華嚴經內章門等雜孔目章 3.84

3.84

Regarding birth, there are two kinds: first, samsaric birth in portions; second, inconceivable transformation birth. By distinction, there are twenty-eight gates: First, the three realms, namely the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. Second, the four abodes of consciousness, namely consciousness abiding in form, consciousness abiding in sensation, consciousness abiding in perception, and consciousness abiding in formations. Because they are what consciousness abides in, they are called the abodes of consciousness, derived from the Abhidharma. Third, the four modes of birth, namely egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, and apparitionally born. Because they are that upon which retribution arises and relies, they are named births. Fourth, the four foods, namely material food, contact food, volitional food, and consciousness food. Fifth, the two feelings, namely bodily feeling—associated with the five consciousnesses it is called bodily feeling, and associated with mental consciousness it is called mental feeling. Sixth, the three feelings, namely painful feeling, pleasant feeling, and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. Seventh, the five feelings, namely pain, pleasure, grief, joy, and equanimity. Eighth, the six feelings, namely feelings arisen from eye-contact, up to feelings arisen from mind-contact. Ninth, the one hundred and eight feelings: as stated in the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa, the eye sees form and cogitating and discriminating, the mind generates joy, generates grief, or generates equanimity, and so on up to the mental consciousness as well. Within these eighteen feelings, there are pure ones and defiled ones, making thirty-six. Across the three periods of time there are thirty-six for each, making one hundred and eight feelings. Alternatively, one may divide joy into three: superior, middling, and inferior. Grief and equanimity each have three as well. One sense-faculty has nine; following the six faculties there are fifty-four feelings. The past and future feelings cognized by direct cognition and inferential cognition comprise fifty-four feelings; because they are objects of the direct and inferential, feelings comprise one hundred and eight. Tenth, the five fruits: 1. the sovereign fruit, 2. the fruit of reliance, 3. the retribution fruit, 4. the fruit of exertion, 5. the fruit of liberation. Because they recompense causes, they are named fruits. Eleventh, the six destinies, namely hell, animals, hungry ghosts, humans, gods, and asuras. Twelfth, the six elements, namely earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. Thirteenth, the seven stations of consciousness, namely humans and gods of the desire realm as one; the lower three dhyānas of the form realm as three; and the lower three heavens of the formless realm as three; because consciousness delights in abiding here, they are called stations of consciousness. Fourteenth, the eight places of rebirth through merit, namely wealth and nobility among humans as one; wealth and nobility in the six desire heavens as six; and the Brahmā heaven of the first dhyāna as one; since karmic retribution of merit is greatest among these, these eight are spoken of. Fifteenth, the eight worldly dharmas, namely gain, loss, disgrace, fame, praise, blame, suffering, and pleasure. Sixteenth, representation-only. Seventeenth, the nine abodes of sentient beings: that is, on top of the seven stations of consciousness, adding the heaven without perception and the heaven of neither perception nor non-perception makes nine. Eighteenth, the twenty-five states of existence, namely the four states of existence, the four evil destinies, the Brahmā King, the six desire heavens, the unperceiving and the pure abodes, the four formless heavens, and the four dhyānas. Nineteenth, the twelve links of dependent origination. These are the three conditions of arising: when the self-nature of enjoyment of the loved and unloved grasps distinct periods, through the sense of augmenting arising, they are subsumed under the category of birth. Twentieth, the five aggregates, namely form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Twenty-first, the twelve sense bases, namely the six faculties and the six dusts. Twenty-second, the eighteen elements, namely the six faculties, the six dusts, and the six consciousnesses. Twenty-third, the thirty-six bodily parts: 1. head hair, 2. body hair, 3. nails, 4. teeth, 5. skin, 6. flesh, 7. bone, 8. marrow, 9. sinews, 10. blood vessels, 11. spleen, 12. kidneys, 13. heart, 14. liver, 15. lungs, 16. large intestine, 17. small intestine, 18. stomach, 19. bladder, 20. feces, 21. urine, 22. grime, 23. sweat, 24. bile, 25. mucus, 26. tears, 27. saliva, 28. pus, 29. blood, 30. yellow fat, 31. white fat, 32. grease, 33. marrow-oil, 34. brain, 35. cranial membrane, 36. semen. Twenty-fourth, the four kinds of saṃsāra, namely expedient saṃsāra, causal-condition saṃsāra, saṃsāra of