華嚴五十要問答 2.30

English (machine translation) 2.30

Language: English

2.30.1

Question: In the teachings compiled by people, what are the distinctions among the eight kinds of Buddhadharma spoken of? Answer: In order to eradicate the disease of icchantikas and accomplish the teaching of universal reverence and acknowledging wickedness, there are two sections. The first section clarifies universal reverence, within which there are eight subsections: First, the tathāgatagarbha, which has two [aspects]: First, the doctrinal explanation of the tathāgatagarbha is that it is the essence of all buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, down to the sentient beings of the six destinies. Second, the explanation by metaphors has five subsections: First, by metaphor, it is like the great Anavatapta lake producing eight great rivers: although the rivers differ, the substance of the water is without difference. Although all ordinary persons and sages differ and are not the same, the substance of the garbha is without difference. Like an actor performing various acrobatic feats: although the feats differ, the body has no difference. Just as all tiles are made relying on clay: although the tiles differ, the substance of the earth is without difference. Birth-and-death relies on the tathāgatagarbha; the tathāgatagarbha produces birth-and-death: this is called a skillful explanation. Because of worldly conventional speech, there is birth-and-death; it is not that the essence of the tathāgatagarbha has birth or death. By metaphor, it is like waves relying on water; water then produces waves: because of the conditions of wind there are waves, yet the substance of water does not have waves. By metaphor, it is like gold ornaments: although the various ornaments differ, the substance of gold has no difference; they are all the identical gold. All ordinary persons and sages differ and are not the same, yet all are the one garbha. Second, buddhadhātu is also explained both doctrinally and metaphorically. Buddhadhātu is the cause for all ordinary persons and sages; all ordinary persons and sages grow and develop from buddhadhātu. The explanation by metaphor: by metaphor, it is like milk being the cause of curd; all curds grow and develop depending on milk, being of one similar kind. The 'Future Buddha': all evil members of the fourfold assembly and the like, though currently practicing wrong good actions, will all become buddhas. The 'Buddha of Conceiving as Buddha': one conceives of all sentient beings with the conception of them being buddhas. Second, the universal, true, and universal, correct Buddhadharma: regardless of whether a wrongful person studies it, they also attain truth and correctness; if a correct person studies it, they also attain truth and correctness. Why? The essence of the tathāgatagarbha and buddhadhātu is exclusively a universal teaching, exclusively a true teaching, in which no demonic evil can enter; therefore, regardless of whether one is a wrongful person or a correct person, both attain truth and correctness. Third, the Buddhadharma without name and without characteristics, which has two kinds: first, the essence of all sentient beings is the tathāgatagarbha, but because they do not yet have the name of a true Buddha, it is called 'without name'. Because they do not yet have the thirty-two marks of a true Buddha, it is called 'without characteristics'. Second, the essence of all sentient beings of the six destinies is solely the tathāgatagarbha, having no other distinct name or distinct characteristic; therefore it is called 'without name and without characteristics'. Fourth, the Buddhadharma that uproots the root of all views, which has two kinds: first, all tathāgatagarbhas entirely possess the noble nature; because one merely reveres their essence and does not see their evil, wrong, or right, it is therefore called the Buddhadharma that uproots the root of all views. Second, for all sentient beings of the six destinies, their essence is the tathāgatagarbha and there is no other distinct phenomenon; because one solely reveres them as the four kinds of buddhas, etc., and does not see the good or evil of the six destinies, it is therefore called the Buddhadharma that uproots the root of all views. Fifth, the Buddhadharma that completely cuts off all paths of language: for all sentient beings, one merely reveres their essence and does not speak of designations such as good or evil, or the six destinies; therefore it is called the Buddhadharma that completely cuts off all paths of language. Sixth, the Buddhadharma of one person and one practice: 'one person' means that oneself is exclusively an evil person; 'one practice' is as the Lotus Sūtra says, Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta