華嚴經 義疏通講 · 冊5Avataṃsaka Sūtra · Exposition Throughout · Vol. 5
品十七 初發心功德品The Merit of the First Arousing of the Mind
全文五層 →Full five layers →這一品是在回答上一品留下的一個疑問
〈梵行品〉的最後一句話說到，初發心時即得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。這句話擺在那裡，讀者不可能不起疑：剛剛發心的人，怎麼就得了無上菩提？澄觀判本品的來意，正是繫在這一句上——他說前品末云初發心時便成正覺，未知此心有何功用頓得爾耶，今釋此義，故次來也。法藏所繫的句子完全一樣。所以本品不是另起一個題目，是把上一品拋出的難題接過來，用整整一卷的篇幅答它。
排一個常見的誤讀：不要把本品讀成『讚歎發心的頌辭』。讚歎是文字的外貌，答疑才是它的職分。落到讀法上：讀每一段的時候，都可以回頭問一句——這一段是怎麼幫著回答『初心何以能齊佛果』的？答得出來，才算讀進去了。
為什麼是帝釋問、法慧答
問的人是天帝釋，答的人是法慧菩薩。這不是隨意安排。澄觀舉了三個理由說天帝為什麼問：這一會在忉利天宮，是他的宮殿，地主當問；他聽了前品「初發心時便成正覺」而心生疑念，有疑當問；菩提心是萬行之主，是最該問的事。又舉兩個理由說為什麼問法慧：法慧是這一會的會主；『初心具足後位之德』這件事，唯有慧的境界才照得到。
法藏與智儼所舉略同，並多一句：稱法之慧，方能窮盡功德之際。落地處在這裡——問的人代表所有起疑的人，答的人代表真正照見的智。讀者的位置在帝釋那一邊，不必羞於有疑；有疑而問，是這一品得以出生的因。
甚深的十句：難的到底是什麼
法慧開口不是先答量，是先說難。他一連說了十個「難」——難說、難知、難分別、難信解、難證、難行、難通達、難思惟、難度量、難趣入。為什麼要先說難？澄觀說，法體深廣，先歎之以去人之疑、令人生樂；而且下面所要說的畢竟是寄言，未能盡其源，先聲明在前。
甚深的「甚」字，澄觀分四面來釋：就時說，深徹未來際；就德說，深至佛果；就理說，深同法界；就行說，深包萬行。他更揀出一層——只是數目廣大難量、理路玄遠難測，那還只是深，不算「甚」深；今此是「即少而多、即事而理、初心具後」，這才叫甚深。這句話等於把全品的鑰匙先交在讀者手上：本品之所以難，不難在數字大，難在小與大不隔。
至於十句的配屬，澄觀分作兩截：初四句是能所對辨——離言故難以宣示、無相故超出心識、非自力之辯所能分別、非劣慧所能信解；後六句通就能證所證說，而且後後劣於前前，愈往後愈是淺處也不能及。晉譯此處只有六句，智儼即依六句配釋。二本句數不同，各依所譯而科，古德如此，誌錄不判。
校量喻有幾個：三種算法並存
接下來一長串「假使有人……」是本品的主體。這裡先要交代一件讀者容易被絆住的事：這些喻究竟有幾個？
按經文自身的文句，「假使」起句實計十三見；其中末兩見（「假使有人……供養東方無數諸佛」與「假使復有第二人」）同屬供佛及生一喻的前後兩段，所以段界實為十二段。澄觀在《疏》裡把前兩段（樂具供養並教持五戒／教十善四禪四無量四無色四果乃至辟支佛道）併為一個「利樂眾生喻」，因為二者同屬以利樂眾生為量，於是科成十一大喻，並逐一命名：利樂眾生、速疾步剎、知劫成壞、善知勝解、善知諸根、善知欲樂、善知方便、善知他心、善知業相、善知煩惱、供佛及生。智儼在晉譯那邊則直說「初辨十二喻」，並把十二喻分作五類來讀。
三種算法所依不同——一依經文原始段界，一依澄觀之併段，一依晉譯之文。古有此數，誌錄不判；本讀本行文時逐處註明所依，不取一數以廢其餘。真正要緊的不是數目，是澄觀點出的那條線索：後後過於前前，所以每舉一喻就把前一喻捨掉，一路捨上去，只為顯出那個永遠捨不掉的東西。
喻文的四個節拍
澄觀還指出這些喻在文體上有一個固定的四節：一舉喻、二徵問、三領答、四校量。先鋪出一件極廣大的福事，再問「此人功德寧為多不」，帝釋答「唯佛能知」，然後才下校量之語。他並說：首尾兩喻四節具足，中間九喻省去徵問與領答。
這是很實用的一條讀法。讀者若見中間九喻忽然沒有了對話，不必疑心經文脫落——那是省文。全品之中帝釋只答了三次話，三次都在說同一件事：這個人的功德，唯有佛知道。這句「唯佛能知」被反覆放在校量之前，用意很清楚：先把福事推到人所能想的極頂，然後才說它不及。
喻一前段：供養一切眾生，還教他們持五戒
第一個喻這樣鋪：假使有人用一切樂具，供養東方阿僧祇世界所有眾生，供養整整一劫，然後還教他們清淨持守五戒；南西北方、四維上下，也都這樣。
要看清這個喻的份量。它不是佈施一人一物，是佈施一方乃至十方所有眾生；不是一時，是一劫；而且不止於財施——財施之後還有法益，教他們持戒。澄觀分這一段為三：先與現世益（供具、福田、時節三事俱廣），次「然後」下與後世樂，後「南西」下類餘九方。也就是說，現世的安樂與後世的善趣，這人都給了。
排一個誤解：不要以為經文在貶低佈施持戒。經文正是先把佈施持戒推到人力所能想像的極限，那個極限愈高，後面「不及一」三個字才愈有力量。落地處：一個人若連小小的財施法施都覺得艱難，正好由此喻反觀——所校量的並非你我目前的施捨，而是那個極頂；連極頂都不及，可見所校量者不是同一類的東西。
百分不及一：遞進的分數在說什麼
校量之語是這樣下的：此人功德比菩薩初發心功德，百分不及一，千分不及一，百千分不及一；如是億分、百億分、千億分、百千億分、那由他億分、百那由他億分、千那由他億分、百千那由他億分、數分、歌羅分、算分、諭分、優波尼沙陀分，也不及一。
其中兩個譯名要交代。歌羅分，澄觀釋作「豎析人身上毛，為百分中之一分」，又錄一說是十六分中之一分，義譯為校量分；優波尼沙陀分，澄觀釋作「近少」，即少許相近可用來比類的那一分。也就是說，這一串分數是愈往後愈細，細到近乎無可再細。
那麼這句話的邏輯是什麼？不是『發心功德比較多』，而是：無論你把發心功德切得多細，取其極微小的一分，那個極廣大的福事仍然趕不上。這已經不是量的比較，是類的分判。澄觀在後文說得明白——喻之所以不及，不在福少，在『有齊限』；發心之所以無比，不在福多，在「無齊限」。有限的東西再乘幾次，也跨不到無限那一邊去。
喻一後段：從十善、四禪一路教到辟支佛道
第二段把喻再推一層。這回是供養十方十阿僧祇世界所有眾生：經百劫，教修十善道；經千劫，教住四禪；經百千劫，教住四無量心；經億劫，教住四無色定；經百億劫，教住須陀洹果；經千億劫，教住斯陀含果；經百千億劫，教住阿那含果；經那由他億劫，教住阿羅漢果；經百千那由他億劫，教住辟支佛道。
澄觀指出這一段的鋪法：樂具都相同，而所經劫數漸漸增多，所教之法轉轉增勝。也就是說，這裡已經不只是人天善法了——四果與辟支佛道是出世間的果證。一個人能把無量眾生一路教到辟支佛道，這在世間所能設想的功德裡已經到頂。帝釋第二次答：此人功德，唯佛能知。
落地處在這裡：本品所校量的對手，從來不是懈怠與惡業，而是最莊嚴的善。讀者若把「不及一」聽成對二乘的貶抑，就走偏了；經文緊接著要說的，恰恰是二乘之樂也從發心中出。
為什麼還是不及：諸佛發心不為那些
校量之後，經文自設一問：何以故？答語分兩層。先反著說：一切諸佛初發心時，不但是為了供養那麼多眾生、經那麼多劫，才發菩提心；也不但是為了教那麼多眾生修五戒十善、住四禪四無量四無色、得四果與辟支佛道，才發菩提心。再順著說：而是為令如來種性不斷，為充遍一切世界，為度脫一切世界眾生，為悉知一切世界成壞、眾生垢淨、世界自性清淨、眾生心樂煩惱習氣、死此生彼、諸根方便、心行、三世智，以及一切佛境界平等——為這些，才發於無上菩提之心。
澄觀把這十二句拆得很清楚：初三句總相對前辨勝，一翻前面的小果，二翻前面的限處，三翻前面的有限眾生；下面九句，則是後面十個喻的本。也就是說，後文一連串『知世界、知劫、知解、知根、知欲樂、知方便、知心、知業、知煩惱、知佛境界平等』的喻，其目在這裡已經先標好了。
他更把這九句一一配上佛的十力智：知成壞垢淨自性即業報智，心樂即種種解智，知煩惱即漏盡智，生死即天眼智，諸根即根勝劣智，方便即禪解脫三昧智，此及佛境並是一切至處道智，心行即種種界智，三世智即宿命智。這一配，把全品的結構點透了——發心所期的，就是佛智的全量。所以它不能被任何有量的福事校量。
喻二 速疾步剎：走得完的世界與走不完的善根
第二喻換了量法：假使有人，一念之間能越過東方阿僧祇世界，念念都如此，走盡阿僧祇劫；第二人一念能越過前人一劫所過的世界，如是展轉到第十人；十方合計凡有百人。經文的結論是：這些世界可知邊際，而菩薩初發心所有善根，無有能得知其際者。
這裡有一個修辭上的講究：經文並不說那些世界「無邊」，反而說它們「可知邊際」。愈是把可算的推到極致，愈顯出不可算的那一邊不是同一件事。一百個一念越阿僧祇世界的人，聽起來已經是無邊了，經文卻說：那還是有邊的。
排一個誤解：不要以為發心的功德是『更大的數目』。若它是數目，它就落在可算的這一邊了。經文說的是「無有能得知其際」——不是大到算不完，是根本不在算的範圍裡。
相即相入的十一句：所要知的不是世界的數
喻二之後，經文自釋：菩薩不齊限，不只為往那麼多世界得了知而發心，是為了知十方世界而發心。所謂：欲了知妙世界即是麁世界、麁即是妙；仰即是覆、覆即是仰；小即是大、大即是小；廣即是狹、狹即是廣；一世界即是不可說世界、不可說世界即是一世界；不可說世界入一世界、一世界入不可說世界；穢世界即是淨世界、淨世界即是穢世界。又欲知一毛端中一切世界的差別性，一切世界中一毛端的一體性；欲知一世界中出生一切世界，欲知一切世界無體性；欲以一念心盡知一切廣大世界而無障礙。
這一段把喻的重心整個翻了過來：前面比的是『走過多少』，這裡說的是『知的是什麼』。所要知的不是世界的數目，是世界的相即相入。
澄觀為這些相即立了三個門來釋。第一是法性融通門——一切世界的差別性與一毛端的體性無二，所以事隨性融而彼此相即，事攬性起而彼此相入。第二是緣起門——諸緣起互相出生，就體說有體無體故相即，就用說有力無力故相入。第三是無自性門——大不是定死的大，所以能即小。三門所釋，正是華嚴宗說相即相入的常軌；而這裡把它安放在『初發心的人所欲了知者』名下，意思很重：這不是登地以後才有的境界圖，是發心當下所指向的那個目標。
喻三 知劫成壞：劫與劫之間的平等
第三喻把量法從處所換成時間：假使有人一念能知東方阿僧祇世界成壞的劫數，念念如此盡阿僧祇劫；第二人一念知前人一劫所知，如是至第十。結論同前：這些劫數可知邊際，發心功德善根卻無有能得知其際。
自釋的部分與喻二同構，只是換到時間上：知長劫與短劫平等、短與長平等；一劫與無數劫平等；有佛劫與無佛劫平等；一佛劫中有不可說佛、不可說佛劫中有一佛；有量與無量平等；有盡與無盡平等；不可說劫與一念平等、一念與不可說劫平等；一切劫入非劫、非劫入一切劫。末後經文自結：是名初發心大誓莊嚴了知一切劫神通智。
澄觀釋這裡的「平等」二字說：平等是通就相即相入而言，就緣就性乃至唯心等種種差別，皆無障礙，故云平等。他更分判：前面七事屬事事無礙，末後「劫入非劫」一句則是理事無礙。又指出經文所結的那個智，即是後文十通之中的知盡未來際劫神通。
落地處：一般人講時間，只能講長短快慢；經文講時間，講的是長短本身的無礙。一個人若真信得及「一念與不可說劫平等」，他對修行遲速的焦慮就鬆得開——遲速是就相說，就性說本無遲速。
喻四 善知勝解：知道人心裡各種各樣的「解」
第四喻所量的是眾生的勝解，也就是各人心裡的信解與志趣。經文一樣以十人展轉為量，結論一樣。可觀的是它的自釋——這是全品自釋最長的一段之一：欲知一切差別解無邊，一眾生解與無數眾生解平等；欲得不可說差別解方便智光明；欲悉知眾生海各各差別解盡無餘；欲悉知過現未來善不善種種無量解；欲悉知相似解不相似解；欲悉知一切解即是一解、一解即是一切解；欲得如來解力；欲悉知有上無上、有餘無餘、等與不等之差別；欲悉知有依無依、共不共、有邊無邊、差別無差別、善不善、世間出世間之差別；欲於一切妙解、大解、無量解、正位解中得如來解脫無障礙智；欲以無量方便悉知十方一一眾生淨解染解廣解略解細解麁解；欲悉知深密解、方便解、分別解、自然解、隨因所起解、隨緣所起解，一切解網悉無餘。
這一長串該怎麼讀？注意其中一句：「一切解即是一解，一解即是一切解」——這是把前面幾十種分類又一口收回。先極盡其分別，再說分別即無分別，這是本經一貫的筆法。落地處：知眾生的解，不是為了給人貼標籤，是為了知道法該怎麼說；而真正知得徹底的人，反而不會被自己的分類綁住。
喻五 善知諸根：知道根性的利鈍
第五喻量的是眾生諸根的差別——信、進、念、定、慧等根性的利鈍不同。此喻文極簡，自釋處經文自己用了「廣說乃至」四字省文，收在「欲盡知一切諸根網故」。
「網」這個字在此後幾喻裡反覆出現：諸根網、欲樂網、方便網、心網、業網、煩惱網。網的意思是交織成片、牽一動百，不是一條一條孤立的。所以經文所說的「知」，不是逐項清點，是知其交織之全。
排一個誤解：知根不是給人分等第。經文把知根與知解、知欲樂並列，都繫在同一件事上——知道了才好對機說法。落地處：一個真肯照顧他人的人，自然會留心對方現在能受什麼、不能受什麼；這份留心的極致，就是經文所說的知諸根。
喻六 善知欲樂：知道人心的好樂所向
第六喻量的是眾生種種欲樂，也就是各人心之所好、所傾向。文式同前，自釋亦以「欲盡知一切欲樂網故」收。
要辨一個分際：欲樂與勝解不同。勝解是心裡認定什麼是對的，欲樂是心裡愛好什麼。二者可以不一致——一個人明明知道該如此，卻好樂彼此，這正是修行難處的所在。經文把二者分作兩喻，不是重複，是分得細。
落地處：教人者若只看他信什麼而不看他愛什麼，話說得再對也進不去。經文把「知欲樂」列為發心所期的佛智之一，就是說：慈悲若不落到知人所好這一層，就只是抽象的善意。
喻七 善知方便：知道人各自的門路
第七喻量的是眾生種種方便——各人趣求時所用的手段與門路。文式與前二喻同，自釋收在「欲盡知一切方便網故」。
澄觀在前文九句配十力時，把「方便」一句配作禪解脫三昧智。這一配值得留意：方便在此不是權宜取巧，是實際能行得通的門徑，而門徑之所以能通，靠的是定的力量。
落地處：知道一個人心裡的信解與好樂還不夠，還得知道他實際上走得動哪一條路。有人堪能靜坐，有人只堪能勞作供養，有人須先解義然後能信——這都是方便的差別。本品把它單列一喻，是在提醒：發心所要知的，一直知到人腳下能走的那一步。
喻八 善知他心：知道心的差別
第八喻量的是眾生種種差別心。此喻文最省，經文一開口舉東方，接著便說「廣說乃至」，直接收到結論。自釋處說：為悉知盡法界、虛空界無邊眾生種種心，乃至欲盡知一切心網故。
注意經文用的字是「差別心」，不是『心事』。所知的是心的種種類別走向，不是窺看誰心裡在想什麼。這與第二會〈如來名號品〉以來一貫的講法一致：知心是為了說法。
落地處：一個人若把「知他心」想成一種可以偷看別人隱私的本領，他所想的就與本品所說的完全不是一回事。經文把它排在知解、知根、知欲樂、知方便之後，脈絡分明——這一串都是為了對機。
喻九 善知業相：知道業的差別
第九喻量的是眾生種種差別業。這裡經文的語氣有一個細微的變化值得指出：前面幾喻結語都作「無有能得知其際者」，從此喻起改作「善根邊際，不可得知」。措辭雖異，義歸則一。
自釋說：欲悉知三世一切眾生業，乃至欲悉知一切業網故。業之所以稱網，是因為業與業之間互為因果、交纏相續，斷一處而牽全體。
落地處：知業不是為了論斷誰該受什麼報。經文把知業與後一喻的知煩惱連排，用意在於：業是果上的相，煩惱是因上的根；先知其相，才好斷其根。若只知業相而不及煩惱，就成了論命而非修道。
喻十 善知煩惱：六門知惑，門門有治
第十喻量的是眾生種種煩惱，而它的自釋是全品最細的一段。經文列了六組：一者欲盡知輕煩惱、重煩惱、眠煩惱、起煩惱，以及一一眾生無量煩惱的種種差別、種種覺觀，用以淨治一切雜染；二者欲盡知依無明煩惱、愛相應煩惱，斷一切諸有趣煩惱結；三者欲盡知貪分、瞋分、癡分、等分煩惱，斷一切煩惱根本；四者欲悉知我煩惱、我所煩惱、我慢煩惱，覺悟一切煩惱盡無餘；五者欲悉知從顛倒分別生的根本煩惱與隨煩惱，以及因身見生的六十二見，調伏一切煩惱；六者欲悉知蓋煩惱、障煩惱，發大悲救護心，斷一切煩惱網，令一切智性清淨。
澄觀釋此段時點出一條體例：別有六門，各先惑、後治。每一組都是先列出所知的惑，再繫一句所斷所治——不是知道就算了，知了必有對治。
這是本品最切身的一段。眠與起之分，是說煩惱有潛伏未發的與已經現行的，未發的更難知；貪瞋癡之外別立「等分」，是說三毒齊起的人不能只治一味；我、我所、我慢三者並舉，是說執著有三重面孔；身見生六十二見，是說一切見網的根只在一個「我」上。落地處：讀者可以拿這六組當作一份自檢的清單——不是用來論斷別人的煩惱，是用來認自己的。
喻十一前段：供養無數佛與無數眾生，還為佛起塔
最後一喻換回福事，而且是最重的福事：假使有人一念之間，用上味飲食、香華、衣服、幢幡、傘蓋，以及僧伽藍、上妙宮殿、寶帳網幔、種種莊嚴師子座與眾妙寶，供養東方無數諸佛，以及無數世界所有眾生，恭敬尊重，禮拜讚歎，曲躬瞻仰，相續不絕，經無數劫；又勸那些眾生也都這樣供佛；到佛滅後，各為起塔，塔高廣而以無數世界眾寶所成，一一塔中各有無數如來形像，光明遍照無數世界，經無數劫。
與第一喻對看，就見出遞升的軌跡：第一喻的所施是樂具，此喻的所施加上了佛；第一喻的受者是眾生，此喻的受者是佛與眾生；第一喻只有一世的教化，此喻連佛滅後的塔像流布都算進去。這是人所能設想的、供養功德的極頂。帝釋第三次答：是人功德，唯佛乃知，餘無能測。而校量之語仍是那一句：百分不及一，乃至優波尼沙陀分亦不及一。
喻十一後段：十個人展轉倍增，仍不及一
經文還要再推一層：假使又有第二人，於一念中能作前人及無數世界所有眾生在無數劫中的全部供養之事，念念如此；第三人乃至第十人皆亦如是，一念之中能作前人所有供養，並且供具與所供之佛、所歷之劫，一路推到無邊、無等、不可數、不可稱、不可思、不可量、不可說、不可說不可說。
這一串數目名是經文自有的，逐字讀過去就好，不必換算，也換算不得——它們本就不是用來算的，是用來把「可算」這件事推到盡頭的。推到盡頭之後，經文仍下同一句校量：此前功德比菩薩初發心功德，百分不及一，乃至優波尼沙陀分亦不及一。
到此，十一個喻（或依經文段界為十二段）全部說完。澄觀所說的「後後過於前前，故皆捨置前前更舉後後」，到這裡才顯出完整的用意：一路捨上去，捨到無可再舉，讀者自然明白——不是還沒有找到夠大的喻，是喻這條路本身走不到那裡。
就法略示一：解行圓滿——發心已，即能知信三世諸佛
喻既說盡，經文轉入「就法略示」，也就是不再打比方，直接就法體說。澄觀分這一分為五段，第一段是解行圓滿。
經文說：發是心已，能知前際一切諸佛始成正覺及般涅槃，能信後際一切諸佛所有善根，能知現在一切諸佛所有智慧；那些佛所有的功德，此菩薩能信、能受、能修、能得、能知、能證、能成就，能與諸佛平等一性。然後又列十一句「為……故，發心」，與前面喻一釋文的那一串相呼應。
有一處措辭值得留意：對過去與現在的佛說「能知」，對未來的佛說「能信」。這不是隨手的變化——未來未有，能信而未能云知，這正是本經用字的謹嚴處。落地處：修行人對已成之事可以求知，對未至之事只能立信；信與知各有其位，混了就成妄。
就法略示二：妙果當成——為三世諸佛所憶念
第二段說發心所當得之果。經文說：以發心故，常為三世一切諸佛之所憶念，當得三世一切諸佛無上菩提；即為三世一切諸佛與其妙法，即與三世一切諸佛體性平等；已修三世一切諸佛助道之法，成就三世一切諸佛力、無所畏；莊嚴三世一切諸佛不共佛法，悉得法界一切諸佛說法智慧。末後自徵自釋：何以故？以是發心，當得佛故。
這一段的關鍵在「當得」二字。經文並不說發心者現在就是佛，說的是他所發之心決定了他當得佛果，因此以果地之德來稱述他。澄觀在判重頌時也點過這一層——長行明先同果體、後同果用，偈頌明用可在今、果明當得。
排一個誤解：把「即與三世一切諸佛體性平等」聽成『我已經是佛了』，是把當得說成已得。經文自己給了分寸：憶念、當得、與其妙法——都是就因位說果德，不是取消因位。
就法略示三：與佛平等——平等的是什麼
第三段極短，卻是全品最重的一句：應知此人即與三世諸佛同等，即與三世諸佛如來境界平等，即與三世諸佛如來功德平等，得如來一身、無量身究竟平等真實智慧。
平等的是什麼？經文舉了三項：同等、境界平等、功德平等，再加一句一身無量身的究竟平等真實智慧。澄觀在釋品名時，正是取這一段立「三德開發」之義——能知三世佛智、永斷一切疑網、得如來一身無量身等。他並解釋這何以可能：在信位久已研窮，至此位中豁然開悟，所以功齊果位而攝德無邊。
有人會問：久習無明的人，怎麼可能忽然成就大智？澄觀答得極漂亮——豈不聞冥室千年之闇，一燈倏忽頓除耶。千年的黑暗不需要千年來驅散，一盞燈就夠了；黑暗的年歲長短，與燈的明暗無關。他又答第二問：豈不聞具縛凡夫能知如來祕密藏耶。落地處：把成就想成累積到某個數量才行，是把修行當成計時工資；經文與澄觀所說的，是質的轉換。
就法略示四：能作佛事——纔發心時就能作的十一件事
第四段說發心當下即能作的事。經文說：纔發心時，即為十方一切諸佛所共稱歎，即能說法教化調伏一切世界所有眾生，即能震動一切世界，即能光照一切世界，即能息滅一切世界諸惡道苦，即能嚴淨一切國土，即能於一切世界中示現成佛，即能令一切眾生皆得歡喜，即能入一切法界性，即能持一切佛種性，即能得一切佛智慧光明。
注意這裡的字是「纔」與「即」——纔發心，即能。與上一段的「當得」對看，分際就出來了：果是當得的，用是現前的。澄觀判重頌時說「用可在今、果明當得」，正是這個意思。
排一個誤讀：這十一句不是說發心者馬上會表演這些神變。經文自己的次第是先說法教化、後震動光照，把說法擺在最前；而「示現成佛」與「入一切法界性」並列，可見所說的是德用之相，不是奇蹟清單。落地處：一個人真發了心，最先變的是他對眾生說話的方式。
就法略示五：大智現前——說了這麼多，末後說無所得
第五段是全品的收筆，而它收得極冷靜：此初發心菩薩，不於三世少有所得。所謂：若諸佛，若諸佛法；若菩薩，若菩薩法；若獨覺，若獨覺法；若聲聞，若聲聞法；若世間，若世間法；若出世間，若出世間法；若眾生，若眾生法。唯求一切智；於諸法界，心無所著。
前面極言其德之廣，這裡一句「不於三世少有所得」全部收回。澄觀釋「不著」之所由，其一說是：唯為菩提故云求一切智，不向餘處趣求。
這一段是本品的分水嶺。若沒有它，前面所有的稱歎都可能被讀成一種更高級的貪求——貪求一個更大的功德。有了它，前面的稱歎才安得住：功德廣大是真的，而發心的人並不站在功德上。落地處很實在：發心之後最容易生的病，就是覺得自己發了心而與人不同。經文把「無所著」擺在略示分的最末，正是要把這病堵死。
動地興供：說到這裡，十方震動
法慧話一說完，經文轉為敘事：爾時，佛神力故，十方各一萬佛剎微塵數世界六種震動——動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，涌、遍涌、等遍涌，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，擊、遍擊、等遍擊；又雨下天華、天香、天末香、天華鬘、天衣、天寶、天莊嚴具，作天妓樂，放天光明及天音聲。
六種震動各開三相成十八相，是本經敘大法宣說時的常法。要點在經文標明的因：佛神力故。動地不是法慧的本領，是佛力所現的印證。
落地處：一段法說完了，怎麼知道它說對了？世間靠人的認可，經裡靠地動與佛證。這不是神話裝飾，是在說明一件事——真實的法有它自身的分量，說者不必自證。
他方證成：十方同名法慧的佛現前
接著十方各過十佛剎微塵數世界外，有萬佛剎微塵數佛，同名法慧，各現其身，在法慧菩薩前說：善哉善哉，法慧，汝於今者能說此法；我等十方各萬佛剎微塵數佛，亦說是法；一切諸佛，悉如是說。又說：汝說此法時，有萬佛剎微塵數菩薩發菩提心，我等今者悉授其記，於當來世過千不可說無邊劫，同一劫中而得作佛，皆號清淨心如來，所住世界各各差別。
三件事一齊落下：佛現身作證、說法者與證者同名、聞法者當場得記。同名法慧的用意在『所說之法同故名同』；當來同號清淨心如來，則是把本品之義安在佛號上——心清淨即是發心之果。
落地處：這一段是給讀者的。經文特地記下有萬佛剎微塵數菩薩在聽這一品的時候發了心——聽這一品而發心，這件事本身就在經裡有記錄。
結通無盡：說話的還是那些佛
再下來一段說：如此娑婆世界四天下須彌頂上說如是法，令諸眾生聞已受化；如是十方百千億那由他無數乃至不可說，盡法界、虛空界，諸世界中亦說此法教化眾生；其說法者，同名法慧；悉以佛神力故，世尊本願力故，為欲顯示佛法故，為以智光普照故，為欲開闡實義故，為令證得法性故，為令眾會悉歡喜故，為欲開示佛法因故，為得一切佛平等故，為了法界無有二故，說如是法。
這裡要繫一筆說者的歸屬。澄觀特別揀出：這一段是證佛結通，非經家也。也就是說，『十方普說此法』這番話仍在那些同名法慧的佛口中，不是經文編集者的敘述。這一筆若判錯，這段話的出處就整個移位了。
落地處：一部經裡誰在說話，是義理的一部分。同一句話出自佛口與出自敘述者之口，其分量不同；讀經而不留意說者，讀到的常常不是經。
說偈儀：這十一句所為是為誰而說
重頌之前有一段說偈儀：爾時，法慧菩薩普觀盡虛空界十方國土一切眾會，欲悉成就諸眾生故，欲悉淨治諸業果報故，欲悉開顯清淨法界故，欲悉拔除雜染根本故，欲悉增長廣大信解故，欲悉令知無量眾生根故，欲悉令知三世法平等故，欲悉令觀察涅槃界故，欲增長自清淨善根故；承佛威力，即說頌言。
澄觀分這一段為十一句：初一句與末一句是說偈儀，中間九句是說偈之意；他並解釋為何要把首末兩句分開來——為顯中間九句都是承佛力而該遍十方。中九句他判作初總餘別，別中四對：淨業顯理、除惑開信、知病識藥、觀果淨因。
落地處：說法之前先立所為，這是本經一貫的體例。澄觀所判「中九」句裡，「欲悉」八句皆為眾生，末一句作「欲增長自清淨善根」——為人之中不排除自利，說法者自己也在受益之列。這一句寫得很誠實。
重頌的次第為什麼與長行不同
法慧的重頌共一百二十一頌。澄觀分作三大段：初八十二偈超頌就法略示，次三十四偈却頌約喻校量，末五偈結德勸讚令人景慕發心；並指出歎深難說一分遍於三段，因為它是長行與偈頌之本，所以不別頌。
讀者最容易被絆住的是次第——長行明明先說喻、後說法，頌卻先頌法、後頌喻；就法略示的五段在長行是解行圓滿、妙果當成、與佛平等、能作佛事、大智現前，頌裡卻作解行圓滿、能作佛事、得佛平等、大智現前、妙果當成。澄觀給的理由只有一句：文不次者，顯德無前後故。他又補一層：長行是先同果體、後同果用，偈頌則用可在今、果明當得，大智通遍所以前後互明。
排一個誤解：頌文錯綜不是編排疏失。若德真有前後次第，它就成了可分段落的東西；經以錯綜之文顯無前後之德，這是體例，不是紊亂。
頌解行圓滿：十七偈說發心的相貌
第一段十七偈，澄觀判為頌長行的解行圓滿，並說初一偈總舉發心為因，其餘十六偈頌前面的徵釋，於中又分七小節，各配長行「為充遍一切世界」以下諸句。
這十七偈裡有幾句要單獨點出。「為利世間發大心，其心普遍於十方」——起句先標所為，發心不是為己求安。「有剎仰住或傍覆，麁妙廣大無量種，菩薩一發最上心，悉能往詣皆無礙」——這是把長行相即相入那一段收成一偈。「其心廣大等法界，無依無變如虛空」——說心之量。「知眾生心無生想，了達諸法無法想，雖普分別無分別」——這是全段的眼：普分別而無分別，才是前面種種「悉知」的正解。
澄觀在此段之末釋「三世疑網悉已除」以下三偈時，列出十種障——煩惱雜染障、觸境迷倒障、長時懈怠障、取著因果障、邪教邪師引轉障、趣下乘障、麁相現前障、於遍趣行無堪能障、隨言生解障、不亡能所障——並說十句各一對治。落地處：這十障是一份極好的自檢表，從最粗的煩惱一路數到最細的「不亡能所」，愈後愈難覺察。
頌能作佛事：十七偈說現前的德用
第二段十七偈，澄觀判為超頌長行的「能作佛事」，並總分為十，以配長行諸句（長行十一句中「即能得一切佛智慧光明」一句未別立頌科）：初二偈頌說法教化，因為悲智相導；一偈頌諸佛讚歎；一偈頌震動世界；六偈頌息滅惡道苦；一偈頌光照世界；一偈頌嚴淨國土；一偈半頌令眾生歡喜；一偈半頌入一切法界性；半偈頌持一切佛種性；一偈半頌示現成佛。
這一段有兩偈特別值得停一停。「為令眾生得出離，盡於後際普饒益，長時勤苦心無厭，乃至地獄亦安受」——說到地獄亦安受，這是本品講大悲最重的一句；前面說了那麼多不可思議的德用，落腳處卻是肯受苦。另一偈「於一毛端現眾剎，諸大菩薩皆充滿」，則是把長行的相即之義用在示現上。
落地處：所謂能作佛事，其核心不是能作奇特之事，是能為眾生受得起苦。前一句若沒有後一句撐著，神通就成了炫技。
頌得佛平等：十八偈說與佛平等的境界
第三段十八偈，澄觀判為却頌長行的「得佛平等」，並分四：初三偈半頌佛境界平等，次四偈半頌功德平等，一偈頌一身無量身平等，末九偈頌真實智慧；末九偈中又分四，初四頌發離一切妄想廣大心，次二頌發窮三際廣大心，次二頌發順涅槃菩提廣大心，末一偈結勸。
此段的義理重心在「想」字。「一切世間唯是想，於中種種各差別，知想境界險且深，為現神通而救脫」——世間即是想，而想的境界又險又深。接著「一切世間唯想力，以智而入心無畏」——知其為想，所以入而無畏。再接「能所分別二俱離，雜染清淨無所取，若縛若解智悉忘」——連縛與解的分別都放下。
排一個誤解：說世間唯想，不是說世間不存在因而可以不管。經文緊接著就說「為現神通而救脫」「但願普與眾生樂」——知其如幻，正是為了救得動。落地處：見得破而不肯救，是斷；肯救而見不破，是縛。這十八偈正把二者合在一處。
頌大智現前：六偈半說那個無所取的智
第四段六偈半，澄觀判為頌長行的「大智現前」，並說初一偈結前生後，其餘正頌大智現前，逐偈配長行那一串『若佛若佛法、若菩薩若菩薩法、若世間若世間法』——二乘一項頌文從略；末後半偈頌長行的結語，「心常憶念十方佛」即是唯求一切智，「而無所依無所取」即是於諸法界心無所著。
這一段最要緊的是它與長行末段的對應關係。長行說「不於三世少有所得」，頌則說「無量世界盡為塵，一一塵中無量剎，其中諸佛皆無量，悉能明見無所取」——見得無量而不取一分。又說「其心廣大如虛空，於三世事悉明達，一切疑惑皆除滅，正觀佛法無所取」。
落地處：明達與不取是同一件事的兩面。看不清楚的人談不上放下，因為他還沒真正拿起；看得清楚而還執著，則是明而不智。經文把「悉明達」與「無所取」一句一句地並排，就是要人不許偏取一邊。
頌妙果當成：二十三偈半說當來所成之果
第五段二十三偈半最長，澄觀判為頌長行的「妙果當成」，並分九：初三偈半頌常為諸佛護念，半偈頌當得無上菩提，半偈頌與其妙法（並釋「大人法」即八大人覺），一偈頌佛體平等，一偈頌已修助道之法，六偈頌成就力無所畏，五偈頌莊嚴不共佛法，五偈頌得諸佛說法智慧，末一偈結德無盡並屬初心。
其中六偈頌十力一節最堪細看：從「眾生是處若非處，及以諸業感報別」起，逐偈說是處非處、業報、種種性、種種解、禪定解脫三昧、宿命、漏盡，末後以「菩薩於佛十力中，雖未證得亦無疑」收。澄觀說這六偈是廣十力之別名而略無畏之都號，末半偈顯得分齊。那句「雖未證得亦無疑」正是全品分寸之所在——不說已證，只說無疑；因位不濫果位，而信心不打折扣。
再往下五偈說毛孔現剎、一微塵中無量剎，是以事事無礙頌不共佛法。落地處：本段是全品講「當得」講得最完整的一處，讀時要記著那個「當」字——當得而未得，所以仍要修；已無疑而未證，所以不退轉。
正頌前喻：十四偈回頭再頌校量
第二大段三十四頌，澄觀分作二：先十四頌正頌前面的諸喻，後二十偈通釋諸喻不及的緣由。
這十四偈依次回應長行的喻：施安樂、勸持五戒十善四禪四等、令斷諸惑成羅漢、教億眾成緣覺，是頌喻一；一念能過塵數剎是頌喻二；劫數無邊量是頌喻三；欲解方便意所行是頌喻四至喻八；諸惑業三有相續是頌喻九與喻十；一念供養無邊佛以下三偈是頌喻十一。每一偈的末句都落在同一意思上：彼諸福聚雖無量，不與發心功德比；此諸剎數尚可量，發心功德不可知；其人福聚雖復多，不及發心功德大。
落地處：長行用了大半卷說的事，頌裡十四偈就說完了。這正說明喻不是本品的目的，只是階梯；階梯用過，可以收起。
通釋不及所由：二十偈說根本的緣由
後二十偈，澄觀說前面雖已略釋，這裡才廣辨。他分作三：初半偈結前生後，次十七偈半正釋所由，後二偈結德無盡；正釋之中又分三，初一偈標章、次十二偈半別釋、後四偈顯德圓滿。所標的兩章是：出生無盡、體相無限。
「所說種種眾譬諭，無有能及菩提心，以諸三世人中尊，皆從發心而得生」——這一偈就是標章：一切喻不及，因為三世諸佛都從它出生。接著「發心無礙無齊限，欲求其量不可得」，是說體相無限；「發心廣大等虛空，生諸功德同法界」，是二章合說。
別釋之中有一串極重要的話：菩提心是十力本，亦為四辯無畏本，十八不共亦復然；諸佛色相莊嚴身，及以平等妙法身，悉以發心而得有；一切獨覺聲聞乘，色界諸禪三昧樂，及無色界諸三昧，悉以發心作其本；一切人天自在樂，及以諸趣種種樂，靡不皆由初發心。澄觀就此判：由修六度為菩薩乘本，由勸正行為人天乘本，由闡妙業通為三乘涅槃之本。
這一段回過頭來解答了前面那個疑問——為什麼二乘之果、人天之樂也校量不過發心？因為它們本來就從發心中出生。落地處：本品自始至終沒有貶低任何善法，它只是把它們的來處指出來。
顯德圓滿與結勸：所以應當快快發心
第二大段之末二偈結德無盡：十方世界諸如來，悉共讚歎初發心，此心無量德所嚴，能到彼岸同於佛；如眾生數爾許劫，說其功德不可盡，以住如來廣大家，三界諸法無能諭。
第三大段五偈是結勸。澄觀分三：初半偈正勸，次三偈半釋勸所由，總舉具足一切德故；後一偈結勸速發。所以起句就是「欲知一切諸佛法，宜應速發菩提心」，收句還是「欲見十方一切佛，欲施無盡功德藏，欲滅眾生諸苦惱，宜應速發菩提心」。
一品之末不落在稱歎上，落在一個「速」字上。前面說了那麼多不可思議，末後只要讀者作一件事——現在就發心。落地處：本品所有的校量，最終都不是要人驚歎，是要人動身。若讀完只覺得發心功德真大而自己並未發心，這一品於他就等於沒有讀。
承衍
本品之義為後世諸家所承，並錄不判。澄觀一系：以來意、釋名、宗趣三門與長分為七之科釋全品，判校量為十一大喻，以「不齊限」立喻不及之所由，並以法性融通、緣起、無自性三門釋相即相入，判劫平等諸句為事事無礙而「劫入非劫」為理事無礙；重頌則科為一百二十一頌三大段，並以「文不次者，顯德無前後故」解其錯綜。他為『初心何以頓齊佛果』所設的冥室一燈、微滴天池二喻，是本品在華嚴宗手裡的定型讀法。法藏一系：於六十本以「本覺內薰，大心創起」釋發心，判本品唯明別教一乘玄妙而異於前二品之通同別二教；其答段三分（總歎甚深令生希欲、校量顯勝生其淨信、當相辨深令生正解）是就教化次第分，與澄觀就文段分者不同科；重頌則繫於晉譯歎深六句而立四大段。智儼一系：判校量為十二喻並分五類，合喻分七，且戒後人「此中不得細科，若細即失旨」；他又判晉譯偈文二百四十一頌半，與澄觀所判唐譯一百二十一頌本非同文之異算。李通玄一系：以「舉等虛空無以比其類，磨盡剎塵無以酬其匹」總歎，以小流入大海、輪王大子、師子王子三喻說初心與佛體不別，隨文則以行數分段，於頌文則云「四行一頌，如文自具，不煩更解」而不立頌科。
四家之於一段文，或密科、或疏科、或不科；於一個喻，或十一、或十二；於發心與佛平等一義，或以三德開發釋、或以本覺內薰釋、或以以終攝始釋、或以水體不別喻。古有此諸說，誌錄之，不判高下。
本品之外，喻三所結的「了知一切劫神通智」，澄觀指其即後文十通之中的知盡未來際劫神通；他又於釋名處指「餘如〈賢首品〉」，可見發心功德之義在第二會已有前緣。上承〈梵行品〉之疑，下開〈明法品〉之行——本品在第三會六品中的位置，正是承前品之解而啟後品之行的那一節。
This Chapter Is Answering a Doubt Left Over from the Preceding Chapter
