華嚴經 品三十七 如來出現品 · 出現之行Avataṃsaka Sūtra · The Appearance of the Tathāgata · The Practice of the Appearance

The sixth sense, ‘the practice of the appearance,’ = Samantabhadra’s answer to 「菩薩摩訶薩應云何知如來、應、正等覺行」 tr. “How should a bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the practice of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One?” 〔T10n0279 0274b17〕. First the two practices are set up in a pair — the unobstructed practice · the practice of suchness; then they are explained by five matters (suchness cutting off the three limits of time · the Dharma realm being neither measured nor measureless and having no form · the bird flying in space · the king of the golden-winged birds parting the sea · the sun and moon traveling everywhere without thought); at the end there is a double conclusion with an exhortation to know and to see, and after that five verses in repetition. Chengguan’s outline reads 「先標舉、後釋相」 tr. “first the raising and setting up, afterward the explanation of the characteristics” , and he judges the two practices to be 「前即真之俗，後即俗之真，融而無礙為如來行」 tr. “the former is the conventional that is identical with the true, the latter the true that is identical with the conventional; and their fusing without obstruction is the practice of the Tathāgata” 〔T35n1735 0881b09〕; Fazang names this sense in his outline straightforwardly as 「性起行」 tr. “the practice of nature-arising” , divides the prose section into the three parts of setting up · explaining · concluding, and within the explanation opens out five similes. The two masters differ in how they apportion the similes and in how they divide the number of verses — Chengguan, following the eighty-fascicle text, makes five verses; Fazang, following the sixty-fascicle text, makes ten.

I. Doctrinal Outline and Placement

The reason for its coming — Chengguan ties this sixth sense to the fifth sense before it, ‘the realm of the appearance,’ making clear that from the realm the practice is accomplished:

「第六出現之行。前明分齊境智無邊，今彰運用則悲智無盡，雖智海已滿，悲無息故。」 tr. “The sixth, the practice of the appearance. What was set forth earlier was the measure of the realm and the boundlessness of wisdom; now what is made manifest is the functioning, and there compassion and wisdom are inexhaustible — for though the ocean of wisdom is already full, compassion does not rest.” 〔T35n1735 0881b03〕

Fazang ties it in the same manner, while naming it 「性起行」 tr. “the practice of nature-arising”:

「第六性起行者，前明智所依境，今辨依境所成之行，故次明也。」 tr. “As for the sixth, the practice of nature-arising: earlier what was set forth was the realm upon which wisdom depends; now what is discerned is the practice accomplished in dependence upon that realm, and therefore it is set forth next.” 〔T35n1733 0412b17〕

The division of the prose section — Chengguan divides it in two, and within the explanation of the characteristics there are three:

「長行中二：先標舉、後釋相。釋相中三：初雙標二行、次雙釋二行、後雙結二行。」 tr. “Within the prose section there are two: first the raising and setting up, afterward the explanation of the characteristics. Within the explanation of the characteristics there are three: first the paired setting up of the two practices, next the paired explanation of the two practices, last the paired conclusion of the two practices.” 〔T35n1735 0881b05〕

Fazang divides it in three:

「就辨釋中，長行內三，謂標、釋、結。初中標二行。」 tr. “As for the discerning explanation, within the prose section there are three, namely setting up, explaining, and concluding. In the first of these, the two practices are set up.” 〔T35n1733 0412b19〕

The inner outline of the explanatory section — in the paired explanation Chengguan takes the practice of suchness first and the unobstructed practice afterward:

「先釋真如行、後釋無礙行。」 tr. “First the practice of suchness is explained, afterward the unobstructed practice.” 〔T35n1735 0881b11〕

Three sections stand under the practice of suchness:

「今初，真如之名，言含法喻。文中有三：初牒名以解，明體絕三際，故同真如。契如成行，行即如也。過未非緣，故不生不動；現在離緣，故非起也。」 tr. “Now the first: the name suchness, in what it says, contains both the dharma and the simile. Within the text there are three. First, the name is taken up and explained: this makes clear that its substance cuts off the three limits of time, and therefore it is the same as suchness. Tallying with suchness, practice is accomplished, and the practice is itself suchness. Past and future are not its conditions, and therefore it is unborn and unmoving; the present is apart from conditions, and therefore it does not arise.” 〔T35n1735 0881b12〕

Under the unobstructed practice there is a division into dharma and simile:

「文中二：先約法總明、後以喻別顯。」 tr. “Within the text there are two: first it is set forth in general with respect to dharma, afterward it is shown in particular by way of simile.” 〔T35n1735 0881b24〕

「二別以喻顯中二喻：初金翅闢海喻，喻即智之悲；後日月無思喻，喻悲不失智。」 tr. “Second, within the showing in particular by way of simile there are two similes: the first, the simile of the golden-winged bird parting the sea, figures the compassion that is identical with wisdom; the latter, the simile of the sun and moon without thought, figures the compassion that does not lose wisdom.” 〔T35n1735 0881b26〕

