法苑珠林 1.27

1.27

According to Master Xuanzang’s *Record of the Western Regions*, "The workings of yin and yang revolve, and the sun and moon turn like an armillary sphere. Although their designations differ, their seasons are identical. The months are named according to the asterisms under which they are established. The shortest unit of time is called a kṣaṇa." As the *New Vibhāṣā* states: "How may the measure of that kṣaṇa be known? Some say: According to the *Kāraṇaprajñapti-śāstra*, it is like a middle-aged woman spinning downy hair, shaking fine down that is neither long nor short; this point is stated to be the measure of a tatkṣaṇa. That does not mean to state the length or shortness of the thread of hair, but only that when the down emerges from between the fingers, the amount that emerges is a tatkṣaṇa. Question: The previous question asked about the kṣaṇa; for what reason was the *Prajñapti* cited to explain the measure of a tatkṣaṇa? Answer: Here the coarse is adduced to reveal the subtle, because the subtle is difficult to know and cannot be directly revealed. That is to say, one hundred and twenty kṣaṇas make one tatkṣaṇa; sixty tatkṣaṇas make one lava, which contains seven thousand two hundred kṣaṇas; thirty lavas make one muhūrta, which contains two hundred and sixteen thousand kṣaṇas; thirty muhūrtas make one day and night, which contains twenty short of sixty-five hundred thousand kṣaṇas [i.e., 6,479,980 kṣaṇas]. In one day and one night, these five aggregates undergo that many arising and perishing impermanences." Some say: "This is coarse and is not the true measure of a kṣaṇa. In my view, in the time it takes a strong man to snap his fingers, sixty-four kṣaṇas pass." Some say this is not so: "In my view, it is like two strong men snapping many fine threads of Kāśī cloth; as many threads as are severed, that many kṣaṇas pass." Some say this is not so: "In my view, it is like two strong men pulling taut many fine threads of Kāśī cloth, and another strong man swiftly severing them with a sword of hundred-refined steel from the country of Cīna; as many threads as are severed, that many kṣaṇas pass." Some say: "These are still coarse and are not the measure of a kṣaṇa. The World-Honoured One did not declare the real measure of a kṣaṇa. As the World-Honoured One said: 'Suppose there are four skilled archers, each holding bow and arrow, standing back-to-back, wishing to shoot toward the four quarters. There is a swift man who comes and says to them: "You may all release your arrows at once; I can intercept them all and let none fall to the ground." What do you think? Is this swift or not?' The bhikṣus said to the Buddha, 'Extremely swift, World-Honoured One.' The Buddha said: 'That man cannot equal a terrestrial yakṣa. A terrestrial [yakṣa's] swiftness cannot equal an aerial yakṣa. An aerial [yakṣa's] swiftness cannot equal the devas of the realm of the Cāturmahārājakāyika. That realm's swiftness cannot equal the two discs of the sun and moon. The swiftness of the two discs cannot equal the god Firm-Course (Dṛḍhapratāpa), who drives the chariot of the sun and moon discs. These various devas are successively swifter and swifter, yet the arising and perishing of the lifespan-formations is swifter than they, turning in a kṣaṇa without pausing even for an instant.' From this we know that the World-Honoured One did not speak of the real measure of a kṣaṇa. Question: For what reason did the World-Honoured One not declare the real measure of a kṣaṇa to others? Answer: Because no sentient being is capable of knowing it." Furthermore, according to the *Ānāpāna-sūtra*, within a single finger-snap, the mind has nine hundred and sixty [moments]. Furthermore, the *Humane Kings Sūtra* states that in a single thought there are ninety kṣaṇas, and within each kṣaṇa there are again nine hundred arisings and perishings. Furthermore, the *Bodhisattva Garbhastha Sūtra* states that within a single finger-snap there are thirty-two hundred thousand billion thoughts, thought after thought taking form, and each form possessing consciousness; the Buddha's spiritual power enters into these subtle consciousnesses and causes them all to attain deliverance. Furthermore, the *Abhidharma* has a total of twelve tiers: first is called kṣaṇa; second is called tatkṣaṇa; third is called lava; fourth is called muhūrta; fifth is called day and night; sixth is called half-month; seventh is called one month; eighth is called season (ṛtu); ninth is called course (ayana); tenth is called year (saṃvatsara); eleventh is called pair (yuga); twelfth is called kalpa. One kṣaṇa is translated as "one thought" (yinian). One hundred and twenty kṣaṇas make one tatkṣaṇa, translated as "a blink of an eye" (yishun). Sixty tatkṣaṇas make one breath. One breath makes one lava. Thirty lavas make one muhūrta, translated as "a brief moment" (xuyu). Thirty muhūrtas make one day and night, calculated to have 6,380,000 kṣaṇas. The *Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya* states that twenty thoughts make one blink of an eye; twenty blinks of an eye are called one finger-snap; twenty finger-snaps are called one layu; twenty layus are called one xuyu (muhūrta); one day and one night have thirty muhūrtas. At the time of the longest day, the daytime has eighteen and the night has twelve; at the time of the shortest, the daytime has twelve and the night has eighteen; at the spring and autumn equinoxes, they are equal. Furthermore, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra* states that the six divisions of day and night comprise thirty periods. At the time of the spring and autumn equinoxes, day and night each have fifteen periods, increasing or decreasing at other times. In the fifth month, the daytime has eighteen periods and the night has twelve; in the tenth month, the night has eighteen periods and the day has twelve. According to Master Xuanzang’s *Record of the Western Regions*, secular usage divides day and night into eight periods (four during the day and four at night, each period having four sub-divisions). The waxing of the moon until full is called the white fortnight (śuklapakṣa); the waning of the moon until dark is called the black fortnight (kṛṣṇapakṣa). [They comprise] either fourteen or fifteen days, because the months have large and small [lengths]. The white comes first and the black comes after, combining to form one month. Six months combine to form one course (ayana): when the sun moves on the inner