華嚴經 品十三 昇須彌山頂品Avataṃsaka Sūtra · Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru

The chapter “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru” is the first chapter of the third assembly, in the palace of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. The World-Honored One, not leaving from beneath all the trees of awakening, ascends Sumeru and goes toward Śakra's hall; Śakra, lord of the gods, seeing the Buddha coming from afar, adorns the Palace of Wondrous Excellence with his spiritual power, sets out the lion seat of the Treasury of Universal Light, and thrice saying “Welcome” invites the Buddha to enter the palace; the Buddha accepts the invitation and enters the palace, the sounds of music come to rest of themselves, and Śakra, calling to mind the roots of goodness planted in the presence of the buddhas of old, praises in ten verses the ten buddhas, from Kāśyapa to Dīpaṃkara, who once entered this palace; then follows the concluding extension to the ten directions, and the Buddha enters the palace and sits with his legs fully crossed, whereupon the palace suddenly becomes vast and capacious. The whole chapter is pure narrative, and only in two places is there direct speech, both of it Śakra's. Chengguan determines that the six chapters of this assembly divide into two, 「初二品方便發起、後四品當會正說」 tr. “the first two chapters are the expedient that starts it off, and the latter four are the proper exposition of this assembly” 〔T35n1735 0627a18〕, and that this chapter 「長分十段」 tr. “is divided at length into ten segments” 〔0627a25〕; Li Tongxuan determines that 「此十住位中有六品經」 tr. “within this stage of the ten abodes there are six chapters of scripture” 〔T36n1739 0826c07〕, and that this chapter makes clear 「從十信入十住，入位之昇進」 tr. “the entering of the ten abodes from the ten faiths, the ascent and advance into the stages” 〔0826c13〕. The explanation of the single sentence ‘ascending without leaving’ is where the disputed points of the ancient worthies in this chapter are gathered.

I. Doctrinal Outline and Placement

The reason for its coming — Chengguan divides it in two, the coming of the assembly and the coming of the chapter

「初來意者，先辨會來，前信、此解，義次第故。」 tr. “As for the first, the reason for its coming: first the coming of the assembly is discerned. Earlier, faith; here, understanding — for such is the sequence of the sense.” 〔T35n1735 0626b27〕

「又答十住問總有二段，前信是住之方便，此明正位，故次來也。二品來，前品說信究竟，此品趣後說住，故次來也。」 tr. “Again, the answering of the question about the ten abodes has in all two segments: the earlier, faith, is the expedient for the abodes, and this makes clear the proper stage, and therefore it comes next. Second, the coming of the chapter: the preceding chapter expounds faith to its utmost, and this chapter tends toward what follows and expounds the abodes, and therefore it comes next.” 〔0626b28〕

Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, explains the coming of the assembly in three senses — 「初會來者，一答前十住問故；二前已明信，今顯依信起解，故次來也；三前信但是位前方便，方便既滿，正位顯彰，故次來也。二品來者，前品辨信究竟，今將赴後位故來也。」 tr. “First, the coming of the assembly: one, because it answers the earlier question about the ten abodes; two, earlier faith was already made clear, and now it is shown that understanding arises in dependence upon faith, and therefore it comes next; three, the earlier faith is only the expedient before the stage, and the expedient being complete, the proper stage is made manifest, and therefore it comes next. Second, the coming of the chapter: the preceding chapter discerns faith to its utmost, and now it comes because it is about to go on to the stage that follows.” 〔T35n1733 0192b26〕

Li Tongxuan attaches it to the end of the ten faiths — 「一釋品來意者，明前於普光明殿人間地上成十信之心已終。此妙峯之頂，明從十信入十住，入位之昇進故，此品須來。」 tr. “First, explaining the reason for the chapter's coming: it makes clear that formerly, in the Hall of Universal Light on the human ground, the completing of the mind of the ten faiths had already come to its end. This summit of the Wondrous Peak makes clear the entering of the ten abodes from the ten faiths, the ascent and advance into the stages, and therefore this chapter must come.” 〔T36n1739 0826c12〕

The explanation of the name — three levels for the name of the assembly, two layers for the name of the chapter

「亦先辨會名，約處名忉利天會，約人名法慧菩薩會，約法名十住會，皆依主釋。」 tr. “Here too the name of the assembly is discerned first: with respect to the place it is named the assembly of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven; with respect to the person, the assembly of the bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom; with respect to the dharma, the assembly of the ten abodes — all of them explained as dependent compounds.” 〔T35n1735 0626c01〕

「二品名，須彌正云蘇迷盧，此云妙高。如來以自在力，不起覺樹應機現彼，故云升也表位漸增，不處人間顯位清淨，故居天也。」 tr. “Second, the name of the chapter: ‘Sumeru’ is properly pronounced Sumeru, which here means Wondrously High. The Tathāgata, by his power of self-mastery, without rising from the tree of awakening appears there in response to capacities, and therefore it says ‘ascends,’ which displays that the stage gradually increases; that he does not dwell in the human world makes manifest that the stage is pure, and therefore he abides in the heavens.” 〔0626c03〕

Fazang explains the name of the chapter, establishing the name by the three senses of person, function, and place —

「二品名者，佛是化主，動靜無礙，不去而進故云昇。昇至何處？謂須彌頂。」 tr. “Second, the name of the chapter: the Buddha is the lord of transformation, in whom motion and stillness are unobstructed; because he advances without going, it says ‘ascends.’ Ascends to what place? To the summit of Sumeru.” 〔T35n1733 0192b08〕

「約處表法，明十住成位，不退勝故，居山頂也。即從人、用及處三義立名。」 tr. “With respect to the place displaying the Dharma: it makes clear that the ten abodes complete the stage and are excellent in not regressing, and therefore he abides on the summit of the mountain. Thus the name is established from the three senses of person, function, and place.” 〔0192b17〕

The tenet and the aim —

「三宗趣者，先約會以十住行德為宗，攝位德果為趣。二品，以嚴處請佛赴感為宗，根緣契合說法為趣。」 tr. “Third, the tenet and the aim: first with respect to the assembly, the practice and virtue of the ten abodes is the tenet, and the gathering in of the fruit of the virtue of the stage is the aim. Second, for the chapter, adorning the place and inviting the Buddha, who comes in response to the stimulus, is the tenet; capacity and condition meeting so that the Dharma is spoken is the aim.” 〔T35n1735 0627a15〕

The tenet of the chapter in the Tanxuan ji is entirely the same — 「二品宗者，以嚴處請佛，如來赴感為宗。」 tr. “Second, the tenet of the chapter: adorning the place and inviting the Buddha, the Tathāgata coming in response to the stimulus, is the tenet.” 〔T35n1733 0192c06〕

The explanation of the text — Chengguan determines the assembly as two divisions and this chapter as ten segments

「四釋文者，此會六品，分為二分：初二品方便發起、後四品當會正說。」 tr. “Fourth, explaining the text: the six chapters of this assembly divide into two divisions: the first two chapters are the expedient that starts it off, and the latter four are the proper exposition of this assembly.” 〔T35n1735 0627a18〕

「今初一品，長分十段：一本會齊現、二不離齊升、三各見佛來、四各嚴殿座、五皆來請佛、六俱時入殿、七樂音並止、八各念昔因、九同讚如來、十殿皆廣博嚴淨也。」 tr. “Now the first chapter is divided at length into ten segments: first, the whole assembly manifesting at once; second, ascending together without leaving; third, each seeing the Buddha coming; fourth, each adorning palace and seat; fifth, all coming to invite the Buddha; sixth, entering the palace at one and the same time; seventh, the music ceasing together; eighth, each calling to mind the causes of old; ninth, together praising the Tathāgata; tenth, the palaces all becoming vast, adorned and pure.” 〔0627a25〕

Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, divides it in three — 「四釋文者，就此會中有六品，分二：初二明方便發起，即序分；餘四品是當會正宗。」 tr. “Fourth, explaining the text: within this assembly there are six chapters, divided in two: the first two make clear the expedient that starts it off, which is the introductory division; the remaining four chapters are the proper doctrine of this assembly.” 〔T35n1733 0192c07〕; and beneath his section 「初辨化緣」 tr. “first, discerning the conditions of transformation” comes 「初中二：先體融遍周法界；後明用融，謂不動而進。」 tr. “Within the first there are two: first, the interfusion of substance, everywhere pervading the Dharma realm; afterward, the clarification of the interfusion of function, that is, advancing without moving.” 〔0192c13〕

The segment boundaries of the base text interlock one by one with Chengguan’s ten segments (the clause on extending to the ten directions is what Chengguan calls the single concluding extension and is not counted among the ten) — the whole assembly manifesting at once 〔T10n0279 0080c08〕 · ascending together without leaving 〔0080c11〕 · each seeing the Buddha coming 〔0080c12〕 · each adorning palace and seat 〔0080c13〕 · all coming to invite the Buddha 〔0080c18〕 · entering the palace at one and the same time 〔0080c21〕 · the music ceasing together 〔0080c23〕 · each calling to mind the causes of old 〔0080c24〕 · the ten verses together praising the Tathāgata 〔0080c26–0081a16〕 · the concluding extension to the ten directions 〔0081a17〕 · the palaces all becoming vast, adorned and pure 〔0081a19〕.

