大通方廣懺悔滅罪莊嚴成佛經 2.51

2.51

At that time, the Buddha praised Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva Mahāsattva, saying: "Excellent, excellent! Good man, in past ages you have already made offerings to immeasurable Buddhas and have long penetrated the unsurpassable meaning of emptiness in the Mahāyāna, thoroughly knowing that all dharmas are entirely empty and quiescent, and also knowing that the Tathāgata is ultimately ever-abiding. Good man, it is like a pure vaiḍūrya jewel which, though left in mud for a thousand years, has a nature that remains perpetually pure, and when brought out is just as before. You all at present are also like this, thoroughly knowing that the characteristics of dharmas are pure by nature. Although you are now amid the mud of the five corruptions in the three realms assisting the Buddha in spreading the teachings, you are likewise untainted by the mud. Because you are untainted, you can ask about this meaning. Good man, listen again now, and I shall explain it for you. In reality, all dharmas have no characteristics; it is because of written characters that one speaks of dharmas. Within dharmas there are no characters, and within characters there are no dharmas. For the sake of dissemination, one speaks of written characters. Within written characters there is also no bodhi, and within bodhi there are also no characters. Although the ultimate truth has no written characters, in the worldly path one speaks of written characters. The buddhadhātu and unsurpassable bodhi of sentient beings are not apart from written characters. Good man, it is truly as you have said: the Tathāgata is inexhaustible and unarisen, without cultivation and without practice, apart from all practices, not entering the correct position, nor backsliding, in a single life not being born in the Tuṣita heaven, not descending from heaven, not dwelling in a worldly womb; regarding all dharmas, his mind dwells nowhere. Nor does he say: 'I have already transcended birth, old age, sickness, and death.' Nor does he pace seven steps in the four directions, nor does he say of himself: 'I am the unsurpassable lord of the world.' He does not reside in the inner palace amusing himself with courtesans, nor does he practice worldly musical entertainments, nor does he learn equestrian arts and wrestling. Wishing to deliver sentient beings, he manifests an old person. To destroy attachment to the body, he manifests the suffering of illness. To destroy attachment to lifespan, he manifests the sign of death. To destroy desire and 'I' and 'mine', he manifests a śramaṇa. To cause sentient beings not to seek the bodies of Brahmā and Śakra, but diligently to seek the unsurpassable supramundane Dharma, he leaped over the palace walls, manifesting deliverance from the fetters of the three realms; and to demonstrate the sequence of what is not the fruit, he manifested an absence of wrath and lust. For this reason the thirty-two marks adorn his body. To show sentient beings an excellent field of merit, he shaved his topknot and cast aside his jewelry. He sent his horse back and dismissed Chanda, manifesting abandonment of all afflictions. He shaved his beard and hair, manifesting non-attachment to all dharmas. Receiving and wearing the kāṣāya, he manifested the taming of sentient beings. He consulted and received teachings from Udraka Rāmaputra, manifesting the destruction of a haughty mind. For six years he practiced austerities for the tīrthikas. He received food and drink, complying with worldly conventions. He received kuśa grass, showing contentment. He sat on a grass mat, showing the destruction of arrogance. The devas, dragons, and spirits praised and revered him, manifesting the fruit of merit and adornment. He subdued the tīrthikas, showing heroic strength. His right hand pointed to the earth, showing the power of meritorious deeds. The great earth shook, showing the requiting of kindness. Cultivating signlessness and wishlessness, he attained the path of unsurpassable bodhi, manifesting full knowledge of the characteristics of all dharmas. Contemplating the equality of dharmas, he is called 'Buddha'. The wisdom of the Buddha is unsurpassed; his spoken essentials of the Dharma know the Buddhas of past, future, and present: for this reason he is called 'Tathāgata'. Clearly seeing and knowing the affairs of the three times and wholesome and unwholesome dharmas, he is called 'Sarvajña'. Because his words are true, he is called 'Teacher of Gods and Humans'. If there are practitioners who can cultivate such contemplation, they are called 'bodhisattvas'. If they practice a different contemplation, they are not called bodhisattvas; they are called deceivers of all Buddhas. Good man, all Buddhas do not emerge and do not enter, do not arise and do not cease. To deliver sentient beings, they proclaim their appearance in the world; to deliver sentient beings, they proclaim their passage into cessation."