大乘起信論廣釋卷第三．四．五 4.101

4.101

論。若得淨心至違相見故　釋曰。此顯地上所見。文中三答。初明見勝。用相過前故云微妙。隨位漸增故云轉勝。非但異前所見轉勝。而於地地見亦轉增。乃至已下次明見極。有義。此中見究竟者至金剛。後用即歸體窮其源故云見究竟。有義。此釋深為不可業相。若盡更無見相。云何而言見之究竟。應言究竟窮極之義。盡地菩薩見佛報身。身相之極名見究竟。金剛後心更不見故。若離已下此明見妄。謂離業識即名為佛。諸佛唯是真如法身無有彼此色相可見故。此業識妄有所見。若離業識則無見也。若爾何用起現識耶。以於業識有色相故。答。據說前後言業相。初非業相時未有現相。但就本識隨一而說。如依業識生滅相示。豈示性德唯業識耶。若無業識即無轉現。隨現色相故現色功。通業轉現非獨現識。由此諸德說轉本識成圓鏡智作佛體等。

[Treatise:] If they attain the pure mind, up to... because it contradicts seeing marks. [Commentary:] This reveals what is seen on the bhūmis. In the text there are three answers. First, it explains the superiority of the seeing: because its active marks surpass what came before, it is called "subtle and wonderful"; because it gradually increases according to stage, it is called "progressively superior." Not only is it progressively superior in contrast to what was seen previously, but from bhūmi to bhūmi, the seeing also progressively increases. Next, "up to..." clarifies the culmination of seeing. One interpretation holds: here, seeing the culmination means that reaching the post-vajra [mind], the activity returns to the substance and exhausts its source, hence it is called "seeing the culmination." Another interpretation holds: this explanation is deeply unacceptable; if the characteristic of karma is exhausted, there are no longer any marks of seeing, so how could one speak of "seeing the culmination"? One should say that "culmination" has the meaning of reaching the utmost limit: the bodhisattvas at the culmination of the bhūmis see the Buddha's saṃbhogakāya, and the limit of the marks of the body is termed "seeing the culmination," because in the post-vajra mind they do not see it any more. From "if separated from..." downward, this clarifies that seeing is deluded: being separated from karmic consciousness is termed "Buddha." The Buddhas are exclusively the tathatā-dharmakāya; there are no physical marks of this or that to be seen, hence it is this karmic consciousness that deludedly has something seen. If separated from karmic consciousness, there is no seeing. If so, why does one need to give rise to manifesting consciousness? Because there are physical marks in karmic consciousness. Answer: In terms of the sequence of the exposition, the characteristic of karma is spoken of first; it is not that when the characteristic of karma is present, the characteristic of appearance does not yet exist. It is simply spoken of according to one aspect of the fundamental consciousness. Just as the arising and ceasing characteristics are shown relying on the karmic consciousness, how could the nature's virtues be shown solely through karmic consciousness? If there were no karmic consciousness, there would be no evolving or manifesting [consciousness]. According to manifesting physical marks, the function of manifesting form extends across karma, evolving, and manifesting, and is not solely the manifesting consciousness. Therefore, the various masters say that transforming the fundamental consciousness accomplishes the great mirror cognition, making the Buddha's substance, and so forth.