II. Terminology

III. Similes and Rhetoric

(1) The simile of one moon over a clear river watched from three boats (explaining ‘ascending without leaving’ · from Chengguan's commentary, not from the scriptural text of this chapter) —

「譬猶朗月流影遍應，且澄江一月三舟共觀，一舟停住、二舟南北，南者見月千里隨南、北者見月千里隨北、停舟之者見月不移，是為此月不離中流而往南北。設百千共觀，八方各去，則百千月各隨其去。」 tr. “It is as when the bright moon lets its reflection flow and responds everywhere. Take one moon over a clear river watched from three boats: one boat lies at rest, and two go south and north; the one to the south sees the moon follow him a thousand li southward, the one to the north sees the moon follow him a thousand li northward, and the one whose boat is at rest sees that the moon does not move. This is what is meant by saying that this moon goes south and north without leaving the middle of the stream. Suppose a hundred thousand watched it together and went off in the eight directions; then a hundred thousand moons would each follow their going.” 〔T35n1735 0627c03〕

• The ground of the simile: one moon in the sky, three boats watching it together; those who go see the moon go with them, and the one at rest sees the moon not move.
• The body of the simile: the substance of the one buddha is everywhere; where there is stimulus in Jambudvīpa he is seen at the tree of the path, and where there is stimulus in the palace of the gods he is seen ascending into the heavens.
• The sense displayed: the moon has never divided itself in going south and north, and the Buddha likewise does not move from the tree of awakening in ascending to the palace of the gods — 「非移覺樹之佛而升天宮，故云不離覺樹而升釋殿」 tr. “it is not that the Buddha at the tree of awakening is moved and ascends to the palace of the gods, and therefore it is said that without leaving the tree of awakening he ascends to Śakra's hall” 〔T35n1735 0627b28〕.

(2) The three similes within the verses (set up by the scriptural text of this chapter itself) — the upper lines of the ten verses mostly establish a virtue by a simile:

Chengguan explains the simile of verse three, saying 「此云所應斷已斷，如金已淨、如山不動」 tr. “it means here ‘what ought to be cut off has been cut off,’ like gold already refined, like a mountain unmoving” 〔T35n1735 0628c01〕; he explains the simile of verse six, saying 「如月圓智滿是遍見也，魄盡惑亡是淨觀也」 tr. “that the moon is full and the wisdom complete is the universal seeing; that the dark of the moon is spent and delusion gone is the pure beholding” 〔0628c09〕; and in explaining the name in verse ten he cites the Zhi lun: 「此佛從初現生乃至成佛，舉身帶光，如然燈故。」 tr. “This buddha, from his first appearing in birth up to his becoming a buddha, carried light about his whole body, as a lamp is lit — hence the name.” 〔0628c16〕

(3) The simile of the shape of a waisted drum (used by Li Tongxuan to display that the Wondrous Peak cannot be climbed) —

「其山在大海之中，形如腰鼓，崒然高聳，非以手足攀攬之所能蹬。」 tr. “That mountain stands in the midst of the great sea, shaped like a waisted drum, towering steeply up; it is not what hand or foot can climb by grasping.” 〔T36n1739 0826c28〕

The sense displayed: 「為表此十住法門創生如來智慧之家為真佛子，不可以有為生滅尋思觀察及多聞心想攀攬所得故」 tr. “it is in order to display that this Dharma-gate of the ten abodes, being newly born into the house of the Tathāgata's wisdom as a true son of the Buddha, cannot be attained by the searching examination of conditioned arising and ceasing, nor by the grasping of a mind of much learning and conceptual thought” 〔T36n1739 0826c29〕.

(4) The simile of the writing of a seal (explaining that being everywhere simultaneously does not destroy before and after · from Chengguan's commentary) — 「應云即用之體同時頓遍：即體之用不壞前後：猶如印文。」 tr. “One should say: the substance that is identical with function is everywhere all at once, simultaneously; the function that is identical with substance does not destroy before and after — it is like the writing of a seal.” 〔T35n1735 0627b08〕

(5) The simile of Indra's net does not come from this chapter 〔recorded as absent, as the facts stand〕 — the scriptural text of this chapter has no words 「因陀羅網」 tr. “the net of Indra” or 「珠網」 tr. “net of pearls”. The Shixuan men, T45n1868, has 「即以帝釋殿網為喻」 tr. “it takes the net over Śakra's palace as a simile” 〔0516b08〕, and the Huayan jing zhigui, T45n1871, has 「如帝釋殿天珠網覆」 tr. “as the net of heavenly pearls covers Śakra's palace” 〔0594c03〕; but although these two places borrow the image of Śakra's palace, both are general borrowed similes for the doctrine of the ten profound gates, and neither is an explanation of the scriptural text of this chapter. They are recorded, and not taken as similes of this chapter.

IV. Collation with Parallel Translations

The Chinese collation witnesses for this chapter: Śikṣānanda, T279 (the base text · “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru,” chapter 13) · Buddhabhadra, T278 (the Jin translation, the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka · “The Buddha's Ascent to the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 9, beginning at 〔T09n0278 0441b05〕 – ending before 〔0441c20〕). This chapter has no separately circulating scripture and no treatise that quotes and explains it 〔not found〕. What follows is recorded in full, sentence by sentence, without adjudication.

Sentence one: the whole assembly manifesting at once

What the variants attach to: (a) the eighty-fascicle 「悉見如來坐於樹下」 tr. “the Tathāgata was everywhere seen seated beneath the tree” against the sixty-fascicle 「皆有如來坐菩提樹下，無不顯現」 tr. “there was in every case a Tathāgata seated beneath the tree of awakening, and there was none that did not appear manifestly” — the one speaks from the side of what is able to see, the other from the side of what is made to appear. (b) the eighty-fascicle 「靡不自謂恒對於佛」 tr. “there was not one that did not take itself to be facing the Buddha constantly” against the sixty-fascicle 「皆悉自謂：在於佛所」 tr. “all of them took themselves to be in the presence of the Buddha”, the eighty-fascicle having one further graph, 「恒」 tr. “constantly”.

Sentence two: ascending together without leaving

What the variants attach to: (a) the eighty-fascicle 「不離一切菩提樹下」 tr. “not leaving from beneath all the trees of awakening” against the sixty-fascicle 「不起此座」 tr. “without rising from this seat” — the eighty-fascicle has the two graphs 「一切」 tr. “all”, and the sixty-fascicle does not; the first of the four propositions of one and many that Chengguan determines, 「一不離一切樹下升一天宮，即如今文」 tr. “first, not leaving from beneath all the trees and ascending to one heavenly palace, which is just as the present text has it” 〔T35n1735 0628a02〕, is established precisely upon the 「一切」 tr. “all” of the eighty-fascicle text. (b) the sixty-fascicle has four further graphs, 「威神力故」 tr. “because of the majestic spiritual power”, attached to this sentence, whereas the 「威神力故」 tr. “because of the majestic spiritual power” of the eighty-fascicle stands in the preceding sentence.

Sentence three: each adorning palace and seat

What the variants attach to: (a) as to the name of the seat, the eighty-fascicle has 「普光明藏師子之座」 tr. “the lion seat of the Treasury of Universal Light”, while the sixty-fascicle has only 「眾寶師子之座」 tr. “a lion seat of many jewels”, without the name 「普光明藏」 tr. “Treasury of Universal Light”. (b) as to the numeral, the eighty-fascicle has 「十千」 tr. “ten thousand” throughout (in all ten phrases: tiers of steps · nets of gold · kinds of hangings · kinds of canopies · figured silk · pearl-garlands · garments · sons of the gods · Brahmā kings · lights), while the sixty-fascicle has 「萬」 tr. “a myriad” and 「一萬」 tr. “one myriad” throughout. (c) the eighty-fascicle's 「十千種帳、十千種蓋周迴間列」 tr. “ten thousand kinds of hangings and ten thousand kinds of canopies, encircling it round about and set out at intervals” against the sixty-fascicle's 「萬種寶帳彌覆其上」 tr. “a myriad kinds of jeweled hangings spread out and covering it above” together with 「次上萬種眾妙寶蓋、天繒雜寶以為垂帶」 tr. “and above them a myriad kinds of manifold wondrous jeweled canopies, with heavenly silks and assorted jewels for hanging bands”: they differ in how they gather and divide the matter.