practiced only one practice: toward anyone other than oneself, one only reveres them as the Tathāgatagarbha Buddha, Buddhadhātu Buddha, Future Buddha, and Buddha of Conceiving as Buddha; therefore it is called 'one practice'. Seventh, the Buddhadharma of no person and no practice: oneself and other, all sentient beings, are equally one identical tathāgatagarbha, having no distinct essence; therefore it is called the Buddhadharma of no person and no practice. Eighth, the Buddhadharma of the five kinds of non-interference and exhaustion, which has two [aspects]: First, if one wishes to practice these five phenomena, one must only maintain equilibrium: 1. Non-interference between self and other: not for one's own sake, and not associating back and forth with wrongful or good monastics and laity. 2. Non-interference between the close and the distant: not associating back and forth with those who do not study the Buddhadharma appropriate to their capacity. 3. Non-interference between monastics and laity: not associating in friendship back and forth with any wrongful or good monastics or laity. 4. Non-interference between the noble and the base: not associating back and forth with any noble or base. 5. Non-interference between ordinary persons and sages: within all sages there are many demonic evils, and within all ordinary persons there are many buddhas and bodhisattvas; ordinary persons, being born blind, cannot distinguish them; therefore ordinary persons and sages do not interfere. Only excepting circumstances of difficulty in begging for food where one temporarily associates back and forth—this is not within the restriction. Second, both self and other are the tathāgatagarbha; one should only produce one single contemplation, and must not form notions in one's mind of self and other, close and distant, monastic and laity, noble and base, or ordinary and sage. Within these eight subsections there are further two meanings: first, the Buddhadharma of sentient beings born blind, born deaf, and born mute; second, the Buddhadharma of dead persons. What is the second meaning of acknowledging wickedness? Answer: The second section, acknowledging wickedness, contains twelve kinds: 1. One's mind is inverted and constantly mistaken, constantly engaging in words of slander: if the mind directs toward the third level of Buddhadharma and beyond, forming any other mind, that is being inverted and constantly mistaken. The mouth may only speak the Buddhadharma of the tathāgatagarbha; if it produces any other speech, that is constantly engaging in words of slander. 2. The two inversions of good and evil, which has two [aspects]: First, all demonic evils assume the forms of buddhas and bodhisattvas to invert sentient beings; according with their original greedy mind, within them they see only goodness and do not know they are demonic evils. Demonic evils are not buddhas or bodhisattvas; seeing goodness where there is no goodness is called an inversion. Second, all buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest as various kinds of sentient beings; if they go against the minds of inverted sentient beings, anger will certainly arise in their minds and they will see only evil. Buddhas and bodhisattvas are truly not evil; seeing evil where there is no evil is called an inversion. 3. The four kinds of internal and external inversions, which has two [aspects]: First, wrongful greed: in all circumstances pleasing to the feelings, one sees purely goodness—seeing goodness where there is no goodness, seeing much goodness in small goodness, subsuming evil with good and interpreting all as good—therefore it is called an inversion. Wrongful anger: in circumstances displeasing to the feelings, one sees purely evil—seeing evil where there is no evil, seeing much evil in small evil, subsuming good with evil and interpreting all as evil—therefore it is called an inversion. Wrongful delusion: being unaware of obtaining evil within good, and not knowing that one loses good within evil—therefore this is called the inversion of wrongful delusion. Second, spirits, ghosts, and demons assisting the mind: whenever all buddhas, bodhisattvas, and worldly monastics and laity accord with one's mind, that is spirits, ghosts, and demons assisting the mind. 4. All sūtras, vinayas, and treatises constantly speaking purely of inversion: whenever all scriptural texts speak solely of inverted sentient beings as evil and do not speak of them as good, this is called all sūtras, vinayas, and treatises constantly speaking purely of inversion. 5. The seven kinds of distinct evil inversions: First, the three levels, called the third level. Second, the three determinations: the determination of correctness, the indeterminate, and the determination of wrongfulness.

