維摩經義記卷第四 4.61

4.61

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.