遊心安樂道 1.26

1.26

The third doubt concerns the intention of the wisdom of equality to save all equally. As the sūtra says: 'All sentient beings possess mind; whoever possesses mind will attain bodhi.' Because of failing to understand this, they raise a doubt and say: 'If it is said that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature and [the Buddhas] will deliver all sentient beings, causing them to attain unsurpassed bodhi, then, although sentient beings are many, they must eventually come to an end. The very last Buddha would have no virtue of benefiting others, because there would be none left to transform, and so would ultimately not become a Buddha, due to lacking merit; that there are no other [sentient beings] yet [a Buddha] has merit does not accord with principle; and that one could become a Buddha while lacking merit is likewise impossible.' Devising such wrong views, they slander the Mahāyāna and do not believe in the intention of saving [all] equally. To remedy such narrow doubts and attachments, the 'vast wisdom of the Mahāyāna' is established. It wishes to clarify that the Buddha's wisdom conveys without conveying, yet conveys all into the remainderless [nirvāṇa]; thus it is called 'Mahāyāna' (Great Vehicle). That which it conveys is boundless and limitlessly vast; therefore it is called 'vast wisdom.' Why is this? Because empty space is boundless, sentient beings are without measure. Because the three periods of time are without limit, saṃsāra is without beginning or end. Since sentient beings are without beginning or end, the Buddhas are also without beginning or end. If the Buddhas had an initial beginning of attainment, then prior to that there would have been no fruition of Buddhahood and no holy teachings; because there were no holy teachings, there would have been no hearing and perfuming; and if one became a Buddha without hearing and perfuming, then there would be an effect without a cause, which is mere words without reality. By this principle, the Buddhas are without beginning. Although they are truly without beginning, there is not a single Buddha who was not originally an ordinary person. Although all were originally ordinary persons, this proceeds continuously without beginning; from this we can infer that sentient beings are without end. Although they are truly without end, there is not a single person who will not subsequently become a Buddha; although all will subsequently become a Buddha, this proceeds continuously without end. Therefore, one should believe that the wisdom of equality leaves none unsaved, yet is not finite. Thus the vast wisdom of the Mahāyāna is established. This remedies the third doubt.