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Third, the doctrinal explanation: for the bodhisattvas he explains the profound meaning of the Mahāyāna; for the śrāvakas he explains shallow and proximate meanings; for icchantikas he explains worldly meanings. Fourth, the metaphorical explanation: first, like one who is definitely destined to live; second, like one whose death or life is uncertain; third, like one who is definitely destined to die, whom medicine cannot save; fifth, shameless monks; sixth, the first kind of person in the Ganges, called "always drowning"; seventh, mostly the retribution of Avīci Hell. Sixth, six sūtras explain "most inverted": there are five sections. First, all buddhas cannot save: sentient beings inverted by views of emptiness or views of existence, even if they encounter immeasurable and boundless buddhas and practice the six pāramitās before those buddhas, because they study the Buddha-Dharma in a way unsuited to their capacities and slander the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, they cannot avoid falling into all the Avīci Hells of the ten directions, and all buddhas cannot save them. Second, all dharmas cannot save: there are two kinds. First, even if one recites the eighty-four thousand dharma aggregates of both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, if in a single thought-moment one despises a monk who practices the twelve dhūtas, then as many wholesome roots as that are completely extinguished, and one falls into Avīci Hell, as explained in the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra. Second, even if one reads and recites the twelve divisions of scriptures, if one cannot avoid slandering the Buddha, in this very body one falls into all the Avīci Hells of the ten directions, as explained in the Nirvāṇa-sūtra. Thus it is called "all dharmas cannot save." Third, all saṅghas cannot save. Fourth, all sentient beings cannot save: even if one delivers 6.04 trillion disciples and further delivers ninety-six kinds of heterodox non-Buddhists, causing them to turn their minds toward nirvāṇa, one still cannot avoid falling into all the Avīci Hells of the ten directions. Fifth, all eradicating evil and cultivating good cannot save: even with great vigor, great keeping of precepts, great repentance, greatly not affirming oneself while negating others, and not elevating oneself while looking down on others, one is not a disciple of the Buddha, but is subsumed under the shameless and brazen saṅgha. Seventh, eleven sūtras explain "exhaustively inverted in evil." As for the eleven sūtras: first, the Kāśyapa-sūtra; second, as explained in the Candragarbha-parivarta of the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra, the chapter on the exhaustion of the Dharma-treasury, where the true Dharma is entirely extinguished; third, as explained in the Āgama-sūtras, where the treasury of the true Dharma is exhausted; fourth, as explained in the Da fangguang shilun jing, where all common people give rise to [views of] annihilation or permanence; fifth, as explained in the Satyakanirgrantha-sūtra, where all sentient beings give rise to the three kinds of inversion; sixth, as the text of the second fascicle of the Mahāmāyā-sūtra explains, one thousand years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, there will only be two monks who practice the meditation on impurity, sitting upright in dhyāna without giving rise to minds of high and low, this and that, right and wrong; seventh, as explained in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, in the age of the Final Dharma, icchantikas and those who commit the five heinous acts will be as numerous as the earth of the great earth; eighth, the Zuimiaoshengding jing; ninth, the Mahāmegha-sūtra; tenth, the Buddhapiṭaka-sūtra explains that righteous people are only one or two; eleventh, the Guanfo sanmei hai jing. Eighth, four sūtras explain "arising inversions": first, the Mahāyāna sūtras explain the inversions of the three poisons; second, the Śrīmālā-sūtra explains the inversions of the two views; third, the Satyakanirgrantha-sūtra explains three kinds of inversion: 1. greedy mind for unlawful things, giving rise to joy regarding the ten non-virtuous courses of action; 2. inverted greedy mind, where through one's own power one obtains various goods according to the seasons, yet does not give rise to a contented mind, but through expedients seeks another's wealth—this is called inverted greedy mind; 3. a mind ensnared by the net of false doctrines, conceiving what is non-Dharma to be Dharma, conceiving what is not the meaning to be the meaning, and in the final age conceiving discourses not composed by the wise to be correct discourses—this is called a mind ensnared by the net of false doctrines; fourth, the Nirvāṇa-sūtra explains various inversions. Ninth, two sūtras explain "purely inverted": 1. the Xiangfa jueyi jing explains that after a thousand years, when the Semblance Dharma is entered, all the wholesome acts performed by monks, nuns, upāsakas, and upāsikās seek fame and profit, without a single thought giving rise to the mind of world-transcendence; 2. as the Buddhapiṭaka-sūtra explains, monks of excessive pride do not have a single thought seeking nirvāṇa; as long as they do not have a single thought of world-transcendence seeking nirvāṇa, it is purely inverted. Tenth, two sūtras explain "constantly inverted": 1. constantly drowning; 2. constantly practicing evil; 3. constantly wrapped in ignorance; 4. one's mind inverted, constantly errant; 5. constantly defiling body and speech. These five sections are as explained in the Nirvāṇa-sūtra. 