Sentence four: all coming to invite the Buddha

What the variants attach to: the eighty-fascicle says 「善來」 tr. “welcome” three times and raises three titles (World-Honored One · Well-Gone One · Tathāgata, Worthy One, Perfectly Awakened One), while the sixty-fascicle says only once 「善來世尊」 tr. “Welcome, World-Honored One”. Chengguan, explaining upon the text of the eighty-fascicle, says 「三稱善者，喜之至故。舉三號者，略歎德故」 tr. “that he says ‘good’ three times is because his joy is at its utmost; that he raises three titles is because he praises the virtues in brief” 〔T35n1735 0628b08〕.

Sentence five: the music ceasing together

What the variants attach to: the eighty-fascicle has 「自然止息」 tr. “came to rest of themselves”, while the sixty-fascicle has 「寂然無聲」 tr. “became still and without sound”; the eighty-fascicle has the place, 「諸宮殿中」 tr. “within the palaces”, and the sixty-fascicle does not.

Sentence six: verse one (the Buddha Kāśyapa)

What the variants attach to: (a) the eighty-fascicle's 「具大悲」 tr. “endowed with great compassion” against the sixty-fascicle's 「具大慈」 tr. “endowed with great loving-kindness”. (b) in the two lines of the lower half the eighty-fascicle has 「入此殿」 tr. “entered this palace” and 「此處最吉祥」 tr. “this place is the most auspicious of all”, while the sixty-fascicle has 「入此處」 tr. “entered this place” and 「此地最吉祥」 tr. “this ground is the most auspicious of all” — the lower halves of all ten verses follow this pattern, each text being uniform in itself.

Sentence seven: the divergent renderings of the names of the ten buddhas

What the variants attach to: (a) the names of buddhas are rendered differently in three places — 「迦羅鳩馱」 tr. “Krakucchanda” against 「拘樓」 tr. “Krakucchanda in the shorter transcription”, 「毘舍浮」 tr. “Viśvabhū” against 「隨葉」 tr. “Viśvabhū in the earlier transcription”, and 「然燈」 tr. “Burning Lamp” against 「錠光」 tr. “Lamp-Light” — the same buddha under differing translated names. (b) the lines praising the virtues differ in four places — 「見無礙」 tr. “sees without obstruction” against 「慧無礙」 tr. “his wisdom is without obstruction”, 「無三垢」 tr. “without the three defilements” against 「離三垢」 tr. “has left the three defilements behind”, 「離分別」 tr. “has left discrimination behind” against 「常寂然」 tr. “is constantly still”, and 「大光明」 tr. “of great light” against 「明普照」 tr. “whose brightness shines everywhere”. (c) in the remaining four verses (Vipaśyin like the full moon · Puṣya understanding and penetrating the highest truth · Tiṣya of unobstructed eloquence · Padma pure and without defilement) the upper lines are entirely the same in the two texts. All is recorded, with no adjudication.

Sentence eight: the concluding extension to the ten directions

What the variants attach to: (a) the eighty-fascicle says 「忉利天王」 tr. “the king of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven” and 「諸釋天王」 tr. “the Śakra heaven-kings”, while the sixty-fascicle says 「帝釋」 tr. “Śakra” and 「十方帝釋」 tr. “the Śakras of the ten directions”. (b) the sixty-fascicle raises again within the sentence of concluding extension 「各自憶念過去佛所所種善根」 tr. “each calling to mind the roots of goodness planted in the presence of the buddhas of the past”, and the eighty-fascicle has no such repetition.

Sentence nine: the palaces all becoming vast, adorned and pure

What the variants attach to: the eighty-fascicle has 「入妙勝殿」 tr. “entered the Palace of Wondrous Excellence”, while the sixty-fascicle has 「昇師子座」 tr. “ascended the lion seat”; the eighty-fascicle's 「如其天眾諸所住處」 tr. “just like the several dwelling places of those hosts of gods” against the sixty-fascicle's 「如忉利天處」 tr. “like the place of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven”.

Recorded in full, without adjudication: the differences in the nine sentences above are either differences of translated name (Krakucchanda in the fuller and the shorter transcription · Viśvabhū in the later and the earlier transcription · Burning Lamp and Lamp-Light), or differences of numeral (ten thousand and a myriad), or differences in how the matter is gathered and divided (three sayings of “welcome” against one · the presence or absence of the name 「普光明藏」 tr. “Treasury of Universal Light” in the name of the seat). The two texts are recorded together, with no adjudication of better and worse.

Divergences in the chapter title: the scriptural title in the base text is 「昇須彌山頂品第十三」 tr. “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru, chapter 13” 〔T10n0279 0080c07〕; the title in Chengguan's commentary is 「升須彌山頂品第十三」 tr. “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru, chapter 13” (with the other graph for “ascend”) 〔T35n1735 0626b26〕; the title in the Yanyi chao is 「第三會升須彌山頂品第十三」 tr. “the third assembly, Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru, chapter 13” 〔T36n1736 0275c11〕; the sixty-fascicle text has 「佛昇須彌頂品第九」 tr. “The Buddha's Ascent to the Summit of Sumeru, chapter 9” 〔T09n0278 0441b05〕, and the Tanxuan ji follows it 〔T35n1733 0192b05〕; Li Tongxuan follows the eighty-fascicle text with 「昇須彌山頂品第十三」 tr. “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru, chapter 13” 〔T36n1739 0826c06〕. The two graph-forms for “ascend” both stand side by side; this is recorded, without adjudication.

V. Scriptural Grounds of Sectarian Doctrine (the doctrinal eye)

(1) The earlier assembly does not disperse, and the later assembly carries the earlier with it — Chengguan explains why the first sentence says 「爾時」 tr. “at that time”

「言爾時者，即前二會時，主伴齊遍演前二會之法也。今此明遍，即十重說處中第一重也。」 tr. “That it says ‘at that time’ means the time of the two preceding assemblies, in which principal and companion alike everywhere expound the Dharma of those two assemblies. What is here made clear as being everywhere is the first of the ten layers among the places of speaking.” 〔T35n1735 0627a29〕

「何須舉此？欲明前會不散，成後會故；後必帶前，合成法界無礙會故；一一諸會無休息故；後後諸會皆同時故；若散前會即無後故。」 tr. “Why must this be raised? Because it is to make clear that the earlier assembly does not disperse, so that the later assembly is brought about; because the later necessarily carries the earlier with it, so that together they form the unobstructed assembly of the Dharma realm; because each and every one of the assemblies is without intermission; because each later assembly is simultaneous with those before it; and because if the earlier assembly dispersed there would be no later one.” 〔0627b02〕

The dilemma of the simultaneous and the sequential Chengguan explains by substance and function — 「若同時遍，何有九會前後？若有前後，何名同時？應云即用之體同時頓遍：即體之用不壞前後：猶如印文。」 tr. “If it is simultaneous and everywhere, how can there be a before and after of nine assemblies? And if there is a before and after, how is it called simultaneous? One should say: the substance that is identical with function is everywhere all at once, simultaneously; the function that is identical with substance does not destroy before and after — it is like the writing of a seal.” 〔T35n1735 0627b07〕

(2) The correct sense of ascending without leaving: substance is everywhere and function responds — Chengguan establishes it himself after the many explanations of the ancient worthies

「今顯正義。然佛得菩提，智無不周、體無不在，無依無住、無去無來。然以自在即體之應，應隨體遍，緣感前後有住有升。閻浮有感，見在道樹；天宮有感，見升天上。非移覺樹之佛而升天宮，故云不離覺樹而升釋殿。」 tr. “Now the correct sense is made manifest. Having attained awakening, the Buddha's wisdom is nowhere unencompassing and his substance nowhere absent; he is without support and without abode, without going and without coming. Yet by the response that is identical with substance in its self-mastery, the response following substance in being everywhere, while the stimulus of conditions is before and after, there is staying and there is ascending. Where there is stimulus in Jambudvīpa, he is seen at the tree of the path; where there is stimulus in the palace of the gods, he is seen ascending into the heavens. It is not that the Buddha at the tree of awakening is moved and ascends to the palace of the gods; therefore it is said that without leaving the tree of awakening he ascends to Śakra's hall.” 〔T35n1735 0627b24〕

For his scriptural proof he takes the verse of Dharma Wisdom in the next chapter, “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru” — 「佛子汝應觀，如來自在力，一切閻浮提，皆言佛在中。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha, you should behold the self-mastered power of the Tathāgata: in every Jambudvīpa, all say that the Buddha is present within it.” 〔T35n1735 0627b29〕 Chengguan determines this to be 「此不離也」 tr. “this is the ‘not leaving’”; and 「我等今見佛，住於須彌頂。」 tr. “we now behold the Buddha, dwelling on the summit of Sumeru.” 〔0627c01〕 he determines to be 「此而升也」 tr. “this is the ‘and yet he ascends’”.