The last sentence of the chapter “The Practice of Brahmacarya” speaks of obtaining unsurpassed perfect awakening at the moment of first arousing the mind. With that sentence standing there, the reader cannot help raising a doubt: how is it that someone who has only just aroused the mind has already obtained unsurpassed awakening? Chengguan's determination of the reason this chapter comes is bound precisely to that sentence — he says that at the end of the preceding chapter it was said that at the moment of first arousing the mind one straightway accomplishes right awakening, and that it is not yet known what function this mind has that one should obtain it all at once in this way, and that now this meaning is explained, and therefore it comes next. The sentence Fazang binds it to is exactly the same. So this chapter does not open a fresh subject of its own; it takes up the difficulty the preceding chapter threw out and answers it with a whole fascicle.
Let one common misreading be set aside: do not read this chapter as ‘a hymn in praise of arousing the mind’. Praise is the outward look of the words; answering the doubt is its office. Coming down to how one reads: as you read each passage, you may turn back and put a question — how does this passage help to answer ‘on what ground can the first mind be on a level with the buddha-fruit’? If you can answer that, you have read your way in.
Why It Is Śakra Who Asks and Dharma Wisdom Who Answers
The one who asks is Śakra, the lord of the gods; the one who answers is the Bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom. This is no casual arrangement. Chengguan gives three reasons why the god-emperor asks: this assembly is in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, which is his own palace, and the lord of the place ought to ask; he had heard the preceding chapter's “at the moment of first arousing the mind one straightway accomplishes right awakening” and a doubting thought arose in his mind, and one who has a doubt ought to ask; and the mind of awakening is the lord of the myriad practices, the very thing most worth asking about. He gives two further reasons why the question is put to Dharma Wisdom: Dharma Wisdom is the host of this assembly; and the matter of ‘the first mind being complete in the virtues of the later stations’ is something only the realm of wisdom can shed light upon.
What Fazang and Zhiyan bring forward is much the same, with one sentence more: only a wisdom that answers to the Dharma can exhaust the utmost bound of merit. And here is where it comes down to the ground: the one who asks stands for everyone in whom a doubt arises, and the one who answers stands for the wisdom that truly sees. The reader's place is on Śakra's side; there is no need to be ashamed of having a doubt. To have a doubt and to ask it is the cause by which this chapter came to be born.
The Ten Clauses of Profundity: What Exactly Is It That Is Hard?
Dharma Wisdom does not open by answering the measure; he opens by saying that it is hard. He says ten ‘hards’ in a row — hard to speak of, hard to know, hard to distinguish, hard to believe and understand, hard to realize, hard to practice, hard to penetrate through, hard to think upon, hard to measure, hard to enter into. Why speak first of the difficulty? Chengguan says: the substance of the Dharma is deep and broad, and to praise it first is to remove people's doubt and to make them long for it; and further, what is to be said below is after all a matter of entrusting it to words, which cannot exhaust its source — so it is declared beforehand.
The intensifier in the phrase rendered “profound” Chengguan glosses on four sides: in terms of time, it is deep, penetrating to the limit of the future; in terms of virtue, deep, reaching to the buddha-fruit; in terms of principle, deep, the same as the Dharma realm; in terms of practice, deep, embracing the myriad practices. He sorts out one further layer: if it were only that the numbers are vast and hard to measure, or the reasoning remote and hard to fathom, that would still be merely deep and would not count as profoundly deep; what is here is ‘the many within the few, the principle within the phenomenon, the first mind complete in the later’ — and this is what is called profound. That sentence hands the reader the key to the whole chapter beforehand: the difficulty of this chapter does not lie in the size of the numbers; it lies in the small and the great not being separated.
As for how the ten clauses are apportioned, Chengguan divides them in two lengths: the first four set the capable and the object over against each other — because it is apart from words it is hard to declare, because it is without marks it is beyond the mind's cognizance, because it is not what eloquence by one's own power can reach it is hard to distinguish, because it is not what a modest wisdom can accept it is hard to believe and understand; the latter six run through both the capable realizing and what is realized, and each later one is more modest than the one before it, so that the further on one goes, the more even the shallower reach falls short. In the Jin translation there are only six clauses here, and Zhiyan matches his explanation to those six. The two texts differ in the number of clauses, and each master outlines according to the translation before him; so it has been with the ancient worthies, and it is recorded with no adjudication.
How Many Similes of Comparison Are There: Three Ways of Counting Stand Together
What follows, a long string of “suppose there were a person …”, is the body of this chapter. Here one thing must first be set out, a thing on which a reader is easily tripped up: just how many similes are these?
By the wording of the scripture itself, the opening phrase “suppose there were” is met with thirteen times by actual count; of these, the last two (“suppose there were a person … who made offerings to countless buddhas of the eastern quarter” and “suppose there were further a second person”) belong together to the former and latter parts of the one simile of making offerings to buddhas and to beings, so that the segment-boundaries in fact number twelve. Chengguan, in the Huayan jing shu, combines the first two segments (the offering of articles of enjoyment together with teaching them to keep the five precepts, and the teaching of the ten good deeds, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurables, the four formless attainments, and the four fruits and on to the way of the pratyekabuddha) into one “simile of benefiting and gladdening sentient beings,” because the two alike take the benefiting and gladdening of sentient beings as their measure; and so he outlines them as eleven great similes, naming them one by one: benefiting and gladdening sentient beings, swiftly striding through the lands, knowing the formation and destruction of kalpas, knowing well their resolute understandings, knowing well their faculties, knowing well their desires and delights, knowing well their means, knowing well the minds of others, knowing well the marks of their deeds, knowing well their afflictions, and making offerings to buddhas and to beings. Zhiyan, on the side of the Jin translation, says plainly “first, discerning twelve similes,” and reads the twelve similes as falling into five classes.
The three ways of counting rest on different things — one on the original segment-boundaries of the scriptural text, one on Chengguan's combining of segments, one on the wording of the Jin translation. The numbers have been there from of old; they are recorded with no adjudication, and this reading notes in each place which is relied upon, taking no one number so as to discard the rest. What really matters is not the number but the thread Chengguan points out: each later one surpasses the one before it, and therefore each time a simile is raised the former one is discarded, and the discarding goes on and on — only in order to display the one thing that can never be discarded.
The Four Beats of the Text of the Similes
Chengguan points out further that these similes have a fixed four-beat form: first raising up the simile, second putting the question, third receiving the answer, fourth the comparison. First some utterly vast meritorious deed is laid out; then the question, “is this person's merit to be reckoned much, or not?”; Śakra answers, “only a buddha is able to know it”; and only then are the words of comparison brought down. And he says: the first simile and the last are complete in all four beats, while the nine in between omit the putting of the question and the receiving of the answer.
This is a very practical rule for reading. If a reader finds that the nine middle similes suddenly have no dialogue, there is no need to suspect that the scripture has dropped something — that is abbreviation. In the whole chapter Śakra answers only three times, and all three times he says the same thing: this person's merit, only a buddha knows it. That sentence “only a buddha is able to know it” is set again and again just before the comparison, and its intent is plain: first push the meritorious deed to the very summit of what anyone can conceive, and only then say that it does not come up to it.
The First Part of Simile One: Making Offerings to All Sentient Beings, and Further Teaching Them to Keep the Five Precepts
The first simile is laid out thus: suppose there were a person who, with every kind of article that brings pleasure, made offerings to all the sentient beings in as many worlds as asaṃkhyeyas in the eastern quarter, made those offerings for a whole kalpa, and then further taught them to keep the five precepts purely; and did the same to the south, the west, the north, in the four intermediate directions, above and below.
The weight of this simile must be seen clearly. It is not giving one thing to one person; it is giving to all the sentient beings of one quarter and on to all ten quarters. It is not for one moment; it is for a kalpa. And it does not stop at the giving of goods — after the giving of goods there is the benefit of the Dharma, teaching them to keep the precepts. Chengguan divides this passage into three: first the benefit given in the present life (the articles offered, the field of merit, and the span of time, all three of them broad), next, from “and thereafter” onward, the happiness given in the life to come, and last, from “and in the southern, the western” onward, the extension to the remaining nine directions. That is to say: the ease of the present life and the good destiny of the life to come, this person has given both.
Let one misunderstanding be set aside: do not suppose the scripture is belittling giving and keeping the precepts. The scripture is doing precisely the opposite — pushing giving and precept-keeping to the utmost limit that human power can imagine; and the higher that limit is set, the more force the three words “does not come up” have afterward. Coming down to the ground: if a person finds even a small gift of goods or of Dharma hard, let him look back through this simile — what is being compared is not your giving or mine as we now stand, but that very summit; and if even the summit does not come up to it, one may see that what is being compared is not a thing of the same kind at all.
A Hundredth Part Does Not Come Up to One: What the Advancing Fractions Are Saying
The words of comparison are brought down thus: this person's merit, set against the merit of a bodhisattva's first arousing of the mind, does not come up to one part in a hundred, does not come up to one part in a thousand, does not come up to one part in a hundred thousand; and in the same way a koṭi part, a hundred-koṭis part, a thousand-koṭis part, a hundred-thousand-koṭis part, a nayuta-of-koṭis part, a hundred-nayutas-of-koṭis part, a thousand-nayutas-of-koṭis part, a hundred-thousand-nayutas-of-koṭis part, the fraction of number, the kalā fraction, the fraction of calculation, the fraction of likeness, the upaniṣad fraction — none of these comes up to one part either.
Two of these translated names must be accounted for. The kalā fraction Chengguan glosses as “the splitting lengthwise of a hair upon a person's body into a hundred parts, and one part among those hundred,” and he records a further account that it is one part among sixteen, translated in sense as “the fraction of comparison.” The upaniṣad fraction Chengguan glosses as “near and slight,” that is, the fraction of what is a little near and may be used for setting beside. Which is to say: this string of fractions grows finer the further it goes, until it is nearly past any further fineness.
Then what is the logic of this sentence? It is not ‘the merit of arousing the mind is the greater quantity’; it is: however finely you cut up the merit of arousing the mind, take the most minute fraction of it, and that utterly vast meritorious deed still does not overtake it. This is no longer a comparison of quantity; it is a sorting out of kinds. Chengguan says it plainly in the text further on — the reason the simile does not come up to it is not that the merit is small, but that it ‘has a bound’; the reason arousing the mind is beyond compare is not that the merit is great, but that it is “without any bound.” Multiply the finite as many times as you like, and it will never step across to the side of the infinite.
The Latter Part of Simile One: Teaching from the Ten Good Deeds and the Four Dhyānas All the Way to the Way of the Pratyekabuddha
The second segment pushes the simile up another layer. This time the offerings are made to all the sentient beings in as many worlds as ten asaṃkhyeyas in the ten directions: for a hundred kalpas, teaching them to cultivate the path of the ten good deeds; for a thousand kalpas, teaching them to abide in the four dhyānas; for a hundred thousand kalpas, teaching them to abide in the four immeasurable minds; for a koṭi of kalpas, teaching them to abide in the four formless attainments; for a hundred koṭis of kalpas, teaching them to abide in the fruit of the stream-enterer; for a thousand koṭis of kalpas, teaching them to abide in the fruit of the once-returner; for a hundred thousand koṭis of kalpas, teaching them to abide in the fruit of the non-returner; for a nayuta of koṭis of kalpas, teaching them to abide in the fruit of the arhat; for a hundred thousand nayutas of koṭis of kalpas, teaching them to abide in the way of the pratyekabuddha.
Chengguan points out how this passage is laid out: the articles that bring pleasure are all the same, while the number of kalpas passed through gradually increases and the Dharma taught grows more excellent at each turn. Which is to say, we are no longer merely among the good dharmas of humans and gods — the four fruits and the way of the pratyekabuddha are world-transcending realizations. That a person could teach measureless sentient beings all the way up to the way of the pratyekabuddha is, among the merits the world can conceive of, already at the very top. Śakra answers a second time: this person's merit, only a buddha is able to know it.
Here is where it comes down to the ground: what this chapter sets in comparison has never been indolence or evil deeds, but the most adorned goodness there is. If a reader hears the “does not come up” as a disparagement of the two vehicles, he has gone astray; for what the scripture goes on immediately to say is precisely that the happiness of the two vehicles too comes forth out of the arousing of the mind.
