翻譯名義集 6.54

6.54

[Bījaka] Here translated as "seed" [dhātu/bīja]. Zhao says: "That from which these five skandhas are born is called 'seed'." The *Vibhāṣā* says: "Question: 'What is meant by great element [mahābhūta]?' Answer: 'Because they are great and are seeds, they are called great elements. Just as one speaks of the great earth and great kings, they are able to decrease and increase, harm and benefit—this is the meaning of "seed". In substance, characteristic, shape, and measure, they pervade all directions and realms, and are able to accomplish great things—this is the meaning of "great".'" The *Mahāyāna Laṅkāvatāra* says: "It refers to false discrimination. The moistening great element forms the internal and external water elements; the blazing great element forms the internal and external fire elements; the drifting great element forms the internal and external wind elements; and the segmented-matter great element forms the internal and external earth elements." The *Sūtra of Complete Enlightenment* says: "This body of mine is a harmony of the four great elements. Namely, hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, sinews, bones, marrow, brain, and impure matter all return to earth. Spittle, snot, pus, blood, fluids, saliva, phlegm, tears, semen, vital energy, and feces and urine all return to water. Warmth returns to fire, and movement returns to wind." The *Benevolent Kings Sūtra* says: "Firm solidity is called earth, moistening is called water, warm nature is called fire, and light movement is called wind." Jingjue says: "The common name 'great' is established temporarily based on phenomena." The *Great Commentary* says: "The Buddha spoke of the four great elements as having no place where they do not exist; hence they are called 'great'." Changshui directly interprets 'great' through the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; how mistaken that is! Gushan says: "Four discs uphold the world: in fact, they are the soil disc, the gold disc, the water disc, and the wind disc. The reason soil is not mentioned here is that soil and gold are both of a firm nature, and both belong to the earth element. Therefore, here it merely speaks of the four great elements, which already subsumes the four discs." Jingjue says: "However, among these four great elements, wind and gold arise from the deluded mind, and fire and water further arise from wind and gold." The text below concludes: "They mutually serve as seeds to one another; the meaning is seen here." The *Zongjing lu* says: "All are harmoniously formed from the four great elements, all being delusive transformations of the one mind." Vimalakīrti asked Mañjuśrī: "What constitutes the seed of the Tathāgata?" Mañjuśrī said: "Having a body is the seed; ignorance and craving for existence are the seed; greed, anger, and delusion are the seed; the four inversions are the seed; the five hindrances are the seed; the six sense entrances are the seed; the seven stations of consciousness are the seed; the eight wrong factors are the seed; the nine causes of vexation are the seed; the ten unwholesome courses of action are the seed. In brief, the sixty-two views and all defilements are all seeds of buddhahood." Tiantai explains: This means taking what is not a seed as the seed. Why? Apart from the three paths, there is no other seed of the Tathāgata. First, the direct cause, which is the path of suffering; second, the revealing cause, which is the path of defilements; third, the conditioning cause, which is the path of karma. Furthermore, the text above says: The three paths are the seeds of the three virtues. Since the seeds are three, the Tathāgatas are also three: first, the Dharma-Buddha Tathāgata; second, the Retribution-Buddha Tathāgata; third, the Response-Buddha Tathāgata. A seed takes the capacity to generate as its meaning. If it cannot generate, it is not called a seed. Since these three seeds can generate the three Buddhas, proceeding from the subtle to the manifest, and ending in the great fruition, it also has the meaning of a category/kind [jāti]. If these three seeds were not of the Buddha's category, outside of them there would be no dharma of the same kind. It also has the meaning of lineage/nature [gotra]; 'nature' means changelessness. These three dharmas, from beginning to end, are uninterrupted and indestructible, and inevitably result in the fruit of the three Buddhas and the three virtues; hence they are called changeless. Now, explaining the seeds in terms of sentient beings does not go beyond these three. Due to defilements moistening karma, one receives a body and suffers; the three have no before or after, nor are they simultaneous, neither vertical nor horizontal. Therefore the *Golden Hammer* says: "If there are sentient beings who have not received the teaching and come to you, you should first tell them: 'From beginningless time, you have had only defilements, karma, and suffering.' Precisely these are entirely the three causes of inherent principle (this is opening the three according to nature). Because they have not yet aroused