維摩經疏卷第三．第六 6.33

6.33

又此四魔。八萬四千煩惱下一句。逆行佛事。八萬四千煩惱門者。如賢愚經說。彼有菩薩名曰喜王。心自思惟。行何三昧便速逮得八萬四千諸度法門。思惟已請佛。佛遂答之言。有三昧名了法本。菩薩行之便速逮得八萬四千諸度法門。何者是也。彼佛具答。始從光曜無極度終至分布舍利度有三百五十種門。一一皆修六度之因。便有二千一百諸度。以此諸度對治四大六衰之患。便有二萬一千諸度。正以凡夫用彼四大為身。聖修諸度得淨法身。捨彼四大名為對治。六衰即是六塵大賊。以能衰耗諸善法故。聖修諸度證入佛境。捨彼六塵名治六衰。用此二萬一千諸度治四心病。謂貪嗔癡及以等分。此四各有二萬一千。都合八萬四千煩惱。而諸眾生以為疲勞者。凡愚眾生以迷到故為疲勞門。諸佛了煩惱性空。即以煩惱空性教化眾生。因此得悟名為佛事。故無垢稱經云。一切如來即以此法為諸眾生而作佛事。故上經云。煩惱是道場。知如實故。又仁王經云。眾生未成佛。菩提為煩惱。眾生若成。佛煩惱為菩提。猶如俗醫有其三品。下醫之流藥成非藥。中品之者以藥成藥。上品良醫用非藥為藥。佛亦如是。能轉煩惱總為涅槃。名為佛事也。遠云。諸佛煩惱以已遠離。後得智中大悲現起攝化。眾生因之得悟。名為佛事。即此意識能通道法塵為佛事故。下第三總結。

The single line from 'Furthermore, these four Māras and the eighty-four thousand afflictions' downward is Buddha's work in reverse practice. Regarding the 'eighty-four thousand gates of affliction', as the Damamūka-nidāna Sūtra states, there was a bodhisattva named King of Joy who reflected in his mind: 'By practicing which samādhi can one swiftly attain the eighty-four thousand gates of the pāramitās?' Having reflected, he requested the Buddha, and the Buddha then answered him, saying: 'There is a samādhi called Understanding the Root of Dharmas; if a bodhisattva practices it, he will swiftly attain the eighty-four thousand gates of the pāramitās.' What are they? That Buddha fully answered: beginning from the pāramitā of limitless radiance and ending with the pāramitā of distributing relics, there are three hundred and fifty gates. In each one, the causes of the six pāramitās are cultivated, giving two thousand one hundred pāramitās. Using these pāramitās to counter the disorders of the four great elements and the six decays gives twenty-one thousand pāramitās. It is precisely because ordinary beings use those four great elements as their bodies, while noble ones cultivate the pāramitās to attain the pure dharmakāya; abandoning those four great elements is called 'countering'. The six decays are precisely the great thieves of the six sense-objects, because they can waste away all wholesome dharmas; noble ones cultivate the pāramitās to realize entry into the Buddha-realm; abandoning those six sense-objects is called 'curing the six decays'. Using these twenty-one thousand pāramitās to cure the four diseases of the mind—namely greed, anger, ignorance, and an equal proportion of them—these four each have twenty-one thousand, totaling eighty-four thousand afflictions. Yet that 'all sentient beings take them as weariness and fatigue' means that ordinary, foolish sentient beings, due to delusion and inversion, take them as gates of weariness and fatigue. The buddhas comprehend that the nature of afflictions is empty, and they teach and transform sentient beings through the empty nature of afflictions; being awakened through this is called the Buddha's work. Therefore the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra says: 'All Tathāgatas perform the Buddha's work for sentient beings by means of this very Dharma.' Hence the sūtra above says: 'Afflictions are the bodhimaṇḍa, because one knows them as they truly are.' Furthermore, the Humane Kings Sūtra says: 'When sentient beings have not yet become buddhas, bodhi is affliction; when sentient beings have become buddhas, affliction is bodhi.' Just as worldly physicians have three grades: inferior physicians turn medicine into non-medicine; middling ones use medicine as medicine; superior, good physicians use non-medicine as medicine. The Buddha is also like this: he can transform all afflictions into nirvāṇa; this is called the Buddha's work. Master Yuan says: the buddhas have already distanced themselves from afflictions; within pṛṣṭhalabdha-jñāna, great compassion arises to embrace and transform, and sentient beings awaken because of it; this is called the Buddha's work. It is precisely this mental consciousness being able to connect to the Way using the sense-object of mental phenomena as the Buddha's work. Below is the third part, the general conclusion.