6. the mind constantly distances itself from and abandons the flavor of all real dharmas; 7. constantly covered by the delusive net of afflictions and various false views, taking refuge in the six heterodox teachers and injuring the noble path; 8. constantly speaking words of slander. These three sections are as explained in the Shilun jing. Eleventh, thirty-two kinds of partial flaws: both oneself and others see the correct sustaining of the Buddha-Dharma for self-benefit and benefiting others, yet internally there is inversion; there are thirty-two. In total there are two fours, one five, two sixes, and one seven. The first four are: preaching the Dharma with unpurified notion of names and oblivion. The second four are: relying on persons, relying on words, relying on consciousness, and relying on non-definitive sūtras. The one five is: 1. self and other: in one's own body one sees only the good, while in another's body one sees only the evil; 2. higher and lower: sentient beings with views of emptiness or existence only wish to study the higher Buddha-Dharma and are unwilling to study the lower Buddha-Dharma; 3. universal and distinct: only taking pleasure in studying distinct teachings and not practicing universal teachings; 4. good and evil: only severing the evil external to the good and not severing the evil within the good; only cultivating the good external to the evil and not cultivating the good within the evil; 5. self-benefit and benefiting others: only practicing self-benefit and not practicing benefiting others. The first six are: 1. fame; 2. material gain; 3. disciples; 4. erudition; 5. power; 6. surpassing others. The second six are: 1. greed; 2. anger; 3. delusion; 4. spirits, ghosts, and demons; 5. views of emptiness; 6. views of existence. The one seven is: 1. severely rewarding and punishing the saṅgha, beating, scolding, binding, and sending them back to lay life, completely destroying all the Three Jewels; 2. the false and the true are completely mixed up; 3. all wholesome devas, nāgas, and the eight classes of beings completely leave the country; 4. all evil devas, nāgas, spirits, ghosts, and demons vie to enter that country and reside there, destroying the Three Jewels, killing sentient beings, and causing all sentient beings to commit all evil completely; even if there are sentient beings who cultivate good in small measure, evil demons enter their minds to create obstacles, breaking their minds so that they die; 5. causing all karmically linked Buddha-Dharmas to completely fail to match; 6. all faculties and capacities completely fail to match; 7. all medicines and illnesses completely fail to match. Twelfth, destroying the Three Jewels and bringing about the three disasters, being completely inverted.

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Now, the above two doctrines are intended to rescue icchantikas, direct them toward the Ekayāna, and also accord with the triyāna; since they accord with reason, they are recorded and appended here.
As for the doctrine of the tathāgatagarbha, it relies on the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra: “With the buddha-eye I observe all sentient beings: within all afflictions there is the tathāgata's wisdom, the tathāgata's eye, and the tathāgata's body, seated cross-legged, majestic and unmoving.”
First, by mentioning that vision of the divine eye—within the unopened flower there is the tathāgata's body seated cross-legged—it illustrates the simile of the tathāgatagarbha intrinsically possessing virtues.
Second, just as pure honey is in a craggy tree, surrounded and guarded by countless swarms of bees, and a person of skill and wisdom removes the bees to take the honey, it illustrates the simile of the intrinsic virtue shedding defilement to become pure.
Third, just as unhusked non-glutinous rice has not yet been separated from its husks and chaff, and the poor and foolish despise it as something to be discarded, yet once thoroughly cleansed it is constantly used for the royal table, it illustrates the simile of the garbha in defilement being identical [in value] yet [appearing] different from purity to the foolish.
Fourth, just as genuine gold falls into an impure place and is buried out of sight, yet after many years have passed the genuine gold is not corrupted, it illustrates the simile of the garbha in defilement being difficult to destroy.
Fifth, just as a poor family has a storehouse of precious jewels, but the jewels cannot say “I am here,” and without someone to tell of it, it cannot be uncovered, it illustrates the simile of the garbha in defilement lacking conditions [for discovery].
Sixth, just as the seed inside an āmra fruit is not destroyed, and when planted in the ground becomes the king of great trees, it illustrates the simile of the garbha's virtue meeting conditions to bear fruit.
Seventh, just as someone carries a genuine gold statue while traveling to other countries, passes through a treacherous path, fears being robbed, and wraps it in worn rags so that those who do not recognize it abandon it in the wilderness, people considering it impure, but one with the divine eye knows there is a genuine statue and then brings it out for others to pay homage to, it illustrates the simile of true virtue shedding defilement to give rise to faith.
Eighth, just as an impoverished, base, and ugly woman conceives a noble son, and as time passes people regard it with low estimation, it illustrates the simile of transforming conception to merge with truth and attain wisdom.