The concluding part — Chengguan: 「性結真如，相結無礙。」 tr. “Nature concludes suchness, characteristic concludes the unobstructed.” 〔T35n1735 0881b29〕 Fazang: 「三結文可知。」 tr. “Third, the concluding text can be understood as it stands.” 〔T35n1733 0412c01〕

II. Terminology

III. Similes and Rhetoric

(1) The simile of suchness cutting off the three limits of time — 「佛子！如真如，前際不生，後際不動，現在不起；如來行亦如是，不生、不動、不起。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is like suchness: in the prior limit it has not been born, in the later limit it will not move, and in the present it does not arise; so it is with the practice of the Tathāgata — not born, not moved, not arisen.” 〔T10n0279 0274b19〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕:

• The vehicle of the simile: suchness is unborn in the prior limit, unmoving in the later limit, and does not arise in the present.
• What it figures: the practice of the Tathāgata likewise is not born, not moved, not arisen.
• The meaning shown: Chengguan judges this to be the first section of the practice of suchness, 「契如成行，行即如也」 tr. “tallying with suchness, practice is accomplished, and the practice is itself suchness” 〔T35n1735 0881b14〕. Fazang for his part lists it as the first of five similes: 「一真無遷變喻，喻佛至絕三際行，即釋如如行也。」 tr. “First, the simile of the true that does not shift or alter, figuring the Buddha’s practice that reaches to the cutting off of the three limits of time; this is the explanation of the practice of thusness.” 〔T35n1733 0412b24〕

(2) The simile of the Dharma realm having no form — 「佛子！如法界，非量、非無量，無形故；如來行亦如是，非量、非無量，無形故。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is like the Dharma realm: it is not measured, it is not measureless, because it has no form; so it is with the practice of the Tathāgata — it is not measured, it is not measureless, because it has no form.” 〔T10n0279 0274b21〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕:

• The vehicle of the simile: the Dharma realm has no form, and therefore it is neither measured nor measureless.
• What it figures: the practice of the Tathāgata likewise is neither measured nor measureless and has no form.
• The meaning shown: Chengguan: 「二復舉法界無形明雙非契中，是知實相等，皆如來行。」 tr. “Second, he further raises the formlessness of the Dharma realm to make clear that the double negation tallies with the middle; from which one knows that true reality and the like are all the practice of the Tathāgata.” 〔T35n1735 0881b15〕 Fazang: 「二此法界無形喻，喻佛體無限礙行。」 tr. “Second, this simile of the Dharma realm having no form figures the Buddha’s practice whose substance has no limit or obstruction.” 〔T35n1733 0412b26〕

(3) The simile of the bird flying in space — 「佛子！譬如鳥飛虛空，經於百年，已經過處、未經過處皆不可量。何以故？虛空界無邊際故。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is like a bird flying in space: though it fly for a hundred years, neither the region it has already passed through nor the region it has not yet passed through can be measured. Why is this? Because the realm of space has no bound.” 〔T10n0279 0274b22〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕:

• The vehicle of the simile: a bird flies in space for a hundred years, and neither the regions it has passed through nor those it has not can be measured, because space has no bound.
• What it figures: were a person to spend a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of kalpas explaining the practice of the Tathāgata distinctly, what has been said and what has not been said alike could not be measured, because the practice of the Tathāgata has no bound.
• The meaning shown: Chengguan ties this simile beneath the practice of suchness and explains the sense of “not measured” — 「三舉鳥飛虛空喻，釋非量義。非量有二：一行廣無量故，云如來行無邊際故；二即事同真便無分量，故以空喻。」 tr. “Third, he raises the simile of the bird flying in space in order to explain the sense of not being measured. Not being measured has two senses: first, because the practice is vast and measureless, it says that the practice of the Tathāgata has no bound; second, phenomena being identical with the true, there is simply no quantity, and therefore space is used as the simile.” 〔T35n1735 0881b16〕 Fazang, however, ties this simile beneath the unobstructed practice: 「三飛鳥翔空喻，喻佛圓無分齊行。」 tr. “Third, the simile of the flying bird soaring in space figures the Buddha’s practice that is perfect and without demarcation.” 〔T35n1733 0412b27〕

(4) The simile of the king of the golden-winged birds parting the sea — 「佛子！譬如金翅鳥王，飛行虛空，迴翔不去，以清淨眼觀察海內諸龍宮殿，奮勇猛力，以左右翅鼓揚海水悉令兩闢，知龍男女命將盡者而搏取之。」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is like the king of the golden-winged birds: flying through space, he wheels and circles and does not go away; with pure eyes he watches the palaces of the dragons throughout the sea; he rouses his valiant strength, and with his left and right wings he beats up the sea water and makes it part wholly on both sides; and knowing which of the dragon males and females are about to come to the end of their lives, he seizes them and bears them up.” 〔T10n0279 0274b29〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕:

