宗鏡錄 91.5

91.5

Answer: That the buddhas see there are sentient beings is entirely [seeing them as] dependently arisen, illusory existences. Sentient beings, unaware [of this], claim that there is a real self; therefore they create karma and receive retribution, vainly undergoing saṃsāra. It is because there is no real self that this evokes the buddhas' loving-kindness and compassion. If there were a real self and it were not an illusory existence, why would the buddhas mistakenly save sentient beings? For if a self really existed, it could not be saved. That they now save them is because they definitely know there is no self, and that [sentient beings] mistakenly calculate that there is. Therefore, know that sentient beings are not separate from the fruit of buddhahood, but are deluded and unaware. A verse of the Avataṃsakasūtra says: / "The Buddha's body is not a transformation, / Nor is it non-transformation; / Within the dharma that is without transformation, / He manifests the appearance of transformation." / An ancient commentary explains: "This is relying on the true to arise as transformation. The true and transformation each have two meanings. First, the two in the true are: 1. The meaning of unchangingness: although transformed, it is constantly serene; thus 'the Buddha's body is not a transformation.' 2. The meaning of according with conditions: meaning that it does not abide in its own nature and there is no time it does not manifest; thus 'nor is it non-transformation.' The two in transformation are: 1. The meaning of being empty without substance: meaning that by gathering conditions it has no nature; thus 'within the dharma that is without transformation.' 2. The meaning of illusory existence born from conditions: thus 'he manifests the appearance of transformation.' Because illusory existence that accords with conditions is not different from the empty substance that is unchanging, therefore its manifested transformations are multitudinous yet have never not been quiescent; its true nature is serene yet has never not been transforming. If one does not penetrate this principle, one has not yet liberated oneself—how could one transform others? Furthermore, with unconditioned loving-kindness, like a lodestone attracting iron, how could there be a distinction between the active agent and the passive recipient of transformation? With compassion of identical substance, like empty space, who sees bodies of self and other? Therefore a prior worthy said: 'Exhausting the source admits no duality; grasping at traces brings many extremes.' This means that if one relies on the fundamental to investigate the source, then a thousand paths have no different tracks, just as the vast expanse of the Three Rivers all have their source arising from Mount Min. This is 'exhausting the source admits no duality.' If 'grasping at traces brings many extremes,' then one relies on the branches to seek the root, unaware that the many extremes are merely responding traces. Therefore the verse in the Chapter on Awakening by Light says: / 'One body becomes immeasurable, / Immeasurable [bodies] again become one; / Thoroughly understanding all worlds, / He manifests forms everywhere throughout all. / This body comes from nowhere, / Nor is it accumulated anywhere; / It is because sentient beings make discriminations / That they see the Buddha's various bodies.' / This is precisely its meaning. It is merely the one dharmakāya, yet conceptually divided into two, three, four, five, and even up to ten bodies. Now, as for the explanation of five bodies, Master Rui's commentary on the Vimalakīrti explains: 'Namely, the body born of dharmatā, also called the merit dharmakāya, the transformation dharmakāya, the true-aspect dharmakāya, and the space dharmakāya. When scrutinized and distinguished, they are the one dharmakāya. Why? Speaking of its birth, it is rooted in dharmatā, hence called the body born of dharmatā. Tracing its cause, it is accomplished by merit, hence called the merit dharmakāya. Considering its response, there is no stimulus without manifestation, which is the transformation dharmakāya. Praising its vastness, it encompasses empty space, which is the space dharmakāya. Expressing its subtlety, it is formless and unconditioned, hence called the true-aspect dharmakāya.' Therefore know that the one substance is unmoved, and names are distinguished according to conditions. Thus it is said: at the same time in different places, it is certainly multiple bodies; yet it is the full manifestation of the single body, and therefore not multiple. It is like the single moon: in a single kṣaṇa it appears simultaneously in a hundred rivers, all being both one and many. Moreover, because it appears everywhere it is not one; because it is a single moon it is not many. As Bodhisattva Jñānaketu's verse says: / 'Like the pure, full moon, / Universally appearing in all waters: / Although the reflected images are immeasurable, / The original moon was never two.' / This is it. Furthermore, a sūtra verse says: / 'The Tathāgata's pure, subtle dharmakāya / Has no equal in all the three realms, / Because it transcends the path of worldly speech, / And its nature is neither existent nor non-existent. / Although having nothing upon which to rely, there is nowhere it does not go; / Although there is nowhere it does not reach, it does not depart. / Like a line drawn in space or what is seen in a dream: / One should view the Buddha's substance in this way.' / Because it is neither true nor responding, neither one nor many, one must not conceptualize it as true, responding, one, or many. Therefore the verse in the Chapter on Awakening by Light says: / 'The Buddha's vision is unborn and transcends conceptual proliferation; / It is not the differentiated phenomena of aggregates or sense-bases.' / Hence it is difficult to conceive. It also says: 'All are bodies in which self and other make one another, transformations mutually accomplished by the active and the passive.' As for 'self and other making one another,' as the Avataṃsakasūtra says: 'This bodhisattva can, in accordance with the inclinations of sentient beings' minds, use their own body to make the body of a realm, the body of sentient beings, the body of karmic retribution, the body of a śrāvaka, the body of a pratyekabuddha, the body of a bodhisattva, the body of a tathāgata, the dharmakāya, the wisdom-body, and the space-body.' This is the self making the other. Furthermore, in accordance with the inclinations of sentient beings' minds, they can use the bodies of sentient beings to make their own body; this is the other making the self. As for 'mutually accomplished by the active and passive': if there were no capacity of the converted (passive), there would be no traces of the converter (active). Furthermore, if there were no responding body, there would also be no event of evoking a stimulus. Self and other, active and passive, are neither one nor different; dependent origination relying on each other accomplishes this esoteric purport. However, this mutual reliance in dependent origination is entirely conditioned by one's own mind; there is never any dharma outside the mind that can serve as a condition for the mind. Therefore an ancient worthy said: 'The buddhas of the ten directions are all suddenly manifested from our fundamental teacher's sāgaramudrā.' Moreover, when dividing bodies in the Lotus Sūtra, there were many pure lands; why did the Tathāgata not point to his own pure land, but instead directed [sentient beings] to go elsewhere to Amitābha or Abhirati? Think about this! Therefore know that buddhas such as Bhadraśrī and Amitābha are all our fundamental teacher. What is strange about this? 'Bhadraśrī' refers to the Tathāgata of the Utmost Lotus World, beyond a hundred myriad asaṃkhyeya lands, in the Chapter on the Measure of Life. A verse in the sūtra says: / 'Or they see the supremely wonderful Lotus Land, / With Bhadraśrī Tathāgata dwelling therein.' / If this were not praising our fundamental teacher, what would be the purpose of speaking of another tathāgata in another land? Furthermore, in the Dhāraṇī teaching, it is also said that the thirty-seven deities are all manifested by the single Buddha Vairocana. That is to say, Vairocana Tathāgata within his mind realizes his own enjoyment, completing the five wisdoms, and from four wisdoms emanate four tathāgatas. That is, the great round mirror wisdom emanates Akṣobhya Tathāgata of the east; the wisdom of equality emanates Ratnasaṃbhava Tathāgata of the south; the wonderful discerning wisdom emanates Amitāyus Tathāgata of the west; the wisdom of accomplishing actions emanates Amoghasiddhi Tathāgata of the north; and the pure wisdom of the dharmadhātu is Vairocana Tathāgata himself.