the mind [of bodhi] nor engaged in expedients, the inherent conditioning and revealing causes are together named the direct cause (this is unified only in contrast to cultivation)." Again, *Miaole* says: "That the three paths are the seeds of the three virtues refers to the seeds of nature. Because they possess the generative nature, they are called seeds. When generated, this seed entirely transforms into cultivation." All such texts take the time of delusion as nature, and what follows awakening as cultivation. However, this nature-seed is called by Tiantai the "correlative seed". Jingxi explains it through direct confrontation, which has both general and particular aspects. If one generally takes the phenomena of the three paths to correspond to the principle of the three virtues, this is a general discussion of confrontation between phenomena and principle. If it is particular confrontation, as the commentator says: these three follow particularities, each being different. The path of suffering, while in delusion, belongs to the cause, and what is realized by the dharmakāya is the fruit—this is the correlation between cause and fruit; defilements are dharmas of dark confusion, while prajñā is a dharma of bright awakening—this is the confrontation between delusion and awakening; practice that contradicts principle is a dharma of bondage, while practice in accord with principle is a dharma of liberation—this is the confrontation between bondage and liberation. Jingxi further changes the name to "subversive seed". In the cause, the dharmakāya is overturned into the path of suffering; reaching the fruit, the path of suffering is overturned into the dharmakāya. In the day of delusion, prajñā is overturned into defilement; at the time of awakening, defilement is overturned into prajñā. When bound, liberation is overturned into fettering karma; when liberated, fettering karma is overturned into liberation. Beginning and end are one in principle; hence it is called the nature-seed. As the *Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra* explains: "The Buddhas, the two-legged honored ones, know that dharmas are always without nature. The Buddha-seeds arise from conditions; therefore they preach the One Vehicle." Tiantai explains: "The middle way without nature is itself the Buddha-seed." *Miaole* explains: "Establishing the fundamentally natureless as the inherent virtue of original nature, one therefore knows that this seed is the seed of the domain of nature." A former worthy raised a doubt: "*Jingming* takes the three paths as the nature-seed, while the *Lotus Sūtra* takes the middle way as the nature-seed. Looking at these two passages, their text and meaning differ considerably. He therefore established four meanings to reconcile the two passages: first, the root of the seed; second, the substance of the seed; third, the conditions of the seed; fourth, the fruit of the seed. He then determined that the three paths in *Jingming* are the actual substance of the seed, and the three virtues in the *Lotus Sūtra* are the supporting substance, namely the root of the seed." Now I say that a seed takes the capacity to generate as its meaning; the seed is precisely the root—how could there be two different things? Scholars must investigate the scriptures in both places, each following one perspective. *Vimalakīrti* points to delusion to cause awakening; hence it takes the three paths in delusion as the Buddha-seed, and the direct and auxiliary cultivations as the conditions of the seed (this distinguishes cultivation and nature through delusion and awakening). The *Lotus Sūtra* clarifies the Buddhas' establishment of teachings; hence it takes the equal principle-nature as the Buddha-seed, and both adverse and compliant phenomena as the conditions of the seed (this distinguishes cultivation and nature through phenomena and principle). The three paths of *Jingming* take identity as the seed (the three paths are the active, the three virtues are the passive), just as ice is the seed of water. The three virtues of the *Lotus Sūtra* point to the nature itself as the seed (the nature itself in its own right is called the seed), just as water is the seed of ice. Making this distinction, it becomes brilliantly clear. Furthermore, the *Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra* says: "If discussing seeds in terms of category, every bowing of the head and raising of the hand is a seed of liberation; all worldly knowledge and understanding minds of the three vehicles are seeds of prajñā. Whoever has a mind shall become a Buddha—this is the seed of the dharmakāya." Jingxi says: "Category means analogous instance, which is cultivated virtue. These are compliant cultivations of the three causes, capable of accomplishing the fruit of the three virtues; hence they are called category-seeds. This is because the *Lotus Sūtra* universally opens the six destinies: bowing the head, raising the hand, snapping fingers, and scattering flowers were originally the blessings of humans and devas, but now opened, they are the Buddha-seeds of the