• The vehicle of the simile: the bird king dwells in space and wheels there, with pure eyes watches the dragon palaces within the sea, parts the water with his two wings, and takes the dragon males and females whose lives are about to end.
• What it figures: the Tathāgata dwells in the unobstructed practice, with the pure buddha-eye watches all the sentient beings in the palaces throughout the Dharma realm, and for those who have planted roots of goodness in the past and have already ripened he rouses his valiant ten powers, with the two wings of calming and contemplation beats up the great sea of the water of craving that is birth-and-death, makes it part on both sides, seizes them up, and sets them within the Buddha’s Dharma.
• The meaning shown: Chengguan judges it to be 「初金翅闢海喻，喻即智之悲」 tr. “the first, the simile of the golden-winged bird parting the sea, figuring the compassion that is identical with wisdom” 〔T35n1735 0881b27〕; Fazang judges it to be 「四金翅搏海喻。喻佛勝用濟生行。」 tr. “Fourth, the simile of the golden-winged bird seizing through the sea. It figures the Buddha’s practice of surpassing function that rescues the living.” 〔T35n1733 0412b28〕

(5) The simile of the sun and moon without thought — 「佛子！譬如日月，獨無等侶，周行虛空，利益眾生，不作是念：『我從何來，而至何所。』」 tr. “Sons of the Buddha! It is like the sun and the moon: alone and without companion equal to them, they go everywhere throughout space and benefit sentient beings, and they do not frame a thought like this: ‘Where have I come from, and where am I going?’” 〔T10n0279 0274c09〕〔T10n0279 0274c〕:

• The vehicle of the simile: the sun and moon travel space alone, benefiting sentient beings and yet giving rise to no thought of coming or going.
• What it figures: the buddhas, whose nature is from the first quiescent and without discrimination, manifest themselves as journeying through the whole Dharma realm and do all manner of buddha-work without rest, and yet do not give rise to the frivolous, discriminating thought 「我從彼來，而向彼去」 tr. “I have come from over there, and I am going toward over there” 〔T10n0279 0274c13〕.
• The meaning shown: Chengguan judges it to be 「後日月無思喻，喻悲不失智」 tr. “the latter, the simile of the sun and moon without thought, figuring the compassion that does not lose wisdom” 〔T35n1735 0881b27〕; Fazang judges it to be 「五日月行空喻。喻佛無功成事行。」 tr. “Fifth, the simile of the sun and moon traveling in space. It figures the Buddha’s practice of accomplishing affairs without effort.” 〔T35n1733 0412b28〕

(6) The mutual completion of the two practices — at the place where they are set up in a pair Chengguan explains their reciprocity in four pairs:

「今初，義有多含：一無礙行者，即理之事行。真如行者，即事之理行。前即行相，後即行體。又前是即智之悲，後是即悲之智。前即真之俗，後即俗之真，融而無礙為如來行。」 tr. “Now the first: the meaning holds much within it. First, the unobstructed practice is the practice of phenomena that is identical with principle. The practice of suchness is the practice of principle that is identical with phenomena. The former is the characteristic of practice, the latter the substance of practice. Again, the former is the compassion that is identical with wisdom, the latter the wisdom that is identical with compassion. The former is the conventional that is identical with the true, the latter the true that is identical with the conventional; and their fusing without obstruction is the practice of the Tathāgata.” 〔T35n1735 0881b07〕

(7) Practicing all day long and yet never having practiced — beneath the double negation Chengguan sets down a summing-up:

「雙非永寂，為如來行，故心彌虛、行彌曠，終日行而未曾行。」 tr. “The double negation, everlastingly still, is the practice of the Tathāgata; therefore the more the mind is empty, the more the practice is vast — practicing all day long and yet never having practiced.” 〔T35n1735 0881b20〕

Here Chengguan cites the Nirvāṇa Sūtra for a witness:

「復有一行是如來行，所謂大乘大般涅槃。」 tr. “There is, further, one practice that is the practice of the Tathāgata, namely the great parinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle.” 〔T35n1735 0881b22〕

IV. Collation with Parallel Translations

The Chinese witnesses for this sense: Śikṣānanda, T279 (the base text; the sixth sense of the Chapter on the Appearance of the Tathāgata, chapter thirty-seven) · Buddhabhadra, T278 (the Jin translation, the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, the third portion of the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata, chapter thirty-two, from 〔T09n0278 0626a15〕 to 〔0626c09〕 exclusive). For this sense there is no separately circulating sūtra and no treatise that takes up the sūtra text clause by clause 〔not found〕. What follows is a full record clause by clause, without adjudication.

Clause one　The question raised and the paired setting up of the two practices

What the divergences bear upon: (a) The eighty has 「真如行」 tr. “the practice of suchness” ↔ the sixty has 「如如行」 tr. “the practice of thusness.” (b) The eighty sets the matter up by repeating the clause ‘one should know that such-and-such a practice is the practice of the Tathāgata,’ while the sixty gathers it into the single clause 「知、見如來無礙行、如如行」 tr. “knows and sees the Tathāgata’s unobstructed practice and practice of thusness” 〔T09n0278 0626a16〕. (c) The buddha-epithets of the eighty read 「如來、應、正等覺」 tr. “the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One,” while the sixty reads 「如來、應供、等正覺」 tr. “the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Fully and Rightly Awakened One.”

Clause two　Suchness cutting off the three limits of time

What the divergences bear upon: the eighty has 「不生、不動、不起」 tr. “not born, not moved, not arisen,” the sixty has 「不滅、不至、不起」 tr. “not ceasing, not arriving, not arisen” — the wording by which the three limits of time are shown differs; the eighty sets up the names as the prior limit · the later limit · the present, while the sixty sets them up as the past · the future · the present.