Why It Still Does Not Come Up: The Buddhas Did Not Arouse the Mind for Those Things
After the comparison, the scripture puts a question to itself: for what reason? The answer falls into two layers. First it speaks in the reverse: when all the buddhas first aroused the mind, it was not merely for the sake of making offerings to that many sentient beings through that many kalpas that they aroused the mind of awakening; nor merely for the sake of teaching that many sentient beings to cultivate the five precepts and the ten good deeds, to abide in the four dhyānas, the four immeasurables, the four formless attainments, and to obtain the four fruits and the way of the pratyekabuddha, that they aroused the mind of awakening. Then it speaks straight on: rather it was in order that the lineage of the Tathāgatas should not be cut off, in order to fill and pervade all worlds, in order to liberate the sentient beings of all worlds, in order to know completely the formation and destruction of all worlds, the defilement and purity of sentient beings, the intrinsic purity of the worlds, the delights, afflictions, and habit-energies in the minds of sentient beings, their dying here and being born there, their faculties and means, the conduct of their minds, and their wisdom throughout the three times, together with the sameness of the realm of all buddhas — it was for the sake of these that they aroused the unsurpassed mind of awakening.
Chengguan takes these twelve clauses apart very clearly: the first three, in general aspect, are set over against the former and discern its excellence — the first turns back the small fruit spoken of before, the second turns back the bounded place spoken of before, the third turns back the limited sentient beings spoken of before; and the nine clauses below are the very root of the ten similes that follow. Which is to say: the whole string of similes to come — knowing worlds, knowing kalpas, knowing understandings, knowing faculties, knowing desires and delights, knowing means, knowing minds, knowing deeds, knowing afflictions, knowing the sameness of the realm of the buddhas — has its items already set up here in advance.
He goes further and matches these nine clauses one by one with the wisdoms of the buddha's ten powers: knowing formation and destruction, defilement and purity, and intrinsic nature is the wisdom of the retribution of deeds; the delights of the mind is the wisdom of the many kinds of understanding; knowing the afflictions is the wisdom of the exhaustion of the outflows; birth and death is the wisdom of the heavenly eye; the faculties is the wisdom of the superiority and inferiority of the faculties; the means is the wisdom of dhyāna, liberation, and samādhi; this, together with the realm of the buddhas, is the wisdom of the paths leading to all places; the conduct of the mind is the wisdom of the many kinds of elements; and the wisdom of the three times is the wisdom of former lives. That one matching pierces through the structure of the whole chapter — what the arousing of the mind aspires to is the whole measure of a buddha's wisdom. And therefore it cannot be compared by any meritorious deed that has measure.
Simile Two, Swiftly Striding Through the Lands: Worlds That Can Be Walked to the End, and Roots of Goodness That Cannot
The second simile changes the way of measuring: suppose there were a person who in a single thought could pass beyond as many worlds as asaṃkhyeyas in the eastern quarter, and did so thought after thought, walking to the end of asaṃkhyeyas of kalpas; and a second person who in a single thought could pass beyond all that the former had passed in a kalpa; and so on in turn to the tenth person; and in the ten directions together there are in all a hundred such persons. The scripture's conclusion is: of these worlds the limit can be known, but of all the roots of goodness of a bodhisattva who first arouses the mind, none can know the limit.
There is a nicety of rhetoric here: the scripture does not say that those worlds are “limitless”; it says on the contrary that “the limit can be known.” The further what can be reckoned is pushed to its utmost, the more plainly it shows that the side which cannot be reckoned is not the same affair. A hundred persons, each passing beyond asaṃkhyeyas of worlds in a single thought — this already sounds limitless; and yet the scripture says: that still has a limit.
Let one misunderstanding be set aside: do not suppose that the merit of arousing the mind is ‘a larger number’. If it were a number, it would have fallen onto the side of what can be reckoned. What the scripture says is “none can know the limit” — not that it is so large it cannot be counted to the end, but that it does not lie within counting at all.
The Eleven Clauses of Mutual Identity and Mutual Entering: What Is to Be Known Is Not the Number of the Worlds
After the second simile the scripture explains itself: the bodhisattva does not confine himself within a bound; it is not merely in order to obtain knowledge of going to that many worlds that he arouses the mind, but in order to know the worlds of the ten directions. That is to say: wishing to know that a subtle world is the very same as a coarse world, and coarse the very same as subtle; upturned the very same as overturned, and overturned the very same as upturned; small the very same as great, and great the very same as small; broad the very same as narrow, and narrow the very same as broad; one world the very same as worlds beyond telling, and worlds beyond telling the very same as one world; worlds beyond telling entering into one world, and one world entering into worlds beyond telling; a defiled world the very same as a pure world, and a pure world the very same as a defiled world. And further, wishing to know within the tip of a single hair the differentiated nature of all worlds, and within all worlds the one substance-nature of a single hair's tip; wishing to know that within one world all worlds are brought forth; wishing to know that all worlds are without substance-nature; wishing with the mind of a single thought to know completely all vast worlds without obstruction.
This passage turns the whole weight of the simile over: what was compared before was ‘how much has been walked’, and what is said here is ‘what it is that is known’. What is to be known is not the number of the worlds, but the mutual identity and mutual entering of the worlds.
Chengguan sets up three gates to explain the ground of these mutual identities. The first is the gate of the interfusing of the nature of dharmas — the differentiated nature of all worlds and the substance-nature of a single hair's tip are not two, and therefore phenomena, interfusing in accordance with the nature, are mutually identical, and phenomena, arising by taking hold of the nature, mutually enter. The second is the gate of dependent origination — the many conditions in arising give birth to one another; in terms of substance, there is the sense of having substance and being without substance, and therefore they are mutually identical; in terms of function, there is the sense of having force and being without force, and therefore they mutually enter. The third is the gate of the absence of intrinsic nature — the great is not fixedly great, and therefore it can be identical with the small. What these three gates explain is just the settled track along which the Huayan school speaks of mutual identity and mutual entering; and that it is set here under the name of ‘what one who first arouses the mind wishes to know’ carries great weight: this is not a picture of a realm that comes only after one has ascended the grounds; it is the goal toward which the arousing of the mind points at this very moment.
Simile Three, Knowing the Formation and Destruction of Kalpas: The Sameness between Kalpa and Kalpa
The third simile changes the way of measuring from place to time: suppose there were a person who in a single thought could know the number of kalpas of the formation and destruction of as many worlds as asaṃkhyeyas in the eastern quarter, and did so thought after thought to the end of asaṃkhyeyas of kalpas; and a second person who in a single thought could know all that the former had known in a kalpa; and so on to the tenth. The conclusion is as before: of that number of kalpas the limit can be known, but of the merit and roots of goodness of arousing the mind none can know the limit.
The part that explains itself is of the same structure as in the second simile, only shifted onto time: knowing that a long kalpa and a short kalpa are the same, and short and long the same; one kalpa and countless kalpas the same; a kalpa with a buddha and a kalpa without a buddha the same; within one buddha-kalpa buddhas beyond telling, and within buddha-kalpas beyond telling one buddha; the measured and the measureless the same; what has an end and what has no end the same; kalpas beyond telling and a single thought the same, and a single thought and kalpas beyond telling the same; all kalpas entering what is not a kalpa, and what is not a kalpa entering all kalpas. At the end the scripture concludes for itself: this is called the great vow-adornment of the first arousing of the mind, the wisdom of the supernormal penetration that fully knows all kalpas.
Chengguan, explaining the two graphs “the same” here, says: sameness is spoken through both mutual identity and mutual entering; whether in terms of conditions or in terms of the nature, mind-only and the rest being different, all of it is without obstruction, and therefore it says “the same.” He further sorts it out: the seven foregoing items belong to the unobstructedness of phenomenon with phenomenon, while the last clause, “kalpas entering what is not a kalpa,” is the unobstructedness of principle with phenomenon. And he points out that the wisdom with which the scripture concludes here is, in the text that follows, the supernormal penetration among the ten of knowing to the end of the kalpas of the limit of the future.
Coming down to the ground: ordinary people, speaking of time, can speak only of long and short, fast and slow; the scripture, speaking of time, speaks of the unobstructedness of long and short themselves. If a person can truly trust that “a single thought and kalpas beyond telling are the same,” his anxiety over whether his practice is fast or slow loosens — fast and slow are spoken in terms of aspect; in terms of the nature there is originally neither fast nor slow.
Simile Four, Knowing Well Their Resolute Understandings: Knowing the Many Sorts of ‘Understanding’ in People's Minds
What the fourth simile measures is the resolute understandings of sentient beings, that is, the faith-understanding and aspiration within each person's mind. The scripture takes ten persons multiplying in turn as its measure, just as before, and the conclusion is the same. What repays attention is the part where it explains itself — this is one of the longest such passages in the whole chapter: wishing to know that all differing understandings are without limit, since the understanding of one sentient being and the understandings of countless sentient beings are the same; wishing to obtain the light of the wisdom of means that can know differing understandings beyond telling; wishing to know completely the differing understandings of each and every one within the ocean of sentient beings, with nothing left over; wishing to know completely the many measureless understandings, good and not good, of past, present, and future; wishing to know completely understandings that are alike and understandings that are not alike; wishing to know completely that all understandings are the one understanding and the one understanding is all understandings; wishing to obtain the power of the Tathāgata's understanding; wishing to know completely the differences between what has something above it and what has nothing above it, what has a remainder and what has none, what is equal and what is not equal; wishing to know completely the differences between what has a support and what has none, what is held in common and what is not, what has a limit and what has none, what is differentiated and what is not, what is good and what is not, what is worldly and what transcends the world; wishing, within all subtle understandings, vast understandings, measureless understandings, and understandings that abide in the correct station, to obtain the Tathāgata's unobstructed wisdom of liberation; wishing by measureless means to know completely the pure understanding, defiled understanding, broad understanding, abbreviated understanding, fine understanding, and coarse understanding of each and every sentient being in the ten directions; wishing to know completely the deep and secret understanding, the understanding of means, the understanding that distinguishes, the understanding that arises of itself, the understanding that arises following upon a cause, and the understanding that arises following upon a condition, and to know the whole net of all understandings with nothing left over.
How is this long string to be read? Notice one clause within it: “all understandings are the one understanding, and the one understanding is all understandings” — this gathers back in a single breath the dozens of classifications just made. First to exhaust the distinguishing, and then to say that distinguishing is non-distinguishing: this is the constant brushwork of this scripture. Coming down to the ground: to know the understandings of sentient beings is not for the sake of pasting labels on people; it is for the sake of knowing how the Dharma ought to be spoken. And the one who knows this most thoroughly is, on the contrary, the one who will not be bound by his own classifications.
Simile Five, Knowing Well Their Faculties: Knowing Whether the Faculties Are Keen or Dull
What the fifth simile measures is the differences among the faculties of sentient beings — the differing keenness and dullness of the faculties of faith, vigor, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. The text of this simile is extremely spare; at the place where it explains itself the scripture uses the four graphs “and, speaking at length” to abbreviate, and gathers it up in “in order to know completely the whole net of all the faculties.”
The graph “net” recurs again and again through the similes that follow: the net of the faculties, the net of desires and delights, the net of means, the net of minds, the net of deeds, the net of afflictions. A net means something woven together into one piece, where a pull upon one strand moves a hundred — not a set of isolated single strands. So the “knowing” the scripture speaks of is not a stock-taking item by item; it is knowing the whole of their interweaving.
Let one misunderstanding be set aside: to know the faculties is not to grade people. The scripture sets knowing the faculties alongside knowing their understandings and knowing their desires and delights, all bound to one and the same thing — knowing them in order to speak to what they can receive. Coming down to the ground: a person who is truly willing to look after others will of himself take note of what the other can and cannot bear just now; and the utmost of that noticing is what the scripture calls knowing the faculties.
Simile Six, Knowing Well Their Desires and Delights: Knowing Where the Mind's Liking Turns
What the sixth simile measures is the many kinds of desires and delights of sentient beings, that is, what each person's mind is fond of and leans toward. The form of the text is as before, and the self-explanation likewise is gathered up in “in order to know completely the whole net of all desires and delights.”
One distinction must be sorted out: desires and delights are not the same as resolute understanding. Resolute understanding is what the mind holds to be right; desire and delight is what the mind is fond of. The two can fail to agree — a person may know perfectly well that it ought to be thus and yet be fond of something else, and this is precisely where the difficulty of practice lies. That the scripture divides the two into two similes is not repetition; it is dividing finely.
Coming down to the ground: one who teaches others, if he looks only at what they believe and not at what they love, may say what is perfectly right and still not get in. That the scripture lists “knowing their desires and delights” among the buddha-wisdoms to which the arousing of the mind aspires is to say this: if compassion does not come down to the level of knowing what people love, it remains only an abstract good will.
Simile Seven, Knowing Well Their Means: Knowing the Path Each One Takes
What the seventh simile measures is the many kinds of means of sentient beings — the methods and approaches each uses in pursuing what he seeks. The form of the text is the same as in the two preceding similes, and the self-explanation is gathered up in “in order to know completely the whole net of all means.”
In the earlier matching of the nine clauses with the ten powers, Chengguan matched the clause on “means” with the wisdom of dhyāna, liberation, and samādhi. That matching is worth noticing: “means” here is not expedient cleverness but a path that can actually be walked; and what makes a path walkable is the strength of concentration.
Coming down to the ground: it is not enough to know a person's faith-understanding and his liking; one must also know which road he can actually move along. One is capable of sitting in stillness; another is capable only of laboring and making offerings; another must first understand the meaning before he can believe — these are the differences among means. That this chapter gives it a simile of its own is a reminder: what the arousing of the mind wishes to know reaches all the way down to the very step a person can take where he stands.
Simile Eight, Knowing Well the Minds of Others: Knowing the Differences among Minds
What the eighth simile measures is the many differing minds of sentient beings. The text of this simile is the sparest of all: the scripture opens by raising the eastern quarter, then at once says “and, speaking at length,” and goes straight to the conclusion. At the self-explanation it says: in order to know completely the many kinds of minds of the boundless sentient beings to the end of the Dharma realm and the realm of empty space, and on to wishing to know completely the whole net of all minds.
Notice that the words the scripture uses are “differing minds,” not ‘what is on someone's mind’. What is known is the kinds and tendencies of mind, not a peering into what anyone is privately thinking. This agrees with the constant way of speaking since “The Names of the Tathāgata” in the second assembly: to know minds is for the sake of expounding the Dharma.
Coming down to the ground: if a person imagines “knowing the minds of others” to be a faculty for stealing a look at another's privacy, what he imagines is not in the least what this chapter speaks of. That the scripture places it after knowing their understandings, their faculties, their desires and delights, and their means makes the thread plain — the whole string is for the sake of meeting what suits each one.
Simile Nine, Knowing Well the Marks of Their Deeds: Knowing the Differences among Deeds
What the ninth simile measures is the many differing deeds of sentient beings. Here a slight change in the scripture's phrasing is worth pointing out: the concluding words of the preceding similes were all “none can know the limit,” and from this simile onward it becomes “the limit of the roots of goodness cannot be known.” The wording differs, but what it comes home to is one.
The self-explanation says: wishing to know completely the deeds of all sentient beings throughout the three times, and on to wishing to know completely the whole net of all deeds. The reason deeds are called a net is that deed and deed are cause and fruit to one another, entangled and continuing on, so that to cut at one place pulls upon the whole.
Coming down to the ground: knowing deeds is not for the sake of judging who ought to undergo what retribution. That the scripture ranges knowing deeds beside knowing afflictions in the next simile has this intent: deeds are the aspect on the side of the fruit, afflictions the root on the side of the cause; know first the aspect, and then one may cut the root. To know only the aspect of deeds and not go on to the afflictions would be to tell fortunes rather than to cultivate the path.
Simile Ten, Knowing Well the Afflictions: Six Gates for Knowing the Delusions, and Every Gate Has Its Cure
What the tenth simile measures is the many kinds of afflictions of sentient beings, and its self-explanation is the finest-grained passage in the whole chapter. The scripture sets out six groups: first, wishing to know completely light afflictions, heavy afflictions, dormant afflictions, and arisen afflictions, together with the many differences among the measureless afflictions of each and every sentient being and the many kinds of coarse and fine deliberation, and thereby to purify all defilement; second, wishing to know completely the afflictions dependent on ignorance and the afflictions associated with craving, and to cut off all the fetters of affliction that lead to the destinies of existence; third, wishing to know completely the afflictions that are portions of greed, of hatred, of delusion, and afflictions in equal parts, and to cut off the very root of all afflictions; fourth, wishing to know completely the afflictions of grasping a self, of grasping what belongs to a self, and of the conceit of self, and to awaken to all afflictions so that they are exhausted with nothing left over; fifth, wishing to know completely the root afflictions and the secondary afflictions arising from inverted discrimination, together with the sixty-two views arising from the view of self-in-the-body, and to tame all afflictions; sixth, wishing to know completely the afflictions that cover over and the afflictions that obstruct, and to give rise to the mind of great compassion that rescues and protects, to cut off the whole net of afflictions, and to make the nature of omniscience pure.
Chengguan, explaining this passage, points out a formal rule: there are six gates in the separate treatment, and each has first the delusion and afterward the cure. Every group first sets out the delusion that is known and then binds to it a clause of what is cut off and what is cured — it is not that knowing is the end of the matter; having known, there must be a cure.
This is the passage in the chapter that touches one most nearly. The distinction of dormant and arisen says that afflictions are of two sorts, those lying latent and not yet broken out and those already active, and the ones not yet broken out are the harder to know. That beyond greed, hatred, and delusion an “equal part” is separately set up says that one in whom the three poisons rise together cannot be treated for only one of them. That self, what belongs to self, and the conceit of self are raised all three says that clinging wears three faces. That the view of self-in-the-body gives birth to sixty-two views says that the root of the whole net of views lies in nothing but a single “I.” Coming down to the ground: the reader may take these six groups as a checklist for examining himself — not for passing judgment on others' afflictions, but for recognizing his own.
The Former Part of Simile Eleven: Making Offerings to Countless Buddhas and Countless Beings, and Raising Stūpas for the Buddhas Besides
The last simile turns back to a meritorious deed, and to the weightiest of all: suppose there were a person who in a single thought, with food and drink of the finest flavor, with incense and flowers, garments, banners and pennants and parasols, together with saṃghārāmas, most excellent palaces, jeweled canopies and netting and curtains, many kinds of adorned lion seats and multitudes of wondrous jewels, made offerings to countless buddhas of the eastern quarter and to all the sentient beings of countless worlds, revering and honoring, bowing and praising, gazing with bent body, continuously and without break, throughout countless kalpas; who further exhorted those beings to make offerings to the buddhas likewise; and who, after the buddhas had passed into extinction, raised a stūpa for each of them, the stūpas tall and broad and made of the many jewels of countless worlds, within each stūpa countless images of the Tathāgatas, their light shining everywhere upon countless worlds through countless kalpas.
Set beside the first simile, the track of the rising is visible: what the first simile gave was articles of enjoyment, and this simile adds the buddhas to what is given; the receivers in the first simile were sentient beings, and here they are buddhas and sentient beings; the first simile had only the teaching of a single lifetime, while this one reckons in even the spreading abroad of stūpas and images after the buddhas' extinction. This is the very summit of the merit of making offerings that anyone can conceive. Śakra answers a third time: this person's merit, only a buddha knows it; all the rest have no way of taking its measure. And the words of comparison are still that same sentence: it does not come up to one part in a hundred, and so on until it does not come up even to one part of the upaniṣad fraction.
The Latter Part of Simile Eleven: Ten Persons Multiplying One After Another, and Still It Does Not Come Up
The scripture will push it up one layer more: suppose there were further a second person who in a single thought could perform all the acts of offering that the former person and all the beings of countless worlds had performed through countless kalpas, and did so thought after thought; and the third person and on to the tenth were all the same, each in a single thought able to perform all the offerings of the one before him, with the articles offered, the buddhas to whom offering was made, and the kalpas passed through pushed all the way to the boundless, the incomparable, the uncountable, the unnameable, the unthinkable, the immeasurable, the untellable, and the untellably untellable.
This string of names of number is the scripture's own; read them through verbatim and that is enough — there is no need to convert them, and indeed they cannot be converted; they were never meant for reckoning, but for pushing the very matter of ‘reckoning’ to its end. And having pushed it to the end, the scripture still brings down the same words of comparison: this foregoing merit, set against the merit of a bodhisattva's first arousing of the mind, does not come up to one part in a hundred, and so on until it does not come up even to one part of the upaniṣad fraction.
With this, the eleven similes (or, by the segment-boundaries of the scriptural text, twelve segments) are all spoken. Chengguan's words, “each later one surpasses the one before it, and therefore in every case the former is set aside and a later one is raised up,” only here disclose their full intent: the discarding goes on and on until there is nothing further to raise, and the reader understands of himself — it is not that a simile large enough has not yet been found, but that the road of simile itself does not go there.
Setting It Forth Concisely in Terms of the Dharma, One: The Fulfilling of Understanding and Practice — Having Aroused the Mind, He Can Know and Believe the Buddhas of the Three Times
The similes having been spoken to the end, the scripture turns to “setting it forth concisely in terms of the Dharma,” that is, no longer making comparisons but speaking directly in terms of the substance of the Dharma. Chengguan divides this section into five, of which the first is the fulfilling of understanding and practice.
The scripture says: having aroused this mind, he can know the first attaining of right awakening and the entry into parinirvāṇa of all the buddhas of the limit of the past, can believe and understand all the roots of goodness of all the buddhas of the limit of the future, and can know all the wisdom of all the buddhas of the present; and all the merit those buddhas have, this bodhisattva can believe, receive, cultivate, obtain, know, realize, and accomplish, and can be the same with the buddhas in being of one nature. Then it sets out eleven clauses of “in order to … he aroused the mind,” answering to that earlier string in the explanatory text of the first simile.
One turn of phrase repays notice: of the buddhas of the past and present it says “can know,” and of the buddhas of the future it says “can believe.” This is no casual variation — the future has not yet come to be, so one can believe and cannot yet say one knows; and this is exactly the strictness of this scripture in its choice of words. Coming down to the ground: a practitioner may seek to know what has already come about, but toward what has not yet arrived he can only set up faith; faith and knowledge each have their place, and to confuse them is to fall into delusion.
Setting It Forth Concisely in Terms of the Dharma, Two: The Wondrous Fruit Yet to Be Accomplished — He Is Held in Mind by the Buddhas of the Three Times
The second section speaks of the fruit that arousing the mind will obtain. The scripture says: because he has aroused the mind, he is constantly held in mind by all the buddhas of the three times, and will obtain the unsurpassed awakening of all the buddhas of the three times; all the buddhas of the three times then bestow the wondrous Dharma upon him, and he is the same with all the buddhas of the three times in the nature of his substance; he has already cultivated the dharmas that aid the path of all the buddhas of the three times, and has accomplished their powers and fearlessnesses; he adorns the exclusive buddha-dharmas of all the buddhas of the three times, and completely obtains the wisdom of expounding the Dharma of all the buddhas throughout the Dharma realm. At the end it questions and answers itself: for what reason? Because, having aroused this mind, he will surely become a buddha.
The pivot of this section lies in the two words “will obtain.” The scripture does not say that one who arouses the mind is a buddha now; it says that the mind he has aroused settles that he will obtain the buddha-fruit, and therefore he is recounted in the virtues of the ground of the fruit. Chengguan touches this layer too when he determines the verses — the prose clarifies that first he is the same in the substance of the fruit and afterward the same in its function; the verses clarify that the function may be present now, while the fruit is clarified as yet to be obtained.
Let one misunderstanding be set aside: to hear “he is the same with all the buddhas of the three times in the nature of his substance” as ‘I am already a buddha’ is to turn what will be obtained into what has been obtained. The scripture itself gives the measure: held in mind, will obtain, is given the wondrous Dharma — all of these speak of the virtue of the fruit while standing in the station of the cause, and do not abolish the station of the cause.
Setting It Forth Concisely in Terms of the Dharma, Three: Sameness with the Buddha — What Exactly Is the Same?
The third section is extremely short, and yet it holds the weightiest sentence in the chapter: it should be known that this person is at once equal to the buddhas of the three times, is at once the same as the realm of the buddhas, the Tathāgatas of the three times, is at once the same as the merit of the buddhas, the Tathāgatas of the three times, and obtains the true and real wisdom of the ultimate sameness of the Tathāgata's single body and his measureless bodies.
What exactly is the same? The scripture raises three items: being equal, sameness of realm, sameness of merit; and then one clause more, the true and real wisdom of the ultimate sameness of the single body and measureless bodies. It is upon this very passage that Chengguan, explaining the title of the chapter, sets up the sense of “the opening forth of the three virtues” — being able to know the wisdom of the buddhas of the three times, forever cutting off the whole net of doubt, and obtaining the sameness of the Tathāgata's single body and measureless bodies. And he explains how this is possible: within the station of faith he has already long studied it to the end, and on arriving at this station he opens into awakening all at once, so that his achievement is on a level with the station of the fruit and the virtues he gathers in are boundless.
Someone will ask: how can one who has long practiced ignorance suddenly accomplish great wisdom? Chengguan's answer is beautifully put — have you not heard that a thousand years of darkness in a dark room is all at once removed in an instant by a single lamp? A thousand years of darkness does not need a thousand years to be driven off; one lamp is enough; and the number of the years of darkness has nothing to do with the brightness or dimness of the lamp. He answers a second question as well: have you not heard that an ordinary person wholly in bonds is able to know the secret treasury of the Tathāgata? Coming down to the ground: to imagine accomplishment as something that requires accumulating up to a certain quantity is to treat practice as wages paid by the hour; what the scripture and Chengguan speak of is a change of quality.
Setting It Forth Concisely in Terms of the Dharma, Four: He Can Perform the Buddha's Work — Eleven Things He Can Do at the Very Moment He Arouses the Mind
The fourth section speaks of what he can do the very moment he arouses the mind. The scripture says: at the very moment he arouses the mind, he is praised together by all the buddhas of the ten directions; he can expound the Dharma, teach, and tame all the sentient beings in all worlds; he can shake all worlds; he can illumine all worlds with light; he can extinguish the suffering of the evil destinies in all worlds; he can adorn and purify all lands; he can display the attaining of buddhahood in all worlds; he can cause all sentient beings to gain gladness; he can enter into the nature of the whole Dharma realm; he can uphold the lineage of all the buddhas; he can obtain the light of the wisdom of all the buddhas.
Notice the words here: “at the very moment” and “can.” Set beside the “will obtain” of the preceding section, the distinction stands out: the fruit is what will be obtained, the function is present now. When Chengguan determines the verses he says “the function may be present now, while the fruit is clarified as yet to be obtained” — and this is just what he means.
