華嚴五十要問答 1.8

1.8

Question: How do the seeing of the Buddha and the names and numbers of the buddhas differ in meaning among the teachings of the Ekayāna, the triyāna, the Hīnayāna, and so forth?

Answer: According to the Hīnayāna teaching, seeing the Buddha's physical body with the thirty-two marks and so forth is genuine seeing. The visual faculty and the sense-object correspond simultaneously; seeing actual physical marks is called 'seeing the Buddha'. According to the triyāna, seeing the Buddha's actual physical body and other thirty-two marks is not called 'seeing the Buddha', because this accords with discriminative parikalpita[-svabhāva]. Even if one sees a semblance of the marks, this is merely called an approximation and is also not seeing the Buddha. If one knows non-nature and the marks of neither coming nor going—that form is emptiness itself and that emptiness is not the annihilation of form, and so forth—not being according to conventional designations, this is called 'seeing the Buddha', because it accords with the essence of the Buddha. According to the Ekayāna teaching, from seeing and hearing onward, up to fully understanding the mark of non-arising and corresponding to the number ten, one sees the ten buddhas: (1) the Non-attachment Buddha, because he abides in the world and realizes true awakening; (2) the Vow Buddha, because he takes birth; (3) the Karmic Retribution Buddha, because of faith; (4) the Preservation Buddha, because of compliance; (5) the Nirvāṇa Buddha, because of eternal liberation; (6) the Dharmadhātu Buddha, because there is nowhere he does not reach; (7) the Mind Buddha, because of abiding; (8) the Samādhi Buddha, because he is immeasurable and unattached; (9) the Nature Buddha, because of certainty; and (10) the Wish-Fulfilling Buddha, because he covers all universally. This is called 'seeing the Buddha'. Because such seeing accords with the correct principle, one can behold the unsurpassed Tathāgata. Why is this? Because the factors conducive to bodhi (bodhipakṣa-dharma) and the factors conducive to liberation (mokṣabhāgīya-dharma) have coarse and subtle distinctions, arouse faith in accordance with capacities, and are different at their initial stages.

Second, regarding the differences in the number and quantity of the Buddha's names in the Ekayāna and other teachings: In the Ekayāna teaching, the names and numbers of the Buddha are ten, as spoken in the Avataṃsaka-sūtra: (1) Non-attachment Buddha, (2) Vow Buddha, (3) Karmic Retribution Buddha, (4) Preservation Buddha, (5) Nirvāṇa Buddha, (6) Dharmadhātu Buddha, (7) Mind Buddha, (8) Samādhi Buddha, (9) Nature Buddha, and (10) Wish-Fulfilling Buddha. In the triyāna, there are three buddhas: (1) dharmakāya Buddha, (2) saṃbhogakāya Buddha, and (3) nirmāṇakāya Buddha. In the Hīnayāna, there are two buddhas: (1) janmakāya Buddha and (2) nirmāṇakāya Buddha. The dharmakāya Buddha is also called svabhāvakāya; it is fundamentally existent, which is fundamentally existent tathatā. Second, the saṃbhogakāya Buddha is also called nirmāṇakāya, and third, the nirmāṇakāya Buddha is also called nirmāṇakāya; these are accomplished through the virtues of practice arising through cultivation. In the case of the two buddhas of the Hīnayāna, the janmakāya Buddha and the nirmāṇakāya Buddha both arise through cultivation, accomplished through the practice of loving-kindness and compassion. As for praising the Buddha's virtues: praising one or few virtues for a long time belongs to the triyāna; praising many virtues for a short time, up to praising many virtues for a long time, belongs to the Ekayāna.