宗鏡錄 89.25

89.25

Answer: Because the tathatā nature of the one mind is inexhaustible, it is the lifespan of the buddhas of the ten directions. Therefore, the weight of mountains and drops of the ocean can still be compared; the boundaries of space and dust particles of the earth can still be numbered; how much less could one exhaust the limits of the Tathāgata's dharmakāya and wisdom-life, which are permanence, bliss, self, and purity? Hence it is said: as for the lifespan of the Dharma-nature, one does not attain a life-faculty, nor is there continuity; one conventionally points to its being unmoving and unchanging, designating it as lifespan. This lifespan is neither of long measure nor of short measure, without extension or brevity; one conventionally points to the dharmadhātu, equating it with the measure of space. This is the body that is non-body, the lifespan of non-lifespan, the measure of non-measure. Thus a verse in the Suvarṇaprabhāsasūtra says: / 'All the waters may be known in how many drops, / but none can count the lifespan of the Śākya Honored One. / All Mount Sumerus may be known in weight, / but none can measure the lifespan of the Śākya Honored One. / All great earths may be known in dust counts, / but none can calculate the lifespan of the Śākya Honored One. / The spatial boundaries may yet reach an end, / but none can reckon the lifespan of the Śākya Honored One.' / The commentary on the Lotus Sūtra explains the chapter 'The Lifespan of the Tathāgata': 'Life (shou) means reception (shou). For the dharmakāya, tathatā is not separated from all dharmas, hence it is called reception. For the reward body, object and cognition correspond, hence it is called reception. For the response body, the hundred-year reward attained for a single period without interruption is called reception. The Tathāgata as dharmakāya takes the principle of thusness as life; the Tathāgata as reward body takes wisdom as life; the Tathāgata as response body takes principle concordant with conditions as life. Regarding the life of the principle of thusness of the Tathāgata as dharmakāya: whether there are buddhas or no buddhas, the nature and characteristics are constantly thus; it does not speak of correspondence and succession, nor is there measure or measurelessness. A sūtra says: "Neither like nor different, neither unreal nor actual"; this indeed defines the life of the principle of thusness of the dharmakāya. Defining the Tathāgata as reward body: using thusness-wisdom to accord with the thusness-object, the object evoking wisdom is the reward, and wisdom merging with the object is reception. Since the object is measureless, boundless, eternally abiding and unceasing, wisdom is also like this, matching like a box and its lid. A verse of the sūtra says: "My power of wisdom is like this; attained through deeds cultivated for long; the light of wisdom shines measurelessly, and my lifespan is for countless kalpas." This defines the wisdom-life of the Tathāgata as reward body. Defining the response body: the response body conforms to conditions; when conditions are long it conforms to length, and when conditions are brief it conforms to brevity. The manifold variety belongs to them; with respect to me, it is unconditioned. A sūtra says: "Repeatedly manifesting birth, repeatedly manifesting extinction, or again speaking of myself with different names, and of ages great or small." This defines the response Buddha's life concordant with conditions. The Wu sheng yi says: "That the nature is naturally thus means that the Dharma-nature is empty; emptiness is bodhi. The bodily life of the present birth arises from past craving and grasping. The meaning is: since it is the emptiness of the Dharma-nature, one should know that the bodily life of the present birth also emerges from the emptiness of the Dharma-nature. Since the Dharma-nature is empty, the bodily life that is produced also returns to the emptiness of the Dharma-nature." Therefore the Nirvāṇasūtra says: "Just as the eight great rivers and all small streams all enter the great sea, so all the great rivers of lifespan among humans, in the heavens, on earth, and in space all enter the ocean of the Tathāgata's lifespan. Again, just as Lake Anavatapta sends forth the four great rivers, the Tathāgata is also like this, sending forth all lives. Since life emerges from thusness, it returns to thusness. The six sense-faculties are also like this: emerging from thusness, they return to thusness." If one believes in the Tathāgata's lifespan as explained above, the Buddha personally compared the merits: it is like someone who practices the five pāramitās for measureless koṭis of kalpas; it is not as good as giving rise to a single moment of faithful mind with the correct wisdom of prajñā, which exceeds the previous merit hundreds of thousands of myriads of times. Hence a verse of the Lotus Sūtra says: / "If this person during hundreds of thousands / of myriads of koṭis of kalpas / practices these merits, / as spoken above, / and there are good men and women / who, hearing me speak of lifespan, / give rise to even a single thought of faith, / their merit surpasses that."'