維摩經義記卷第四 4.61

4.61

就初段中復開為三段。第一從爾時世尊問維摩詰以下不觀識如不觀識性。明應身體空。汝欲見如來為以何等觀如來乎者。如向云。欲見於佛為作何等相根觀如來乎。維摩詰言。如自觀身實相觀佛亦然者。如來大聖尊重。不敢直爾而觀。要自觀己身性空。然後仰類於佛。我觀如來前際不來後際不去今則不住者。外人計有神我從冥初來至現在住世說法從現在謝在過去。欲明性空理中不見如來從於未來來至現在。故云前際不來向現在。亦不見從現在謝於過去。故云後際不去。亦不見住世說法。故云今則無住。又一解。以前際為過去後際為未來。前際不去者不見如來謝於過去。後際不來者不見如來在未來。今得不住不見如來在現在住世。不觀色性已下就五論明空。不觀色者。無定色可得。不觀色如故。無色空可得。人不觀色性故。亦不見色有定性可得也。受相行識行亦然也。

Within the first section, it is subdivided into three sections. The first, from "At that time the Bhagavat asked Vimalakīrti..." downward up to "does not contemplate consciousness as suchness, does not contemplate the nature of consciousness," clarifies that the response body is empty in essence. As for "You wish to see the Tathāgata; by what means do you contemplate the Tathāgata?": this is like saying above, "Wishing to see the Buddha, by what kind of marks and faculties do you contemplate the Tathāgata?" As for "Vimalakīrti said: 'Just as I contemplate the true mark of my own body, so too do I contemplate the Buddha'": the Tathāgata is a great sage of great reverence; one does not dare to contemplate him straightforwardly, but must first contemplate one's own body as empty in nature, and then by analogy look upward to the Buddha. As for "I contemplate the Tathāgata as not having come from the previous limit, not going to the subsequent limit, and not abiding in the present": outsiders posit that there is a spiritual self that comes from the primal darkness into the present, abides in the world preaching the Dharma, and departs from the present into the past. Wishing to clarify that within the principle of emptiness of nature one does not see the Tathāgata coming from the future into the present, it says "does not come from the previous limit" toward the present. Nor does one see him departing from the present into the past, hence it says "does not go to the subsequent limit." Nor does one see him abiding in the world preaching the Dharma, hence it says "now not abiding." Yet another explanation: it takes the previous limit as the past and the subsequent limit as the future. "Not going to the previous limit" means not seeing the Tathāgata departing into the past. "Not coming to the subsequent limit" means not seeing the Tathāgata in the future. "Now not abiding" means not seeing the Tathāgata abiding in the world in the present. From "does not contemplate the nature of form" downward, it clarifies emptiness with reference to the five aggregates. "Does not contemplate form" means that no determinate form can be apprehended. Because it does not contemplate the suchness of form, no emptiness of form can be apprehended. Because one does not contemplate the nature of form, neither does one see form as possessing a determinate nature that can be apprehended. The same applies to feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.