Fazang's determination runs on the same track — 「今並同時集眾，各昇本界天上而不離本處也。若約小乘三乘等中說經施化，但論在某處等，無此一說一切說等。今欲明一乘法，即主伴圓明，故法如此也。」 tr. “Now they alike gather their assemblies at the same time, each ascending to the heavens of his own realm without leaving his original place. If one speaks according to the expounding of scriptures and the bestowing of transformation in the Lesser Vehicle and the three vehicles and the like, it is only discussed as being in such and such a place and so forth, and there is nothing of this one speaking being all speaking and the like. Now, wishing to make clear the Dharma of the One Vehicle, in which principal and companion are perfectly clear, the Dharma is accordingly thus.” 〔T35n1733 0192c21〕

(3) The four propositions of one and many, and the completeness of the ten profound gates — Chengguan takes the 「不離一切菩提樹下」 tr. “not leaving from beneath all the trees of awakening”, and upon its 「一切」 tr. “all” establishes four propositions

「一多相望應成四句：一不離一切樹下升一天宮，即如今文；二不離一樹升一切天」 tr. “One and many regarded against one another should form four propositions: first, not leaving from beneath all the trees and ascending to one heavenly palace, which is just as the present text has it; second, not leaving one tree and ascending to all the heavens” 〔T35n1735 0628a02〕

「經中欲顯一多相即，故舉初句。升釋天既爾，升餘天亦然，如後二會；升天既爾，往餘處亦然。」 tr. “The scripture wishes to make manifest the mutual identity of one and many, and therefore raises the first proposition. Since it is so for ascending to Śakra's heaven, it is so for ascending to the other heavens as well, as in the two later assemblies; and since it is so for ascending to the heavens, it is so for going to other places as well.” 〔0628a06〕

「又既一處有一切處，亦有微細義，所用不同有隱顯義。若加前時後時有十世義，唯見說住。及於餘法，有純雜義。後後帶於前前，有帝網義。此天望餘，成主伴義。十玄具矣。」 tr. “Again, since one place has all places, there is also the sense of the subtle; and since what is used differs, there is the sense of the hidden and the manifest. If the earlier time and the later time are added, there is the sense of the ten times, though only the abodes are seen to be spoken of. Extending to the remaining dharmas, there is the sense of the pure and the mixed. Each later carrying each earlier, there is the sense of Indra's net. This heaven regarded against the others forms the sense of principal and companion. The ten profundities are complete.” 〔0628a12〕

The mutual identity of the four pairs of dharmas — 「然此中相望有四對法相即無礙：一此處彼處、二此身彼身、三若去若住、四若一若多。」 tr. “Now in this, regarded against one another, there are four pairs of dharmas mutually identical and unobstructed: first, this place and that place; second, this body and that body; third, going and staying; fourth, one and many.” 〔T35n1735 0627c24〕

(4) The Dharma displayed by the ascent to the heavens: the stage gradually increases and the place makes manifest purity — Chengguan: 「表位漸增，不處人間顯位清淨，故居天也」 tr. “it displays that the stage gradually increases; that he does not dwell in the human world makes manifest that the stage is pure, and therefore he abides in the heavens” 〔T35n1735 0626c05〕; and he explains why the heaven of the four heavenly kings is passed by — 「四王處半旁而非正，表住不退異信輕毛，故越彼天居妙高頂。」 tr. “The place of the four kings is halfway and to one side and not central, which displays that abiding without regress differs from the light down of faith; and therefore that heaven is passed by and he abides on the wondrously high summit.” 〔0627a04〕

Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, sets up two questions and answers making clear the same sense —

「問：何不在人間說耶？答：為顯行位漸昇進故。又表成位離染，故居天也。」 tr. “Question: why is it not spoken in the human world? Answer: because it makes manifest the gradual ascent and advance through the stages of practice. It further displays that on completing the stage one leaves defilement behind, and therefore he abides in the heavens.” 〔T35n1733 0192b18〕

「問：何不至四天王天？答：有三意，一以彼是雜鬼神天，顯法非勝，故超過也；二為寄法，以十信是外凡退位，十住是內凡不退，欲表進退懸殊，故越四天王處也；三若未至山頂容有進退，到山頂上即安住不退，是故越彼山腹處天至此頂處以表法也。」 tr. “Question: why does he not go as far as the heaven of the four heavenly kings? Answer: there are three intentions. First, because that is a heaven of mixed ghosts and spirits, which would show the Dharma to be not excellent, and therefore it is passed beyond. Second, for the sake of lodging the Dharma in the place: since the ten faiths are the outer ordinary stage, which regresses, and the ten abodes are the inner ordinary stage, which does not regress, and since it is wished to display how far apart advance and regress stand, the place of the four heavenly kings is passed by. Third, so long as one has not reached the summit of the mountain there is room for advance and regress, but once one is on the summit one abides without regress; and therefore that heaven at the mountain's waist is passed by and this place at the summit is reached, so as to display the Dharma.” 〔0192b20〕

(5) The ten senses of the wondrously high fitted to the practice of the ten abodes — Chengguan fits the mountain's ten wondrous qualities one by one to practice

「十住之行亦復如是，聞思修解而為妙體，四德八聖以為妙相，四辯為色令物解同，雖同眾音自智不變，八法不動而為妙德，七支奉戒金山圍繞，七識流轉而為海印，第一義天依持而住，可以神會非情能升，不離本處遍應十方，映蔽佛日及菩薩月，而成涅槃生死晝夜，生教行果而為妙樹。」 tr. “The practice of the ten abodes is likewise so: hearing, reflection, cultivation and understanding are its wondrous substance; the four virtues and the eightfold noble path are its wondrous mark; the four kinds of eloquence are its color, causing beings to understand alike, and though the sounds of the many are alike, one's own wisdom does not change; the eight worldly dharmas failing to move one is its wondrous quality; upholding the precepts in the seven branches is the golden mountains encircling it; the turning of the seven consciousnesses is its ocean-seal; the heaven of the highest truth is what it depends on and abides upon; it may be met with by spirit, and cannot be ascended by what is insentient; without leaving its own place it responds everywhere throughout the ten directions; it screens off the sun of the buddhas and the moon of the bodhisattvas, and so makes the day and the night of nirvāṇa and birth-and-death; and it gives birth to teaching, practice and fruit, and so is the wondrous tree.” 〔T35n1735 0626c19〕

He concludes, 「為顯十住功德妙高，是故須升妙高山頂」 tr. “to make manifest that the merit of the ten abodes is wondrously high, it is therefore necessary to ascend to the summit of the wondrously high mountain” 〔T35n1735 0627a03〕; and he cites Sudhana as a proof — 「善財童子於妙峯山頂見德雲者，亦表斯位，彌顯有由。」 tr. “That the youth Sudhana sees Cloud of Virtue on the summit of Mount Wondrous Peak likewise displays this stage, and makes it still more manifest that there is a ground for it.” 〔0627a05〕

(6) The Dharma displayed by the seat: the Treasury of Universal Light is the wisdom of the stage of understanding — 「表嚴根欲之殿，為法器故。置師子座，表十住之法門故。文有十句，初總、餘別。」 tr. “It displays the adorning of the palace of the faculties and desires, so as to be a vessel for the Dharma. The setting out of the lion seat displays the Dharma-gate of the ten abodes. The text has ten phrases, the first general and the rest particular.” 〔T35n1735 0628a24〕; 「總云普光明藏者，此是解位智，照法空含眾德故。從信始入，故有置言。」 tr. “What is called in general the Treasury of Universal Light is the wisdom of the stage of understanding, because it shines upon the emptiness of dharmas and contains all virtues within it. Because entry begins from faith, there is the word ‘set out.’” 〔0628a26〕; the particular explanation of the ten phrases — 「別中，初句約體、餘並顯嚴。皆云十千者，萬行因感故。言層級者，萬行熏成故。金網防護、慈悲帳蓋以育以覆，四攝繒綺以為周垂，圓融行願交絡萬善，柔忍慚愧以覆法空第一義天，清淨梵行繞斯法體，一一智照故日光明。」 tr. “Within the particular, the first phrase is with respect to substance and the rest all display the adornment. That all of them say ‘ten thousand’ is because the ten thousand practices as cause bring them about. That it says ‘tiers of steps’ is because the ten thousand practices perfume and form them. The nets of gold are guarding and protecting; the hangings and canopies of compassion are for rearing and for covering; the four means of gathering are the figured silk hanging all around; the perfectly interfused practices and vows interlace the ten thousand goods; gentle forbearance, conscience and shame cover over the heaven of the highest truth of the emptiness of dharmas; pure conduct encircles this substance of the Dharma; and because each single wisdom shines, they are as the light of the sun.” 〔0628a28〕