existence, and saṃsāra of non-existence. Furthermore, there are three kinds of saṃsāra, namely the mind-made body enjoying the bliss of samādhi, the mind-made body awakening to the self-nature of dharmas, and the kind-simultaneously-arisen effortless mind-made body. For 'bliss of samādhi', its stage is on the ten grounds. The upper part of the mundane, the stage of the third ground's concentration, is named samādhi. Attaining the untainted wisdom and principle of the fourth and fifth grounds, realizing the learner and non-learner, conforming to principle and pleasing the mind, it is therefore named bliss. Riding on the power of concentration and following the mind at will, it is therefore called a mind-made body. For 'awakening to the self-nature of dharmas', non-conceptual correct wisdom attains the non-discriminating principle; this is the nature of all dharmas, hence it is called the self-nature of dharmas. The nature of dharmas' nature is the essence of their abiding. 'Mind-made' means manifesting birth at will and unhindered in accord with principle, hence named mind-made. For 'kind-simultaneously-arisen', 'kind' means following the kinds of phenomena. 'Simultaneously arisen' means universally responding to phenomena without duality or distinction, hence called simultaneously arisen. Responding without fabrication, like a celestial drum lacking a mind of karmic action, it is therefore named effortless. Phenomena being devoid of characteristics, generating volition according to the capacity [of beings] with sovereignty, it is called a mind-made body. Looked at from the perspective of the later Buddha, it is saṃsāra; looked at from the perspective of the previous, it is incomplete, hence called a mind-made body. Question: Why is it that the dense forest of afflictions is divided into the two distinct teachings of initial and final, whereas the dense forests of karma and birth have no differentiated characteristics? Answer: Affliction is the root of saṃsāra; for this reason it must be divided. Karma and birth, being secondary characteristics, can be understood by analogy with the previous meaning of affliction. Question: Inconceivable transformation saṃsāra is untainted; why is it subsumed within the dense forest of birth? Answer: The original intention of the teaching regarding inconceivable transformation saṃsāra was to reveal that the Buddha's Dharma is progressively profound and far-reaching; by placing transformation death after death in portions, it reveals that its final teaching is progressively profound. Discoursed in terms of principle, transformation saṃsāra is merely the subtle characteristic of portions. How is this known? The intermediate state was originally posited as a body in portions, an expedient for seeking birth, and hence the intermediate state was established. As stated in the Daśabhūmika Sūtra, for the body of the intermediate state, even up to nirvāṇa and bodhi there is also an intermediate state, but it is subtle and progressively profound, an object solely of the Buddha. Based on this textual evidence, one should know that transformation saṃsāra is merely the subtle characteristic of portions functioning as its transformation; the twenty-fifth, the intermediate state body, is its retribution component. That intermediate state largely undergoes existence taking seven days as a single period. Within it, it is indeterminate: perhaps one day, two days, three days, or four days, even lasting for kalpas. The Buddha also appears in the world within it to teach and transform, entering parinirvāṇa, as stated in the Daśabhūmika Sūtra. Furthermore, as in the Liang translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, the Buddha remained in an intermediate state body for twenty years. Furthermore, as in the Daśabhūmika-śāstra, that intermediate state body can also create karma and have its perfuming. Twenty-sixth, the three perceptions, namely enemies, kin, and neutral persons. Twenty-seventh, the four perceptions, namely the perception of the permanent in the impermanent, and so forth up to the perception of the pure in the impure, within which grasping-nature is critically distinguished. Twenty-eighth, the perceptions of the eight consciousnesses, namely the perceptions of the eight consciousnesses arising from sharing the same arising and ceasing. The meaning of the dense forest of birth explained above extends to the Hīnayāna, humans, gods, and so on. For ordinary persons, they possess the human characteristics of birth. For the two vehicles, there are no individual persons, but only the real birth, kinds, generic resemblance, and so forth. If relying on the initial teaching, the characteristics of birth are empty. If based on the final teaching, that birth is Thusness. If viewed by the Ekayāna, it belongs to the Ekayāna. If according to the distinct teaching, it is the eighty-four thousand characteristics of defilement and toil, corresponding to the meanings of Indra and subtlety. The rest is as in the other chapters.