Let one misreading be set aside: these eleven clauses do not say that one who arouses the mind will at once put on a display of these transformations. The scripture's own sequence puts expounding the Dharma and teaching first and the shaking and illumining afterward, setting expounding the Dharma at the very front; and “displaying the attaining of buddhahood” stands in the same list as “entering into the nature of the whole Dharma realm,” from which one may see that what is spoken of is the aspect of the virtue's function and not a checklist of miracles. Coming down to the ground: when a person has truly aroused the mind, the first thing that changes is the way he speaks to sentient beings.
Setting It Forth Concisely in Terms of the Dharma, Five: Great Wisdom Present before Him — After All That Has Been Said, the End Is That Nothing Is Attained
The fifth section is the closing stroke of the chapter, and it closes with extreme coolness: this bodhisattva who has first aroused the mind has not, with regard to the three times, the least thing attained. That is to say: with regard to the buddhas, with regard to the dharmas of the buddhas; with regard to bodhisattvas, with regard to the dharmas of bodhisattvas; with regard to pratyekabuddhas, with regard to the dharmas of pratyekabuddhas; with regard to śrāvakas, with regard to the dharmas of śrāvakas; with regard to the world, with regard to the dharmas of the world; with regard to what transcends the world, with regard to the dharmas of what transcends the world; with regard to sentient beings, with regard to the dharmas of sentient beings. What he alone seeks is omniscience; toward the whole Dharma realm his mind is without attachment.
The foregoing has put the breadth of his virtue at its utmost, and here one sentence, “he has not, with regard to the three times, the least thing attained,” takes it all back. Chengguan, explaining the ground of the absence of attachment, gives one account thus: it is solely for the sake of awakening that it says he seeks omniscience, and he does not turn to seek anywhere else.
This section is the watershed of the chapter. Without it, all the praise before it might be read as a higher grade of covetousness — coveting a larger merit. With it, the praise before it can stand: the merit is truly vast, and yet the one who arouses the mind does not stand upon the merit. And the ground of it is very concrete: the disease most easily bred after arousing the mind is the feeling that one has aroused the mind and is therefore not like other people. That the scripture sets “without attachment” at the very end of the section of concise setting forth is precisely to block that disease off.
The Quaking of the Earth and the Arising of Offerings: At This Point the Ten Directions Quake
Dharma Wisdom has no sooner finished speaking than the scripture turns to narration: at that time, through the spiritual power of the Buddha, in each of the ten directions worlds as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands quaked in six ways — stirring, stirring everywhere, stirring everywhere alike; rising, rising everywhere, rising everywhere alike; surging, surging everywhere, surging everywhere alike; quaking, quaking everywhere, quaking everywhere alike; roaring, roaring everywhere, roaring everywhere alike; striking, striking everywhere, striking everywhere alike; and there rained down besides heavenly flowers, heavenly incense, heavenly powdered incense, heavenly flower-garlands, heavenly garments, heavenly jewels, and heavenly articles of adornment; heavenly music was played, and heavenly light and heavenly sound were sent forth.
The six kinds of quaking, each opened into three aspects, making eighteen, is the constant manner of this scripture when a great Dharma is proclaimed. The essential point is the cause the scripture marks out: through the spiritual power of the Buddha. The quaking of the earth is not Dharma Wisdom's own accomplishment; it is the attestation manifested by the Buddha's power.
Coming down to the ground: when a passage of Dharma has been spoken, how does one know it was spoken rightly? The world relies on the approval of people; within the scripture it relies on the earth's quaking and the buddhas' witness. This is not mythic decoration; it is stating a fact — the real Dharma has a weight of its own, and the speaker need not vouch for himself.
Verification from Other Quarters: The Buddhas of the Ten Directions, All Named Dharma Wisdom, Appear
Next, beyond worlds as many as the dust-motes of ten buddha-lands in each of the ten directions, there were buddhas as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands, all named Dharma Wisdom, who each made his own body appear and said before the Bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom: excellent, excellent, Dharma Wisdom, you are able this day to expound this Dharma; we too, buddhas as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions, all expound this Dharma, and all the buddhas expound it thus. And they said further: when you expound this Dharma, bodhisattvas as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands arouse the mind of awakening, and we this day all confer upon them the prediction that in ages to come, after a thousand untellable boundless kalpas have passed, within one and the same kalpa they will obtain buddhahood, all titled the Tathāgata Pure Mind, and the worlds in which they dwell will each be different.
Three things come down together: buddhas appear and bear witness; the one who expounds and the ones who bear witness share a name; and those who hear the Dharma receive their prediction on the spot. The intent of the shared name Dharma Wisdom is that ‘because the Dharma expounded is the same, the name is the same’; and the title, the Tathāgata Pure Mind, that they will bear in time to come sets the sense of this chapter into a buddha's very title — the purity of the mind is itself the fruit of arousing the mind.
Coming down to the ground: this passage is addressed to the reader. The scripture particularly records that bodhisattvas as many as the dust-motes of ten thousand buddha-lands aroused the mind while listening to this very chapter — that listening to this chapter and arousing the mind is a thing that has its record within the scripture itself.
The Concluding Statement That It Is Inexhaustible: The Ones Still Speaking Are Those Buddhas
The passage that follows says: just as in this Sahā world, in the four continents, on the summit of Mount Sumeru, a Dharma such as this is expounded, so that sentient beings who hear it receive the teaching; so too in the ten directions, a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas, countless and on to untellable, to the end of the Dharma realm and the realm of empty space, in all the worlds this Dharma is likewise expounded and sentient beings are taught; and those who expound the Dharma are all named Dharma Wisdom; and they all do so through the spiritual power of the Buddha, through the power of the World-Honored One's original vows, in order to reveal the buddha-dharma, in order to shine everywhere with the light of wisdom, in order to open up and set forth the true meaning, in order to cause them to realize the nature of dharmas, in order to cause the whole assembly to be gladdened, in order to reveal the cause of the buddha-dharma, in order to obtain the sameness of all the buddhas, and in order to comprehend that the Dharma realm is without duality.
Here a note must be bound as to whom the words belong. Chengguan particularly sorts it out: this passage is the concluding statement of the buddhas who bear witness, and not of the compilers of the scripture. Which is to say, this speech about ‘this Dharma being expounded everywhere throughout the ten directions’ is still in the mouths of those buddhas named Dharma Wisdom, and is not the narration of those who compiled the scripture. Misjudge this one stroke, and the provenance of the whole passage shifts.
Coming down to the ground: who is speaking within a scripture is part of the doctrine. The same sentence carries a different weight from a buddha's mouth than from a narrator's; and to read a scripture without attending to the speaker is often to read something other than the scripture.
The Manner of Speaking the Verses: For Whose Sake Are These Eleven Clauses Spoken?
Before the verses of repetition there is a passage on the manner of speaking them: at that time the Bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom universally beheld all the assemblies in the lands of the ten directions to the end of the realm of empty space; in order to bring all sentient beings to accomplishment, in order to purify all the fruits and retributions of deeds, in order to open and reveal the pure Dharma realm, in order to pull out the root of defilement, in order to increase vast faith-understanding, in order to cause the faculties of measureless sentient beings to be known, in order to cause the sameness of the dharmas of the three times to be known, in order to cause the realm of nirvāṇa to be contemplated, in order to increase his own pure roots of goodness — sustained by the majestic power of the Buddha, he thereupon spoke these verses.
Chengguan divides this passage into eleven clauses: the first clause and the last are the manner of speaking the verses, and the nine in between are the intent of speaking them; and he explains why the first and last are set apart — in order to display that all nine of the middle clauses are sustained by the Buddha's power and ought to reach through the ten directions. The nine middle clauses he determines as one general and the rest particular, and among the particular there are four couplets: purifying deeds and disclosing principle, removing delusion and opening faith, knowing the sickness and recognizing the medicine, contemplating the fruit and purifying the cause.
Coming down to the ground: to set out beforehand what a thing is done for, before expounding the Dharma, is the constant manner of this scripture. Among the nine middle clauses Chengguan determines, eight begin “in order that they may” and are all for sentient beings, while the last says “in order to increase his own pure roots of goodness” — within acting for others, self-benefit is not excluded, and the one who expounds is himself among those who profit. That clause is written with great honesty.
Why the Sequence of the Verses Differs from the Prose
Dharma Wisdom's verses of repetition are one hundred twenty-one in all. Chengguan divides them into three great segments: the first eighty-two verses leap ahead and praise the concise setting forth in terms of the Dharma; the next thirty-four turn back and praise the comparison by way of similes; the last five conclude the virtue and exhort and extol so that people may admire it and arouse the mind. And he points out that the division of praising the depth as hard to speak of pervades all three segments, because it is the root of both the prose and the verses and therefore is not praised separately.
What most easily trips the reader up is the sequence — the prose plainly speaks of the similes first and the Dharma afterward, while the verses praise the Dharma first and the similes afterward; and the five sections of the concise setting forth stand in the prose as the fulfilling of understanding and practice, the wondrous fruit yet to be accomplished, sameness with the Buddha, the ability to perform the buddha's work, and great wisdom present before him, whereas in the verses they run as the fulfilling of understanding and practice, the ability to perform the buddha's work, the obtaining of sameness with the Buddha, great wisdom present before him, and the wondrous fruit yet to be accomplished. Chengguan gives only one reason: that the text is not in sequence is because it displays that the virtue has no before and after. And he adds a layer: the prose is first sameness in the substance of the fruit and afterward sameness in its function, while the verses have the function present now and the fruit yet to be obtained, and because great wisdom runs through everywhere, before and after clarify each other.
Let one misunderstanding be set aside: the interweaving of the verses is not a slip in arrangement. If the virtue truly had a before and after, it would become a thing divisible into sections; that the scripture displays a virtue without before and after by means of an interwoven text is a matter of form, not of disorder.
Praising the Fulfilling of Understanding and Practice: Seventeen Verses on the Aspect of Arousing the Mind
The first segment of seventeen verses Chengguan determines as praising the prose's fulfilling of understanding and practice, and he says that the first verse raises in general that arousing the mind is the cause, while the remaining sixteen praise the earlier questioning and explanation, and are further divided into seven small sections, each matched to the clauses of the prose from “in order to fill and pervade all worlds” onward.
Several lines within these seventeen verses want singling out. “To benefit the world he arouses the great mind, and this mind reaches everywhere throughout the ten directions” — the opening line marks out first what it is for: arousing the mind is not for seeking ease for oneself. “Some buddha-lands abide upturned, some lie sideways or overturned, coarse ones, subtle ones, vast ones, of measureless kinds; once the bodhisattva has aroused this uppermost mind, he can go to them all without any obstruction” — this gathers the whole passage of mutual identity and mutual entering in the prose into a single verse. “His mind is vast, equal to the Dharma realm, without any support, without alteration, like empty space” — this speaks of the measure of the mind. “He knows the minds of sentient beings and yet has no conception that ‘there are sentient beings born’; he comprehends all dharmas and yet has no conception that ‘there are dharmas’; though he discriminates everywhere, in truth he does not discriminate” — this is the eye of the whole segment: to discriminate everywhere and yet not discriminate is the right construal of all the “knowing completely” that went before.
At the end of this segment, explaining the three verses from “the net of doubt of the three times he has already removed” onward, Chengguan lists ten kinds of obstruction — the obstruction of the defilement of afflictions, of confusion and inversion upon contact with objects, of long-continued indolence, of grasping and clinging to cause and fruit, of being led astray by wrong teachings and wrong teachers, of heading toward the lower vehicle, of coarse marks appearing before one, of having no capacity for the practice that goes everywhere, of giving rise to understanding that merely follows words, and of not forgetting the capable and the object — and says that the ten clauses each have one antidote in order. Coming down to the ground: these ten obstructions make an excellent table for self-examination, counting from the coarsest afflictions all the way to the subtlest “not forgetting the capable and the object,” each later one harder to notice than the last.
Praising the Ability to Perform the Buddha's Work: Seventeen Verses on the Virtue's Function Present Now
The second segment of seventeen verses Chengguan determines as leaping ahead to praise the prose's “ability to perform the buddha's work,” and he divides it in all into ten to match the clauses of the prose (of the prose's eleven clauses, the clause “he can obtain the light of the wisdom of all the buddhas” has no verse-section set up for it separately): the first two verses praise expounding the Dharma and teaching, because compassion and wisdom lead each other; one verse praises the buddhas' praise; one verse praises the shaking of the worlds; six verses praise the extinguishing of the suffering of the evil destinies; one verse praises the illumining of the worlds with light; one verse praises the adorning and purifying of the lands; one and a half verses praise the gladdening of sentient beings; one and a half verses praise entering into the nature of the whole Dharma realm; half a verse praises the upholding of the lineage of all the buddhas; one and a half verses praise the displaying of the attaining of buddhahood.
Two verses in this segment are worth stopping over. “In order that sentient beings may gain deliverance, to the end of the future he benefits them everywhere; through long toil his mind is never wearied, and even the suffering of the hells he willingly accepts” — to say that even the hells are willingly accepted is the weightiest line on great compassion in the chapter; so many inconceivable functions of virtue have been spoken of before, and where it comes to rest is on the willingness to undergo suffering. Another verse, “upon the tip of a single hair he displays a multitude of buddha-lands, and the great bodhisattvas fill them all,” puts the prose's sense of mutual identity to use in the matter of display.
Coming down to the ground: the core of what is called performing the buddha's work is not the ability to do extraordinary things, but the ability to bear suffering for sentient beings. Without the latter line to hold up the former, supernormal power becomes a display of skill.
Praising the Obtaining of Sameness with the Buddha: Eighteen Verses on the Realm of Sameness with the Buddha
The third segment of eighteen verses Chengguan determines as turning back to praise the prose's “obtaining of sameness with the Buddha,” and divides it into four: the first three and a half verses praise sameness of the realm of the buddhas; the next four and a half praise sameness of merit; one verse praises the sameness of the single body and measureless bodies; and the last nine praise the true and real wisdom. The last nine are again divided into four: the first four praise the arousing of the vast mind that leaves behind all false imagining; the next two praise the arousing of the vast mind that exhausts the three limits; the next two praise the arousing of the vast mind that accords with nirvāṇa and awakening; and the last verse concludes with an exhortation.
The doctrinal weight of this segment falls on the graph “conception.” “All worlds are only conception, and within it the many kinds are each different; he knows that the realm of conception is perilous and deep, and therefore manifests supernormal penetration and rescues them into liberation” — the world is conception, and the realm of conception is at once perilous and deep. Next: “all worlds are only the force of conception; with wisdom he enters within them and his mind is without fear” — because he knows it to be conception, he enters and is unafraid. Next again: “the discrimination of grasper and grasped are both left behind; in defilement and in purity alike there is nothing grasped; whether bound or liberated, in wisdom it is all forgotten” — even the discrimination of bondage and liberation is set down.
Let one misunderstanding be set aside: to say that the world is only conception is not to say that the world does not exist and may therefore be ignored. The scripture goes straight on to say “therefore manifests supernormal penetration and rescues them into liberation” and “he wishes only to give happiness to sentient beings everywhere” — it is precisely because he knows it to be like a conjuring that he is able to move to save. Coming down to the ground: to see through and yet be unwilling to save is annihilation; to be willing to save and yet not see through is bondage. These eighteen verses put the two together in one place.
Praising Great Wisdom Present before Him: Six and a Half Verses on the Wisdom That Grasps Nothing
The fourth segment of six and a half verses Chengguan determines as praising the prose's “great wisdom present before him,” and he says the first verse concludes what precedes and gives rise to what follows, while the rest properly praise great wisdom present before him, matching verse by verse the prose's string of ‘with regard to the buddhas and the dharmas of the buddhas, with regard to bodhisattvas and the dharmas of bodhisattvas, with regard to the world and the dharmas of the world’ — the item of the two vehicles is passed over in the verses; and the last half-verse praises the prose's closing words, “his mind constantly calls to mind the buddhas of the ten directions” being the seeking of omniscience alone, and “and yet leans on nothing and grasps at nothing” being the mind without attachment toward the whole Dharma realm.
What matters most in this segment is its correspondence with the last section of the prose. The prose says “he has not, with regard to the three times, the least thing attained,” and the verses say “measureless worlds are all ground down into dust-motes, and within each single dust-mote are measureless buddha-lands; the buddhas within them too are measureless, and he can see them all clearly and grasp at nothing” — seeing the measureless and grasping not a fraction. And again: “his mind is vast, like empty space; toward the affairs of the three times he is clear and comprehending; all doubts are already removed, and he contemplates the buddha-dharma rightly and grasps at nothing.”
Coming down to the ground: clear comprehension and not grasping are two faces of one thing. One who cannot see clearly is in no position to speak of putting down, since he has not really taken up; and one who sees clearly and still clings is bright but not wise. That the scripture ranges “sees them all clearly” and “grasps at nothing” side by side, clause upon clause, is to forbid anyone to take only one side.
Praising the Wondrous Fruit Yet to Be Accomplished: Twenty-Three and a Half Verses on the Fruit to Be Accomplished in Time to Come
The fifth segment of twenty-three and a half verses is the longest; Chengguan determines it as praising the prose's “wondrous fruit yet to be accomplished,” and divides it into nine: the first three and a half verses praise being constantly held in mind by the buddhas; half a verse praises the obtaining of unsurpassed awakening in time to come; half a verse praises the bestowing of the wondrous Dharma (and explains that “the Dharma of the Great Person” is the eight awakenings of a great person); one verse praises sameness in the substance of a buddha; one verse praises the having already cultivated the dharmas that aid the path; six verses praise the accomplishing of the powers and fearlessnesses; five verses praise the adorning of the exclusive buddha-dharmas; five verses praise the obtaining of the wisdom of the buddhas' expounding of the Dharma; and the last verse concludes that the virtue is inexhaustible and ascribes it to the first mind.
Among these, the six verses praising the ten powers most repay close reading: from “what is and what is not the case for sentient beings, together with the differences among the retributions felt through the many kinds of deeds” onward, they speak verse by verse of what is and is not the case, the retribution of deeds, the many kinds of natures, the many kinds of understandings, dhyāna and liberation and samādhi, former lives, and the exhaustion of the outflows, closing with “toward the ten powers of the Buddha the bodhisattva, though he has not yet realized them, is without any doubt.” Chengguan says these six verses set out at length the separate names of the ten powers while abbreviating the general title of the fearlessnesses, and that the last half-verse displays the exact measure. That line “though he has not yet realized them, is without any doubt” is precisely where the chapter takes its exact measure — it does not say he has realized, only that he has no doubt; the station of the cause does not usurp the station of the fruit, and yet faith is not discounted in the least.
Further down, five verses speak of buddha-lands appearing in a pore and measureless buddha-lands within a single dust-mote, praising the exclusive buddha-dharmas by way of the unobstructedness of phenomenon with phenomenon. Coming down to the ground: this segment is the fullest place in the chapter for the teaching of “will obtain,” and in reading it one must keep hold of that word “will” — it will be obtained and has not been obtained, and therefore one must still cultivate; there is no longer any doubt and yet no realization, and therefore one does not turn back.
Properly Praising the Foregoing Similes: Fourteen Verses Turning Back to Praise the Comparison Again
The second great segment of thirty-four verses Chengguan divides into two: the first fourteen properly praise the foregoing similes, and the latter twenty explain in general the reason the similes do not come up to it.
These fourteen verses answer the prose's similes in order: giving ease, exhorting to keep the five precepts and the ten good deeds and the four dhyānas and the four immeasurables, causing them to cut off delusions and become arhats, and teaching koṭis of beings to become pratyekabuddhas — these praise the first simile; a single thought passing beyond buddha-lands as many as dust-motes praises the second; the boundless measure of the kalpas praises the third; desires and delights, means, and what the mind pursues praise the fourth through the eighth; the delusions and deeds continuing on in the three modes of existence praise the ninth and the tenth; and the three verses from “in a single thought he makes offerings to boundless buddhas” onward praise the eleventh. The closing line of every verse comes to rest on the same sense: though those accumulations of merit are measureless, they cannot be compared with the merit of arousing the mind; the number of those buddha-lands may still be reckoned, but the merit of arousing the mind cannot be known; though that person's accumulation of merit is again abundant, still it does not match the vastness of the merit of arousing the mind.
Coming down to the ground: what the prose took the better part of a fascicle to say, the verses finish in fourteen. This shows precisely that the similes are not the purpose of this chapter, only a stair; and once a stair has been used it may be put away.
Explaining in General the Reason They Do Not Come Up: Twenty Verses on the Root Ground
Of the latter twenty verses Chengguan says that although it was explained concisely before, only here is it discerned at length. He divides them into three: the first half-verse concludes what precedes and gives rise to what follows; the next seventeen and a half properly explain the ground; and the last two conclude that the virtue is inexhaustible. Within the proper explanation there are again three: the first verse sets up the headings, the next twelve and a half explain them separately, and the last four display that the virtue is perfectly complete. The two headings set up are: that what it brings forth is inexhaustible, and that its substance and aspect are without limit.
“The many and various similes that have been spoken — none of them is able to come up to the mind of awakening; for the Honored Ones among humankind of the three times are all born from the arousing of the mind” — this verse is the setting up of the headings: no simile comes up to it, because all the buddhas of the three times are born from it. Next, “arousing the mind is unhindered and without any bound; would one seek its measure, it cannot be found” speaks of the substance and aspect being without limit; and “arousing the mind is vast, equal to empty space, and the merit it brings forth is equal to the Dharma realm” speaks of both headings together.
Within the separate explanation there is a string of words of the greatest weight: the mind of awakening is the root of the ten powers, and is the root too of the four eloquences and the fearlessnesses, and the eighteen exclusive dharmas are likewise so; the bodies of the buddhas adorned with form and mark, together with the equal and wondrous dharma-body, all come to be by reason of arousing the mind; all the vehicles of the pratyekabuddhas and the śrāvakas, the joy of the samādhis of the dhyānas of the form realm, and the samādhis of the formless realm all take arousing the mind as their root; all the joys of sovereign freedom of humans and gods and the many kinds of joy within the destinies — there is none that does not come from the first arousing of the mind. Upon this Chengguan determines: because it cultivates the six perfections, it is the root of the bodhisattva vehicle; because it exhorts to right practice, it is the root of the vehicle of humans and gods; because it sets forth the subtle undertakings and penetrations, it is the root of the nirvāṇa of the three vehicles.
This passage turns back and answers the earlier question — why is it that even the fruit of the two vehicles and the joys of humans and gods cannot be compared with arousing the mind? Because they were born out of arousing the mind to begin with. Coming down to the ground: from beginning to end this chapter belittles no good dharma whatever; it only points out where they come from.
Displaying That the Virtue Is Perfectly Complete, and the Concluding Exhortation: Therefore One Ought Quickly to Arouse the Mind
The last two verses of the second great segment conclude that the virtue is inexhaustible: the Tathāgatas of the worlds of the ten directions all together praise the first arousing of the mind; this mind is adorned with measureless merit, and can reach the further shore and be the same as the Buddha; with kalpas as many as the number of sentient beings one might speak of its merit and could not tell it to the end, for he abides within the vast household of the Tathāgata, and among the dharmas of the three realms there is none that can serve as a simile for it.
The third great segment of five verses is the concluding exhortation. Chengguan divides it into three: the first half-verse properly exhorts; the next three and a half explain the ground of the exhortation, raising in general that it is complete in all virtues; and the last verse concludes the exhortation to arouse it quickly. And so the opening line is “would you know all the dharmas of the buddhas, then you ought quickly to arouse the mind of awakening,” and the closing line is still “would you see all the buddhas of the ten directions, would you give the inexhaustible treasury of merit, would you extinguish the many sufferings and afflictions of sentient beings — then you ought quickly to arouse the mind of awakening.”
The end of the chapter comes to rest not upon praise but upon the one word “quickly.” After all that has been said of the inconceivable, at the last the reader is asked to do one thing — to arouse the mind now. Coming down to the ground: all the comparisons of this chapter are in the end not meant to make anyone marvel; they are meant to make him move. If a reader finishes and feels only that the merit of arousing the mind is very great while he has not himself aroused it, then for him this chapter is as good as unread.
Lineage
The sense of this chapter was carried forward by the various masters, all of it recorded, with no adjudication. The line of Chengguan: he explains the whole chapter under the three gates of the reason for its coming, the explanation of the name, and the tenet and aim, together with a division at length into seven; he determines the comparison as eleven great similes; he establishes the ground of the similes not coming up to it upon “not confining himself within a bound”; he explains mutual identity and mutual entering under the three gates of the interfusing of the nature of dharmas, dependent origination, and the absence of intrinsic nature; he determines the clauses on the sameness of kalpas as the unobstructedness of phenomenon with phenomenon and “kalpas entering what is not a kalpa” as the unobstructedness of principle with phenomenon; and he outlines the verses of repetition as one hundred twenty-one in three great segments, explaining their interweaving with “that the text is not in sequence is because it displays that the virtue has no before and after.” The two similes he sets up for ‘how the first mind can be at once on a level with the buddha-fruit’ — the single lamp in a dark room and the tiny drop entering the heavenly pool — are the settled reading of this chapter in the hands of the Huayan school. The line of Fazang: on the sixty-fascicle text he explains arousing the mind by “original awakening perfuming from within, and the great mind first arising,” and determines that this chapter clarifies only the profound wonder of the distinct teaching of the One Vehicle, differing from the two preceding chapters which run through both the common and the distinct teachings; his threefold division of the section of answering (praising in general its profundity so as to give rise to longing, comparing so as to display its excellence and give rise to pure faith, discerning its depth in its very aspect so as to give rise to right understanding) divides in terms of the sequence of teaching and is not the same outline as Chengguan's division by segments of text; and his outline of the verses is bound to the six clauses of praising the depth in the Jin translation and set up in four great segments. The line of Zhiyan: he determines the comparison as twelve similes and divides them into five classes, divides the joining up of the similes into seven, and warns those who come after that “here one must not outline finely; if it is fine, then the purport is lost”; he further determines the verse text of the Jin translation as two hundred forty-one and a half verses, which with Chengguan's determination of one hundred twenty-one for the Tang translation is not a differing computation of one and the same text. The line of Li Tongxuan: he praises in general with “raise up what is equal to empty space, and there is nothing to liken it to in kind; grind up all the lands into dust-motes, and there is nothing to match it with,” and speaks of the first mind not differing in substance from the Buddha by the three similes of the little stream entering the great sea, the eldest son of a wheel-turning king, and the cub of a lion king; in following the text he divides into segments by counts of lines, and of the verse text he says “four lines make one verse; as the text is complete of itself, there is no need to explain further,” setting up no verse-outline at all.
Of one passage the four masters outline densely, or sparsely, or not at all; of one simile they make it eleven, or twelve; of the one sense that arousing the mind is the same as the Buddha, they explain it by the opening forth of the three virtues, or by original awakening perfuming from within, or by gathering the beginning in by the end, or liken it by the substance of the water not being different. These several accounts have been there from of old, and are recorded, with no adjudication as to which stands higher.