Clause three　The Dharma realm having no form

What the divergences bear upon: the eighty uses the doubly negative construction 「非量、非無量」 tr. “not measured, not measureless,” while the sixty uses the affirmative construction 「無量無縛」 tr. “measureless and unbound”; the reason given in the eighty is 「無形故」 tr. “because it has no form,” and in the sixty 「無身故」 tr. “because it has no body.”

Clause four　The simile of the bird flying in space

What the divergences bear upon: the eighty has 「經於百年」 tr. “though it fly for a hundred years,” the sixty 「經百千年」 tr. “though it fly for a hundred thousand years”; the eighty’s 「虛空界無邊際」 tr. “the realm of space has no bound” ↔ the sixty’s 「虛空無分齊」 tr. “space has no demarcation.”

Clause five　The comparison drawn with expounding

What the divergences bear upon: the eighty’s 「分別演說」 tr. “explaining it distinctly” ↔ the sixty’s 「分別解說」 tr. “explaining and expounding it distinctly”; the eighty’s 「無邊際」 tr. “has no bound” ↔ the sixty’s 「無分齊」 tr. “has no demarcation.”

Clause six　Manifesting while dwelling nowhere

What the divergences bear upon: the eighty has 「住無礙行，無有住處」 tr. “dwells in the unobstructed practice and has no place of dwelling” 〔T10n0279 0274b27〕, the sixty 「住如來住，無所住故」 tr. “dwells in the dwelling of a tathāgata, because there is nothing he dwells in” 〔T09n0278 0626a28〕; the eighty’s 「示現所行」 tr. “manifest the practice that he practices” ↔ the sixty’s 「示現開導如來之行」 tr. “manifest and open up the practice of the Tathāgata” 〔T09n0278 0626a29〕.

Clause seven　The vehicle of the simile of the king of the golden-winged birds

What the divergences bear upon: the eighty’s 「迴翔不去」 tr. “he wheels and circles and does not go away” ↔ the sixty’s 「安住虛空」 tr. “dwelling securely in space”; the eighty’s 「鼓揚海水」 tr. “beats up the sea water” ↔ the sixty’s 「博開海水」 tr. “strikes the sea water open.”

Clause eight　The matching of the simile of the king of the golden-winged birds to the dharma

What the divergences bear upon: (a) The eighty’s 「住無礙行」 tr. “he dwells in the unobstructed practice” ↔ the sixty’s 「安住無礙虛空之中」 tr. “dwelling securely within the unobstructed space” 〔T09n0278 0626b05〕. (b) The eighty has 「若曾種善根已成熟者」 tr. “if there are those who have planted roots of goodness in the past and have already ripened” 〔T10n0279 0274c05〕, with its 「曾種」 tr. “planted in the past,” while the sixty has 「若有善根已成熟者」 tr. “if there are those whose roots of goodness have already ripened” 〔T09n0278 0626b07〕. (c) The eighty has 「置佛法中，令斷一切妄想戲論」 tr. “sets them within the Buddha’s Dharma, causing them to cut off all false conceiving and frivolous talk” 〔T10n0279 0274c08〕, the sixty 「隨其所應出生死海，除滅一切妄想顛倒」 tr. “according to what befits them they come forth from the sea of birth-and-death, doing away with all false conceiving and inversion” 〔T09n0278 0626b08〕. (d) The eighty concludes with 「安住如來無分別無礙行」 tr. “dwell in that unobstructed practice of the Tathāgata in which there is no discrimination” 〔T10n0279 0274c08〕, the sixty with 「安立如來無礙之行」 tr. “are established in the unobstructed practice of the Tathāgata” 〔T09n0278 0626b09〕 — the eighty has the one further item 「無分別」 tr. “in which there is no discrimination.”

Clause nine　The simile of the sun and moon without thought

What the divergences bear upon: (a) The eighty has the two phrases 「獨無等侶」 tr. “alone and without companion equal to them” and 「利益眾生」 tr. “benefit sentient beings,” which the sixty lacks. (b) The eighty’s phrase matching the simile to the dharma reads 「性本寂滅，無有分別」 tr. “their nature is from the first quiescent and there is no discrimination in it” 〔T10n0279 0274c11〕, the sixty’s 「周行無礙解脫虛空，分別一切法界」 tr. “he travels everywhere through the space of unobstructed liberation, discriminates the whole Dharma realm” 〔T09n0278 0626b12〕 — the eighty speaks with respect to the quiescence of the substance, the sixty with respect to the traveling everywhere of the function. (c) The eighty’s 「作諸佛事無有休息」 tr. “they do all manner of buddha-work without rest” 〔T10n0279 0274c13〕 ↔ the sixty’s 「廣作佛事」 tr. “does buddha-work on a vast scale.”

Clause ten　The concluding exhortation

What the divergences bear upon: the eighty has the two items 「無量方便、無量性相」 tr. “measureless means, measureless natures and characteristics” 〔T10n0279 0274c15〕, the sixty the single item 「無量無邊勝行」 tr. “measureless and boundless surpassing practices.”