conditioning cause; all worldly knowledge and understanding minds of the three vehicles were originally the wisdom of the five vehicles, but now opened, they are the Buddha-seeds of the revealing cause; whoever has a mind does not know the direct cause, but now opening it so that all sentient beings shall become Buddhas, this is the seed of the dharmakāya." *Miaole* asks: "If so, do prajñā and liberation have category-seeds? And comparing the dharmakāya category-seed with the correlative seed, are they identical or different?" Answer: "The principle is one, but the meanings differ. Regarding their principle being one: only because the principle is one do cultivation and nature correlate, separate, and unite. Regarding their meanings being different: facing the side of birth-and-death is called correlative; the principle-substance being fundamentally pure is called the category-seed. Furthermore, hearing the capable-of-contemplating wisdom is called the revealing seed; hearing the contemplated principle is called the direct seed—namely, purity of principle and purity of phenomena belong to the same category. This clarifies the category-seed in terms of opening and revealing." In the past scriptures, the Perfect was separated from the Partial, so one only discussed category-seeds within the three causes of that specific teaching. As for the previous three teachings, as *Miaole* says: "The Separate Teaching only has category-seeds and lacks the correlative; among them, the category of the dharmakāya is still distinct. From beginning to end it is always pure, and solely because it does not follow obscuration does it receive the name of seed." This conflicts with the statement in *Shuqian*: "Although the dharmakāya is fundamentally possessed, it is not like the Separate Teaching where it is obscured by delusion." *Miaozong* explains: "That the dharmakāya in the Separate Teaching is obscured by delusion is truly because it does not know that the nature of original enlightenment possesses the virtues of defilement and evil; therefore, defilement and evil are not the other two virtues (and so forth). There is only the dharmakāya original enlightenment which, following defiled conditions, produces all the above phenomena within delusion; for this reason it is called 'obscured by delusion'. Since it obscures the principle of the Buddha-nature that is the mere middle—just as a purely good person, for whom all evil deeds are not originally within his capacity, is coerced by evil people to commit various evils, so that it is said the good person is obscured by evil. This shows there definitely exists the delusion that can obscure. The true suchness that is obscured does not change in principle and is always pure from beginning to end. Therefore it is said that solely because it does not follow obscuration does it receive the name of seed." Question: "The *Miaoxuan* says: 'In the ten dedications of merit, one first truly cultivates the middle. This middle is mere principle and does not possess all dharmas.' *Shuqian* then says: 'It is not like the person of the Separate Teaching, whose principle-substance is complete yet does not subsume one another.' Therefore Jiangwei challenged: 'Since the person of the Separate Teaching already has the three causes of inherent principle, why should he separately cultivate the conditioning and revealing causes?' Although Jingjue takes the three causes of inherent principle as all virtues of the mere middle?" Answer: "He did not accord with Siming's intention, so in the *Miaozong* this meaning is explained: It is also because of not knowing that the nature of original enlightenment possesses the virtues of defilement and evil, and being unable, completely as nature, to give rise to defiled and evil cultivation, that the principle-substance horizontally possesses the three dharmas. That they do not subsume one another means that because these three dharmas are fixedly both in nature, they are all what is manifested. Just like three shares, each calling itself emperor—how could they subsume one another? Therefore, not knowing that of the three dharmas in nature, two are cultivation, the two become horizontal. Thus it is said that all three are in nature yet do not mutually interfuse. The Piṭaka and Shared teachings completely lack this meaning. Yet based on their respective teachings, the names are not absent: the three trainings during the causal stage are the seeds of the five parts [of the dharmakāya]; the parts of attainment are the seeds of the two liberations (*Record 5* says: attainment of liberation refers to the wholesome roots cultivated toward nirvāṇa called liberation; not abiding in birth-and-death is called attainment); the stations of mindfulness are the seeds of prajñā. One should realize that having a body is the seed. If not for hearing the Dharma, who could know this of themselves? Without applying effort, casting off bodies and receiving bodies, how could one accomplish unsurpassed bodhi? Thus the two dharmas of nature and category are pointed out to serve as fingers pointing to the moon!"