Beyond this chapter, the “wisdom of the supernormal penetration that fully knows all kalpas” with which the third simile concludes is pointed out by Chengguan as, in the text that follows, the supernormal penetration among the ten of knowing to the end of the kalpas of the limit of the future; and at the explanation of the name he points to “for the rest, as in the chapter Foremost in Worthiness,” from which one may see that the sense of the merit of arousing the mind had its antecedent already in the second assembly. Receiving from above the doubt of “The Practice of Brahmacarya” and opening below the practice of “Clarifying the Dharma” — the place of this chapter among the six chapters of the third assembly is just that joint which takes up the understanding of the preceding chapter and starts the practice of the one that follows.
品十八 明法品Clarifying the Dharma
全文五層 →Full five layers →這一品接在哪裡，就決定了它問什麼
前一品〈初發心功德品〉把「初發心」的功德校量到人間言語的盡頭：一發心的功德，用無量劫、無量佛剎微塵數的譬喻去比，還是比不到。讀完那一品，人容易停在一個飽足的地方——原來發心這麼了不起。這一品就是接著問：既然這麼了不起，接下來呢？
澄觀判本品的來意說得極直：前面明的是「當位所成之德」，這裡辨的是「趣後勝進之行」。前品說『你已經有了什麼』，本品說『你接下來要做什麼』。法藏判法完全相同——前明自分，今顯勝進。智儼說得更實際：用前面所修的行德再往上修，是為後面的諸地作方便。李通玄則不繫一品，而繫前五品：昇須彌頂、偈讚、十住、梵行、初發心功德，這五品的法門已經說完了，本品是要令前面的更明白、令後面的更轉勝。
所以這一品的體裁不是『講一個道理』，是『開一張行單』。全品十四番十法群組，一番接一番，中間夾著隨機說法段、紹隆三寶段、善見藥喻。有人讀到一半會嫌它像清單。這個嫌棄要先排掉：清單正是本品的義理形式——功德已經成就的人，最需要的不是再聽一遍功德多大，而是知道下一步腳往哪裡放。落到自己身上：一個人心裡若已生起『我要成佛』的念頭，這一品是專門寫給那個念頭之後的第二天早晨的。
品名為什麼叫「明法」
「明法」二字，四位古德給了四種讀法，而且互不相同，這件事本身就值得先看。
澄觀說，準照梵本，這一品該譯作『法光明品』；他開四義：一是說法慧菩薩的智慧對進趣的行法照了分明，「明」指所知之法；二是「明」為能詮、「法」為所詮，合起來就叫「明有法故、法之明故」；三是「明」為智之用、「法」為理行果之境，境智合說；四是所修的行法本身離無明，法就是明。法藏的四義不同軌：他說「後位行法垂明前位」，又說「明是教、法是義」「明是智、法是境」，最後說智行離染當體就叫明。智儼分兩義：約教，教法照理現前故名明；約行，由行增勝而後位之相現前。李通玄不訓字，直接說這一品的作用——令前五品之法「其心更明」、令後所行之法「轉勝明白」。
先問一句：為什麼一個品名要開這麼多義？答案在「明」與「法」的關係本來是活的。明可以是能照的智，法可以是所照的境；明也可以是被照亮的那個法本身。四家不過是把這幾種可能各自站定一邊。排一個誤讀：不要以為其中一家對、其他三家在敷衍。他們處理的是同一個字組的不同側面，古德的作法是各說其所依而並存。落到讀法上：一個名字若只能有一種解釋，多半是它太窄了。
精進慧問（一）：十句問，問的是『怎麼做』不是『有多好』
精進慧菩薩開口先領受前品的成果——初發求一切智心的菩薩，已經成就無量功德、具大莊嚴、昇一切智乘、入菩薩正位、捨世間法得出世法、為三世諸佛攝受、決定至無上菩提。澄觀把這一段科為「領前自分勝德」，並拆成七句：領德、領乘、領位、領道、領攝受之勝緣、領當果。他還老實加了一句限制：這是就當住之位而釋，若說要通攝上位，道理上不是不通，但在「求勝進」這個意思上就不貼切。
領完之後才是問。澄觀判這十句問分三段：前五句自利而兼利他——一問云何修習能令佛歡喜，二問順法入位，三問順行，四問順願，五問順德而積德成藏；次四句利他而兼自利，束成兩對——一對是常說法而不捨自行，一對是下念眾生、上弘三寶；最後一句「善根方便皆悉不虛」總結二利不落空。
這個科的關鍵在哪裡？在第一句。澄觀特別點出：「修習」這兩個字既是總、又是別——總則遍通下面九句，別則專指策勤，也就是下文答中所說的「不放逸」。換句話說，十個問題其實只有一個答案的根，後面十四番法都從「不放逸」長出來。落到自己身上：人問『我該修什麼』的時候，往往期待得到十件不同的事去做；本品的答法是先給你一件事，再讓那一件事開出十四番。
精進慧問（二）：第二重問，問的是『用什麼因能成這個果』
「復次」以下是第二重問。這一段列了一長串德相：滅無明黑暗、降伏魔怨、制諸外道、永滌煩惱心垢、成就善根、永出惡趣諸難、淨治大智境界、成就諸地諸波羅蜜總持三昧六通三明四無所畏、莊嚴佛土相好身語心行、善知如來力無所畏不共佛法、隨心樂取佛土隨根隨時說法、乃至守護諸佛所集法藏而諸魔外道無能沮壞。
讀到這裡最容易誤會：以為精進慧在羅列菩薩的成就以作讚歎。澄觀把這個誤會直接堵死了。他說這一段有十二事，而每一事的問法都一樣：「一能滅無明，未審修何行法而能滅耶？諸句皆爾，意在徵因。」——問的不是『這些德有多殊勝』，是『修什麼才能有這些德』。這一判定了全品答文的體裁：法慧下面所答的十四番，句句都是因，不是果相的鋪陳。
澄觀在此處還順手釋了兩個詞。一是無明：他說無明不是『沒有明的那個空缺』，而是「無明有體、黑闇為用」，別有一個惑體在，由它而事理皆昧。二是心垢：「心垢即是所知，亦名習氣」——「永滌一切煩惱心垢」的心垢，繫在所知障那一邊，不是煩惱障的重複。落到修行上：這兩句合起來是說，要滅的東西是實有其體的，不能靠『不去想它』滅掉。
精進慧重宣頌：十一偈把問再問一次
長行問完，精進慧以偈重宣。澄觀判這十一偈為「初一讚說者、餘十頌上文」——第一偈「大名稱者善能演」是讚歎法慧堪說，後十偈才是重頌前面的問。十偈之中，前四頌所修的行體，後五頌行所成之德；後五之中又分前三頌因德、後二頌結因成果。
頌獨有而長行未顯的，是末後兩偈的三個譬喻：「云何無畏如師子，所行清淨如滿月？云何修習佛功德，猶如蓮華不著水？」長行問「云何修習」是質直的問法，這裡換成三個形象——無畏要像師子，行淨要像滿月，處世要像蓮華不著水。先問：為什麼問到最後要改用譬喻？因為前面九偈問的都是『做什麼』，這三句問的是『做成之後是什麼樣子』。人需要一個可以指認的樣子，才知道自己走到了沒有。排一個誤解：不要把這三喻當作修飾。答文後面雖不逐喻回答，但十四番法一路答下去，末後的答頌以象王、師子、山、海、大雨五喻收，正是對這三喻的回應——問方以三喻求相，答方以五喻示相。
法慧許說：這個問題本身就是一種成就
法慧的第一句不是答，是印。他說「善哉！佛子！」，然後給了三個理由：這一問是為了多所饒益、多所安樂、多所惠利，是哀愍世間諸天及人而問菩薩所修的清淨之行。接著印精進慧的身分：「汝住實法，發大精進，增長不退，已得解脫；能作是問，同於如來。」
「能作是問，同於如來」——這句話值得停一下。它說的不是恭維，是一個判準：問題的品質等於問者的位置。什麼樣的人才問得出『功德已經成就了，然後呢』？只有已經走到那個位置、而且不肯停在那裡的人。澄觀與法藏在這一點上判得一樣：法藏說，若不是勤策照理的根機，就沒有資格承受勝進轉增之法；若不是具足洞真淨行之法，就沒有能力宣說；所以是精進慧問、法慧說。智儼說得更簡：不精進行，就受不了這個勝進法；稱法之慧，才申得了這個教。
法慧接著說「我今承佛威神之力，為汝於中說其少分」。兩件事在這句裡：一，所說是承佛威神，不是自逞辯才；二，所說只是少分。全品十四番法看似浩大，在說者自己看來仍是「少分」。落到讀者身上：這是一個尺度——你讀到的清單不是全部，只是可以說出來的那一部分。
十法之一 不放逸：全品的總門
法慧正答的第一句不是十法，是一句前提：「菩薩摩訶薩已發一切智心，應離癡暗，精勤守護，無令放逸。」發心之後最危險的不是退失，是鬆手。所以第一番法就是不放逸——這正回應了澄觀所判「修習」一言別指策勤。
十法逐條：一者護持眾戒——不放逸的第一相不在心裡，在身口的界限上；沒有戒的守護，念頭的守護是空談。二者遠離愚癡、淨菩提心——菩提心會被污染，污染它的是癡；所以淨心的作法是去癡，不是加念。三者心樂質直、離諸諂誑——質直是對己不欺、對人不飾；諂誑之所以是放逸，因為它要不斷編造，編造就無法安住。四者勤修善根無有退轉——善根要修才生，修了會退，所以不放逸包含「不停」這一義。五者恒善思惟自所發心——常常回頭看自己當初發的是什麼心；發心不是一次性的事件，是需要反覆確認的坐標。六者不樂親近在家出家一切凡夫——這一條最刺耳，須讀準：所簡的是「凡夫」這個共通處，不是在家人或出家人的身分；同處於未離癡者之中而樂於相親，心就隨之下沈。七者修諸善業而不願求世間果報——同一件善事，求人天果報就成了流轉的資糧；不放逸也管著動機。八者永離二乘、行菩薩道——放逸不只是懈怠，取小果而自足也是一種放逸，因為它提早收工。九者樂修眾善令不斷絕——「樂」字要緊：靠意志撐的善會斷，靠樂的善才續。十者恒善觀察自相續力——最後一條回到內觀：常常察看自己心念相續的力道還在不在。這十條從戒起、到觀心止，由外而內，是一條完整的自我守護線。
十法之二 不放逸十種清淨：住不放逸之後長出來的十樣東西
第一番說怎麼不放逸，第二番說不放逸住穩了會得到什麼。這是本品的接法——前番之果即後番之因。
十清淨逐條：一者如說而行——言行合一是第一清淨，因為不放逸最先淨化的就是言與行之間的縫。二者念智成就——念是不忘、智是能斷，二者同成，記得住又判得明。三者住於深定不沈不舉——定的清淨不在深，在平：昏沈與掉舉兩邊都離。四者樂求佛法無有懈息——求法之心不疲，是心力清淨的驗相。五者隨所聞法如理觀察，具足出生巧妙智慧——聞而不觀，法只是資訊；觀察是把聞轉成智的那道工序。六者入深禪定得佛神通——通從定出，不從願求出。七者其心平等無有高下——對境不起高低，這是我慢淨化的相。八者於諸眾生上中下類心無障礙，猶如大地等作利益——大地不擇高下而普載；心對三品眾生無隔，就是那樣。九者若見眾生乃至一發菩提之心，尊重承事猶如和尚——只要有人動了一念菩提心，就以受戒和尚之禮敬他；敬的不是那個人的現況，是那一念的方向。十者於授戒和尚及阿闍梨、一切菩薩、諸善知識、法師之所，常生尊重，承事供養——第九敬初發心者，第十敬已教我者；前後合成一條完整的敬田。
這一番之末還有一段收尾：住不放逸者發大精進、起正念、生勝欲樂、所行不息，於一切法心無依處，於甚深法能勤修習，入無諍門，增廣大心，佛法無邊而能順了知，令諸如來皆悉歡喜。澄觀在此判「上九結前、第十生後」——前面九句是結前面的，第十句是生起後面的，所以下一番就接『能令諸佛歡喜』。經文的接榫在這裡是明的，不是編者的排列。
十法之三 令佛歡喜（一）：十件事讓佛歡喜
「令諸如來皆生歡喜」是十句問的第一問，這裡開始正答，而且連答兩番。
第一番十法：一者精進不退——歡喜的第一因不是成果，是不退這件事本身。二者不惜身命——肯把最後的底線交出去，佛才知道這人是真的。三者於諸利養無有希求——修行若還盯著供養，方向就已經岔了。四者知一切法皆如虛空——這一條把前三條的道德色彩拔掉：不惜身命若沒有「法如虛空」墊底，只是壯烈。五者善能觀察普入法界——觀察是別、普入是總，別觀而後能總入。六者知諸法印心無倚著——知法印卻不倚著法印，連正確的知見也不當作扶手。七者常發大願——願是把智慧接回眾生的那條線；沒有它，前六條會停在自受用。八者成就清淨忍智光明——忍與智合說：能忍是因為看清了，不是因為忍得住。九者觀自善法心無增減——看自己的善，不因多而喜、不因少而怯；這是最難的一條，因為修行人最容易在這裡起伏。十者依無作門修諸淨行——最後歸到無作：修而不見有能修所修。十條由行入理、由理攝願、最後歸於無作，是一條完整的下降線。
先問一句：佛何以會因這些而歡喜？不是佛需要什麼。歡喜是相應的另一個名字——這十件事做到了，這個人的心就與佛的心同一方向，同向就叫歡喜。
十法之四 令佛歡喜（二）：十個「安住」
同一件事再答一番，這一番不用『一者、二者』，改用「所謂」，十條都以「安住」起頭。體例的改變本身是義理：前一番說『做什麼』，這一番說『站在哪裡』。
逐條：安住不放逸——第一番的總門在這裡成了第一個住處，可見不放逸不是入門的階梯而是始終的地基。安住無生忍——忍於諸法不生之理，這是理上的住。安住大慈——與樂之心為住。安住大悲——拔苦之心為住；慈悲分列，不合為一，因為與樂與拔苦是兩種不同的用力方向。安住滿足諸波羅蜜——住在『十度都不缺』這件事上，不許偏修。安住諸行——住於行，不住於行的成果。安住大願——願要住得久，不是發得高。安住巧方便——方便不是權宜之計，是可以安住其中的一種智。安住勇猛力——力也是住處：不是偶爾發勇，是常在勇中。安住智慧，觀一切法皆無所住，猶如虛空——最後一條把前九條的「住」全部翻過來：住在「無所住」上。
排一個誤讀：不要以為第十條否定了前九條。前九是有處可站，第十是知道那個站處也不是實有；兩者同時成立，才是本品所說的安住。落到自己身上：人需要立足點才能行動，但把立足點當成實地，行動就會被它綁住。
十法之五 速入諸地：十件事讓人快進諸地
第二問「入諸菩薩所住之處」的正答。此處的「地」是所趣，不是所住——本品是地前趣地之行，智儼判本品來意時說得清楚：用前面的行德再修，是為後面的地作方便。
逐條：一者善巧圓滿福智二行——入地的資糧是福與智兩條腿，缺一條走不動。二者能大莊嚴波羅蜜道——不是修一點度，是把度修成莊嚴。三者智慧明達不隨他語——到這一步要有自己的判斷力，聽人說什麼就轉的人進不了地。四者承事善友恒不捨離——與第三條並不矛盾：不隨他語是不被言語牽動，承事善友是不離真正的引路人。五者常行精進無有懈怠——地與地之間沒有捷徑。六者善能安住如來神力——承接加持也是一種能力，要「善能安住」才受得住。七者修諸善根不生疲倦——疲倦是入地路上最實際的敵人。八者深心利智，以大乘法而自莊嚴——澄觀在此判「深心契寂、利智貫達」，以這兩法莊嚴於法：深心向下契入寂靜，利智向前貫通事相。九者於地地法門心無所住——過了一地不留戀一地；停在成果上就上不去。十者與三世佛善根方便同一體性——最後一條把個人的修行接到三世諸佛的同一體性上，個人的地就不是個人的了。
過渡段 初住地時應善觀察：知一切法皆是自心
十法說完，經文插入一段不列數目的話。這一段是全品長行中最靠近「理」的一處，值得單看。
它說菩薩最初住地的時候應當善觀察：隨其所有的一切法門、甚深智慧、所修因、所得果、境界、力用、示現、分別、所得，全都善加觀察。然後是那一句：「知一切法，皆是自心，而無所著；如是知已，入菩薩地，能善安住。」
先問：前面九個「隨其所有」逐一觀察，為什麼結論是「皆是自心」？因為觀察到最後，會發現所觀察的因果、境界、力用，沒有一項在心外另有安立處。但經文緊接著加了「而無所著」四個字——這四個字防的正是「皆是自心」最容易生的病：把「心」再立成一個可執的實體。知是自心，同時不著於心，這才入地。
接下來菩薩自己作了一段思惟：我們應當速入諸地；為什麼？因為地地中住就成就廣大功德，具功德已漸入佛地，住佛地已能作無邊廣大佛事，所以應當常勤修習、無有休息、無有疲厭。李通玄讀「入諸地」一句時說，這是在初發心住位上就遍知諸住諸行諸迴向諸地的法門，因為「一即一切故、一切即一」。他的讀法與依科逐句釋者不同軌，是把十地的次第讀成一乘的重重無盡。此判為通玄所立，誌錄之。
十法之六 所行清淨：十件事讓所行乾淨
第三問「一切大行皆得清淨」的正答。
逐條：一者悉捨資財，滿眾生意——行的清淨從捨起，而且標準在「滿眾生意」，不在自己捨了多少。二者持戒清淨無所毀犯——捨之後立刻是戒，防的是『我已經布施了』的鬆懈。三者柔和忍辱無有窮盡——忍要沒有窮盡，就是不設『忍到這裡為止』的線。四者勤修諸行永不退轉——精進在此。五者以正念力心無迷亂——念力是行的方向盤。六者分別了知無量諸法——慧的分別力；沒有它，前五條會盲修。七者修一切行而無所著——修而不著，行才乾淨；著了就有垢。八者其心不動，猶如山王——山王喻定：外境搖不動。九者廣度眾生，猶如橋梁——橋梁喻用：任人踩踏而只管通渡。十者知一切眾生與諸如來同一體性——最後一條給前九條一個理由：為什麼要這樣度眾生？因為眾生與如來同一體性，度他就不是施恩。
第八與第九兩喻並列，是本品體用不二最明白的一處：不動的是心，能度的也是這顆心；山與橋不是兩件事。
十法之七 十種增勝法：行清淨之後又獲得的十樣
經文說「菩薩既得行清淨已，復獲十種增勝法」——這一番是果，不是另一組要修的行。
逐條：一者他方諸佛皆悉護念——行淨的第一個徵驗是外護自來。二者善根增勝超諸等列——同輩之中自然超出，不是刻意超出。三者善能領受佛加持力——加持一直都在，能領受是新得的能力。四者常得善人為所依怙——好的同行者會出現。五者安住精進恒不放逸——回到不放逸，可見不放逸在本品中既是起點也是每一輪的復歸點。六者知一切法平等無異——理上的增勝。七者心恒安住無上大悲——悲心從偶發變成常住。八者如實觀法出生妙慧——慧從觀出，不從思辨出。九者能善修行巧妙方便——有了慧才有真方便。十者能知如來方便之力——最後一條是能認得佛的方便：知道佛為什麼那樣說、那樣現。澄觀於此番判為十勝之次——一他力勝、二自善勝、三深定勝、四同行勝、五助道勝、六真智勝、七意樂勝、八觀慧勝、九修行勝、十增進勝——逐條標其所勝之處，可見這十條不是平列，是層層增上。
十法之八 十種清淨願：菩薩的十個願
第四問「所有大願悉使滿足」的正答之前半——先說發什麼願，下一番才說怎麼令願圓滿。此番體例特別，用『一願、二願』到「十願」。
逐條：一願成熟眾生無有疲倦——願的第一件事是人，不是法。二願具行眾善淨諸世界——自行眾善而其效在淨世界，個人修行與國土清淨接在一起。三願承事如來常生尊重——尊重要「常生」，不是一次的感動。四願護持正法不惜軀命——法比命重，這是願的重量所在。五願以智觀察入諸佛土——入佛土靠的是智觀，不是移動。六願與諸菩薩同一體性——與同行者同體，不只是合作。七願入如來門了一切法——由門而入，了法而非集法。八願見者生信無不獲益——願自己成為一個『被看見就有益』的存在；這一願直接呼應後面的善見藥喻。九願神力住世盡未來劫——住世之久以未來劫為量。十願具普賢行，淨治一切種智之門——最後歸普賢行，一切種智之門要「淨治」而非「取得」。
十法之九 大願圓滿：十件事讓大願不落空
願發了會不會落空？這一番答的就是這個。
逐條：一者心無疲厭——願的第一殺手是厭。二者具大莊嚴——願要有相稱的莊嚴撐住，否則願大而器小。三者念諸菩薩殊勝願力——常想別的菩薩發過什麼願，自己的願就不會縮。四者聞諸佛土悉願往生——聽到哪裡有佛土就願去，願的方向不設限。五者深心長久盡未來劫——深與久兩件事並提：不深則不久。六者願悉成就一切眾生——不揀擇對象。七者住一切劫不以為勞——時間長不算苦。八者受一切苦不生厭離——苦不算苦。九者於一切樂心無貪著——樂也不算樂；第七八九三條合起來，是把時間、苦、樂三種會讓願變形的力量都拆掉。十者常勤守護無上法門——最後回到守護法門，與第八願「護持正法不惜軀命」相接。
十法之十 十無盡藏：願滿之後所得的十藏
經文說「菩薩滿足如是願時，即得十種無盡藏」。此番不用序數，用「所謂」直列十名，每一名都以「無盡藏」結。
逐條：普見諸佛無盡藏——所見之佛無盡。總持不忘無盡藏——所記持之法無盡。決了諸法無盡藏——所決斷之法義無盡。大悲救護無盡藏——所救護之眾生無盡。種種三昧無盡藏——所入之定門無盡。滿眾生心廣大福德無盡藏——能滿眾生心的福德無盡。演一切法甚深智慧無盡藏——能演法的智慧無盡。報得神通無盡藏——由業報自然而得的神通無盡；「報得」二字要看住，這不是修來的神變表演。住無量劫無盡藏——所住之時無盡。入無邊世界無盡藏——所入之處無盡。
先問：為什麼願滿之後所得的是「藏」？因為藏是可以取用而不減的意思。前面十願是往外發的，這十藏是往回收的——發出去的願越滿，回來的容量越大。李通玄讀此處說，這是「體一即一切無限」，其無盡不在數目多，在體上本來無限。此判為通玄所立，誌錄之。排一個誤解：不要把無盡藏想成庫存。庫存會用完，藏之所以無盡是因為它不是攢出來的。
隨機說法：十種人，十種說法
得藏之後，福德具足、智慧清淨，於是能「隨其所應而為說法」。經文先給說法的前提：知其所作、知其因緣、知其心行、知其欲樂——四個「知」在前，說法在後。
然後逐一列出所對之機與所說之法：貪欲多者為說不淨——對治貪的是觀身不淨。瞋恚多者為說大慈——對治瞋的是與樂之心。愚癡多者教勤觀察——對治癡的不是給答案，是教他自己去觀。三毒等者為說成就勝智法門——三毒平均而無偏重的人，不用個別對治，直給勝智法門。樂生死者為說三苦——貪著生死之樂的，就把苦苦、壞苦、行苦攤開給他看。若著處所，說處空寂——執著某個地方（包括所謂的修行處），就說處所本空。心懈怠者說大精進。懷我慢者說法平等——慢的解藥是看見法本身無高下。多諂誑者為說菩薩其心質直——不直接責備諂誑，而是給他一個質直的樣子看。樂寂靜者廣為說法，令其成就——這一條最有意思：喜歡寂靜的人，反而要為他「廣說」，免得他停在靜裡不出來。
十機十藥，一一相對而不重複。落到自己身上：這一段可以當鏡子照——先認得自己是哪一機，才知道自己該先聽哪一段法。
說法時另有一串規矩：文相連屬而義無舛謬、觀法先後以智分別、是非審定不違法印、次第建立無邊行門令眾生斷疑、善知諸根令入如來教、證真實際知法平等、斷諸法愛除一切執、常念諸佛心無暫捨、了知音聲體性平等、於諸言說心無所著、巧說譬諭無相違反。這一串講的是說法者自己的心：說法不是只管聽者，說的人若對言說有著、對法有愛，說出來的法就已經帶病。
十法之十一 十波羅蜜清淨：說法之後，回頭淨自己的十度
經文接著說，菩薩這樣為眾生說法，「則自修習，增長義利，不捨諸度」——說法不是消耗自己，是自修的一部分。然後逐一說十度各自的清淨相。
檀波羅蜜——為令眾生心滿足，內外悉捨而無所著；捨得徹底而不記得自己捨過。尸波羅蜜——具持眾戒而無所著，永離我慢；持戒最常生的垢是「我持戒」的慢。忍波羅蜜——忍受一切諸惡，於諸眾生其心平等無有動搖，譬如大地能持一切；忍的樣子是承載，不是壓抑。精進波羅蜜——普發眾業常修靡懈，所作恒不退轉，勇猛勢力無能制伏，於諸功德不取不捨而能滿足一切智門；「不取不捨」四字是精進的清淨處，取則成執、捨則成廢。禪波羅蜜——於五欲境無所貪著，諸次第定悉能成就，常正思惟而「不住不出」，逆順次第入諸三昧，於一三昧門入無邊三昧門；不住是不黏在定裡，不出是不落到定外。般若波羅蜜——於諸佛所聞法受持，近善知識承事不倦，隨所聽受如理思惟，入真三昧離諸僻見，善觀諸法得實相印，了知如來無功用道，乘普門慧入一切智智之門；李通玄釋「普門慧」為遍知眾生諸根及法智、一切智智種種差別智，此釋出通玄，誌之。方便波羅蜜——示現世間作業、教化眾生而不厭倦，或現凡夫或現聖人，或現生死或現涅槃，遍入諸趣度脫眾生；方便的清淨在『示現而不貪著』。澄觀判此一度自具十種，是『十中有十』之處。願波羅蜜——連用十個「盡」字：盡成就眾生、盡莊嚴世界、盡供養諸佛、盡通達無礙法、盡修遍法界行、身盡未來劫、智盡知一切心念、盡覺悟流轉還滅、盡示現一切國土、盡證得如來智慧；願的清淨相就是這個「盡」。力波羅蜜——具深心力、深信力、大悲力、大慈力、總持力、辯才力、波羅蜜力、大願力、神通力、加持力，各繫一個「故」字說明所以；十力之中前四是內、後六是用。智波羅蜜——知貪行者、知瞋行者、知癡行者、知等分行者、知修學地行者，一念中知無邊眾生行、知無邊眾生心、知一切法真實、知一切如來力、普覺悟法界門；智的清淨相是「知」，而所知從眾生的行起、到法界門止。
十度說完，經文說菩薩「住大莊嚴菩薩乘中」。澄觀在此判：住大莊嚴者，是總結十度為嚴，這就是大乘之體。先問：為什麼十度講完才說「住大乘」？因為大乘不是一個宗派的名字，是這十件事合起來的那個承載量。
隨念說法：十種眾生，十種度法
十度既淨，菩薩「隨其所念，一切眾生皆為說法」。這裡又是一組十對，與前面隨機說法段的十機不同——前一組依煩惱之偏重分，這一組依所處之境分。
墮惡道者教使發心——已經在最壞的地方，第一件事仍是發心。在難中者令勤精進——難中不勸忍受，勸精進。多貪眾生示無貪法。多瞋眾生令行平等。著見眾生為說緣起——執著見解的人，緣起是解藥，因為緣起說明沒有一個定見可執。欲界眾生教離欲恚惡不善法。色界眾生為其宣說毘鉢舍那——李通玄釋此云色界眾生為住定故，教令起觀；住在定樂裡的人缺的是觀。無色界眾生為其宣說微妙智慧——通玄云無色界為修無相觀故，教微妙智慧。二乘之人教寂靜行。樂大乘者為說十力廣大莊嚴。
這一段末尾回溯到菩薩往昔初發心時：見無量眾生墮諸惡道，作大師子吼說『我當以種種法門，隨其所應而度脫之！』——現在的十種說法，兌現的是當初的那一句。
紹隆三寶：三寶之種何以不斷
這一段是全品最被古德看重的一段。法藏依它別造《三寶章》，於六十本的疏中自注「此中有三寶章，如別說」——疏文與別章互證，在華嚴一家中以本品為最顯。
經文分四番說三種不斷。第一番依教化：教眾生發菩提心，故佛種不斷；常為眾生開闡法藏，故法種不斷；善持教法無所乖違，故僧種不斷。第二番依修行：稱讚一切大願故佛種不斷；分別演說因緣之門故法種不斷；常勤修習六和敬法故僧種不斷。李通玄釋六和敬為身、口、意、戒、施、見六事；智儼所釋小異，作身口意業及見戒施同。二家所列六目相同而次第有異，誌錄之。第三番依荷擔：於眾生田中下佛種子故佛種不斷——通玄釋此云，是示一切眾生菩提理智，並以微少善根為勝緣；澄觀於同段則云是種子令成佛智、謂證真如成無漏。二釋一從所化、一從所成，並錄。護持正法不惜身命故法種不斷；統理大眾無有疲倦故僧種不斷。第四番總攝：於三世佛所說之法、所制之戒皆悉奉持而心不捨離，故佛法僧種永不斷絕。
先問：為什麼三寶會斷？因為三寶在世間的存在方式是「相續」，不是「安置」。佛種靠人繼續發心而續，法種靠人繼續說法而續，僧種靠人繼續和合而續；沒有人做，它就斷在這一代。這一段之所以能獨立成章，正在它把一個看似體制性的問題還原成每一個修行人的日課。
經文結語說：菩薩如是紹隆三寶，一切所行無有過失，隨有所作皆以迴向一切智門，是故三業皆無瑕玷；無瑕玷故，所作眾善乃至一念無有錯謬，皆與方便智慧相應，無空過者。澄觀釋「空」字云，此「空」義兼「無失」，因為一切清淨、離煩惱故——所以「無空過」不只是『沒有白費』，是『沒有過失』。
十法之十二 十種莊嚴：念念之間的十種相
「菩薩如是修習善法，念念具足十種莊嚴」——莊嚴不在事後，在念念之間。此番每一條都帶一個「故」字說明所以。
逐條：身莊嚴，隨諸眾生所應調伏而為示現故——身之美不在色相，在能應機而現。語莊嚴，斷一切疑皆令歡喜故——語之美在能斷疑。心莊嚴，於一念中入諸三昧故。佛剎莊嚴，一切清淨離諸煩惱故——國土的莊嚴繫於離惑，不繫於七寶。光明莊嚴，放無邊光普照眾生故。眾會莊嚴，普攝眾會皆令歡喜故。神通莊嚴，隨眾生心自在示現故——神通的莊嚴在「隨眾生心」，不在稀奇。正教莊嚴，能攝一切聰慧人故——正教之驗是聰慧的人肯來。涅槃地莊嚴，於一處成道周遍十方悉無餘故——在一處成道而十方無餘，這是本經一多相即之義在莊嚴目下的落點。巧說莊嚴，隨處隨時隨其根器為說法故。
十種莊嚴之後，經文說身語意三業「皆無空過，悉以迴向一切智門」。澄觀於此判其文有標、徵、釋之三分，並釋「無失即自業不空，順止寂故」。
見者不空過與善見藥喻：被看見的那一刻已經是法
十莊嚴之後，經文轉了一個彎——不說菩薩做了什麼，說別人碰到他會怎樣：若有眾生見此菩薩，當知亦復無空過者，因為他必當成無上正等正覺的緣故。然後列出十一種接觸方式：若聞名、若供養、若同住、若憶念、若隨出家、若聞說法、若隨喜善根、若遙生欽敬，乃至稱揚讚歎名字，都當得無上正等正覺。這一串由重到輕：從同住、隨出家這樣的深度交往，一路輕到「遙生欽敬」與『稱揚名字』——連最輕的那一種也算數。
接著是全品唯一的獨立譬喻：「佛子！譬如有藥，名為：善見，眾生見者，眾毒悉除；菩薩如是成就此法，眾生若見，諸煩惱毒皆得除滅，善法增長。」智儼判此段具足法、喻、合三分。
這個喻的要害在「見」字。藥通常要服食才有效，善見藥只要看見。先問：為什麼要用這樣一味藥？因為前面十種莊嚴說的正是「相」——身莊嚴、語莊嚴、光明莊嚴、眾會莊嚴，都是可以被看見的。當一個人的整個存在方式已經被法整治過，他的在場本身就是法。排一個誤解：這不是說有人可以靠瞻仰而不修。經文說得明白，除毒的是藥，不是看的人聰明；而這味藥之所以成藥，是前面十四番法一條一條修出來的。落到自己身上：這一喻既是安慰也是要求——安慰的是遇見善知識的人，要求的是被人遇見的人。
成德十二句：以什麼，成什麼事
善見藥喻之後，經文回到菩薩自身，用一串「以……」句說他怎麼把前面所問的十二事一一辦成。此段依底本實計為十二句，其中十句標「力」，餘二句作「以智慧明」「以金剛定」，不冠「力」字；與前面各番之十數不同，也不設「何等為十」的標數。
逐句：以智慧明滅諸癡闇——回答問中第一事「滅除一切無明黑暗」。以慈悲力摧伏魔軍——降魔用的是慈悲，不是更大的力。以大智慧及福德力制諸外道——制外道要智福雙備。以金剛定滅除一切心垢煩惱——心垢是所知，所以要金剛定。以精進力集諸善根。以淨佛土諸善根力遠離一切惡道諸難。以無所著力淨智境界——智境的淨化靠的是不著。以方便智慧力出生一切菩薩諸地、諸波羅蜜及諸三昧、六通、三明、四無所畏。以一切善法力成滿一切諸佛淨土、無邊相好，身語及心具足莊嚴。以智自在觀察力知一切如來力、無所畏、不共佛法悉皆平等。以廣大智慧力了知一切智智境界。以往昔誓願力隨所應化，現佛國土，轉大法輪，度脫無量無邊眾生。
這十二句與前面精進慧第二重問的十二事一一相對——問時說『云何能滅無明』，答時說「以智慧明，滅諸癡闇」。澄觀所判「意在徵因」，到這裡兌現得最明白：每一句的重心都在「以」字之後的那個力。
大法師：勤修此法之後成什麼
末後一大段說果：菩薩勤修此法，次第成就諸菩薩行，乃至得與諸佛平等，於無邊世界中為大法師，護持正法。澄觀在請說分處早已判過：護持正法便等佛故，所以偏明之——這正是本品末段何以獨詳大法師的緣由。
大法師之相，經文分幾層說。先說所得：為諸佛護念、守護受持廣大法藏、獲無礙辯、深入法門。次說身與音：於無邊世界大眾中隨類不同而普現其身，色相具足最勝無比；音圓滿善巧分布故能令聞者入無盡智慧之門；言音具足清淨故一音演暢能令一切皆生歡喜；身端正有大威力故處於眾會無能過者。再說十二句「……故」（其中九句標「自在」，「善知眾心故」「善巧說法故」「得無所畏故」三句不冠自在）：善知眾心故能普現身、善巧說法故音聲無礙、得心自在故巧說大法無能沮壞、得無所畏故心無怯弱、於法自在故無能過者、於智自在故無能勝者、般若波羅蜜自在故所說法相不相違背、辯才自在故隨樂說法相續不斷、陀羅尼自在故決定開示諸法實相、辯才自在故隨所演說能開種種譬諭之門、大悲自在故勤誨眾生心無懈息、大慈自在故放光明網悅可眾心。
然後是一句極重的話：菩薩處於高廣師子之座演說大法，唯除如來及勝願智諸大菩薩，其餘眾生無能勝者、無見頂者、無映奪者；想用難問令他退屈，是不可能的事。先問：這是在誇耀嗎？下一段給了答案。
經文設一個極端場景：假使有不可說世界那麼大的道場，滿中眾生，每一個眾生的威德色相都像三千大千世界之主，菩薩才一現身就映蔽全場。但緊接著說他做什麼——「以大慈悲安其怯弱，以深智慧察其欲樂，以無畏辯為其說法，能令一切皆生歡喜。」映蔽是為了安慰怯弱，不是為了壓服。這一轉把前面所有的「無能勝者」全部收在慈悲之下。
最後經文自問「何以故」，答以十一句「成就……故」：成就無量智慧輪故、無量巧分別故、廣大正念力故、無盡善巧慧故、決了諸法實相陀羅尼故、無邊際菩提心故、無錯謬妙辯才故、得一切佛加持深信解故、普入三世諸佛眾會道場智慧力故、知三世諸佛同一體性清淨心故、成就三世一切如來智與一切菩薩大願智能作大法師開闡諸佛正法藏及護持故。末一句最長，把「如來智」「菩薩大願智」與『開闡正法藏並護持』三事收成一句——大法師之所以是大法師，不在辯才，在他所承的是三世諸佛的智與一切菩薩的願。
重宣頌：十偈把答收起來
法慧承佛神力以十偈重宣。澄觀判這十偈分二：前六偈頌前面十種所成的行體，後四偈頌行所成之德。他還逐偈配了對應——初二偈頌佛喜，其中初半偈頌不放逸、餘頌佛喜；第三偈頌入地及大行大願；第四偈頌菩薩藏及隨應說法；第五偈頌不捨自行諸度及所念眾生皆令得度；第六偈上半頌不斷三寶、下半頌善根方便皆悉不空。
頌獨有而長行未以此形式出的，是末後兩偈的五個譬喻：「進止安徐如象王，勇猛無畏猶師子，不動如山智如海，亦如大雨除眾熱。」澄觀逐喻配前文：身儀安諦頌前現身、辨德威猛頌前以無畏辯、心定不動頌安其怯弱、智深如海頌以深智慧、法雨滅障頌前而為說法。
回頭看：精進慧問時以師子、滿月、蓮華三喻求相，法慧答時以象王、師子、山、海、大雨五喻示相。中間隔著十四番法。問的人要一個樣子，答的人先給一條路，走完了才把樣子還給他——這是本品的答法，也是本品最深的教學意思。
結說：契理合機
品末一句：「時，法慧菩薩說此頌已，如來歡喜，大眾奉行。」澄觀釋此云：契理合機，故佛喜眾奉。上契於理，所以佛歡喜；下合於機，所以大眾奉行。全品從『云何令諸如來皆生歡喜』問起，到「如來歡喜」結束——問的那件事，在說法這件事本身上先兌現了一次。澄觀於此標「第三會竟」，法藏於六十本同標第三會竟；忉利天宮一會至此結束。
承衍
本品之義為後世三軌所承，並錄不判。
澄觀一系：以請說、正說、結說三分立科，逐番與經文十法群組一一相扣，不另立異說；於品名則不用「明法」而準梵本主張「法光明品」，開四義通有財、持業二釋。其釋文之特色有三：一是判十句問為初五自利兼他、次四利他兼自、末一總結二利不虛，並指「修習」一言即下文之不放逸，把十問收歸一根；二是判「復次」以下十二事「意在徵因」，定全品答文之體裁；三是於問文「同灌其頂」一句準梵本主張迴文，作「一切如來共所守護同灌其頂」。此三判皆澄觀所立，誌錄之。
法藏一系：所釋為六十本〈明法品第十四〉，四門同前而各與澄觀異——釋名四義以「後位行法垂明前位」為初義；宗趣四種明法明列理法、行法、教法、果法，並判本品「正明行法兼明餘三」；釋文三分作請分、說分、證信分，第三分之名與澄觀之結說分不同。其於本品最重之事，是依「紹隆三寶」一段別造《華嚴經明法品內立三寶章》，於疏中自注「此中有三寶章，如別說」；又於《雜孔目章》立「明法品初立五停心觀章」，依本品隨機說法段之貪瞋癡等對治別立五觀，並立「明法品內通依五乘定其解行損益分齊義」一章。一品之經文而生二書三章，於華嚴一家中，本品之被別造為最重。此皆法藏所立，誌錄之。