Clause eleven　The number of the verses in repetition, and the first verse

What the divergences bear upon: the verses of the eighty are five verses of seven graphs, those of the sixty ten verses of five graphs — both the construction of the lines and the number of the verses differ; Chengguan, following the eighty-fascicle text, judges them to be 「五偈」 tr. “five verses,” while Fazang, following the sixty-fascicle text, judges them to be 「十偈頌五喻。各二頌」 tr. “ten verses setting forth the five similes, two verses each” 〔T35n1733 0412c01〕.

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

(1) The two practices as the mutual completion of substance and characteristic — 「應知無礙行是如來行，應知真如行是如來行」 tr. “one should know that the unobstructed practice is the practice of the Tathāgata, and should know that the practice of suchness is the practice of the Tathāgata” 〔T10n0279 0274b18〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕. Chengguan’s explanation in four pairs is where the doctrinal eye of this sense lies:

「一無礙行者，即理之事行。真如行者，即事之理行。前即行相，後即行體。又前是即智之悲，後是即悲之智。前即真之俗，後即俗之真，融而無礙為如來行。」 tr. “First, the unobstructed practice is the practice of phenomena that is identical with principle. The practice of suchness is the practice of principle that is identical with phenomena. The former is the characteristic of practice, the latter the substance of practice. Again, the former is the compassion that is identical with wisdom, the latter the wisdom that is identical with compassion. The former is the conventional that is identical with the true, the latter the true that is identical with the conventional; and their fusing without obstruction is the practice of the Tathāgata.” 〔T35n1735 0881b07〕

The non-obstruction of principle and phenomena is not set up separately outside the two practices; it lies in the very mutual identity of those two practices — and this is the scriptural ground, within this chapter, for the gate of the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena in the Huayan school.

(2) Dwelling nowhere and yet universally manifesting the practice — 「如來、應、正等覺住無礙行，無有住處，而能普為一切眾生示現所行」 tr. “the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One dwells in the unobstructed practice and has no place of dwelling, and yet he is able to manifest universally to all sentient beings the practice that he practices” 〔T10n0279 0274b27〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕. Chengguan explains this as the non-duality of compassion and wisdom:

「智無所住，悲示所行，即悲智無礙，自無二礙、令他無礙，皆無礙行也。」 tr. “Wisdom dwells nowhere, compassion manifests what is practiced; that is, compassion and wisdom are unobstructed — he is himself without the two obstructions and he causes others to be unobstructed, and all of this is the unobstructed practice.” 〔T35n1735 0881b25〕

Dwelling nowhere is the side of wisdom, manifesting is the side of compassion; only when one is unobstructed oneself and further causes others to be unobstructed is it named the unobstructed practice.

(3) The double negation of ‘not measured’ — 「如法界，非量、非無量，無形故」 tr. “it is like the Dharma realm: it is not measured, it is not measureless, because it has no form” 〔T10n0279 0274b21〕〔T10n0279 0274b〕. Chengguan:

「既無有量，何有無量？若謂無量，即是量故。雙非永寂，為如來行，故心彌虛、行彌曠，終日行而未曾行。」 tr. “Since there is no measure, how could there be the measureless? For if one calls it measureless, that is precisely a measure. The double negation, everlastingly still, is the practice of the Tathāgata; therefore the more the mind is empty, the more the practice is vast — practicing all day long and yet never having practiced.” 〔T35n1735 0881b19〕

If the measureless is set up as a characteristic, it falls back into measure — hence the double negation is required. The one phrase 「終日行而未曾行」 tr. “practicing all day long and yet never having practiced” is where the character of the practice in this sense comes home.

(4) The practice of nature-arising — Fazang names this sense in his outline straightforwardly as 「性起行」 tr. “the practice of nature-arising,” and ties it to the realm of the preceding sense:

「第六性起行者，前明智所依境，今辨依境所成之行，故次明也。」 tr. “As for the sixth, the practice of nature-arising: earlier what was set forth was the realm upon which wisdom depends; now what is discerned is the practice accomplished in dependence upon that realm, and therefore it is set forth next.” 〔T35n1733 0412b17〕

The practice does not arise separately; it is accomplished precisely in dependence upon the realm realized — and this carries on from the preceding sense’s line ‘the ocean of wisdom arises from the great vows of ages past’ (Chengguan’s words).

(5) The two wings of calming and contemplation drawing forth and rescuing capacities already ripe — 「若曾種善根已成熟者，如來奮勇猛十力，以止觀兩翅鼓揚生死大愛水海」 tr. “if there are those who have planted roots of goodness in the past and have already ripened, the Tathāgata rouses his valiant ten powers and with the two wings of calming and contemplation beats up the great sea of the water of craving that is birth-and-death” 〔T10n0279 0274c05〕〔T10n0279 0274c〕. Fazang judges this simile to be 「佛勝用濟生行」 tr. “the Buddha’s practice of surpassing function that rescues the living” 〔T35n1733 0412b28〕, and Chengguan judges it to 「喻即智之悲」 tr. “figure the compassion that is identical with wisdom” 〔T35n1735 0881b27〕 — the Buddha’s drawing forth and rescuing has a capacity that it waits upon (roots of goodness planted in the past and already ripened); it is not an indiscriminate universal gathering-in.