(7) The explanation by the contemplation of mind — Chengguan establishes a separate gate over and above the display of the Dharma by symbol

「若約觀心，妙高者謂三昧須彌寂然不動，無思無心不收不攝，任性而定稱本心地，入佛智海湛然不遷，是妙法樂觸境自在。合本性淨，是四德寶而自莊嚴，斯則本覺如來升法須彌之頂。」 tr. “If it is taken with respect to the contemplation of mind, the wondrously high is the Sumeru of samādhi, still and unmoving, without thought and without mind, neither gathering in nor taking up, settled in concentration by following one's nature and answering to the original ground of the mind; entering the sea of the Buddha's wisdom, clear and unshifting, this is the joy of the wondrous Dharma, self-mastered in whatever object it meets. Joined with the purity of the original nature, it is adorned of itself with the jewels of the four virtues; and this then is the Tathāgata of original awakening ascending to the summit of the Sumeru of the Dharma.” 〔T35n1735 0627a11〕

Li Tongxuan reads the Wondrous Peak by the 「不動義」 tr. “sense of unmovingness”, close to this in the run of the words while forming a track of his own — 「妙峯山者，不動義。諸天所居，妙樂義、莊嚴義、像此位菩薩以方便三昧寂然不動、無思無心、不收不攝，任性而定，稱平等理與法身合。」 tr. “Mount Wondrous Peak is the sense of unmovingness. That the gods dwell there is the sense of wondrous joy and the sense of adornment. It is an image of how the bodhisattva of this stage, by the samādhi of skillful means, is still and unmoving, without thought and without mind, neither gathering in nor taking up, settled in concentration by following his nature, answering to the principle of sameness and joined with the dharma-body.” 〔T36n1739 0827a05〕

(8) What is displayed by the ten buddhas having once entered this palace — 「然三世諸佛皆於此處說十住法。獨讚十者，表說十住及無盡故。所以讚者，義乃有四：一十佛曾處則殿勝可居、二互舉一德例讚本師、三敘昔善根慶遇堪受、四昔佛同說表法常恒。」 tr. “Now all the buddhas of the three times speak the Dharma of the ten abodes in this place. That ten alone are praised displays the speaking of the ten abodes, and displays inexhaustibility. As to why they are praised, the sense is fourfold: first, that the ten buddhas once dwelt here shows the palace to be excellent and fit to be dwelt in; second, one virtue is raised for each so as to praise by example the Teacher himself; third, he narrates the roots of goodness of former days and rejoices that he has met with this and is fit to receive it; fourth, that the buddhas of old spoke this same Dharma displays that the Dharma is constant.” 〔T35n1735 0628b18〕; the form of the verses — 「今初十頌，各上半標名讚德，上句別、下句通，下半以人結處。唯初一句諸佛不同，然佛別名多因德立，讚者取德以釋上名。」 tr. “Now for the first, the ten verses: in each, the upper half indicates a name and praises a virtue, the first line being particular and the second general, while the lower half concludes with the person to the place. Only the first line differs from buddha to buddha; but the particular names of buddhas are for the most part established on the ground of a virtue, and the one who praises takes that virtue in order to explain the name above.” 〔0628b23〕

VI. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators (the ancient worthies, with their schools indicated)

Chengguan, Huayan jing shu, T35n1735 · Yanyi chao, T36n1736 (following the text of the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka word by word · the principal commentary)

The ancients' many explanations of ‘ascending without leaving’ — Chengguan first sets up a question, then cites five sayings of the ancient worthies, marking each of them with 「一云」 tr. “one says” or 「有云」 tr. “some say”:

「明不離覺樹各升釋天。問：動靜相違、去住懸隔，既云不離，何得言升？古有多釋。」 tr. “It makes clear that without leaving the tree of awakening they each ascend to Śakra's heaven. Question: motion and stillness are contrary to one another, and going and staying stand far apart; since it says he does not leave, how can it say that he ascends? The ancients had many explanations.” 〔T35n1735 0627b09〕

「一云：本釋迦身不起道樹，別起應化以升天上。」 tr. “One says: the original body of Śākyamuni does not rise from the tree of the path; separately he raises up a responsive transformation body so as to ascend into the heavens.” 〔0627b11〕

「一云：不起是報，升天是化。」 tr. “One says: what does not rise is the reward body, and what ascends into the heavens is the transformation body.” 〔0627b13〕

「一云：不起是法身，升天是化用。並非文意，以此文中俱是毘盧遮那十身雲故。」 tr. “One says: what does not rise is the dharma-body, and what ascends into the heavens is the function of transformation. None of these is the sense of the text, for in this text all alike is the cloud of the ten bodies of Vairocana.” 〔0627b13〕

「一云：以去即非去故名不起，非去即去是以升天，如不來相而來等。若爾，但是升相離故，非是樹下別有不起之身，故不可也。」 tr. “One says: because going is precisely not-going, it is called not rising; and because not-going is precisely going, therefore he ascends into the heavens, as in ‘coming with the mark of not-coming’ and the like. If so, this is only that the mark of ascending is left behind; it is not that beneath the tree there is a separate body that does not rise. Therefore it will not do.” 〔0627b15〕

「有云：此佛神通同體業用，即住是去、去即是住，住是體遍、去是用應，應是體應，雖升後而不離前；體是應體，雖不離前而升後。」 tr. “Some say: this is the Buddha's spiritual penetration, the activity of function in one and the same substance: staying is precisely going and going is precisely staying; staying is substance being everywhere and going is function responding. The response being the response of substance, though he ascends afterward he does not leave what is before; the substance being the substance of the response, though he does not leave what is before he ascends afterward.” 〔0627b18〕

Chengguan raises objections in three places: first, the sentence 「並非文意」 tr. “none of these is the sense of the text” breaks through the first three sayings all together (see the end of the citation of the third saying above, where 「並」 tr. “none of these” means that all three preceding sayings are wrong); next, 「若爾，但是升相離故……故不可也」 tr. “if so, this is only that the mark of ascending is left behind … therefore it will not do” objects to the fourth saying (see the end of the citation of the fourth saying above); and last he objects to the fifth saying — 「若爾，何殊第三師，不起是法，又以住釋於不起？而言住是體遍，何得獨住菩提樹耶？升天何得非體遍耶？菩提樹下寧非用耶？」 tr. “If so, how does this differ from the third master, for whom what does not rise is the dharma, and who moreover explains not-rising by staying? And if it is said that staying is substance being everywhere, how can he stay beneath the tree of awakening alone? How can ascending into the heavens not be substance being everywhere? And how should beneath the tree of awakening not be function?” 〔T35n1735 0627b21〕, and thereafter establishes 「今顯正義」 tr. “now the correct sense is made manifest” (the full text is at V(2)).

The ancient worthies' ten senses — Chengguan further cites a separate explanation of the ancient worthies in ten gates:

「古德釋此，略有十義：一約處相入門，以一處中有一切處故，是故此天宮等本在樹下，故不須起；然是用彼，故說升也。」 tr. “The ancient worthies explained this in about ten senses. First, from the gate of the mutual entering of places: because within one place there are all places, this heavenly palace and the rest were from the first beneath the tree, and so there is no need to rise; yet it is that he makes use of that place, and so it is said that he ascends.” 〔T35n1735 0627c08〕

「二亦約相入門，以一處入一切處故，樹遍天中亦不須起；欲用天宮表法升進，故云升也。三由一切即一故，天在樹下。四由一即一切，樹在天上，不起等準前。」 tr. “Second, likewise from the gate of mutual entering: because one place enters all places, the tree is everywhere within the heavens, and again there is no need to rise; it is that he wishes to use the heavenly palace to display the Dharma of ascent and advance, and so it says he ascends. Third, since all are identical with one, the heaven is beneath the tree. Fourth, since one is identical with all, the tree is up in the heavens; ‘not rising’ and the rest are to be taken as before.” 〔0627c11〕

「五約佛身，謂此樹下身，即滿法界遍一切處，則本來在彼，不待起也；機熟令見，故云升也。是故如來以法界身常在此，即是在彼。」 tr. “Fifth, with respect to the Buddha's body: this body beneath the tree is precisely what fills the Dharma realm and is everywhere in all places, and so he was there from the first and does not wait to rise; when the capacities are ripe it is caused to be seen, and so it says he ascends. Therefore the Tathāgata, with the body of the Dharma realm, is constantly here, which is precisely to be there.” 〔0627c15〕