李通玄一系：不依四門，作釋品名目、釋品來意、隨文釋義三門；釋名不訓字而繫作用——令前五品之法其心更明、令後所行之法轉勝明白。其判位曰本品是「修十行之向，長養本位十住之法」，與依地前趣地而判者異。其長科經意計行數而不計句：請法分長行三十三行半、通偈頌五十五行，許說分六行，正說分直至品末。其釋義多從一乘無盡處立——釋「速入諸地」云於初發心住位即遍知諸住諸行諸迴向諸地法門，「為一即一切故、一切即一」；釋十無盡藏云「計體一即一切無限」。末並判第三會之三分：〈昇忉利天宮品〉是序分，〈偈讚品〉以下是正說分，動地興供是流通分。此一讀法與依科分義者異，古有此說，誌錄之。
智儼一系：辨名分約教、約行二義；辨文不作三分而作問答二分加末後略結流通。其特色在計句而自標不定——答文「有一百七十句，亦可百八十句耳」，利他段「有四十，亦可五十句」，又云「前二十句亦可三十句也」，並自注「諸十文各有四：初生起、次問、三答、四結，亦有不定者，可准思之」。古德於科句之處自留餘地，此是一例，誌錄之。
四家於本品之異，集中在三處：釋名（澄觀準梵本改題而開四義·法藏另立四義·智儼二義·通玄不訓字而繫作用）、科文（澄觀三分·法藏三分而末分名異·通玄三段計行·智儼問答二分加略結）、答文之量（智儼計一百七十句而自云亦可百八十·法藏計十八種行所成德·澄觀計二十句判前十始修後十終成·通玄計行不計句）。四家並行，皆古德成說，誌錄之，不判高下。
至於本品之承衍典據，與〈十地品〉不同——本品並無牒經逐句而釋之別行論，法藏之《三寶章》是依一段別造之專章，非全品牒釋。華嚴宗綱領諸書《華嚴一乘教義分齊章》《十玄門》《華嚴經旨歸》《法界玄鏡》《修華嚴奧旨妄盡還源觀》與《大乘起信論義記》於「明法品」皆零命中，據實記闕。
Where This Chapter Comes In Decides What It Asks
The preceding chapter, The Merit of the First Arousing of the Mind, measured the merit of that first arousing out to the very end of what human speech can say: the merit of a single arousing of the mind, compared by measureless kalpas and by similes as many as the dust-motes of measureless buddha-lands, still cannot be reached. Having read that chapter, one easily comes to rest in a place of satisfaction — so this is how great the arousing of the mind is. And this chapter asks the next question: since it is so great, what comes next?
Chengguan's determination of the reason this chapter comes is put with the utmost directness: what was set forth earlier is “the virtue accomplished at the present station,” what is discerned here is “the practice of pressing on excellently to what follows.” The preceding chapter says ‘what you already have’; this chapter says ‘what you are to do next’. Fazang's determination is exactly the same — earlier what was set forth was one's own portion, now what is displayed is the pressing on. Zhiyan puts it more practically: one takes the virtue of the practice already cultivated and cultivates further, and this serves as the skillful means for the grounds that come after. Li Tongxuan, for his part, attaches it not to one chapter but to five: Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru, Verses of Praise, The Ten Abodes, The Practice of Brahmacarya, and The Merit of the First Arousing of the Mind — the Dharma-gates of those five chapters have now been set forth, and this chapter is to make what precedes clearer and to make what follows turn more excellent.
So the form of this chapter is not ‘to expound a principle’ but ‘to open a work-list’. The whole chapter has fourteen rounds of ten-dharma sets, one round after another, with the passage on teaching according to capacity, the passage on continuing and raising high the Three Jewels, and the simile of the medicine Well-Seen set among them. Some readers, halfway through, will find it list-like and be put off. That distaste should be cleared away first: the list is precisely the doctrinal form of this chapter — one whose merit is already accomplished needs least of all to hear once more how great that merit is, and needs most of all to know where the next footfall goes. Brought down to oneself: if the thought ‘I will become a buddha’ has already arisen in someone's heart, this chapter is written expressly for the morning after that thought.
Why the Chapter Is Named “Clarifying the Dharma”
The two graphs of the name have been read in four ways by four of the ancient masters, and the four do not agree with one another — a fact worth looking at before anything else.
Chengguan says that, rendered in accordance with the Sanskrit text, the chapter should be called ‘the chapter of the Light of the Dharma’; and he opens four senses. First, because the wisdom of the bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom illumines clearly the practices by which one presses on, “brightness” points to the Dharma that is known. Second, “brightness” is that which expresses and “the Dharma” is that which is expressed, and taken together this is called “because there is a Dharma that has brightness, and because it is the brightness of the Dharma.” Third, “brightness” is the function of wisdom and “the Dharma” is the object, principle, practice, and fruit, object and wisdom being spoken of together. Fourth, the substance of the practice cultivated is itself apart from ignorance, so that the Dharma just is brightness. Fazang's four senses run on a different track: he says that the dharma of practice of the later station sheds brightness upon the earlier station; then that brightness is the teaching and the Dharma is the sense; then that brightness is wisdom and the Dharma is the object; and last that when wisdom and practice are apart from defilement, that very aspect is named brightness. Zhiyan divides it into two senses: with respect to the teaching, the teaching illumines and makes principle appear, and so is named brightness; with respect to practice, by the growing excellence of practice the character of the later station appears. Li Tongxuan does not gloss the graphs at all, but states directly what this chapter does — it makes the dharmas of the preceding five chapters “clearer in the mind,” and makes the dharmas practiced afterward “turn more excellent and plain.”
Ask first: why should the name of one chapter open into so many senses? The answer is that the relation between “brightness” and “the Dharma” is by nature a living one. Brightness may be the wisdom that illumines and the Dharma the object illumined; brightness may also be that very Dharma which is lit up. The four masters have simply each taken their stand on one of these possibilities. Clear away one misreading: do not suppose that one of them is right and the other three are making do. They are handling different faces of the same pair of graphs, and the way of the ancient masters is that each states what he rests upon and all are allowed to stand. Brought down to how one reads: a name that can bear only one explanation is usually a name that is too narrow.
Diligent Wisdom's Question (1): What Is Asked Is ‘How to Do It’, Not ‘How Fine It Is’
The bodhisattva Diligent Wisdom opens by receiving the result of the preceding chapter — a bodhisattva who has first aroused the mind that seeks omniscience has already accomplished measureless merit, is furnished with vast adornment, has mounted the vehicle of omniscience, entered the correct station of a bodhisattva, forsaken the dharmas of the world and gained the dharmas that go beyond it, been taken in and sustained by the buddhas of the three times, and is certain to arrive at unsurpassed awakening. Chengguan outlines this section as “receiving the excellent virtue of one's own portion above,” and breaks it into seven clauses: receiving virtue, receiving the vehicle, receiving the station, receiving the path, receiving the excellent conditions by which one is sustained, and receiving one's fruit to come. He also honestly adds a limit: this is explained with respect to the present abode-station; if one were to take it as gathering in the higher stations, nothing in principle would fail to hold, but with respect to the sense of ‘seeking to press on excellently’ it would not be apt.
Only after the receiving comes the question. Chengguan determines that these ten clauses of question divide into three sections. The first five are for one's own benefit while including others — the first asks how one is to cultivate so as to make the buddhas rejoice; the second, complying with the Dharma and entering the station; the third, complying with practice; the fourth, complying with vows; the fifth, complying with virtue, since accumulated virtue forms a treasury. The next four benefit others while including oneself, and bind into two pairs — one pair is constantly to teach the Dharma without forsaking one's own practice; the other is, below, to be mindful of beings and, above, to spread abroad the Three Jewels. The last clause, “the roots of goodness and the skillful means are all not in vain,” concludes generally that the two benefits do not fall empty.
Where does the point of this outline lie? In the first clause. Chengguan singles it out: the word “cultivate” is both general and particular — generally it pervades the nine clauses that follow, particularly it means the spurring on of diligence, which is exactly the “non-negligence” of the answer below. In other words, the ten questions have in truth only one root to their answer, and all fourteen rounds of dharmas that follow grow out of “non-negligence.” Brought down to oneself: when a person asks ‘what should I cultivate’, he usually expects to be handed ten different things to do; the way this chapter answers is to give him one thing first, and then to let that one thing open into fourteen rounds.
Diligent Wisdom's Question (2): What Is Asked Is ‘By What Cause Is This Fruit Accomplished’
From “Furthermore” onward comes the second round of questioning. This section sets out a long string of characters of virtue: extinguishing the darkness of ignorance, subduing the hosts of Māra, restraining the followers of other paths, washing clean forever the afflictions and the stains of mind, accomplishing the roots of goodness, coming forth forever from the evil destinies and calamities, purifying the realm of great wisdom, accomplishing the grounds, the perfections, the retentions, the samādhis, the six superknowledges, the three clear knowledges, and the four fearlessnesses, adorning the buddha-lands and the marks and signs and the practice of body, speech, and mind, knowing well the powers, fearlessnesses, and exclusive dharmas of a tathāgata, taking up buddha-lands according to what beings delight in and teaching according to their faculties and the season, and even guarding the treasury of Dharma gathered by the buddhas so that the hosts of Māra and the other paths cannot ruin it.
Here the misunderstanding comes easiest: that Diligent Wisdom is listing the accomplishments of a bodhisattva by way of praise. Chengguan blocks that misunderstanding outright. He says this section has twelve matters, and that the manner of asking in every one of them is the same: “First, he is able to extinguish ignorance — but by cultivating what dharma of practice is he able to extinguish it? All the clauses are like this; the intent lies in asking after the cause.” What is asked is not ‘how excellent these virtues are’ but ‘what must one cultivate in order to have them’. This settles the form of the whole chapter's answering text: the fourteen rounds that Dharma Wisdom sets forth below are, clause by clause, causes, and not a display of the characters of the fruit.
Chengguan here also explains two terms in passing. The first is ignorance: he says ignorance is not ‘the empty place where brightness is absent’, but that “ignorance has a substance and darkness is its function” — there is a separate substance of delusion, and by it both phenomena and principle are obscured. The second is the stains of mind: “the stains of mind are just the knowable, and are also called the residual habits” — the stains of mind in “washing clean forever all the afflictions and the stains of mind” belong on the side of the obstruction of the knowable, and are not a repetition of the obstruction of the afflictions. Brought down to practice: these two together say that the thing to be extinguished really has a substance of its own, and cannot be extinguished by ‘not thinking about it’.
Diligent Wisdom Restates in Verse: Eleven Verses Asking the Question Again
The prose question finished, Diligent Wisdom restates it in verse. Chengguan determines these eleven verses to be “the first praises the one who speaks, the remaining ten restate the text above” — the first verse, “You of great renown are well able to expound,” praises Dharma Wisdom as fit to speak, and only the latter ten restate the preceding question. Of those ten, the first four restate the substance of the practice cultivated and the latter five the virtue accomplished by that practice; and of the five, the first three restate the virtue of the cause and the last two the concluding of cause into fruit.
What the verses have and the prose did not display are the three similes of the last two verses: “How is one to be fearless as a lion, his practice pure as the full moon? How is one to cultivate the merit of a buddha, like a lotus flower that does not cling to the water?” The prose asked “how is one to cultivate,” which is a plain manner of asking; here it is changed into three images — fearlessness should be like a lion, purity of practice like the full moon, being in the world like a lotus that does not cling to the water. Ask first: why should the last of the asking turn to simile? Because the nine verses before asked ‘what to do’, while these three ask ‘what it looks like once done’. A person needs a recognizable look before he can tell whether he has arrived. Clear away one misunderstanding: do not take these three similes as ornament. Although the answering text does not reply to them simile by simile, the fourteen rounds of dharmas run their course and the closing verses of the answer gather up five similes — elephant king, lion, mountain, ocean, great rain — and this is precisely the response to those three: the questioner asks for a character by three similes, the answerer displays a character by five.
Dharma Wisdom Consents to Speak: The Question Itself Is an Accomplishment
Dharma Wisdom's first sentence is not an answer but a confirmation. He says “Excellent! Son of the Buddha!” and then gives three reasons: this question is asked in order to bring much benefit, much ease and joy, much profit, and out of pity for the gods and men of the world, and it asks about the pure practice cultivated by the bodhisattvas. Then he confirms the standing of the questioner: “You abide in the real dharma, you have aroused great diligence, you have grown and do not turn back, and you have already gained liberation; that you can put such a question is the same as the Tathāgata.”
“That you can put such a question is the same as the Tathāgata” — this sentence is worth pausing over. It is not a compliment but a criterion: the quality of a question equals the position of the one who asks. What kind of person can ask ‘the merit is already accomplished, and then what?’ Only one who has already walked to that position and is unwilling to stop there. Chengguan and Fazang determine this in the same way. Fazang says that were it not a capacity that spurs itself on diligently and illumines principle, it would not be fit to bear the dharma of pressing on excellently and increasing further; and were it not one who possesses the dharma of penetrating the real with pure practice, he would have no ability to speak it — therefore Diligent Wisdom asks and Dharma Wisdom speaks. Zhiyan puts it more briefly: without diligent practice one cannot bear this dharma of pressing on; only a wisdom that accords with the Dharma can set forth this teaching.