VI. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators (the ancient worthies · with their positions marked)

Chengguan, Huayan jing shu T35n1735 (a phrase-by-phrase commentary on the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka · the principal witness)

The reason for its coming and the division of the prose section:

「第六出現之行。前明分齊境智無邊，今彰運用則悲智無盡，雖智海已滿，悲無息故。長行中二：先標舉、後釋相。釋相中三：初雙標二行、次雙釋二行、後雙結二行。」 tr. “The sixth, the practice of the appearance. What was set forth earlier was the measure of the realm and the boundlessness of wisdom; now what is made manifest is the functioning, and there compassion and wisdom are inexhaustible — for though the ocean of wisdom is already full, compassion does not rest. Within the prose section there are two: first the raising and setting up, afterward the explanation of the characteristics. Within the explanation of the characteristics there are three: first the paired setting up of the two practices, next the paired explanation of the two practices, last the paired conclusion of the two practices.” 〔T35n1735 0881b03〕

The explanation of the two practices in four pairs:

「今初，義有多含：一無礙行者，即理之事行。真如行者，即事之理行。前即行相，後即行體。又前是即智之悲，後是即悲之智。前即真之俗，後即俗之真，融而無礙為如來行。」 tr. “Now the first: the meaning holds much within it. First, the unobstructed practice is the practice of phenomena that is identical with principle. The practice of suchness is the practice of principle that is identical with phenomena. The former is the characteristic of practice, the latter the substance of practice. Again, the former is the compassion that is identical with wisdom, the latter the wisdom that is identical with compassion. The former is the conventional that is identical with the true, the latter the true that is identical with the conventional; and their fusing without obstruction is the practice of the Tathāgata.” 〔T35n1735 0881b07〕

The three sections of the practice of suchness:

「今初，真如之名，言含法喻。文中有三：初牒名以解，明體絕三際，故同真如。契如成行，行即如也。過未非緣，故不生不動；現在離緣，故非起也。二復舉法界無形明雙非契中，是知實相等，皆如來行。三舉鳥飛虛空喻，釋非量義。」 tr. “Now the first: the name suchness, in what it says, contains both the dharma and the simile. Within the text there are three. First, the name is taken up and explained: this makes clear that its substance cuts off the three limits of time, and therefore it is the same as suchness. Tallying with suchness, practice is accomplished, and the practice is itself suchness. Past and future are not its conditions, and therefore it is unborn and unmoving; the present is apart from conditions, and therefore it does not arise. Second, he further raises the formlessness of the Dharma realm to make clear that the double negation tallies with the middle; from which one knows that true reality and the like are all the practice of the Tathāgata. Third, he raises the simile of the bird flying in space in order to explain the sense of not being measured.” 〔T35n1735 0881b12〕

The division of the unobstructed practice into dharma and simile, and the apportioning of the two similes:

「文中二：先約法總明、後以喻別顯。今初。智無所住，悲示所行，即悲智無礙，自無二礙、令他無礙，皆無礙行也。二別以喻顯中二喻：初金翅闢海喻，喻即智之悲；後日月無思喻，喻悲不失智。」 tr. “Within the text there are two: first it is set forth in general with respect to dharma, afterward it is shown in particular by way of simile. Now the first. Wisdom dwells nowhere, compassion manifests what is practiced; that is, compassion and wisdom are unobstructed — he is himself without the two obstructions and he causes others to be unobstructed, and all of this is the unobstructed practice. Second, within the showing in particular by way of simile there are two similes: the first, the simile of the golden-winged bird parting the sea, figures the compassion that is identical with wisdom; the latter, the simile of the sun and moon without thought, figures the compassion that does not lose wisdom.” 〔T35n1735 0881b24〕

The double conclusion: 「性結真如，相結無礙。」 tr. “Nature concludes suchness, characteristic concludes the unobstructed.” 〔T35n1735 0881b29〕

Fazang, Tanxuan ji T35n1733 (the commentary on the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata)

The name in the outline and the threefold division of the prose section:

「第六性起行者，前明智所依境，今辨依境所成之行，故次明也。就辨釋中，長行內三，謂標、釋、結。初中標二行。」 tr. “As for the sixth, the practice of nature-arising: earlier what was set forth was the realm upon which wisdom depends; now what is discerned is the practice accomplished in dependence upon that realm, and therefore it is set forth next. As for the discerning explanation, within the prose section there are three, namely setting up, explaining, and concluding. In the first of these, the two practices are set up.” 〔T35n1733 0412b17〕

Three interpretations of the two practices (the interpretation of the ancients · a further interpretation · an additional interpretation):