Ninth, just as a foundry master casts a genuine gold statue, and once cast, though the outside is charred black, the inner statue does not change, and upon opening the mold and extracting the statue its golden color shines forth, it illustrates the simile of turning from defilement to return to truth and accord with the essence.
As for the meaning of buddhadhātu, there are briefly ten kinds: essential nature, causal nature, fruitional nature, karmic nature, associated nature, practice nature, time-distinction nature, omnipresent nature, unchanging nature, and non-differentiated nature. According to the Buddhagotra-śāstra, the various Hīnayāna schools understand and cling to this differently. According to the Vibhajyavādin school, all ordinary and noble beings alike have emptiness as their root. Thus ordinary and noble beings all emerge from emptiness; therefore emptiness is buddhadhātu, and buddhadhātu is the great nirvāṇa. According to the Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma and other schools, all sentient beings have no innately acquired buddhadhātu, but only buddhadhātu acquired through cultivation. Sentient beings are differentiated into three kinds: First, those definitely without buddhadhātu who will never attain nirvāṇa—these are icchantikas who violate the grave prohibitions. Second, those indeterminate as to existence or non-existence, who obtain it if they cultivate and do not obtain it if they do not cultivate—because these are people above the stage shared by the virtuous and worthy. Third, those definitely possessing buddhadhātu, namely the people of the triyāna: (1) śrāvakas, who obtain buddhadhātu from the stage of the acceptance of suffering onward; (2) pratyekabuddhas, who obtain buddhadhātu from the supreme worldly dharmas onward; (3) bodhisattvas, who obtain buddhadhātu above the ten dedications, which is the stage of non-retrogression.
Question: According to the Benevolent Kings Sūtra, it says: “The three ranks of the worthy and the ten ranks of the noble practice within patience; only the Buddha alone can exhaust the origin.” Furthermore, a treatise says: “Those above the ten understandings are already noble persons.” Now you say that those above the ten dedications obtain buddhadhātu; why do the various sūtras and treatises differ?
Answer: These differences are because the capacities and inclinations of sentient beings are distinct; [each] is taught according to a single perspective, and they should be matched and explained accordingly. This Buddhagotra-śāstra initially explains according to the Hīnayāna and the initial teaching for those who divert their minds. If subsequently it refutes attachments to establish the correct doctrine, that is the final teaching, namely that all sentient beings have buddhadhātu, which is the tathatā revealed by the two kinds of emptiness.
As for the four propositions on buddhadhātu in the Mahāyāna Nirvāṇa-sūtra, they are not the four propositions formulated in the sense of the Hīnayāna or for those who have just diverted their minds; rather, they are the buddhadhātu and the Mahāparinirvāṇa of the sudden teaching and final teaching, though still not the doctrine of the distinct teaching of the Ekayāna. The four propositions are:
Some buddhadhātu is possessed by icchantikas but not by those with good roots—this explains nature in terms of practice.
Some buddhadhātu is possessed by those with good roots but not by icchantikas—this explains nature in terms of stage.
Some buddhadhātu is possessed by both persons—this explains nature in terms of cause.
Some buddhadhātu is possessed by neither person—this explains nature in terms of fruit.
Question: The meaning of an icchantika is that they have severed their present good roots; on what basis do they have the nature of practicing goodness?
Answer: This is spoken in terms of stage. For those who generate good roots in this lifetime and can be saved, they possess the nature of active goodness; for those who generate good roots in other lifetimes and cannot presently be saved, they possess the causal seed of practice. This meaning differs from the śrāvaka school. These four stages all fully possess both the innately acquired and cultivation-acquired buddhadhātus. Why? Because these two natures are both explained at the locus of the pure mind of faith and understanding, and because they are mutually accomplished. The two kinds of buddhadhātu—innately acquired and cultivation-acquired—are neither initial, nor intermediate, nor final, because they are grasped across the prior, intermediate, and posterior. Furthermore, examining the text of the sūtras, the tathāgatagarbha is taught for the capacity of bodhisattvas of direct advancement, while buddhadhātu is taught for the capacity of mature śrāvakas. Although the tathāgatagarbha and buddhadhātu clarified here differ according to various meanings, they are all the meaning of the common teaching Ekayāna. Why? Because they are meant to establish the universal Dharma, and are established by the universal Dharma.

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華嚴五十要問答 — Classical Chinese