Dharma Wisdom then says, “I now, sustained by the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha, will speak for you a small part of what is contained herein.” Two things stand in that sentence: first, what is spoken is sustained by the Buddha's awesome power and is not a display of the speaker's own eloquence; second, what is spoken is only a small part. The fourteen rounds of dharmas of the whole chapter, vast as they look, are in the speaker's own eyes still a “small part.” Brought down to the reader: this is a measure — the list you are reading is not the whole, only that portion of it which can be said.
The First of the Ten-Dharma Sets, Non-Negligence: The General Gate of the Whole Chapter
Dharma Wisdom's first sentence of proper answer is not the ten dharmas but a premise: “A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has already aroused the mind of omniscience should keep far from the gloom of delusion, guard himself with diligence, and not let himself fall into negligence.” After the arousing of the mind the greatest danger is not falling away but letting go. So the first round of dharmas is non-negligence — which answers exactly to Chengguan's determination that the single word “cultivate” points particularly to the spurring on of diligence.
The ten dharmas, item by item: first, upholding the many precepts — the first character of non-negligence is not in the mind but at the boundaries of body and speech; without the guarding of the precepts, the guarding of thought is empty talk. Second, keeping far from delusion and purifying the mind of awakening — the mind of awakening can be defiled, and what defiles it is delusion; so the way to purify the mind is to remove delusion, not to add thoughts. Third, delighting in the heart in plainness and uprightness and keeping far from flattery and deceit — uprightness is not deceiving oneself and not decorating oneself before others; flattery and deceit are a form of negligence because they must keep fabricating, and what fabricates cannot rest. Fourth, diligently cultivating the roots of goodness without turning back — roots of goodness arise only when cultivated, and once cultivated they can recede, so non-negligence includes the sense of ‘not stopping’. Fifth, constantly thinking well upon the mind one aroused — looking back again and again at what mind it was that one first aroused; the arousing of the mind is not a single event but a coordinate that needs repeated confirmation. Sixth, not delighting to keep close company with any ordinary person, householder or renunciant — this is the harshest item and must be read exactly: what is set aside is the common ground of ‘being an ordinary person’, not the standing of householder or renunciant; to be among those not yet free of delusion and to delight in their closeness is to let the mind sink with them. Seventh, cultivating good deeds while not hoping for the fruits of reward in the world — one and the same good deed, if it seeks the reward of men and gods, becomes provision for further flowing on; non-negligence governs motive too. Eighth, forever leaving the two vehicles and walking the bodhisattva path — negligence is not only slackness; to take the small fruit and be satisfied is also a negligence, because it stops work early. Ninth, delighting to cultivate good works and to let them not be cut off — the word “delighting” matters: good propped up by will breaks off; good carried by delight continues. Tenth, constantly observing well the force of one's own continuum — the last item returns to inward looking: constantly examining whether the force with which one's thoughts follow one upon another is still there. These ten begin from the precepts and end in the observing of mind, moving from without inward, and they form one complete line of self-guarding.
The Second, the Ten Purities of Non-Negligence: The Ten Things That Grow Once Non-Negligence Is Established
The first round says how to be non-negligent; the second says what one gains once non-negligence is firmly established. This is the way this chapter joins its parts — the fruit of the former round is the cause of the next.
The ten purities, item by item: first, doing as one says — the unity of word and deed is the first purity, because what non-negligence purifies first is the seam between speech and act. Second, mindfulness and wisdom both accomplished — mindfulness is not forgetting, wisdom is being able to decide; when both are accomplished one both remembers and judges clearly. Third, abiding in deep concentration, neither sinking nor rising — the purity of concentration lies not in depth but in evenness: apart from both torpor and agitation. Fourth, delighting to seek the Buddha's Dharma without slackening — a mind that does not tire in seeking the Dharma is the attesting character of purity of mental strength. Fifth, observing the Dharma one has heard as principle requires, furnished with the birth of subtle and skillful wisdom — to hear without observing leaves the Dharma mere information; observation is the process that turns hearing into wisdom. Sixth, entering deep concentration and gaining the buddhas' spiritual penetrations — the penetrations come out of concentration, not out of wishing for them. Seventh, a mind even, without high or low — not to raise high and low toward objects is the character of self-conceit purified. Eighth, toward beings of the three classes a mind without barrier, benefiting them equally as the great earth does — the great earth does not choose between high and low but bears all universally; a mind unpartitioned toward beings of the three grades is just so. Ninth, honoring and serving as one's upādhyāya any being who has aroused even a single thought of awakening — the moment anyone stirs a single thought of awakening, one reveres him with the rite due to the master who confers the precepts; what is revered is not that person's present condition but the direction of that one thought. Tenth, constantly giving rise to reverence, service, and offerings toward the upādhyāya who conferred the precepts, the ācārya, all bodhisattvas, the good friends, and the masters of the Dharma — the ninth reveres one who has just aroused the mind, the tenth reveres those who have already taught one; the two together make one complete field of reverence.
This round has a closing passage as well: one who abides in non-negligence arouses great diligence, gives rise to right mindfulness, gives rise to excellent aspiration and delight, never ceases in what he practices, has no place upon which his mind leans among all dharmas, is able diligently to cultivate the most profound dharmas, enters the gate of non-contention, widens his vast mind, and is able to comply with and know the boundless Dharma of the Buddha, so as to make all the tathāgatas rejoice. Chengguan determines here that “the upper nine conclude what precedes and the tenth gives birth to what follows” — the nine clauses before conclude what came before, the tenth gives rise to what comes after, and so the next round takes up ‘making the buddhas rejoice’. The joinery of the scriptural text is plain here; it is not an arrangement of the compiler's.
The Third, Making the Buddhas Rejoice (1): Ten Things That Make the Buddhas Rejoice
“Making all the tathāgatas rejoice” was the first of the ten clauses of question; here the proper answer begins, and it answers in two rounds together.
The ten dharmas of the first round: first, diligence that does not turn back — the first cause of rejoicing is not a result but the very fact of not turning back. Second, not begrudging body or life — only when one is willing to hand over the last line does the Buddha know that this person is in earnest. Third, no hope of gain and offerings — if practice still has its eye on offerings, the direction has already gone astray. Fourth, knowing that all dharmas are like space — this item strips the first three of their merely moral color: not begrudging body and life, without “dharmas are like space” beneath it, is only heroism. Fifth, being well able to observe and to enter universally into the Dharma realm — observing is the particular, entering universally is the general; only by particular observation can one enter generally. Sixth, knowing the seal of the dharmas while the mind neither leans nor clings — to know the seal of the Dharma and yet not lean upon it: not even a correct view is to be made a handrail. Seventh, constantly arousing great vows — the vow is the line that carries wisdom back to beings; without it the first six would stop at one's own enjoyment. Eighth, accomplishing the light of pure forbearance and wisdom — forbearance and wisdom are spoken together: one can bear because one has seen clearly, not because one can hold out. Ninth, observing one's own good dharmas with a mind that neither increases nor decreases — looking at one's own goodness without gladness at its abundance or timidity at its scarcity; this is the hardest item, because it is here that a practitioner most easily rises and falls. Tenth, relying upon the gate of non-doing and cultivating pure practices — the last returns to non-doing: cultivating while seeing neither a cultivator nor a thing cultivated. The ten pass from practice into principle, from principle to the gathering of vows, and at last home to non-doing; it is one complete descending line.
Ask first: why should the buddhas rejoice at these? Not because a buddha needs anything. Rejoicing is another name for according — when these ten things are done, this person's mind is set in the same direction as a buddha's mind, and being in the same direction is called rejoicing.
The Fourth, Making the Buddhas Rejoice (2): Ten “Abidings”
The same matter is answered a second time, and this round does not use ‘first, second’ but “they are,” with all ten items beginning with “abiding.” The change of form is itself doctrine: the former round says ‘what to do’, this round says ‘where to stand’.
Item by item: abiding in non-negligence — the general gate of the first round has become here the first dwelling place, which shows that non-negligence is not a step at the entrance but the foundation throughout. Abiding in the forbearance of non-arising — patient acceptance of the principle that dharmas do not arise; this is an abiding in principle. Abiding in great kindness — the mind that gives joy as a dwelling. Abiding in great compassion — the mind that draws out suffering as a dwelling; kindness and compassion are listed apart and not merged, because giving joy and drawing out suffering are two different directions of exertion. Abiding in the fulfilling of the perfections — dwelling upon the fact that none of the ten is lacking; partial cultivation is not allowed. Abiding in the practices — dwelling in practice, not in the results of practice. Abiding in great vows — a vow is to be dwelt in long, not pitched high. Abiding in skillful means — skillful means is not an expedient but a wisdom one can dwell within. Abiding in the power of valor — power too is a dwelling place: not an occasional burst of courage but a constant being-in-courage. Abiding in wisdom, observing that all dharmas abide nowhere, like space — the last item turns over the “abiding” of the nine before it: abiding in “abiding nowhere.”
Clear away one misreading: do not suppose that the tenth negates the preceding nine. The nine are having somewhere to stand; the tenth is knowing that the standing place too is not real; only when both hold at once is it the abiding this chapter speaks of. Brought down to oneself: a person needs a footing before he can act, but if he takes the footing for solid ground, his acting will be bound by it.
The Fifth, Swift Entry into the Grounds: Ten Things That Bring One Quickly into the Grounds
This is the proper answer to the second question, “entering the place in which the bodhisattvas abide.” The “ground” here is what one proceeds toward, not what one abides in — this chapter is the practice of proceeding toward the grounds from before the grounds, and Zhiyan says it plainly in determining the reason this chapter comes: one takes the virtue of the earlier practice and cultivates further, as the skillful means for the grounds that follow.
Item by item: first, skillfully bringing to fullness the two practices of merit and wisdom — the provision for entering the grounds is the two legs of merit and wisdom; lacking one, one cannot walk. Second, being able with vast adornment to cultivate the path of the perfections — not cultivating a little of the perfections, but cultivating the perfections into an adornment. Third, wisdom clear and penetrating, not turned about by the words of others — by this step one must have judgment of one's own; whoever turns at whatever he is told cannot enter the grounds. Fourth, serving good friends and never forsaking them — this does not contradict the third: not to be turned by words is not to be moved about by speech; to serve good friends is not to leave the one who really shows the road. Fifth, constantly practicing diligence without slackness — between one ground and the next there is no shortcut. Sixth, being well able to abide in the spiritual power of the Tathāgata — to receive sustaining is itself an ability; one must be “well able to abide” in order to bear it. Seventh, cultivating the roots of goodness without growing weary — weariness is the most practical enemy on the road into the grounds. Eighth, profound mind and sharp wisdom, adorning oneself with the dharma of the Great Vehicle — Chengguan determines here that “profound mind accords with stillness and sharp wisdom penetrates throughout,” and that with these two one adorns the Dharma: profound mind goes down into stillness, sharp wisdom goes forward through the phenomenal. Ninth, toward the Dharma-gate of each ground the mind abiding in nothing — having passed one ground one does not linger over it; whoever stops at a result cannot go higher. Tenth, being of one and the same substance with the roots of goodness and skillful means of the buddhas of the three times — the last item joins one person's practice to the one substance of the buddhas of the three times, and that person's ground is then no longer his own alone.
The Transitional Passage, Observing Well When First Abiding in a Ground: Knowing That All Dharmas Are One's Own Mind
The ten dharmas finished, the scriptural text inserts a passage that lists no number. This is the place in the prose of the whole chapter that stands nearest to ‘principle’, and it is worth looking at by itself.
It says that when a bodhisattva first abides in a ground he should observe well: according to all the Dharma-gates there are, the most profound wisdom, the causes cultivated, the fruits gained, the realm, the power and function, the manifesting, the differentiating, and what is attained — all of it he should observe well. And then comes the sentence: “He knows that all dharmas are his own mind, and yet he clings to nothing; having known it thus, he enters the ground of a bodhisattva and is able to abide there well.”
Ask first: the nine “according to” items are observed one by one — why is the conclusion “they are all one's own mind”? Because at the end of observing one finds that of the causes and fruits, realms, and powers observed, not one has any place of establishment outside the mind. But the text immediately adds four graphs, “and yet he clings to nothing” — and these four guard against the very illness that “all is one's own mind” most easily breeds: setting “mind” up again as a substance that can be grasped. To know that it is one's own mind and at the same time not cling to mind — this is what enters the ground.
Then the bodhisattva makes a reflection of his own: we should swiftly enter the grounds; why? Because abiding in each ground one after another accomplishes vast merit; being furnished with merit one enters step by step the ground of a buddha; abiding in the ground of a buddha one can perform boundless and vast buddha-deeds; therefore one should constantly and diligently cultivate, without rest and without weariness. Reading the words “entering the grounds,” Li Tongxuan says that already in the station of the abode of the first arousing of the mind one knows throughout the Dharma-gates of the abodes, the practices, the dedications, and the grounds, “because one is all and all is one.” His reading runs on a track other than that of those who explain clause by clause according to the outline; he reads the sequence of the ten grounds as the layer-upon-layer inexhaustibility of the One Vehicle. This determination is Tongxuan's own, and is recorded here.
The Sixth, Purity of Practice: Ten Things That Make One's Practice Clean
This is the proper answer to the third question, “making all their vast practice pure.”
Item by item: first, giving away all one's goods and satisfying the wishes of beings — purity of practice begins from giving, and its standard lies in “satisfying the wishes of beings,” not in how much one has given away. Second, keeping the precepts purely without breach — right after giving comes the precepts, guarding against the slackness of ‘I have given already’. Third, gentleness and forbearance without end — for forbearance to be without end is to set no line saying ‘I bear this far and no further’. Fourth, diligently cultivating the practices and never turning back — diligence stands here. Fifth, by the power of right mindfulness a mind not confused — the power of mindfulness is the steering of practice. Sixth, distinguishing and knowing measureless dharmas — the discriminating power of wisdom; without it the first five would be blind cultivation. Seventh, cultivating every practice while clinging to nothing — cultivating without clinging is what makes practice clean; where there is clinging there is stain. Eighth, a mind that does not move, like the king of mountains — the mountain likens concentration: outer objects cannot shake it. Ninth, liberating beings far and wide, like a bridge — the bridge likens function: it lets itself be trodden upon and only sees people across. Tenth, knowing that all beings and all the tathāgatas are of one and the same substance — the last gives the preceding nine their reason: why liberate beings in this way? Because beings and the tathāgatas are of one substance, and so to liberate another is not to confer a favor.
The eighth and ninth similes standing side by side make the plainest place in this chapter for ‘substance and function are not two’: what does not move is the mind, and what can ferry is that same mind; the mountain and the bridge are not two things.
The Seventh, the Ten Dharmas of Increasing Excellence: The Ten Things Gained After the Practice Is Pure
The text says “since the bodhisattva has gained purity of practice, he gains besides ten dharmas of increasing excellence” — this round is fruit, not another set of practices to cultivate.
Item by item: first, the buddhas of other quarters all bear him in mind and protect him — the first attesting sign of purity of practice is that outward protection comes of itself. Second, roots of goodness growing more excellent and surpassing his peers — he naturally stands out among his fellows; it is not a deliberate standing out. Third, being well able to receive the sustaining power of a buddha — the sustaining was always there; being able to receive it is the newly gained ability. Fourth, constantly gaining good persons as those upon whom he relies — good companions appear. Fifth, abiding in diligence and never negligent — back to non-negligence, which shows that in this chapter non-negligence is both the starting point and the point of return in every round. Sixth, knowing that all dharmas are equal and without difference — increase in principle. Seventh, a mind constantly abiding in unsurpassed great compassion — compassion turns from occasional to constant. Eighth, observing dharmas as they really are and giving birth to subtle wisdom — wisdom comes out of observation, not out of speculation. Ninth, being able to cultivate well subtle and skillful means — only with wisdom is there true skillful means. Tenth, being able to know the power of the skillful means of a tathāgata — the last is to be able to recognize a buddha's skillful means: to know why he speaks so and appears so. Chengguan determines this round as an order of ten excellences — excellence of another's power, of one's own good, of deep concentration, of fellow practitioners, of what aids the path, of true wisdom, of intent and delight, of observing wisdom, of cultivation, and of advancing further — marking item by item where each is excellent, which shows that the ten are not a level list but layer upon layer of increase.
The Eighth, the Ten Pure Vows: A Bodhisattva's Ten Vows
This is the first half of the proper answer to the fourth question, “that all their great vows be fulfilled” — first what vows are made, and only in the next round how the vows are brought to fullness. The form of this round is distinctive, running from ‘the first vow, the second vow’ to “the tenth vow.”
Item by item: the first vow, bringing beings to maturity without weariness — the first business of the vow is people, not dharmas. The second vow, being furnished with the practice of the many goods and purifying the worlds — one cultivates the many goods oneself, yet the effect is the purifying of worlds; personal practice and the purity of lands are joined together. The third vow, serving the tathāgatas and constantly giving rise to reverence — reverence must be “constantly” given rise to, not a single moment's emotion. The fourth vow, upholding the true Dharma without begrudging body or life — the Dharma weighs more than life; this is where the weight of the vow lies. The fifth vow, by observing with wisdom entering the lands of the buddhas — entering the buddha-lands rests upon wisdom's observation, not upon travel. The sixth vow, being of one and the same substance with the bodhisattvas — of one substance with one's fellows, and not merely cooperating. The seventh vow, entering the gate of the Tathāgata and knowing all dharmas — entering by a gate, knowing dharmas rather than collecting them. The eighth vow, that those who see him give rise to faith and none fail to gain benefit — vowing to become an existence that ‘benefits by being seen’; this vow answers directly to the simile of the medicine Well-Seen further on. The ninth vow, by spiritual power abiding in the world to the end of the kalpas to come — the length of abiding in the world is measured by the kalpas to come. The tenth vow, being furnished with the practice of Samantabhadra and purifying the gate of the knowledge of all modes — the last comes home to the practice of Samantabhadra, and the gate of the knowledge of all modes is to be “purified,” not “acquired.”
The Ninth, the Fulfillment of the Great Vows: Ten Things That Keep the Great Vows from Falling Empty
Once a vow is made, will it fall empty? This round answers just that.
Item by item: first, a mind without weariness — the first killer of a vow is aversion. Second, being furnished with vast adornment — a vow must be held up by an adornment to match it, or the vow is great and the vessel small. Third, calling to mind the excellent power of the vows of the bodhisattvas — constantly thinking what vows others have made keeps one's own vow from shrinking. Fourth, hearing of the lands of the buddhas and vowing to be born in them all — wherever one hears of a buddha-land one vows to go; the vow sets no limit to its direction. Fifth, a profound mind that lasts long, to the end of the kalpas to come — depth and duration are raised together: what is not deep does not last. Sixth, vowing to bring all beings to accomplishment — choosing no object. Seventh, dwelling in all the kalpas and not counting it toil — length of time does not count as hardship. Eighth, undergoing all suffering and giving rise to no aversion — suffering does not count as suffering. Ninth, toward every pleasure a mind that does not covet — pleasure too does not count as pleasure; the seventh, eighth, and ninth together dismantle the three forces — time, suffering, and pleasure — that would deform a vow. Tenth, constantly and diligently guarding the unsurpassed Dharma-gate — the last comes back to guarding the Dharma-gate, and joins with the fourth vow, “upholding the true Dharma without begrudging body or life.”
The Tenth, the Ten Inexhaustible Treasuries: The Ten Treasuries Gained Once the Vows Are Fulfilled
The text says “when a bodhisattva fulfills vows such as these he gains ten inexhaustible treasuries.” This round uses no ordinal numbers but lists the ten names directly with “they are,” each name closing with “inexhaustible treasury.”
Item by item: the inexhaustible treasury of universally seeing the buddhas — the buddhas seen are inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of retention without forgetting — the dharmas held in memory are inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of resolving all dharmas — the senses of dharma decided are inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of great compassion that rescues and protects — the beings rescued are inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of the samādhis of every kind — the gates of concentration entered are inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of the vast merit that satisfies the minds of beings — the merit able to satisfy beings' minds is inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of the most profound wisdom that expounds all dharmas — the wisdom able to expound the Dharma is inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of the spiritual penetrations gained as recompense — the penetrations that come of themselves by recompense of deeds are inexhaustible; the two graphs of “gained as recompense” must be watched, for this is not a display of wonders cultivated up. The inexhaustible treasury of dwelling for measureless kalpas — the time dwelt in is inexhaustible. The inexhaustible treasury of entering boundless worlds — the places entered are inexhaustible.
Ask first: why is what is gained after the vows are fulfilled a “treasury”? Because a treasury means what can be drawn upon without diminishing. The ten vows before were sent outward; these ten treasuries are received back — the fuller the vow sent out, the larger the capacity that returns. Reading this place, Li Tongxuan says that this is “in substance one is all, and without limit,” its inexhaustibility lying not in the number but in a substance that is limitless from the first. This determination is Tongxuan's own, and is recorded here. Clear away one misunderstanding: do not think of the inexhaustible treasuries as a stock. A stock runs out; the treasury is inexhaustible precisely because it was not amassed.
Teaching According to Capacity: Ten Kinds of Person, Ten Ways of Teaching
Having gained the treasuries, his merit complete and his wisdom pure, he is able to “teach the Dharma as befits them.” The text first gives the premise of teaching: knowing what they do, knowing their causes and conditions, knowing the movements of their minds, knowing what they delight in — four “knowings” first, and the teaching after.
Then it lists one by one the capacities faced and the dharmas taught: for one in whom greed is much, the impure — what counteracts greed is observing the body as impure. For one in whom hatred is much, great kindness — what counteracts hatred is the mind that gives joy. For one in whom delusion is much, being instructed to observe diligently — what counteracts delusion is not being given an answer but being taught to observe for himself. For one in whom the three poisons are equal, the Dharma-gate that accomplishes excellent wisdom — one in whom the three poisons are level and none preponderant needs no separate counteraction, and is given the gate of excellent wisdom directly. For one who delights in birth-and-death, the three sufferings — for one who covets the pleasures of birth-and-death, the suffering of pain, the suffering of decay, and the suffering of the formations are spread open before him. If one clings to a place, that the place is of itself empty and still — for one attached to some place (including a so-called place of practice), it is said that place is of itself empty. For one whose mind is slack, great diligence. For one who harbors self-conceit, that the Dharma is of itself equal — the remedy for conceit is to see that the Dharma itself has no high and low. For one in whom flattery and deceit are many, that the bodhisattva's mind is plain and upright — he is not rebuked for his flattery, but is given an upright figure to look at. For one who delights in stillness, the Dharma taught at length, so as to bring him to accomplishment — this item is the most interesting: for one who loves stillness the Dharma must on the contrary be taught “at length,” lest he stop inside the stillness and never come out.
Ten capacities and ten medicines, matched one to one and never repeated. Brought down to oneself: this section can be used as a mirror — one must first recognize which capacity one is, in order to know which stretch of Dharma one should hear first.
There is another string of rules for the time of teaching: the phrases following and belonging one to another with the meaning without error, observing what comes first and after in the Dharma and distinguishing it with wisdom, determining right and wrong without going against the seal of the Dharma, establishing boundless gates of practice in due order so that beings cut off doubt, knowing well their faculties so that they enter the Tathāgata's teaching, realizing the limit of the real and knowing that the Dharma is of itself equal, cutting off love for the dharmas and removing all grasping, constantly calling the buddhas to mind without setting them aside for a moment, knowing that the nature of sound is equal, clinging to nothing amid speech of every kind, and speaking similes with skill so that they do not contradict one another. This string is about the mind of the one who teaches: teaching the Dharma is not a matter of the hearer only, and if the speaker clings to speech or loves the dharmas, what he speaks is already diseased.
The Eleventh, the Purity of the Ten Perfections: After Teaching, He Turns Back to Purify His Own Ten
The text goes on to say that a bodhisattva who thus teaches beings “thereupon cultivates it himself, increases what is of profit and meaning, and does not forsake the perfections” — teaching the Dharma is not a spending of oneself but a part of one's own cultivation. Then it states one by one the character of purity of each of the ten.
The dāna-pāramitā — that the minds of beings may be satisfied, he gives away everything within and without and clings to nothing; he gives to the very end and does not remember that he has given. The śīla-pāramitā — being furnished with the keeping of the precepts while clinging to nothing, forever apart from self-conceit; the stain that most often grows out of keeping the precepts is the conceit of ‘I keep the precepts’. The pāramitā of forbearance — bearing with all evils, his mind toward beings even and unmoving, as the great earth bears all things; the look of forbearance is carrying, not suppressing. The pāramitā of diligence — universally undertaking many works and constantly cultivating without slackness, never turning back in what he does, with a valorous force none can subdue, neither taking up nor casting off any merit and yet able to fulfill the gate of omniscience; the four graphs “neither taking up nor casting off” are the purity of diligence — to take up is to grasp, to cast off is to abandon. The dhyāna-pāramitā — clinging to nothing in the realm of the five desires, able to accomplish the concentrations in their due order, constantly thinking rightly and “neither abiding nor coming forth,” entering the samādhis in reverse, forward, and due order, and within a single gate of samādhi entering boundless gates; not abiding is not sticking inside concentration, not coming forth is not falling outside it. The prajñā-pāramitā — in the presence of the buddhas hearing the Dharma and holding it, drawing near to good friends and serving them without weariness, thinking as principle requires upon what he hears, entering true samādhi and keeping far from views that are askew, observing dharmas well and gaining the seal of the real mark, knowing the Tathāgata's path of no contrivance, riding the wisdom of the universal gate and entering the gate of the wisdom of omniscience; Li Tongxuan explains “the wisdom of the universal gate” as the knowledge that knows throughout the faculties of beings, the knowledge of dharmas, and the knowledge of the differences within the wisdom of omniscience — this explanation is Tongxuan's, and is recorded. The pāramitā of skillful means — manifesting the works of the world, teaching and transforming beings without wearying, appearing now as an ordinary being and now as a noble one, now in birth-and-death and now in nirvāṇa, entering universally into the destinies to liberate beings; the purity of skillful means lies in ‘manifesting without coveting’. Chengguan determines that this single perfection has ten kinds of its own, and this is the place of ‘ten within the ten’. The pāramitā of vows — ten uses of the graph “exhaustively” in succession: exhaustively bringing beings to accomplishment, exhaustively adorning the worlds, exhaustively making offerings to the buddhas, exhaustively penetrating the unobstructed Dharma, exhaustively cultivating the practice that pervades the Dharma realm, the body abiding to the end of the kalpas to come, the knowledge exhaustively knowing all thoughts, exhaustively awakening to the flowing on and the returning, exhaustively manifesting all lands, exhaustively realizing the wisdom of a tathāgata; the character of purity of the vow is just this “exhaustively.” The pāramitā of powers — being furnished with the power of profound mind, of profound faith, of great compassion, of great kindness, of retention, of eloquence, of the perfections, of great vows, of the spiritual penetrations, and of sustaining, each with a “because” attached to state its reason; of the ten powers the first four are inward and the latter six are function. The pāramitā of knowledge — knowing those who course in greed, in hatred, in delusion, with the three poisons in equal parts, and in the ground of training; within a single thought knowing the courses of boundless beings, knowing their minds, knowing the reality of all dharmas, knowing the powers of all the tathāgatas, and awakening universally to the gate of the Dharma realm; the character of purity of knowledge is “knowing,” and what is known begins from the courses of beings and ends at the gate of the Dharma realm.
