淨土生無生論 1.8

1.8

How is it endowed with immeasurable virtues? To state the essentials, it refers to the nature's essence, the nature's measure, and the nature's containment. What is the nature's essence? It means this mind-nature is free from the four propositions and cut off from the hundred negations; its substantial nature is solid and immutable, pure and undefiled, neither arising nor ceasing, eternally abiding and indestructible. What is the nature's measure? This mind-nature vertically exhausts the three times and horizontally pervades the ten directions. Worlds have bounds, but space is boundless. Space has bounds, but the mind-nature is boundless. The present has bounds, but the past and future are boundless. The past and future have bounds, but the mind-nature is boundless. It is inexhaustible of inexhaustibles, immeasurable of immeasurables. What is the nature's containment? It means this mind-nature contains the ten Dharma-realms: namely, the Buddha Dharma-realm, the bodhisattva Dharma-realm, the pratyekabuddha Dharma-realm, the śrāvaka Dharma-realm, the deva Dharma-realm, the asura Dharma-realm, the human Dharma-realm, the animal Dharma-realm, the hungry ghost Dharma-realm, and the hell-dweller Dharma-realm—these are provisional designations. Furthermore, there are primary retributions, namely the five aggregates of a Buddha, the five aggregates of a bodhisattva, down to the five aggregates of a hell-dweller—these are real dharmas. Furthermore, there are dependent retributions, namely the Buddha's realm, the bodhisattva's realm, down to the hell-dweller's realm. To make it easy to understand, threefold distinctions are made; yet expressing its essential meaning, nature's containment is precisely nature's essence and nature's measure. Nature's essence is free from errors and cuts off negations, meaning the ten realms contained in the nature are free from errors and cut off negations. Nature's essence is solid and immutable, pure and undefiled, neither arising nor ceasing, eternally abiding and indestructible; the ten realms contained in the nature are also like this. Nature's measure vertically exhausts and horizontally pervades, inexhaustible of inexhaustibles, immeasurable of immeasurables; the ten realms contained in the nature are also like this. The primary retribution's five aggregates are identical with the nature's essence and nature's measure, pure and all-pervading; the dependent retribution's lands are also like this. These three dharmas are also called the three truths: the nature's essence is the middle truth, the nature's measure is the ultimate truth, and the nature's containment is the conventional truth. Thus the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'Yet the wondrous, bright, original mind of the Tathāgatagarbha is not the mind, not space; not earth, water, fire, or wind; not eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mental faculty; not sights, sounds, scents, tastes, tangible objects, or mental phenomena; not the eye realm down to not the consciousness realm; not ignorance down to not aging and death; not the ending of ignorance down to not the ending of aging and death; not suffering, its origination, cessation, or the path; not knowledge, not attainment; not dāna down to not prajñā; not the Tathāgata, not the Arhat, not Samyaksambuddha; not permanence, bliss, self, or purity.' This is the nature's measure being signless, which is the ultimate truth. 'Yet the original, bright mind-wonder of the Tathāgatagarbha is precisely the mind, space, earth, water, fire, and wind; precisely the six common realms, precisely the two vehicles, down to precisely the Tathāgata's permanence, bliss, self, and purity.' This is the nature containing the ten realms, which is the conventional truth. 'And the wondrous, bright mind-origin of the Tathāgatagarbha is free from identity and free from difference, both identical and non-identical.' This is the nature's essence, which is the middle truth. It also says: 'The Tathāgatagarbha’s nature of form is true emptiness, its nature of emptiness is true form; pure in its fundamental nature, it pervades the Dharma-realm. Earth, water, fire, wind, space, perception, and consciousness are all likewise.' Earth, water, fire, wind, space, perception, and consciousness are precisely the nature's containment; pure in fundamental nature is precisely the nature's essence; and pervading the Dharma-realm is precisely the nature's measure. It also says: 'Earth, water, fire, wind, and space are pure in their fundamental nature and pervade the Dharma-realm,' which is the nature's essence and nature's measure of the dependent retribution's realms. 'Perception and consciousness are pure in their fundamental nature and pervade the Dharma-realm,' which is the nature's essence and nature's measure of the primary retribution's five aggregates.