「六約佛自在不思議解脫，謂坐即是行住等，在此即在彼，皆非下位測量故也。七約緣起相由門、八約法性融通門、九約表示顯法門、十約成法界大會門。」 tr. “Sixth, with respect to the Buddha's self-mastered inconceivable liberation: sitting is precisely walking and standing and the rest, and being here is precisely being there, none of which can be measured by those in the lower stages. Seventh, from the gate of dependent arising in mutual dependence; eighth, from the gate of the interfusion of the dharma-nature; ninth, from the gate of the symbolic display that makes the Dharma manifest; tenth, from the gate that completes the great assembly of the Dharma realm.” 〔0627c18〕

After the ten senses Chengguan determines in general that they may be used — 「然此十解，前五玄門、次四所以、後一總意，欲成十義相參而立，雖似雜亂不違經宗，並可用也。」 tr. “Now of these ten explanations, the first five are the profound gates, the next four the reasons, and the last the general purport. They were established so as to make up ten senses in mutual interweaving; and although they seem confused, they do not go against the tenet of the scripture, and all of them may be used.” 〔T35n1735 0627c21〕

The question and answer on the three worthy stages carrying the earlier with them — 「問：帶前起後事理應齊，何故三賢獨有斯旨？答：顯異義故。謂初二會相隣接故不假帶前，此三人天隔越故須連帶。」 tr. “Question: carrying the earlier and giving rise to the later should be alike in fact and in principle; why then do the three worthy stages alone have this purport? Answer: because it makes manifest a different sense. That is, the first two assemblies are adjacent to one another and so do not need to carry the earlier with them, whereas these three are separated by the gulf between the human world and the heavens and so must be linked and carried along.” 〔T35n1735 0628a16〕

The glossing of the names of the ten buddhas — Chengguan explains one by one the names of the ten buddhas and the virtues praised of them:

「初迦葉者，此云飲光，若從姓立示生彼族。若就佛德，一者身光蔽餘光故、二者悲光飲蔽邪光故。」 tr. “First, Kāśyapa means here Drinker of Light. If the name is established from the clan, it displays his being born into that family. If it is taken on the side of the Buddha's virtue, then first, the light of his body eclipses all other light; second, the light of compassion drinks up and eclipses deviant light.” 〔T35n1735 0628b26〕

「拘那牟尼，舊曰金仙，亦云金寂，寂故無礙，金故明見。」 tr. “Kanakamuni was anciently rendered Golden Sage, and also Golden Stillness; because of stillness he is unobstructed, and because of gold he sees clearly.” 〔0628b28〕

「迦羅鳩馱者，具云迦羅鳩村馱，此云所應斷已斷，如金已淨、如山不動。亦可見無礙者是此佛德，如金山者是前佛德。」 tr. “As for Krakucchanda, fully stated it is Krakucchanda, which means here ‘what ought to be cut off has been cut off,’ like gold already refined, like a mountain unmoving. It may also be that ‘seeing without obstruction’ is this buddha's virtue and ‘like a mountain of gold’ the preceding buddha's virtue.” 〔0628b29〕

「毘舍浮者，亦云毘濕婆部。毘濕婆者，此云遍一切也。部者，自在也。亦云遍勝，無三垢故無不自在而超勝也。三垢者，現、種及習。」 tr. “As for Viśvabhū, it is also called Viśvabhū. Viśva means here ‘all-pervading.’ Bhū means ‘self-mastered.’ It is also rendered ‘pervadingly excellent,’ for being without the three defilements there is nothing in which he is not self-mastered and surpassing. The three defilements are active manifestation, seeds, and habitual residues.” 〔0628c03〕

「尸棄，亦云式棄那，此云持髻，亦云有髻。無分別智最為尊上，處心頂也。又髻中明珠，即無分別也。」 tr. “Śikhin is also called Śikhin; it means here ‘bearing a topknot,’ and also ‘having a topknot.’ Nondiscriminating wisdom is the most honored and highest, and is placed at the crown of the mind. Again, the bright pearl within the topknot is precisely nondiscrimination.” 〔0628c06〕

「毘婆尸者，此翻有四，謂淨觀、勝觀、勝見、遍見。如月圓智滿是遍見也，魄盡惑亡是淨觀也。既圓且淨，是勝觀勝見也。」 tr. “As for Vipaśyin, it is translated here in four ways: pure beholding, excellent beholding, excellent seeing, and universal seeing. That the moon is full and the wisdom complete is the universal seeing; that the dark of the moon is spent and delusion gone is the pure beholding. Being both full and pure, it is the excellent beholding and the excellent seeing.” 〔0628c08〕

「弗沙，亦云勃沙，此云增盛，明達勝義是增盛也。」 tr. “Puṣya is also called Puṣya; it means here ‘increase and abundance,’ and the understanding and penetrating of the supreme meaning is that increase and abundance.” 〔0628c11〕

「提舍，亦云底沙，西域訓字底邏那，此云度也。沙是皤沙，此云說也，謂說法度人，或但云說。辯才無礙者，即能說也。」 tr. “Tiṣya is also called Tiṣya; in the Western regions the graph is glossed tīrṇa, which here means ‘to ferry across.’ Ṣa is bhāṣa, which here means ‘to speak’ — that is, speaking the Dharma and ferrying people across; or else simply ‘to speak.’ ‘Eloquence without obstruction’ is precisely that ability to speak.” 〔0628c12〕

「波頭摩者，此云赤蓮華，身心如蓮華淨無塵垢。」 tr. “As for Padma, it means here the red lotus flower; body and mind are like the lotus flower, pure and without dust or defilement.” 〔0628c14〕

「身智光明普周稱大。」 tr. “The light of the body and of wisdom being universally everywhere is called great.” 〔0628c17〕 (explaining the name Burning Lamp; the words cited from the Zhi lun are at III(2))

How buddhas of past kalpas could have entered this palace — Chengguan sets up the objection and cites two old explanations:

「然十中後七乃過去劫佛，如何賢劫曾入殿耶？古釋有二：一約時劫相即入故、二約其處有麁細故，麁隨劫壞，細者常存。如《法華》，天人見燒，我土不毀。又梵王見淨，身子見穢。今此天帝是大菩薩，同梵王見，亦佛加故。」 tr. “Now of the ten, the latter seven are buddhas of past kalpas; how then could they have entered a palace of the Worthy Kalpa? There are two old explanations: first, because the kalpas of time are mutually identical and mutually entering; second, because that place has a coarse aspect and a subtle one, the coarse being destroyed along with the kalpa while the subtle abides constantly. So in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, gods and men see the burning while my land is not destroyed. And again, a Brahmā king sees it pure while Śāriputra sees it defiled. Now this god Śakra is a great bodhisattva and sees as the Brahmā king does, and also because the Buddha adds his power.” 〔T35n1735 0628c18〕

What the Yanyi chao supplies — beneath Chengguan's 「妙有十義」 tr. “the wondrous has ten senses” the subcommentary restores line by line the verses of the Abhidharmakośa as attestation, as in what is cited in explaining the seven golden mountains: 「蘇迷盧處中，次踰健達羅，伊沙馱羅山，竭地洛迦山」 tr. “Sumeru stands at the center; next Yugandhara, the mountain Īṣādhara, the mountain Khadiraka” 〔T36n1736 0275c21〕; and it records its own intent in citing them — 「釋曰：上來所引正證七金，餘因便來，下疏方要。」 tr. “Explanation: what has been cited above properly attests the seven golden mountains, the rest coming in incidentally; it is in the commentary below that they are needed.” 〔0276a01〕

Fazang, Tanxuan ji, T35n1733 (the commentary on the sixty-fascicle text, chapter “The Buddha's Ascent to the Summit of Sumeru”)

The name established by three senses — 「即從人、用及處三義立名。」 tr. “Thus the name is established from the three senses of person, function, and place.” 〔T35n1733 0192b18〕; and he explains the graph 「昇」 tr. “ascend” as 「動靜無礙，不去而進故云昇」 tr. “motion and stillness being unobstructed, he advances without going, and therefore it says ‘ascends’” 〔0192b08〕.

