御注金剛般若波羅蜜經宣演 2.37

2.37

Sūtra: 'Subhūti, in future ages…' up to '…receive, uphold, read, and recite.'
Exposition: The tenth [section] is for abandoning the obstacle of a deficiency in the provisions of wisdom, which is the fourteenth dwelling place, 'abandoning the taste of quiescence'. Previously, the provisions of merit had three dwelling places: first, drawing near to the Buddha to cultivate the cause of making offerings; next, when cultivating the cause, exhorting advancement through few desires; and lastly, exhorting the practice of patience. The reason for this is: through making offerings and so forth, one encounters the Buddha and hears the Dharma, and will attain the abundant treasures and joys of a pure land; through few desires and so forth, one can wave toward empty space to produce treasures, karmic retribution is uninterrupted, what one undertakes is brought to completion, and one delights in noble activities; through the patience of examining reality, one expounds the Dharma for others, so that one's words are sincere and truthful and all others accept them in faith; through enduring harm from others, one is surrounded by an entourage and adorned with marks and characteristics; through the patience of accepting suffering, one is unconstrained by birth and death, transforms living beings according to their categories, and has no afflictions of suffering. Because these are all clear with respect to merit, there are three texts. Below, the causes for cultivating wisdom also have three dwelling places: first, renouncing the taste of meditative absorption; next, leaving behind the agitation of joy; and third, seeking instruction. First, diligently relying on the sūtra to renounce the taste of quiescence, taking upholding and reciting as the cause to give rise to the wisdom of cultivation. Although in the previous path of provisions one cultivated the meditative observation of the principle of signlessness in a general manner, through falling into meditative absorption, because of indulging in the taste of meditative absorption, one had not yet cultivated it distinctively. From here downward is the path of preparation, in which one distinctively cultivates the meditative observation of the principle. First, one attains the wisdom of cultivation in the stage of warmth. Next, because one has attained wisdom and one's reputation and status are high, one's self-conceit increases and consequently the agitation of joy arises. To abandon this, there is the second text. When the agitation of joy is eliminated, one enters the summit stage. Afterwards, in order to attain entrance into patience and the supreme worldly phenomena, one externally seeks excellent conditions in hopes of instruction. Immediately following this, one borders upon and enters the dwelling place of the path of realization of the first bhūmi; it is not that after [entering] the supreme worldly phenomena one further seeks instruction, for in only a single kṣaṇa one enters the path of seeing. Therefore, seeking instruction is before the stage of seeing. In the two stages of warmth and summit, one observes the absence of the apprehended, which is difficult at first; now, reaching the stage of patience, one proceeds smoothly with the observation of the absence of the apprehended toward the apprehender. In the supreme worldly phenomena, the dual seals of the two kinds of emptiness are fulfilled in their causes. Previously, the cultivation of merit was in the four stages—the various stages of dedication that precede them. Now, cultivating wisdom precisely enters the four stages; this is the end of the mind of the tenth dedication. Because of this, based on the previous text, there are also three sections. Within the first text, it is broadly divided into two: first, explaining five kinds of supreme merits to exhort the renunciation of attachment to meditative absorption in order to cultivate the wisdom of cultivation; later, from 'I recall in the past' downward, re-explaining it. Among the five, the second, 'mass of merit', was previously leaving little learning and gaining much learning. Although this obstacle to hearing and contemplating has been removed, there are still the two conceptually constructed obstacles faintly arising, and the two innate obstacles frequently acting manifest, so that one is not yet able to distinctively cultivate the signless wisdom of cultivation. Because of this deficiency, one cannot realize tathatā. Now, in order to cause one to distinctively observe the true principle in the stage of the wisdom of cultivation, causing the conceptually constructed obstacles to be completely inactive and enabling the two innate obstacles to be gradually subdued so that one swiftly enters the path of seeing, there is this text. As for the previously mentioned 'taste of quiescence', loving the taste of meditative absorption is in its essence greed. Because one loves meditative absorption, one is unwilling to cultivate wisdom; this is called the obstacle to wisdom, which is precisely that greed. Or, this itself is precisely the essence of the obstacle of the knowable, termed the 'obstacle to wisdom'. Previously, it was the obstacle of afflictions, so what is eliminated here encompasses both obstacles. In that treatise, the section on severing the tenth doubt is broadly divided into two: first, correctly severing the doubt; second, weighing the comparison to show its superiority. Having completed the severance of doubt previously, below is the comparison. That [treatise] first raises a question in a verse: