註華嚴法界觀門 1.3

1.3

The dharmadhātu is the fundamental substance of the body and mind of all sentient beings. From the very beginning, numinously luminous and completely clear, vast, empty, and serene, it is solely the realm of the One True. Devoid of form and appearance, it arrayed the great chiliocosm; having no boundaries, it contains all existents. Clear and distinct between mind and eyes, yet its characteristic cannot be seen; brilliantly shining within rūpa and dusts, yet its principle cannot be divided. Without the wisdom-eye that penetrates phenomena and the luminous intelligence free from thoughts, one cannot see that one's own mind is so spiritually pervasive! Extreme indeed is the delusion of sentient beings! The body, on the contrary, resides within the mind, like a single bubble on the great ocean, yet they do not know it themselves. Possessing vast spiritual potency, they are unable to apply it; trembling with fear, they cast themselves into cages and pens, without pitying themselves. Therefore, when the World-Honoured One first achieved correct awakening, he exclaimed with admiration: "How wondrous! I now universally see that all sentient beings possess the wisdom, virtues, and characteristics of the Tathāgata; it is only because of false conceptualisations and clinging that they do not realise and attain it." Thereupon, according with the dharmadhātu-nature, he preached the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, causing all sentient beings to see within their own bodies the vast wisdom of the Tathāgata and realise the dharmadhātu. Hence, this sūtra exhausts the spiritual and wondrous functioning of wisdom of all buddhas, penetrates the nature, characteristics, principle, and phenomena of all dharmas, and completes the gateways of mental states in cultivation; truly it may be called one that fathoms principle and exhausts the nature. Yet, although this sūtra is circulated in the world, rare are those who can penetrate it. There was the Venerable Dushun, who sighed and said: "Great indeed is the sūtra of the dharmadhātu! Unless one has ascended the stages, how could one open its text and see its dharmas? I shall set up its gates to reveal it." Thereupon he composed the Contemplation of the Dharmadhātu, which has three tiers of gates: the first is called the gate of true emptiness, which selects against emotional delusions to reveal principle; the second is called the gate of the non-obstruction between principle and phenomena, which harmonises principle and phenomena to reveal functioning; the third is called the gate of all-pervading and mutual containment, which subsumes phenomenon and phenomenon to reveal the mystery. It enables one to harmonise the forms and characteristics of myriad phenomena and make whole the luminous nature of the One True; only then may one enter the dharmadhātu of the Avataṃsaka. Yet, although this contemplation is circulated in the world, rare are those who can enter it. There was Chan Master Guishan, who sighed and said: "Wondrous indeed is the gate of the dharmadhātu! Unless one knows the depth of the pivot and key, and recognises the breadth of the inner chamber, how could one knock at its gate and enter it?" Thereupon he directly annotated the contemplation text with refined meanings below it, enabling people to trace the commentary and see the gate, find the gate and enter contemplation, through contemplation penetrate the sūtra, and by means of the sūtra realise the nature, brightly shining as though holding a torch to illuminate successive barriers. Someone asked: "The true nature of the dharmadhātu transcends emotions and departs from views; stirring a thought creates separation, and forced words run contrary to it. If the World-Honoured One wished to cause sentient beings to awaken to the dharma-substance of their own bodies, why was it necessary to speak extensively to make the Avataṃsaka?" The answer is: I heard Guishan say: "The dharmadhātu is the true substance of the myriad phenomena, the fundamental source of the myriad practices, and the ocean of fruition of the myriad virtues. Therefore, the Tathāgata unfolded the causal flowers of the myriad practices to adorn the original nature, thereby displaying the myriad virtues of all buddhas realised from the dharmatā. Hence, in the sūtra of the nine assemblies, chapter after chapter has immeasurable meanings: sometimes causal-stage practices and vows numerous as kṣetra-dusts, sometimes fruition-stage virtues and functions numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Sequential differentiation and unobstructed perfect interpenetration; thus, a single tip of a hair of the Buddha's body pervades all and contains all. Worlds are so; sentient beings are so; every speck of dust is so; every thought is so; every dharma is so—not a single dharma definitely possesses its own substance and stands independently. Realising this fundamental dharma, one is therefore able to harmoniously subsume ordinary and sagely, completely free and unobstructed, putting Meru into a mustard seed and casting the great chiliocosm beyond spatial bounds; these are all the regular portion of our mind, not relying on other arts." Viewed from this perspective, as we have always clung to definite characteristics of body, mind, self, person, and various dharmas, is this not extremely deluded and inverted? Thus, though the Avataṃsaka accords with the dharmadhātu and speaks to the utmost, it still cannot be considered broad. The question is asked: "The Avataṃsaka is profound in principle and vast in phenomena, extensive in text and mysterious in meaning; none other than great beings of the dharmakāya can realise and enter it. Now, how could a few sheets of contemplation text completely reveal it? If the contemplation gate takes brevity of text and breadth of meaning as its merit, then the great sūtra takes verbosity of text and narrowness of meaning as its defect!" The answer is: I heard Guishan say: "One who wishes to gaze upon the deep beauty of the ancestral temple and behold the grand magnificence of the