「古人釋：無礙行者，明俗諦行。二如如行者，明真諦行。今更釋：初是會事同理，理不礙事，是無礙行；二事盡理現，名如如行。又釋：初是量智，於外事用無礙；二是理智，內證如如也。」 tr. “The interpretation of the ancients: the unobstructed practice sets forth the practice of the conventional truth; the second, the practice of thusness, sets forth the practice of the true truth. A further interpretation now: the first is the gathering of phenomena into sameness with principle, principle not obstructing phenomena, and this is the unobstructed practice; the second is that phenomena are exhausted and principle appears, which is named the practice of thusness. An additional interpretation: the first is discerning wisdom, unobstructed in its functioning upon outward phenomena; the second is principial wisdom, inwardly realizing thusness.” 〔T35n1733 0412b20〕

The apportioning of the five similes:

「釋中有五喻：一真無遷變喻，喻佛至絕三際行，即釋如如行也。下四釋無礙行。二此法界無形喻，喻佛體無限礙行。三飛鳥翔空喻，喻佛圓無分齊行。四金翅搏海喻。喻佛勝用濟生行。五日月行空喻。喻佛無功成事行。皆以後釋前可知。」 tr. “Within the explanation there are five similes. First, the simile of the true that does not shift or alter, figuring the Buddha’s practice that reaches to the cutting off of the three limits of time; this is the explanation of the practice of thusness. The four below explain the unobstructed practice. Second, this simile of the Dharma realm having no form figures the Buddha’s practice whose substance has no limit or obstruction. Third, the simile of the flying bird soaring in space figures the Buddha’s practice that is perfect and without demarcation. Fourth, the simile of the golden-winged bird seizing through the sea. It figures the Buddha’s practice of surpassing function that rescues the living. Fifth, the simile of the sun and moon traveling in space. It figures the Buddha’s practice of accomplishing affairs without effort. In every case the latter explains the former, as may be understood.” 〔T35n1733 0412b24〕

The conclusion and the outline of the verses: 「三結文可知。頌中十偈頌五喻。」 tr. “Third, the concluding text can be understood as it stands. Among the verses, ten verses set forth the five similes.” 〔T35n1733 0412c01〕

Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun T36n1739

No section of the outline dedicated to this sense is found (throughout the work, the hits for 「如來出現品」 tr. “The Appearance of the Tathāgata” are all scattered citations adduced in other chapters, not a section dedicated to this sense) — 〔not found〕.

Chengguan, Yanyi chao T36n1736

Within this range no independent heading of the outline is found — 〔not found〕.

Recorded without adjudication: on the explanation of the two practices, Chengguan makes four paired readings (the practice of phenomena identical with principle · the practice of principle identical with phenomena ／ the characteristic of practice · the substance of practice ／ the compassion identical with wisdom · the wisdom identical with compassion ／ the conventional identical with the true · the true identical with the conventional), while Fazang sets out three interpretations (the ancients divide them by the conventional truth and the true truth · the further interpretation divides them by the gathering of phenomena into sameness with principle and by phenomena being exhausted and principle appearing · the additional interpretation divides them by discerning wisdom and principial wisdom). On the apportioning of the similes, Chengguan assigns the three sections — suchness cutting off the three limits of time · the Dharma realm having no form · the bird flying in space — to the practice of suchness, and the two similes of the golden-winged bird · the sun and moon to the unobstructed practice; Fazang, however, assigns the one simile of the true that does not shift or alter to the practice of thusness, and the remaining four similes (the Dharma realm having no form · the flying bird soaring in space · the golden-winged bird seizing through the sea · the sun and moon traveling in space) all to the unobstructed practice — so that on the assignment of the two sections, the Dharma realm having no form and the bird flying, the two masters judge differently. On the judgment of the number of the verses, Chengguan follows the eighty-fascicle text, whose text has five verses of seven graphs; Fazang follows the sixty-fascicle text and makes it 「十偈頌五喻。各二頌」 tr. “ten verses setting forth the five similes, two verses each” 〔T35n1733 0412c01〕. Whether the four paired readings or the three interpretations is the correct exposition, whether the two sections of the Dharma realm having no form and the bird flying belong to the practice of suchness or to the unobstructed practice, and how the number of verses in the two texts is divided — the ancients held differing views, and these are recorded without adjudication.