The tenet and aim divided into the two layers of person and dharma — 「初會宗，亦二：先約人，謂化主及助化各有體相用，約住準之；二約法，謂十住教義，義中以平等法界為體、十住行位為相、應教所詮為用」 tr. “First, the tenet of the assembly, which is likewise twofold: first with respect to the person, that is, the lord of transformation and those who assist the transformation, each having substance, mark, and function, which are to be taken with respect to the abodes on the same pattern; second with respect to the dharma, that is, the teaching and the meaning of the ten abodes, and within the meaning, the Dharma realm of sameness is the substance, the stages of practice of the ten abodes are the mark, and what is set forth in answer to the teaching is the function” 〔T35n1733 0192c02〕.

The determination of the introductory division — 「初品是如來應感序，明果德備；後品明集眾光讚序，明因德圓，即顯十住位中具因果宗圓備故也。」 tr. “The first chapter is the introduction of the Tathāgata responding to the stimulus, making clear that the virtue of the fruit is complete; the latter chapter makes clear the introduction of the gathering of the assembly and the praise by light, making clear that the virtue of the cause is perfect — which displays that within the stage of the ten abodes the tenets of cause and fruit are perfectly complete.” 〔T35n1733 0192c10〕

The two divisions of the interfusion of substance and the interfusion of function — 「初中二：先體融遍周法界；後明用融，謂不動而進。」 tr. “Within the first there are two: first, the interfusion of substance, everywhere pervading the Dharma realm; afterward, the clarification of the interfusion of function, that is, advancing without moving.” 〔T35n1733 0192c13〕; and the ground of the interfusion of substance, 「前中初一句明體融所由，謂佛力也。」 tr. “Within the former, the first sentence makes clear the ground of the interfusion of substance, namely the Buddha's power.” 〔0192c15〕

Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun, T36n1739 (a different track in the display of the Dharma by symbol)

Six chapters together making up the Dharma-gate of the ten abodes — 「此十住位中有六品經：一〈昇須彌山頂品〉、二〈頂上偈讚品〉、三〈十住品〉、四〈梵行品〉、五〈初發心功德品〉、六〈明法品〉，如是六品共成十住法門。」 tr. “Within this stage of the ten abodes there are six chapters of scripture: first, ‘Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru’; second, ‘Verses of Praise on the Summit’; third, ‘The Ten Abodes’; fourth, ‘The Practice of Brahmacarya’; fifth, ‘The Merit of the First Arousing of the Mind’; sixth, ‘Clarifying the Dharma.’ These six chapters together make up the Dharma-gate of the ten abodes.” 〔T36n1739 0826c07〕

The distinction of three gates — 「將釋此品，義分為三：一釋品來意、二以處表法、三隨文釋義。」 tr. “In setting out to explain this chapter, the sense is divided into three: first, explaining the reason for the chapter's coming; second, displaying the Dharma by means of the place; third, explaining the meaning following the text.” 〔T36n1739 0826c10〕

Displaying the Dharma by means of the place — the height and excellence of the mountain display what the ten abodes abide in — 「山者高勝義故，此像十住住佛所住法身妙智慧海故，是出世高勝義故。」 tr. “The mountain is the sense of height and excellence; this is an image of how the ten abodes abide in the sea of the wondrous wisdom of the dharma-body in which the Buddha abides, which is the sense of a height and excellence that transcends the world.” 〔T36n1739 0827a03〕

The ten abodes are able to share the wisdom of the Tathāgata — 「於此十住位中能與如來同智慧故，不同三乘但將三空觀且折伏現行。」 tr. “Because within this stage of the ten abodes one is able to share the wisdom of the Tathāgata, it is unlike the three vehicles, which merely take the three contemplations of emptiness and for the time being subdue what is actively manifest.” 〔T36n1739 0827a23〕; and again, 「不伏不斷，為本寂用自在故、無體可斷故、無可伏故。」 tr. “Neither subduing nor cutting off, because it is originally still and its function is self-mastered, because there is no substance that could be cut off, and because there is nothing that could be subdued.” 〔0827a27〕

Recording for himself that what he had heard has no authority — Li Tongxuan raises the measurement of the two wings of the golden-winged bird and himself marks that there is no scriptural text he can rely on for it: 「廣量金翅鳥兩翼相去三十三千六萬里，此經無文，未知何教所說。」 tr. “As to the broad measurement, the two wings of the golden-winged bird stand apart from one another three-and-thirty thousand and six myriad li; this scripture has no text for it, and I do not know from what teaching it is spoken.” 〔T36n1739 0826c25〕

Zhiyan, Souxuan ji, T35n1732 〔not found〕

Within the compass of this chapter no corresponding section of the Souxuan ji has been obtained; the lack is recorded, and it is not filled out with text from elsewhere.

Recorded without adjudication: on the single sentence ‘ascending without leaving,’ Chengguan cites five sayings of the ancient worthies (the original body of Śākyamuni raising a responsive transformation separately · what does not rise is the reward body and what ascends into the heavens is the transformation body · what does not rise is the dharma-body and what ascends into the heavens is the function of transformation · going is precisely not-going · the activity of function in one and the same spiritual penetration), and raises objections in three places — the first objection breaking through the first three sayings together, the next objecting to the fourth saying, the last objecting to the fifth — and thereafter establishes for himself the correct sense of 「即體之應，應隨體遍」 tr. “the response that is identical with substance, the response following substance in being everywhere”; he further cites the ancient worthies' ten senses and determines them as 「前五玄門、次四所以、後一總意」 tr. “the first five the profound gates, the next four the reasons, and the last the general purport”, saying 「並可用也」 tr. “all of them may be used”. Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle text, explains “ascend” as 「不去而進」 tr. “advancing without going”, and beneath his section 「初辨化緣」 tr. “first, discerning the conditions of transformation” divides the interfusion of substance and the interfusion of function into two. Li Tongxuan does not follow the track of explaining the text section by section, but with the unmovingness of Mount Wondrous Peak displays the samādhi of skillful means, and determines that the ten abodes are precisely sharing the wisdom of the Tathāgata. The three houses run in parallel, and all are established sayings of the ancient worthies; they are recorded, with no adjudication of higher and lower. The divergent renderings of the names of the ten buddhas in the eighty-fascicle and the sixty-fascicle texts (Krakucchanda in the fuller and the shorter transcription · Viśvabhū in the later and the earlier transcription · Burning Lamp and Lamp-Light) are recorded together, with no choosing between them.

VII. Cross-Reading and Lineage

• The bond with the chapters before and after: this chapter follows upon “Foremost in Worthiness,” chapter 12, and is followed by “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 14. Chengguan binds the two chapters together as one group, the expedient that starts the assembly off — 「初二品方便發起、後四品當會正說」 tr. “the first two chapters are the expedient that starts it off, and the latter four are the proper exposition of this assembly” 〔T35n1735 0627a18〕 — and determines that the one chapter of verses of praise 「義有兩兼：一是方便，謂前品化主赴機、後品助化讚佛，主伴圓備方演法故」 tr. “has a sense that combines two things: one, it is the expedient, that is, in the preceding chapter the lord of transformation comes to the capacities, and in the latter chapter those who assist the transformation praise the Buddha, so that principal and companion being perfectly complete the Dharma is then expounded” 〔0627a20〕. Li Tongxuan joins the six chapters together as the Dharma-gate of the ten abodes 〔T36n1739 0826c07〕.
• The bond with the verses of the next chapter: in attesting ‘ascending without leaving,’ Chengguan takes for his scriptural ground the verse of Dharma Wisdom in the next chapter, 「佛子汝應觀，如來自在力，一切閻浮提，皆言佛在中。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha, you should behold the self-mastered power of the Tathāgata: in every Jambudvīpa, all say that the Buddha is present within it.” 〔T35n1735 0627b29〕 together with 「我等今見佛，住於須彌頂。」 tr. “We now behold the Buddha, dwelling on the summit of Sumeru.” 〔0627c01〕 — the doctrine of this chapter has the attestation of its explicit text in the chapter that follows.
• The bond with “The Ten Abodes” and “The Merit of the First Arousing of the Mind”: in explaining the Dharma displayed by the wondrously high mountain Chengguan cites 「下〈發心品〉云「應知此人即與三世諸佛同等」」 tr. “the chapter on arousing the mind below says, ‘it should be known that this person is equal to all the buddhas of the three times’” 〔T35n1735 0627a08〕, so as to make clear that what he explains is throughout the intent of the perfect teaching; Li Tongxuan likewise cites “The Ten Abodes,” 「佛子！菩薩住處廣大，與法界虛空等。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! The abode of the bodhisattva is vast, equal to the Dharma realm and to space.” 〔T36n1739 0827a13〕 together with the text of “The Merit of the First Arousing of the Mind” 〔0827a14〕 as attestation of entering the stage of the ten abodes.
• The bond with “Awakening by Light”: Fazang determines that the universal manifesting in the first segment of this chapter is precisely the manifesting at once throughout the ten directions that was discerned in the earlier chapter “Awakening by Light” — 「於中十方各一一閻浮等者，是上〈光明覺品〉所辨」 tr. “as for ‘within it, in the ten directions, in each and every Jambudvīpa’ and the rest, this is what was discerned in the chapter ‘Awakening by Light’ above” 〔T35n1733 0192c16〕.
• The bond with the two later assemblies: Chengguan determines this chapter's ascent to the heavens to be the common pattern of three assemblies — 「升釋天既爾，升餘天亦然，如後二會」 tr. “since it is so for ascending to Śakra's heaven, it is so for ascending to the other heavens as well, as in the two later assemblies” 〔T35n1735 0628a06〕; and again, 「行向二會同此科判。」 tr. “the two assemblies of the practices and the dedications share this same outline.” 〔0627a25〕
• The bond with the Abhidharmakośa: in explaining the phrases in Chengguan's commentary about the seven golden mountains, the seven fragrant seas, and the dwelling of gods alone, the Yanyi chao restores line by line the verses of the “Chapter on the World” of the Abhidharmakośa as attestation 〔T36n1736 0275c21·0276a03·0276a10〕 — the arrangement of the world upon which this chapter's display of the Dharma by symbol depends has its textual authority in the Abhidharmakośa.
• 〔not found〕: in the Huayan yisheng jiaoyi fenqi zhang, T45n1866 · the Shixuan men, T45n1868 · the Fajie xuanjing, T45n1883 · the Huayan jing zhigui, T45n1871 · the Wangjin huanyuan guan, T45n1876 · and the Qixin lun yiji, T44n1846, a search for 「昇須彌山頂品」 tr. “the chapter Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru” and for 「妙勝殿」 tr. “the Palace of Wondrous Excellence” yields no hits at all; the lack is recorded. This chapter likewise has no separately circulating treatise that quotes and explains the scripture (unlike “The Ten Grounds,” which has the Shidi jing lun); the lack is recorded.

