華嚴經明法品內立三寶章 1.18

1.18

Second, among the distinct characteristics, we first clarify the Buddha Jewel. If according to what is attained by mundane humans and devas, it takes the contaminated five aggregates as its essence, manifesting in identity with the mundane world as a body with black elephant feet, the body of a tree spirit, and so forth. If within the Small Vehicle, traditions such as the Abhidharma have two buddhas: first, the birth body, which refers to the form endowed with marks and signs born of father and mother; this is karmic retribution and morally indeterminate, and not being venerable, it is not included in the Buddha Jewel. Second, the dharmakāya: taking the virtues of the five parts as the dharmakāya, this takes only uncontaminated virtues, namely the knowledge of exhaustion and the knowledge of non-arising after the path, and so forth; the real dharmas of the five aggregates are the essence of the Buddha Jewel, while contaminated virtues are not venerable and thus are not included in the Buddha Jewel. Or, contaminated [factors] and retribution forms are called Buddha by association, which does no harm to principle. Furthermore, within this tradition, the designation of a person is nominally applied to those real dharmas, and there is no separate nominal person, just as a poor person is called rich and so forth. If in traditions such as the Tattvasiddhi, the virtues of the five aggregates and so forth belong to the Dharma Jewel, and a separate nominal person is explained as the essence of the Buddha Jewel, because the nominal practitioner acts as a teacher and benefits others, and [such function] must reside within the nominal. If within the three bodies of the Buddha across the three vehicles, they may take one portion among the five categories of dharmas as essence: that is, among unconditioned dharmas, tathatā, cessation through deliberation, and so forth are the dharmakāya; the form-base is the nirmāṇakāya, because the mind has no meaning of transformation; taking the uncontaminated, pure eight consciousnesses as mind-kings, the twenty-one mental factors, a small portion of the non-concurrent formations, and the nominal entities composed of the form-dharmadhātu as together, in sum, the essence of the saṃbhogakāya—this is as explained in texts such as the Yogācārabhūmi, and this is explained in terms of the beginning of the initial teaching, being also the teaching for śrāvakas who turn their minds [to the Mahāyāna]. Or tathatā is the dharmakāya, great concentration and wisdom are entirely the response body, and the physical form is the nirmāṇakāya, as explained in the Liang Mahāyānasaṃgraha. Or, subsuming the stage of great awakening through the five dharmas: taking the pure dharmadhātu as the dharmakāya, the mirror-like wisdom and equality wisdom as the saṃbhogakāya, the action-accomplishing wisdom as the nirmāṇakāya, and the wondrously observing wisdom as spanning both bodies, this is as explained in the Buddhabhūmyupadeśa. These are explained in terms of the end of the initial teaching, whose meaning is directed at those who advance directly. Or great wisdom alone is taken as the essence of the three bodies: as in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, undefiled and unimpeded wisdom is the dharmakāya, subsequently attained wisdom is the saṃbhogakāya, and the distinctions of subsequently attained wisdom are the transformation body. Or tathatā alone is taken as the essence of the three bodies: as in the Awakening of Faith, among the three greatnesses of tathatā, the two greatnesses of essence and attributes are the dharmakāya, and the greatness of function is the other two bodies; these are explained in terms of the final teaching. Here the nirmāṇakāya also possesses a transformed mind: as when Mahākāśyapa observed the Tathāgata's mind and knew it was directed toward Ānanda, and so forth. Furthermore, the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: "The Tathāgata transforms into measureless types of forms, causing each to have a mind"; thus we know it has a mind. It is only because the previous teaching arose [in an earlier context] that it accommodated the Small [Vehicle]. Or, the one true nature alone, transcending speech and severed from thought, is the Buddha Jewel, without dividing into three or two and so forth; this is explained in terms of the sudden teaching. If relying on the One Vehicle, since the two kinds of ten buddhas span the three realms of existence, one knows that all principles, phenomena, persons, dharmas, and so forth are collectively used as the essence of the Buddha Jewel, yet all are spoken of with respect to the meaning of awakening. If in terms of what it relies upon, it takes the ocean-seal samādhi as its essence, which also subsumes everything clarified in the previous teachings within it, because it is endowed with both the common and distinct approaches. The rest may be inferred accordingly.