VII. Cross-Reading and Lineage

• The sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata 〔T09n0278 0626a15–0626c09 exclusive〕: the complete parallel translation of this sense; the structure of the scene is entirely the same (the general setting up of the two practices · suchness cutting off the three limits of time · the Dharma realm having no form · the bird flying in space · manifesting while dwelling nowhere · the king of the golden-winged birds parting the sea · the sun and moon without thought · the concluding exhortation · the verses in repetition), and the order of the similes agrees; for the clause-by-clause collation see section IV.
• The preceding sense, ‘the realm of the appearance’ 〔T10n0279 0273c06–0274b17 exclusive〕: both Chengguan and Fazang establish the reason for the coming of this sense by tying the realm to the practice — 「前明智所依境，今辨依境所成之行」 tr. “earlier what was set forth was the realm upon which wisdom depends; now what is discerned is the practice accomplished in dependence upon that realm” 〔T35n1733 0412b18〕; this sense should be read together with the preceding one.
• The Huayan doctrine of the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena: Chengguan explains the two practices as 「即理之事行」 tr. “the practice of phenomena that is identical with principle” and 「即事之理行」 tr. “the practice of principle that is identical with phenomena,” and closes with 「融而無礙為如來行」 tr. “their fusing without obstruction is the practice of the Tathāgata” 〔T35n1735 0881b10〕 — it is here in this passage that Chengguan explains the non-obstruction of principle and phenomena.
• The Nirvāṇa Sūtra: Chengguan cites it for a witness beneath the double negation — 「復有一行是如來行，所謂大乘大般涅槃。」 tr. “There is, further, one practice that is the practice of the Tathāgata, namely the great parinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle.” 〔T35n1735 0881b22〕 What is tied to this sense is only Chengguan’s citation; it is not text of this sūtra.
• The Dasheng qixin lun T32n1666: searched with 「無礙行」 tr. “the unobstructed practice” and 「性起」 tr. “nature-arising,” 0 hits — 〔not found〕.
• Fazang’s Wujiao zhang T45n1866: searched with 「如來行」 tr. “the practice of the Tathāgata” and 「無礙行」 tr. “the unobstructed practice” over the cluster of citations from the nature-arising chapter, 0 hits — 〔not found〕.
• The treatises of the carrying-forward line (the Cheng weishi lun T31n1585 · the She dacheng lun T31n1594 · the Yuqie shidi lun T30n1579): searched with 「金翅鳥王」 tr. “the king of the golden-winged birds,” 「無礙行」 tr. “the unobstructed practice,” and 「真如行」 tr. “the practice of suchness,” 0 hits — 〔not found〕. This sense has no direct text taken up on the consciousness-only line; the lack is recorded as it stands, with nothing from elsewhere put in its place.

VIII. Edition Location Register

• Śikṣānanda T279 (the base text): chapter thirty-seven, The Appearance of the Tathāgata, the sixth sense, the practice of the appearance, from 〔T10n0279 0274b17〕 to 〔0274c28〕 exclusive (the seventh assembly, the second gathering in the Hall of Universal Light). The order of the passages: the question raised and the paired setting up of the two practices 〔0274b〕 · suchness cutting off the three limits of time 〔0274b〕 · the Dharma realm having no form 〔0274b〕 · the simile of the bird flying in space and the comparison drawn with expounding 〔0274b〕 · manifesting while dwelling nowhere 〔0274b〕 · the simile of the king of the golden-winged birds and its matching to the dharma 〔0274b〕 · the simile of the sun and moon without thought 〔0274c〕 · the concluding exhortation 〔0274c〕 · the five verses in repetition 〔0274c〕. 〔Recorded · the granularity of attestation〕 For this sense the eighty-fascicle text is tied clause by clause to attestations at the level of the line; where a unique location could not be established, the attestation is given at the level of the column.
• Buddhabhadra T278 (the Jin translation, the principal witness for collation): the Chapter on the Nature-Arising of the Jewel-King Tathāgata, chapter thirty-two, the third portion, from 〔T09n0278 0626a15〕 to 〔0626c09〕 exclusive. The general setting up of the two practices 0626a16 · suchness cutting off the three limits of time 0626a17 · the Dharma realm having no body 0626a19 · the bird flying in space 0626a21 · the comparison drawn with expounding 0626a24 · manifesting while dwelling nowhere 0626a27 · the simile of the king of the golden-winged birds 0626b01 · its matching to the dharma 0626b05 · the simile of the sun and moon 0626b10 · the concluding exhortation 0626b14 · the verses in repetition begin 0626b16 (the first verse 0626b18 · the verse on the golden-winged bird 0626c01 · the verse on the sun and moon 0626c05 · the verses end 0626c09 exclusive).
• Chengguan, Huayan jing shu T35n1735: the sixth, the practice of the appearance, begins 0881b03 and ends 0881c01 exclusive. The reason for its coming and the division of the prose section 0881b03 · the explanation of the two practices in four pairs 0881b07 · the outline of the paired explanation 0881b11 · the three sections of the practice of suchness 0881b12 · the Dharma realm having no form 0881b15 · the simile of the bird flying and the two senses of not being measured 0881b17 · the summing-up on the double negation 0881b20 · the citation of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra as witness 0881b22 · the outline of the unobstructed practice 0881b23 · the general setting forth with respect to dharma 0881b24 · the showing in particular by the two similes 0881b26 · the double conclusion 0881b28. The Yanyi chao T36n1736: an independent heading of the outline within this range 〔not found〕.
• Fazang, Tanxuan ji T35n1733: the sixth, the practice of nature-arising, begins 0412b17 and ends 0412c02 exclusive. The name in the outline and the reason for its coming 0412b17 · the threefold division of the prose section and the setting up of the two practices 0412b19 · the interpretation of the ancients 0412b20 · the further interpretation 0412b21 · the additional interpretation 0412b23 · the apportioning of the five similes 0412b24 · the conclusion and the outline of the verses 0412c01.
• Li Tongxuan, Xin Huayan jing lun T36n1739: a section of the outline dedicated to this sense 〔not found〕.
• Variant readings: within the range of T279 covered by this unit, 〔0274b17〕–〔0274c27〕, 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 ／): 〔0274b20〕起【大】｜現【聖】.