capital city must open the illustrated maps and ascend the high terrace; only then can one fully take it all in. Ascending the height without opening the maps, one cannot be said to have truly seen; opening the maps without ascending the height, one is dim-sighted and cannot distinguish anything. Therefore, the dharmadhātu possesses the three greatnesses and encompasses all existents; its nature, characteristics, virtues, and functions are fully present in the mind, not in the sūtra. Clarifying cause and effect, arraying the stages of practice, revealing the dharmas and expounding the meanings, and encouraging joy to engender faith are fully present in the sūtra, not in the contemplation. The contemplation is that which penetrates the dharma of the sūtra. The text is the gate to enter contemplation. The commentary is the pivot and key to the gate. Therefore, to realise the nature and virtues of the dharmadhātu, nothing surpasses the sūtra; to penetrate the dharma-meanings of the sūtra, nothing surpasses contemplation; to enter the contemplation's layered mysteries, one must go through the gate; to open the threefold secret gate, one must use the pivot and key." If so, then the sūtra cannot but be broad, and the gate cannot but be concise. Then why is its gate threefold? The answer is: I heard Guishan say: "Ordinary persons see rūpa as real rūpa, and see emptiness as annihilationist emptiness; internally shackled by sinews and bones, externally dazzled by mountains and rivers, they fall exhausted on the path of delusion, confined beneath the carriage shafts, unable to free themselves. Thereupon the Bodhisattva opened the gate of true emptiness to reveal it to them, causing them to see that rūpa is not real rūpa, its entire substance being true emptiness; and to see that emptiness is not annihilationist emptiness, its entire substance being illusory form. Then they can clear away emotional defilements so that emptiness and rūpa are unobstructed, and obliterate intellectual understanding so that mind and object both merge in stillness. The Bodhisattva said: 'Regarding principle, they have seen it; regarding phenomena, not yet.' Thereupon he opened the gate of the non-obstruction between principle and phenomena to reveal it to them, causing them to contemplate that the indivisible principle is entirely and completely subsumed within a single speck of dust, and that phenomena, which originally have demarcations and limits, also universally pervade the dharmadhātu; thereafter, principle and phenomena perfectly interpenetrate without any impediment. The Bodhisattva said: 'Looking at phenomena from principle is permissible; looking at phenomena from phenomena is not yet accomplished.' Thereupon he opened the gate of all-pervading and mutual containment to reveal it to them, causing them to contemplate that the principle that is the totality of phenomena is visible one by one according with phenomena, and that phenomena that are the totality of principle are harmonised one by one according with principle; thereafter, the one and the many are unobstructed, large and small contain each other, and they are able to deploy concealment and manifestation with unfathomable spiritual functioning." The question is asked: "The contemplation text has commentaries by several authors, yet they were not able to reveal its dharma; now, writing brief notes beneath the text, how can this cause students to open their minds and eyes?" The answer is: I heard Guishan say: "Contemplation is the wisdom-eye that sees the dharma; the gate is the portal that opens the wisdom-eye to let it see the dharma. Although a beginner's wisdom that awakens to the nature may be clear, without obtaining its gate one cannot see the dharma. This text is precisely the gate for entering the dharma. One should merely contemplate and illuminate the wondrous realm through the gate with the wisdom-eye; if one were to set up separate conceptual topics and explain them extensively, that would be setting up another gate within the gate. Furthermore, in this gate, the layered dharmadhātus, phenomena, and principles are boundless; even a hundred sheets could not exhaust their meaning. Merely using verbose texts and extensive explanations would smother the true dharma and confuse later generations. Moreover, heading the text with the word 'cultivation' is intended to cause practitioners to merge this realm within their own minds. Once the mind's wisdom is luminous, it will naturally see the inexhaustible meanings, which do not depend on comprehensively mastering the doctrinal texts or minutely classifying sections and outlines. Yet without pointing and indicating it, students would also have no way to reach its gate. Therefore, right under the crucial passages of the original text, notes are added following the original meaning. Having reached its gate, they are then caused to enter it themselves." Therefore, its notes are concise yet complete: if not complete, they could not guide students to its gate; if not concise, they could not cause students to focus on the wondrous contemplation. Now, contemplation means seeking it with the mind and eye; how could it be reached through text and meaning? The question is asked: "Briefly indicating its gate is truly fitting; but I fear that students ultimately will not be able to enter by themselves." The answer is: I heard Guishan say: "One who seeks the Way must rely on the wisdom-eye. The wisdom-eye cannot open by itself; one must seek a teacher to pierce its cataract. If the cataract of emotions is not yet pierced, even though the gate exists, how could one enter it? Even if extensive, what benefit would it have?" The question is asked: "Having already encountered an enlightened teacher, why rely on brief notes?" The answer is: "The dharmadhātu is difficult to behold; one must rely on contemplation to cultivate it. The contemplation text is difficult to penetrate; one must use brief notes as a pivot and key." The doubter bowed his head and praised: "The method for entering the dharmadhātu is completely exhausted in this!"