華嚴法界玄鏡 1.29

1.29

The Commentary states: Herein there are two [parts]: first, it directly reveals the meaning of true emptiness; afterwards, it concludes by applying this analogously to all dharmas. The former also has three [parts]: first, the statement; next, the explanation—"because form arising from conditions is necessarily devoid of nature" means that other-dependent lack of nature is itself the perfectly accomplished true emptiness; third, from "Therefore…" downward is the conclusion. Since it is neither the extinction of form nor different from form, neither identical nor detached, it is therefore true emptiness. Emptiness is not the characteristic of form, so there is no imagined [nature]. Arising from conditions without nature is the other-dependent lack of nature. The true principle devoid of nature is precisely the perfectly accomplished. Therefore this true emptiness penetrates nature and characteristics throughout. Second, from "Since it is so for form and emptiness…" downward concludes by applying this analogously to all dharmas. The above four gates merely clarified form and emptiness. Form is the foremost of dharma-characteristics and the first of the five aggregates; therefore whenever various sūtras and treatises explain a principle, they always do so first with respect to form. Hence the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra* and others, from form on up through the knowledge of all aspects on down, across more than eighty rubrics, take form as the analogy for all of them. The present case is also like this, analogizing all dharmas. If one briefly gathers all dharmas, they do not go beyond the above ten pairs; the underlying essence and phenomena are all without exception identical to emptiness, and in all cases one must use the Dharma to eliminate attachments, revealing that phenomena are reduced to principle.