀羅及微細世界所有境界。若依一乘，所有成佛因果分齊邊量，則通因陀羅祕密微細一切境界分齊，盡三世間分齊邊量，如《華嚴經》普賢門準也。所有修行斷惑等因果二位，皆盡不盡也。

Question: What is the distinction between the two stages of cause and result for buddhas and bodhisattvas? Answer: According to the Hīnayāna teaching, one person, relying on one realm and on one mind, successively becomes a buddha. Cause and result correspond to each other and can be known by direct perception; it is only the cause and result of severing afflictions that differ in being exhausted or unexhausted. According to the triyāna, it is manifested and accomplished in many bodies, many minds, and many places; it is not the practice and karma of a single person. For a buddha it is likewise: he achieves it in all places. It is only the buddhas of the ocean of Padmagarbha-lokadhātu and a portion of the wise and completely enlightened ones of the three worlds whose semantic characteristics can be known. But regarding the limit and measure: taking sentient beings of these trichiliocosms, and using the ten directions as the limit and measure, it does not discuss the realms existing in Indra's [net] and the subtle worlds. According to the Ekayāna, all the limits and measures of the cause and result of becoming a buddha pervade all the limits of the secret and subtle realms of Indra's [net], exhausting the limits and measures of the three worlds, conforming to the gate of Samantabhadra in the Avataṃsaka-sūtra. The two stages of cause and result, such as all cultivation of practice and severing of afflictions, are both exhausted and unexhausted.