華嚴經明法品內立三寶章 2.28

2.28

Second, regarding the non-simultaneous, there are two aspects. First, mutual reliance through manifestation also has six senses: that is, because the past present exists, only then does it allow the present present to become existent. Why? Because if that did not exist, there would be no phenomenon that could cease and arrive at this current existence. Again, because the present present exists, only then do we know that the past present is existent, because if this did not exist, that existence would not be established. Why? If this existence were absent, it would cause that existence not to cease into non-existence; and an existence that does not cease is not an existence of dependent origination, so it would not be established as an existence. The present present with respect to the future present also has two senses, which should be considered by analogy with the above. The past present with respect to the future present also has two senses: namely, if the past present did not exist, then the existence of the future present would not be established; the reverse should also be understood by analogy. Question: What is simultaneous can rely on each other, but how can what is not simultaneous rely on each other? Answer: What is simultaneous relies on each other overtly; what is not simultaneous relies on each other covertly. This is also reciprocal mutual reliance, because if there were no non-simultaneous, the simultaneous could not be established. Therefore, these nine times are summarized into five positions and possess these ten gates: 1. As for the past past, it is solely a single cessation, merely past, because it is the past belonging to the present. 2. As for the past present, it has two gates: namely, it is of itself present within the past position; and viewed from the present, it is past; therefore, this phenomenon is both present and past, and because the perspectives differ, they do not obstruct each other. 3. As for the past future, it has three gates: first, viewed from the past present, this does not yet exist, so it is the future belonging to the past; second, because it is currently arising from present conditions and has not yet ceased, it is the present present; third, viewed from the future present, this has already ceased, so it is the past of the future. Therefore, this present present is both present and past-and-future. 4. The future present also has two gates. 5. The future future has only one gate. All can be understood by analogy. The above successive mutual reliance has these nine gates. Tenth, non-adjacent mutual reliance: that is, if there were not the first, there would not be the subsequent one, etc. Therefore, because of successive and non-adjacent unobstructed mutual reliance, based on this principle, it causes the various gates to mutually interpenetrate and mutually identify, as the sūtra says: 'Placing all kalpas of the past into the future and present, and turning around all kalpas of the future to place them into the past age'—this is what it means. Generally speaking, discussing the meaning of mutual reliance has two gates: 1. In terms of power and function: that is, if this were absent, that would not be established, yet this is not that; thus, because they mutually subsume through power and function, one can speak of interpenetration; yet because their essences are not commingled, they are not mutually identical. 2. In terms of essential nature: that is, if this were absent, that would entirely fail to be established; hence this is identical to that; therefore, in terms of essence, they are spoken of as mutually identifying. The explanation of these two gates is as explained elsewhere. Therefore, without losing their original positions, there is no lack of identification and interpenetration; this can be seen upon reflection. When the sūtra says, 'Countless, measureless kalpas can be made into the duration of a single thought-moment,' and so on, it is this meaning.