course, it is the northern course (uttarāyaṇa); when the sun moves on the outer course, it is the southern course (dakṣiṇāyana). Combining these two courses forms one year. Furthermore, one year is divided into six seasons: from the fifteenth day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the third month, it gradually grows hot; from the sixteenth day of the third month to the fifteenth day of the fifth month, it is intensely hot; from the sixteenth day of the fifth month to the fifteenth day of the seventh month, it is the rainy season; from the sixteenth day of the seventh month to the fifteenth day of the ninth month, it is the luxuriant season; from the sixteenth day of the ninth month to the fifteenth day of the eleventh month, it gradually grows cold; from the sixteenth day of the eleventh month to the fifteenth day of the first month, it is intensely cold. In the Tathāgata’s holy teaching, the year has three seasons: from the sixteenth day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the fifth month is the hot season; from the sixteenth day of the fifth month to the fifteenth day of the ninth month is the rainy season; from the sixteenth day of the ninth month to the fifteenth day of the first month is the cold season. Alternatively, it is divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Calculating according to the treatises: fifteen nights make a half-month; two half-months make one month; three months make one season; two seasons make one course, one course being half a year or six months; two courses make one year; two and a half years make one pair (yuga). This is due to the intercalary month: taking the intercalary month together with the standard months, this refers to a pairing of months, not a pairing of intercalations. If one considers two intercalations in five years as a pair, an intercalation occurs every two and a half years; how could that be established as a single? Accumulating these units of time clarifies that there are four kinds of kalpas: first, the individual kalpa (antara-kalpa); second, the kalpa of formation (vivarta-kalpa); third, the kalpa of destruction (saṃvarta-kalpa); fourth, the great kalpa (mahākalpa). From human lifespan of ten years gradually increasing to eighty thousand years, passing a long time at eighty thousand years, and then gradually decreasing to ten years, constitutes one individual kalpa. Because it stands in contrast to the collective, it is called "individual". If measured by tangible things: according to the *Saṃyuktāgama*, there is a city of one yojana in extent, and its height is the same, filled with mustard seeds; if one takes one seed every hundred years, the mustard seeds will be exhausted while the kalpa is still not exhausted. Considered accordingly, this is an individual kalpa. If based on the great kalpa, a city of eighty yojanas is taken as the measure. The *Loutan jing* states that kalpas are discussed in terms of two things: first, it says there is a great city one thousand li from east to west and four thousand li from north to south, filled with mustard seeds; every hundred years the devas descend to take one mustard seed; when they are exhausted, the kalpa is still not exhausted. Second, it says there is a great rock forty li square; every hundred years the devas descend to brush the rock with a robe of gossamer silk; when it is worn away, the kalpa is still not exhausted. These also should be individual kalpas. Second, there are forty [individual kalpas] for the kalpa of formation, and the kalpa of destruction is likewise. Why is this? When the world forms, it takes twenty individual kalpas; when it endures, it takes twenty individual kalpas; when it is destroyed, it takes twenty individual kalpas; when it is empty, it takes twenty individual kalpas. Here, endurance is combined with formation, and emptiness is combined with destruction, so each comprises forty individual kalpas. In total, these formations and destructions combine to have eighty individual kalpas, making one great kalpa. If one further expands them, there are separately six kalpas: first, the individual; second, formation; third, endurance; fourth, destruction; fifth, emptiness; sixth, the great. If one further summarizes them, there are three kalpas: first, the small kalpa; second, the medium kalpa; third, the great kalpa. "Small" refers to the individual kalpa; "medium" refers to either formation or destruction; "great" combines formation and destruction. In the desire realm, a lifespan of one kalpa is a small kalpa; the lifespan-kalpa of the three heavens of the first dhyāna is a medium kalpa; the lifespan-kalpa of the second dhyāna and above is a great kalpa. In the secular mathematics of foreign countries, there are sixty decimal places; beyond this, numbers cannot be counted, hence called asaṃkhyeya. These counted years serve as the measure of kalpas; progressing through the sixty positions is called an asaṃkhyeya-kalpa. This is the measure of a great kalpa. Therefore, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra* states taking a city of one hundred yojanas as the measure, taking one mustard seed every hundred years; thus it uses the metaphor of brushing a stone of one hundred yojanas once every hundred years with a heavenly robe of Kāśī silk; these are all measures of the great kalpa. Thus, considering that within one great kalpa in the Sahā world (formerly called Suopo world) one thousand Buddhas appear, when inquiring into the designation of "kalpa", it cannot be counted by ordinary units of time. Therefore, the metaphors of rocks and mustard cities are adopted to gauge the duration of a single period. That is to say, based on the aforementioned, it fully encompasses the four kalpas of formation, endurance, destruction, and emptiness. As stated before, increasing from ten years to eighty thousand, and returning from eighty thousand down to ten years, passing through twenty cycles, constitutes one small kalpa. Twenty small kalpas make one kalpa of formation. Calculating by years, it spans eighty thousand million billion hundred thousand eight million years [80,000,000,000,000,800,000 years]; this is merely one small kalpa. Now the kalpa of formation has already passed and entered into the kalpa of endurance, which has already passed through eight small kalpas. Śākyamuni Tathāgata is the fourth Buddha during this kalpa of endurance; there still remain nine hundred and ninety-six Buddhas who will successively appear hereafter.