VIII. Edition Location Register

• Śikṣānanda, T279 (the base text): “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru,” chapter 13, begins at 〔T10n0279 0080c07〕 (fascicle 16) – ending before the title of the next chapter, “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 14, at 〔0081a22〕. The whole assembly manifesting at once 0080c08 · ascending together without leaving 0080c11 · each seeing the Buddha coming 0080c12 · each adorning palace and seat 0080c13 · all coming to invite the Buddha 0080c18 · entering the palace at one and the same time 0080c21 · the music ceasing together 0080c23 · each calling to mind the causes of old 0080c24 · the ten verses beginning 0080c26 (verse two 0080c28 · verse three 0081a01 · verse four 0081a03 · verse five 0081a05 · verse six 0081a07 · verse seven 0081a09 · verse eight 0081a11 · verse nine 0081a13 · verse ten 0081a15) · the concluding extension to the ten directions 0081a17 · the palaces becoming vast 0081a19.
• Buddhabhadra, T278 (the Jin translation, the principal witness for collation): “The Buddha's Ascent to the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 9, begins at 〔T09n0278 0441b05〕 (fascicle 7) – ending before 〔0441c20〕. Manifesting at once 0441b06 · not rising and ascending to the heavens 0441b09 · seeing from afar and adorning the seat 0441b11 · inviting the Buddha 0441b18 · accepting the invitation and entering the palace 0441b19 · the music becoming still 0441b21 · calling to mind the causes of old 0441b22 · the ten verses beginning 0441b24 (verse three 0441b28 · verse four 0441c01 · verse ten 0441c13) · the concluding extension 0441c15 · ascending the seat and the palace becoming vast 0441c17.
• Chengguan, Huayan jing shu, T35n1735: the commentary on the chapter “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru” begins at 0626b26 (the reason for its coming 0626b27 · the explanation of the name of the assembly 0626c01 · the name of the chapter 0626c03 · the ten senses of the wondrous 0626c07 · the explanation of “high” 0626c17 · fitting them to the practice of the ten abodes 0626c19 · passing beyond the heaven of the four kings 0627a04 · the attestation from Sudhana 0627a05 · the citation of the chapter on arousing the mind 0627a07 · the explanation by the contemplation of mind 0627a11 · the tenet and aim 0627a15 · explaining the text, six chapters in two divisions 0627a18 · the outline in ten segments 0627a25 · the explanation of the first segment 0627a29 · the simile of the writing of a seal 0627b08 · the question of the second segment and the ancients' many explanations 0627b09 · the five sayings 0627b11–0627b18 · the objection to the fifth saying 0627b21 · now the correct sense is made manifest 0627b24 · the citation of Dharma Wisdom's verse 0627b29 · the simile of the three boats and the one moon 0627c03 · the ancient worthies' ten senses 0627c08 · the general determination of the ten explanations 0627c21 · the four pairs of dharmas 0627c24 · the four propositions of one and many 0628a02 · the ten profundities are complete 0628a12 · the question and answer on the three worthy stages carrying the earlier 0628a16 · the third segment 0628a22 · the fourth segment 0628a24 · the particular explanation of the ten phrases 0628a28 · the fifth segment 0628b06 · the sixth segment 0628b10 · the seventh segment 0628b13 · the eighth segment 0628b14 · the four senses of the ninth segment 0628b17 · the form of the ten verses 0628b22 · the explanation of the names of the ten buddhas 0628b26–0628c17 · the objection concerning the latter seven buddhas 0628c18 · the tenth segment 0628c23) – ending before 0628c28.
• Chengguan, Yanyi chao, T36n1736: the subcommentary on the chapter “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru” of the third assembly begins at 0275c11 (the fourfold outline explaining the name of the chapter 0275c14 · the citation of the Abhidharmakośa verse on the seven golden mountains 0275c21 · the explanation that what is cited properly attests the seven golden mountains 0276a01 · the verse on the seven fragrant seas 0276a03 · the verse on the dwelling of gods alone 0276a10 · the dwellers on the four levels 0276a13 · the pārijātaka 0276a20) – ending before the subcommentary on the next chapter at 0277b12.
• Fazang, Tanxuan ji, T35n1733: “The Buddha's Ascent to the Summit of Sumeru,” chapter 9, begins at 0192b05 (the twofold explanation of the name 0192b06 · the sense of “ascend” in the name of the chapter 0192b08 · the four jewels of Sumeru 0192b09 · the explanation of “summit” 0192b13 · the name established by three senses 0192b17 · the question and answer on why not in the human world 0192b18 · the question and answer on why not the heaven of the four kings 0192b20 · the reason for its coming 0192b26 · the tenet and aim 0192c01 · the tenet of the chapter 0192c06 · explaining the text, six chapters in two divisions 0192c07 · the three sections 0192c12 · the interfusion of substance and of function 0192c13 · the citation of “Awakening by Light” 0192c16 · the One Vehicle, principal and companion perfectly clear 0192c21) – ending before 0193c11 (from 0192c24 onward, the section explaining the meaning following the text is not recorded).
• Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun, T36n1739: “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru,” chapter 13, begins at 0826c06 (six chapters together making up the ten abodes 0826c07 · the distinction of three gates 0826c10 · explaining the reason for the chapter's coming 0826c12 · displaying the Dharma by means of the place 0826c15 · the four names of Śakra 0826c21 · his own record that there is no scriptural text 0826c25 · the shape of a waisted drum 0826c28 · the display of the Dharma by its not being climbable 0826c29 · the sense of the mountain's height and excellence 0827a03 · the sense of the unmovingness of the Wondrous Peak 0827a05 · the citation of “The Ten Abodes” 0827a13 · the citation of “The Merit of the First Arousing of the Mind” 0827a14 · sharing the wisdom of the Tathāgata 0827a24 · neither subduing nor cutting off 0827a27) – ending before 0828b24 (from 0827b02 onward, the several sections explaining the meaning following the text are not recorded).
• Zhiyan, Souxuan ji, T35n1732: 〔not found〕; the lack is recorded.
• Variant readings: within the range of T279 covered by this unit, 〔0080c07〕–〔0081a21〕, the Taishō base text carries 1 collation note, recorded one by one without adjudication (base reading 【大】｜variant readings of other witnesses, several witnesses separated by ／): 〔0080c18〕耀【大】＊｜曜【宋】【元】【明】【宮】＊（＊同校並繫〔0085b28〕〔0088a07〕之耀字）. (＊ ＝ a Taishō asterisked collation: the same note also governs the remaining occurrences of that graph in the text; for notes of this class the T279 XML supplies no corresp for the recurrences, so the asterisk alone is shown and no second anchor is created.) The interlinear notes (phonetic and collation glosses) were stripped and recorded at the level of the original-text layer; the original-text layer carries no □ lacuna marks.