註華嚴經題法界觀門頌 1.86

1.86

This refers to when the Buddha was the crown prince at nineteen years of age. At that time, a deva of the Pure Abodes knelt before a window gap and announced: "The time for renunciation has arrived; do not cling to the inner palace." The prince then sought to tour the four gates to enjoy the flowers and fruits, and upon seeing birth, old age, sickness, and death, he felt great revulsion. At night he dreamed of various auspicious omens. At the third watch of the night, the king of the Pure Abodes led the eight classes of beings to circle in the sky, while the Four Heavenly Kings each held the horse's hooves, leaping over the city wall to depart. First arriving at Mount Daṇḍa, he took off his precious royal garments, clothed his body in deer skin, and cut off his dark hair himself. He then took Ārāḍa Kālāma as his teacher, practicing the concentration of nothingness. After three years, he knew it was not ultimate. Next he went to Udraka Rāmaputra to cultivate the concentration of neither perception nor non-perception. After another three years, he knew it was also deficient and renounced it. Later he went to the Snowy Mountains, undertaking austerities while subduing Māra and non-Buddhists, manifesting various marks to tame sentient beings. He let magpies nest atop his crown and spiderwebs hang between his eyebrows; reed sprouts grew through his knees, and white mold grew beside his mouth. After another six years, on the eighth day of the second month, at the end of the night when the bright morning star appeared, he manifested the realization of correct awakening, entitled Teacher of Gods and Humans. At that time he was thirty years old. This is the mark of attaining awakening. The fifty-ninth fascicle of the Great Sūtra explains that the fruit of wondrous awakening has ten marks: 1. Dwelling in heaven; 2. Manifesting descent; 3. Entering the womb; 4. Dwelling in the womb; 5. Initial birth; 6. Household life; 7. Renouncing the household; 8. Attaining awakening; 9. Turning the wheel [of Dharma]; 10. Entering nirvāṇa. Although the various teachings speak of eight marks of attaining awakening, here it speaks of ten; which is exact? It continues below: