維摩經抄 1.18

1.18

經曰。夫求法者非有色受想行識之求（五蘊空也）非有界入之求（十二處十八界空也）非有欲色無色之求（三界空也）不著佛求不著法求不著眾求（三寶空也）無見苦求無斷集求無造盡證修道之求　述曰。此造字去聲呼之。造猶往也。盡證者涅槃性空。漏盡而證名為盡證。既無處所。何往之耶　經曰。舍利弗言居士未曾有也。如是小室乃容受此高廣之座。乃至云舍利弗諸佛菩薩有解脫名不可思議。若菩薩住是解脫者。以須彌之高廣內芥子中亦無增減。須彌山王本相如故。而四天王等不覺不知。唯應度者乃見須彌入芥子中。是名不可思議解脫法門　述曰。此之一章正明不可思議　經云。正宗芥子極小須彌極大。二俱色法。須彌山者。准諸經論。闊狹高下各八萬由旬。此中解釋自古多門。今宜逐要三二門耳。一就二諦釋之。俗諦妄想見其大小。二相懸殊不相容受。真諦之中圓融一體。一體故芥子非小。須彌非大。小非定小。大非定大。是故相容。悟斯理者不可思議。二就法相法性二宗以釋。法相宗中大小相別不相容受。法性宗中恒沙萬法同一真如不守自性。猶如大海眾水同味。虛通無礙。大得入小。小亦合大。不可思議。三約空有二門。妙有門中大小不無。真空門中小大非有。互相容受不可思議。空不離有。大小宛然。有不離空。故相容受。亦可。就唯識門更釋一念淨心微細。猶如芥子。參羅萬像雖復眾多。要從一心變現而起。離心之外畢竟無法。攝境從心故相納也。更有古德。約三性等諸門解釋。恐煩止。且已下毛容大海水等。數量大意同此　經曰。我等何為永絕其根。於此大乘已如敗種　述曰。此迦葉呵責小乘之語也。夫論大乘菩薩不出生死不入涅槃不斷煩惱不捨眾生。故入三塗往來三界。大悲之心為大乘根。二乘人等已出生死已證涅槃已斷煩惱已捨眾生。悲心已亡。故云根斷亦同敗種。

The sūtra says: "Now, one who seeks the Dharma has no seeking for form, feeling, perception, formations, or consciousness (the emptiness of the five aggregates); has no seeking for realms or sense bases (the emptiness of the twelve sense bases and eighteen sensory realms); has no seeking for desire, form, or formlessness (the emptiness of the three realms); does not seek with attachment to the Buddha, does not seek with attachment to the Dharma, does not seek with attachment to the Saṃgha (the emptiness of the Three Jewels); has no seeking to see suffering, no seeking to cut off the origin of suffering, and no seeking to realize cessation through attaining it or to cultivate the path." Commentary: This character *zao* (造) is pronounced in the falling tone (*qusheng*); *zao* means to go toward. "Realizing cessation": the nature of nirvāṇa is empty; when outflows are exhausted and realized, it is called realizing cessation. Since it has no location, where would one go toward? The sūtra says: "Śāriputra said: 'Householder, it is unprecedented! That such a small room could accommodate these high and vast thrones!' up to saying: 'Śāriputra, all the buddhas and bodhisattvas have a liberation named the Inconceivable. If a bodhisattva abides in this liberation, he can insert the height and breadth of Sumeru into a mustard seed without any increase or decrease, and the king of mountains, Sumeru, remains in its original appearance as before, while the Four Heavenly Kings and others are neither aware nor conscious of it. Only those who should be saved see Sumeru enter into the mustard seed. This is named the Dharma-gate of Inconceivable Liberation.'" Commentary: This section directly clarifies the inconceivable. The sūtra states the main theme: the mustard seed is extremely small, and Sumeru is extremely large; both are material phenomena. Mount Sumeru, in accordance with various sūtras and treatises, is eighty thousand yojanas in both width and height. Ancient interpretations of this have had many approaches; now we should follow the essentials in two or three approaches. First, explaining it in terms of the two truths: conventional truth's deluded conceptualization sees their sizes; the two characteristics are vastly disparate and do not accommodate each other. Within the ultimate truth, they are harmoniously unified in a single substance; because they are a single substance, the mustard seed is not small and Sumeru is not large. The small is not determinately small, and the large is not determinately large; for this reason they accommodate each other. Awakening to this principle is inconceivable. Second, explaining it in terms of the two schools of Dharmalakṣaṇa and Dharmatā: in the Dharmalakṣaṇa school, the large and small are distinct in characteristics and do not accommodate each other. In the Dharmatā school, the myriad phenomena [as numerous as] the sands of the Ganges share the same single tathatā and do not maintain their own nature, just as the myriad waters of the great sea share the same single flavor, open, pervasive, and unobstructed; the large can enter the small, and the small also unites with the large: this is inconceivable. Third, in terms of the two gateways of emptiness and existence: within the gate of marvelous existence, large and small are not non-existent; within the gate of true emptiness, small and large do not exist. Their mutual accommodation is inconceivable. Emptiness is not separate from existence, so large and small are fully manifest; existence is not separate from emptiness, therefore they accommodate each other. It may also be explained further in terms of the gateway of vijñapti-mātra: a single thought of the pure mind is subtle and minute, like a mustard seed; the myriad arrayed phenomena, though numerous, must arise through manifestation from the one mind. Outside of the mind, there are ultimately no phenomena; gathering the realm into the mind, they therefore accommodate each other. There are also ancient masters who explained it in terms of various gateways such as the three natures; fearing verbosity, we stop here. From here downward, the pore containing the waters of the great sea and so forth are broadly the same in general meaning as this. The sūtra says: "Why have we permanently severed its roots, being like spoiled seeds regarding this Great Vehicle?" Commentary: These are words of Kāśyapa rebuking the small vehicle. Now, in discussing the Great Vehicle: the bodhisattva does not leave saṃsāra, does not enter nirvāṇa, does not cut off defilements, and does not abandon sentient beings; therefore they enter the three miserable destinies and travel back and forth in the three realms. The mind of great compassion is the root of the Great Vehicle. People of the two vehicles have already left saṃsāra, already realized nirvāṇa, already cut off defilements, and already abandoned sentient beings; their compassionate mind is already dead. Therefore it says "roots are severed" and they are "like spoiled seeds."