The ten perfections told, the text says the bodhisattva “abides within the greatly adorned bodhisattva vehicle.” Chengguan determines here that abiding in the great adornment concludes the ten perfections together as the adornment, and that this is the substance of the Great Vehicle. Ask first: why is “abiding in the Great Vehicle” said only after the ten perfections have been told? Because the Great Vehicle is not the name of a school but the carrying capacity that these ten things together make.
Teaching According to Thought: Ten Kinds of Being, Ten Ways of Liberating
The ten perfections purified, the bodhisattva “teaches the Dharma to all beings upon whom his thought is set.” Here is another set of ten pairs, differing from the ten capacities of the earlier passage on teaching according to capacity — the earlier set divides by the preponderance of affliction, this one by the condition in which beings stand.
Those fallen into the evil destinies are instructed to arouse the mind — already in the worst of places, the first thing is still to arouse the mind. Those in the midst of calamity are made to cultivate diligence — in calamity they are not urged to endure but urged to diligence. Beings in whom greed is much are shown the dharma of no greed. Beings in whom hatred is much are made to practice equality. Beings who cling to views are taught dependent origination — for one attached to a view, dependent origination is the medicine, because it shows that there is no fixed view to be held. Beings of the desire realm are instructed to keep far from desire, ill will, and the evil unwholesome dharmas. Beings of the form realm are expounded vipaśyanā — Li Tongxuan explains this, saying that because beings of the form realm abide in concentration they are instructed to give rise to observation; what one who dwells in the pleasure of concentration lacks is observation. Beings of the formless realm are expounded subtle and wondrous wisdom — Tongxuan says the formless realm, being given to the contemplation of the markless, is taught subtle and wondrous wisdom. Persons of the two vehicles are instructed in the practice of stillness. Those who delight in the Great Vehicle are taught the vast adornment of the ten powers.
The end of this passage looks back to the time when the bodhisattva first aroused the mind long ago: seeing measureless beings fallen into the evil destinies, he gave the great lion's roar and said, ‘With Dharma-gates of every kind I shall liberate them as befits them!’ — the ten ways of teaching now are the making good of that one sentence then.
Continuing and Raising High the Three Jewels: Why the Lineage of the Three Jewels Is Not Cut Off
This passage is the one the ancient masters valued most in the whole chapter. On its strength Fazang composed the separate Sanbao zhang, and in his commentary on the sixty-fascicle text he notes of himself, “Herein there is a chapter on the Three Jewels, as set forth separately” — commentary and separate chapter attesting one another, and within the Huayan house it is this chapter that shows it most conspicuously.
The text speaks of the three lineages not being cut off in four rounds. The first round, by teaching and transforming: he teaches beings to arouse the mind of awakening, and so the lineage of the Buddha is not cut off; he constantly opens up the treasury of Dharma for beings, and so the lineage of the Dharma is not cut off; he keeps the teaching well without going against it, and so the lineage of the Saṅgha is not cut off. The second round, by cultivation: because he praises all the great vows the lineage of the Buddha is not cut off; because he distinguishes and expounds the gate of causes and conditions the lineage of the Dharma is not cut off; because he constantly and diligently cultivates the dharmas of the six kinds of harmony and reverence the lineage of the Saṅgha is not cut off. Li Tongxuan explains the six kinds of harmony and reverence as the six matters of body, speech, mind, precepts, giving, and view; Zhiyan's explanation differs slightly, giving the deeds of body, speech, and mind together with the holding of view, precepts, and giving in common. The six items the two masters list are the same and their order differs; this is recorded. The third round, by shouldering the burden: because he sows the seed of buddhahood in the field of the minds of beings the lineage of the Buddha is not cut off — Tongxuan explains this as showing all beings the principle and wisdom of awakening and taking even the slightest root of goodness as an excellent condition; Chengguan on the same passage says the seed makes the wisdom of a buddha be accomplished, that is, one realizes suchness and accomplishes what is without outflows. The one explanation looks from the side of those transformed, the other from the side of what is accomplished; both are recorded. Because he upholds the true Dharma without begrudging body or life the lineage of the Dharma is not cut off; because he governs the assembly without weariness the lineage of the Saṅgha is not cut off. The fourth round, gathering all together: because toward the dharmas taught and the precepts laid down by the buddhas of the three times he upholds them all without setting them aside in his mind, the lineages of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha are never cut off.
Ask first: why should the Three Jewels be liable to being cut off? Because the way the Three Jewels exist in the world is “continuance,” not “installation.” The lineage of the Buddha continues because people keep arousing the mind; the lineage of the Dharma continues because people keep teaching it; the lineage of the Saṅgha continues because people keep being in concord. If no one does it, it is cut off in this generation. That this passage could become a separate chapter of its own lies exactly here: it reduces what looks like an institutional question to the daily work of every single practitioner.
The concluding words of the passage say: a bodhisattva who thus continues and raises high the Three Jewels is without fault in all that he practices, and whatever he does he dedicates and directs to the gate of omniscience, and therefore the three deeds are without flaw or stain; being without flaw or stain, the many goods he does, even for a single thought, are without error, and all accord with skillful means and wisdom, and none of it is passed in vain. Chengguan explains the graph for “in vain,” saying that the sense here also includes “without fault,” because all is pure and apart from the afflictions — so “not passing in vain” is not merely ‘nothing wasted’, but ‘nothing at fault’.
The Twelfth, the Ten Adornments: Ten Characters in Thought After Thought
“A bodhisattva who cultivates good dharmas in this way is furnished, in thought after thought, with ten adornments” — the adornment is not after the event but in thought after thought. Every item of this round carries a “because” stating its reason.
Item by item: the adornment of body, because he manifests according to what will discipline each being — the beauty of the body lies not in form but in being able to appear as the occasion requires. The adornment of speech, because he can cut off every doubt and make them rejoice — the beauty of speech lies in being able to cut off doubt. The adornment of mind, because within a single thought he enters the samādhis. The adornment of the buddha-land, because it is wholly pure and apart from the afflictions — the adornment of a land hangs upon being apart from delusion, not upon the seven jewels. The adornment of light, because he sends forth boundless light that shines universally upon beings. The adornment of the assembly, because he universally gathers the assembly and makes them all rejoice. The adornment of the spiritual penetrations, because he manifests them freely according to the minds of beings — the adornment of the penetrations lies in “according to the minds of beings,” not in their strangeness. The adornment of the right teaching, because it can take in all who are keen and wise — the attesting of a right teaching is that the keen and wise are willing to come. The adornment of the ground of nirvāṇa, because he attains the path in one place and yet pervades the ten directions with nothing left over — attaining the path in one place and yet nothing of the ten directions left out: this is where this scripture's sense of one and many interpenetrating comes to rest under the head of adornment. The adornment of skillful speech, because he teaches the Dharma according to the place, the time, and the faculties.
After the ten adornments the text says that the three deeds of body, speech, and mind “all pass not in vain, and are all dedicated and directed to the gate of omniscience.” Chengguan determines here that the text has the three parts of indication, asking, and explanation, and explains that “being without fault is just one's own deeds not being in vain, because it complies with stillness and cessation.”
Those Who See Him Pass Not in Vain, and the Simile of the Medicine Well-Seen: The Moment of Being Seen Is Already Dharma
After the ten adornments the text takes a turn — instead of saying what the bodhisattva does, it says what happens to others who meet him: if there is a being who sees this bodhisattva, it should be known that he too does not pass in vain, because that being is certain to accomplish unsurpassed perfect awakening. It then lists eleven ways of contact: hearing his name, making offerings, dwelling together, calling him to mind, leaving the household life following him, hearing him teach the Dharma, rejoicing in his roots of goodness, giving rise to esteem from afar, and even praising and extolling his name — all shall gain unsurpassed perfect awakening. The string runs from heavy to light: from deep association such as dwelling together and leaving home under him, down at last to “giving rise to esteem from afar” and ‘praising his name’ — even the very lightest of them counts.
Then comes the only independent simile of the whole chapter: “Son of the Buddha! Suppose there is a medicine named Well-Seen: beings who see it have every poison removed. So it is with a bodhisattva: having accomplished this dharma, if beings see him the poisons of all their afflictions are removed and extinguished and their good dharmas increase.” Zhiyan determines this passage to be complete in the three parts of dharma, simile, and joining.
The crux of the simile lies in the graph for “seeing.” Medicine ordinarily has to be swallowed to work; the medicine Well-Seen has only to be seen. Ask first: why choose a medicine of this kind? Because what the ten adornments before set forth is precisely “character” — the adornment of body, of speech, of light, of the assembly are all things that can be seen. When a person's whole way of existing has been put in order by the Dharma, his very presence is Dharma. Clear away one misunderstanding: this does not mean that someone can rely on gazing and not cultivate. The text says it plainly — what removes the poison is the medicine, not the cleverness of the one who looks; and this medicine became a medicine only because the fourteen rounds of dharmas before were cultivated one by one. Brought down to oneself: this simile is both a comfort and a demand — a comfort to those who meet a good friend, and a demand upon those whom others meet.
The Twelve Clauses of Accomplishing Virtue: By What, and What Is Brought About
After the simile of the medicine the text returns to the bodhisattva himself and, in a string of clauses beginning “by,” says how he brings about one by one the twelve matters asked about earlier. By actual count against the base text this passage has twelve clauses, ten of which are marked “power” while the remaining two run “by the clear light of wisdom” and “by the adamantine concentration” without the graph for power; unlike the sets of ten in the rounds before, it also sets up no “what are the ten” to mark a number.
Clause by clause: by the clear light of wisdom he extinguishes the gloom of delusion — answering the first matter of the question, “extinguishing the darkness of all ignorance.” By the power of kindness and compassion he crushes the army of Māra — what subdues Māra is kindness and compassion, not a greater force. By the power of great wisdom and of merit he restrains the followers of other paths — restraining the other paths takes wisdom and merit both. By the adamantine concentration he extinguishes all the stains of mind and the afflictions — the stains of mind are the knowable, and therefore the adamantine concentration is needed. By the power of diligence he gathers the roots of goodness. By the power of the roots of goodness that purify the buddha-land he keeps far from all the evil destinies and calamities. By the power of clinging to nothing he purifies the realm of wisdom — the purifying of the realm of wisdom rests upon not clinging. By the power of skillful means and wisdom he gives birth to the bodhisattva grounds, the perfections, the samādhis, the six superknowledges, the three clear knowledges, and the four fearlessnesses. By the power of all good dharmas he accomplishes and fulfills the pure lands of all the buddhas and the boundless marks and signs, and body, speech, and mind are furnished with adornment. By the power of observing freely with wisdom he knows that the powers, fearlessnesses, and exclusive dharmas of all the tathāgatas are all equal. By the power of vast wisdom he knows the realm of the wisdom of omniscience. By the power of the vows of old he manifests buddha-lands as befits those to be liberated, turns the great wheel of the Dharma, and liberates measureless and boundless beings.
These twelve clauses answer one for one to the twelve matters of Diligent Wisdom's second round of questioning — the question said ‘how is he able to extinguish ignorance’, the answer says “by the clear light of wisdom he extinguishes the gloom of delusion.” Chengguan's determination that “the intent lies in asking after the cause” is here made good most plainly: the weight of every clause falls upon the power that comes after the word “by.”
The Great Master of the Dharma: What Is Accomplished by Diligently Cultivating This Dharma
The last long passage speaks of fruit: a bodhisattva who diligently cultivates this dharma accomplishes the bodhisattva practices in due order and comes at last to be equal with the buddhas, acting as a great master of the Dharma in boundless worlds and upholding the true Dharma. Chengguan had already determined, back at the part of the request to speak, that because upholding the true Dharma is to be equal with the buddhas it is singled out and made plain — and this is the reason the closing passage of this chapter treats the great master of the Dharma alone at such length.
The characters of the great master of the Dharma the text states in several layers. First, what he gains: he is borne in mind and protected by the buddhas; he guards, receives, and holds the vast treasury of Dharma; he gains unobstructed eloquence; he enters deep into the Dharma-gates. Next, body and voice: amid the assemblies of boundless worlds he universally manifests his body according to the differences of their kinds, his form and marks complete, most excellent and beyond compare; because his voice is full and skillfully distributed he can make those who hear him enter the gate of inexhaustible wisdom; because the sounds of speech he sends forth are furnished with purity, a single voice sets forth the Dharma and makes all rejoice; because his body is upright and of great awesome power, amid the assembly none can surpass him. Then twelve clauses of “because” (nine of them marked “free,” while the three clauses “because he knows the minds of the multitude well,” “because he teaches the Dharma with skill,” and “because he has gained fearlessness” do not carry the word): because he knows the minds of the multitude well he can universally manifest his body; because he teaches with skill his voice is unobstructed; because he has gained freedom of mind he speaks the great Dharma with skill and none can ruin it; because he has gained fearlessness his mind is not timid; because he is free in regard to the Dharma none can surpass him; because he is free in regard to knowledge none can prevail over him; because he is free in the prajñā-pāramitā the marks of the dharmas he teaches do not contradict one another; because he is free in eloquence he teaches according to what they delight in without break; because he is free in the retentions he reveals with certainty the real mark of the dharmas; because he is free in eloquence he can open gates of simile of every kind in whatever he expounds; because he is free in great compassion he diligently instructs beings without slackening; because he is free in great kindness he sends forth a net of light that gladdens the minds of the multitude.
Then comes a sentence of great weight: seated upon a high and broad lion throne the bodhisattva expounds the great Dharma, and save only for the tathāgatas and those great bodhisattvas who possess the wisdom of excellent vows, among the remaining beings there is none who can prevail over him, none who can see the crown of his head, none who can eclipse his light; and to seek by difficult questions to make him give way is not possible. Ask first: is this boasting? The next passage gives the answer.
The text sets up an extreme scene: suppose there were a place of awakening as vast as worlds beyond speaking, filled with beings, and the awesome virtue and form of every single one of them were like that of a lord of a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; the bodhisattva, the moment he manifests his body, eclipses the whole assembly. But immediately it says what he does — “with great kindness and compassion he comforts their timidity, with profound wisdom he discerns what they delight in, and with fearless eloquence he teaches the Dharma for them, and is able to make them all rejoice.” The eclipsing is for the sake of comforting their timidity, not for overawing them. This turn gathers all the preceding “none can prevail over him” under compassion.
At the end the text asks itself “why is this?” and answers with eleven clauses of “because he has accomplished”: because he has accomplished measureless wheels of wisdom; measureless subtle and skillful distinguishing; the vast power of right mindfulness; inexhaustible skillful wisdom; the retention that resolves the real mark of the dharmas; the mind of awakening that has no farther limit; the wondrous eloquence that is without error; the profound faith and understanding that gains the sustaining of all the buddhas; the power of wisdom that enters universally into the assemblies and places of awakening of the buddhas of the three times; the pure mind that knows the buddhas of the three times to be of one substance; and, last, because he has accomplished the wisdom of all the tathāgatas of the three times and the wisdom of the great vows of all the bodhisattvas, so that he can act as a great master of the Dharma, opening up the treasury of the true Dharma of the buddhas and upholding it. The last clause is the longest, gathering the wisdom of the tathāgatas, the wisdom of the great vows of the bodhisattvas, and the opening up and upholding of the treasury of the true Dharma into one sentence — a great master of the Dharma is a great master of the Dharma not by his eloquence, but because what he carries is the wisdom of the buddhas of the three times and the vows of all the bodhisattvas.
The Verses of Restatement: Ten Verses That Gather Up the Answer
Dharma Wisdom, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, restates it in ten verses. Chengguan determines that these ten divide into two: the first six restate the substance of the practice accomplished in the ten kinds above, and the latter four restate the virtue accomplished by that practice. He also matches them verse by verse — the first two verses restate the buddhas' rejoicing, of which the first half-verse restates non-negligence and the rest the rejoicing; the third verse restates entering the grounds and the great practice and great vows; the fourth restates the bodhisattva treasury and the teaching of the Dharma as befits them; the fifth restates not forsaking one's own practice of the perfections and the bringing to liberation of all beings upon whom his thought is set; the upper half of the sixth restates the Three Jewels not being cut off and the lower half that the roots of goodness and skillful means are all not in vain.
What the verses have and the prose did not put in this form are the five similes of the last two verses: “In advancing and withdrawing his bearing is calm and unhurried as the king of elephants; valorous and fearless as a lion; unmoving as a mountain and his wisdom like the ocean; and like a great rain that removes the many torments of heat.” Chengguan matches the similes one by one to what precedes: the bearing of the body calm and sure restates the manifesting of the body; the discerning of virtue as awesome and valorous restates the fearless eloquence; the mind concentrated and unmoving restates the comforting of their timidity; wisdom deep as the ocean restates the profound wisdom; the rain of Dharma extinguishing obstruction restates the teaching of the Dharma for them.
Looking back: when Diligent Wisdom asked, he sought a character by three similes — lion, full moon, lotus; when Dharma Wisdom answered, he displayed a character by five — elephant king, lion, mountain, ocean, great rain. Between them lie fourteen rounds of dharmas. The one who asks wants a look; the one who answers first gives a road, and only when the road has been walked does he hand the look back. This is the way this chapter answers, and it is the deepest pedagogical sense of the chapter.
The Conclusion: According with Principle, Suiting the Capacity
The last sentence of the chapter: “At that time, when the bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom had finished speaking these verses, the Tathāgata rejoiced and the great assembly received it in practice.” Chengguan explains it thus: it accords with principle and suits the capacity, and therefore the Buddha rejoices and the assembly receives it in practice. Above it accords with principle, and so the Buddha rejoices; below it suits the capacity, and so the great assembly receives it in practice. The whole chapter began by asking ‘how are all the tathāgatas to be made to rejoice’ and ends with “the Tathāgata rejoiced” — the very thing asked about has been made good once already, in the act of teaching itself. Chengguan marks here “the third assembly is finished,” and Fazang marks the same on the sixty-fascicle text; the assembly in the palace of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven ends here.
Lineage
The sense of this chapter was carried on by three tracks in later ages; they are recorded together, without adjudication.
The line of Chengguan: he sets up the outline in the three parts of the request to speak, the proper exposition, and the conclusion, interlocking round by round with the ten-dharma sets of the scriptural text and setting up no divergent doctrine of his own; as for the name of the chapter, he does not use “clarifying the Dharma” but argues, in accordance with the Sanskrit text, for ‘the chapter of the Light of the Dharma’, opening four senses that cover both the possessive and the appositional. His explanation of the text has three distinctive features. First, he determines the ten clauses of question as the first five for one's own benefit while including others, the next four benefiting others while including oneself, and the last concluding generally that the two benefits are not in vain, and he points out that the single word “cultivate” is the non-negligence of the passage below, gathering the ten questions back into one root. Second, he determines that the twelve matters from “Furthermore” onward “lie in asking after the cause,” which settles the form of the whole chapter's answering text. Third, at the clause “together they anoint his crown” in the question text he argues, in accordance with the Sanskrit text, for turning the wording about, so as to read “all the tathāgatas together guard him and together anoint his crown.” These three determinations are Chengguan's own, and are recorded here.
The line of Fazang: what he explains is the sixty-fascicle “Clarifying the Dharma, chapter fourteen,” with the same four gates as before but each differing from Chengguan's — his four senses of the name take “the dharma of practice of the later station sheds brightness upon the earlier station” as the first; his four kinds of clarifying dharma in the tenet and aim plainly list the dharma of principle, of practice, of teaching, and of fruit, and he determines that this chapter “properly sets forth the dharma of practice, with the other three set forth along with it”; and his three parts of the explanation of the text are the part of the request, the part of the exposition, and the part of attesting faith, the name of the third differing from Chengguan's part of the conclusion. His weightiest act with respect to this chapter is that on the strength of the single passage on continuing and raising high the Three Jewels he composed the separate Huayan jing Mingfapin nei li sanbao zhang, noting in his commentary “herein there is a chapter on the Three Jewels, as set forth separately”; and further, in the Kongmu zhang, he set up the chapter on the five calming contemplations established at the beginning of this chapter, on the strength of the counteractions to greed, hatred, and delusion in the passage on teaching according to capacity, and set up also the chapter on determining the demarcation of gain and loss in understanding and practice in terms of the five vehicles. One chapter of scripture giving rise to two books and three chapters — within the Huayan house, this chapter is the most heavily composed upon. All this is Fazang's own, and is recorded here.
The line of Li Tongxuan: he does not follow the four gates, but makes three — explaining the title of the chapter, explaining the reason for the chapter's coming, and explaining the meaning following the text; and he explains the name not by glossing graphs but by attaching it to its working — making the dharmas of the preceding five chapters clearer in the mind, and making the dharmas practiced afterward turn more excellent and plain. His determination of the station is that this chapter is “the turning toward the cultivation of the ten practices, nourishing the dharma of the ten abodes of one's own station,” which differs from determining it by proceeding toward the grounds from before the grounds. His extended outline of the sense of the scripture counts lines and not clauses: the part of requesting the Dharma has thirty-three and a half lines of prose and fifty-five lines together with the verses; the part of consenting to speak has six lines; the part of the proper exposition runs to the end of the chapter. His explanations of meaning are mostly set up from the side of the inexhaustibility of the One Vehicle — explaining “swiftly entering the grounds” he says that already in the station of the abode of the first arousing of the mind one knows throughout the Dharma-gates of the abodes, the practices, the dedications, and the grounds, “because one is all and all is one”; explaining the ten inexhaustible treasuries he says “reckoned by substance, one is all, and without limit.” At the end he also determines the three parts of the third assembly: the chapter on Ascending to the Palace of the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven is the introductory part, from the chapter of Verses of Praise onward is the part of the proper exposition, and the quaking of the earth and the raising of offerings is the part of the dissemination. This way of reading differs from those who divide the sense according to the outline; the ancients had this doctrine, and it is recorded here.
The line of Zhiyan: in discerning the name he divides it into the two senses of teaching and of practice; in discerning the text he makes not three parts but two parts of question and answer with a brief conclusion and dissemination at the end. His distinctive feature is that he counts clauses and himself marks the count as unsettled — the answering text “has one hundred and seventy clauses, or it may be one hundred and eighty”; the section on benefiting others “has forty, or it may be fifty clauses”; and again “the preceding twenty clauses may also be thirty clauses,” with his own note that “each of the texts of ten has four members: first the arising, next the question, third the answer, fourth the conclusion; there are also those that are unsettled, and one may think it through accordingly.” That an ancient master should leave himself room at the place of outlining and counting is one such instance; it is recorded here.
The divergence of the four masters with respect to this chapter gathers at three places: the explanation of the name (Chengguan changing the title in accordance with the Sanskrit text and opening four senses · Fazang setting up four senses of his own · Zhiyan two senses · Tongxuan not glossing the graphs but attaching it to its working), the outline of the text (Chengguan three parts · Fazang three parts with the last differently named · Tongxuan three sections counting lines · Zhiyan two parts of question and answer plus a brief conclusion), and the measure of the answering text (Zhiyan counting one hundred and seventy clauses while saying it may be one hundred and eighty · Fazang counting eighteen kinds of virtue accomplished by practice · Chengguan counting twenty clauses and determining the first ten as the beginning of cultivation and the latter ten as the completing of it · Tongxuan counting lines and not clauses). The four run side by side, all being established doctrines of the ancient masters; they are recorded, with no adjudication of higher or lower.
As for the textual authorities that carry this chapter on, it differs from the Ten Grounds chapter — this chapter has no separately circulating treatise that lemmatizes it clause by clause, Fazang's Sanbao zhang being a monograph composed on the strength of a single passage and not a lemmatized commentary on the whole chapter. In the guiding works of the Huayan house — the Huayan yisheng jiaoyi fenqi zhang, the Shi xuan men, the Huayan jing zhigui, the Fajie xuanjing, the Xiu Huayan aozhi wangjin huanyuan guan, and the Dasheng qixin lun yiji — “the chapter Clarifying the Dharma” has no occurrence at all; the absence is recorded as the facts stand.
品十九 昇夜摩天宮品Ascent to the Palace of the Yāma Heaven
全文五層 →Full five layers →一部經為什麼要再搬一次地方
這一品世尊沒有親口說一句法（諸菩薩承佛神力演說法、天王說頌，皆非佛自說）。它只做一件事——把下面說十行法的那個場立起來。
前一會在須彌山頂說十住，講的是「解」；這一會在夜摩天宮說十行，講的是「行」。澄觀解釋這兩會為什麼要一前一後，用了一句很老實的話：知道不難，做才難。他說前會的解與此會的行，就像膏與明互相依賴、眼睛與腳互相支援——燈要有膏才能亮，人要有眼還要有腳才能走到。所以十住之後必接十行，不是排場，是次第。
也因此，這一品在澄觀的科判裡不算「正宗」，只算「由致」——由致就是把事情引起來的那一段。他把這一會的四品分作三分：前兩品是由致，第三品是正說，第四品是勝進趣後。而前兩品之中，本品在前，說的是「感應道交」——眾生有感，佛就有應；下一品在後，說的是「讚德顯體」。
讀這一品若不先看見它是「由致」，就會覺得它只是一串華麗的鋪陳。它不是鋪陳，它是在回答一個問題：說十行的那個場，憑什麼立得起來。
「昇夜摩天宮」這個名字在說什麼
這個品名裡最容易被讀過去的字，是「昇」。
澄觀特別指出一件事：梵本裡上面沒有「升」字，下面有「神變」二字，是譯者把「神變」譯成了「升」。這不是隨手的置換。他順著這一點立了四重義：一是不離開前面三個會的處所而升到這裡；二是升到一處就等於升到一切處；三是升上去以後這個處所就變寬了；四是前與後同時而沒有障礙。
所以「昇」在這裡不是移動，是神變。佛以圓遍之身，不起而升時分天宮。這四義不是懸空立的，本品的經文一句一句都在證它：第一義證於「不離一切菩提樹下及須彌山頂，而向於彼夜摩天宮寶莊嚴殿」；第二義證於佛受請之後那句「一切十方，悉亦如是」；第三義證於殿忽然廣博寬容；第四義證於結尾再說一次的「十方世界，悉亦如是」。
至於「夜摩」，澄觀說此云時分，是空居天的第一重。法藏說得更細：具足要說是「蘇夜摩」，蘇是善，夜摩是時，因為這一重天沒有日月可以知道時節。李通玄說這天以蓮華開為晝、合為夜，所以叫時分天。三家的訓解一致：這是一個『以時為名』的地方。
而澄觀說「升屬如來，夜摩約處」——一半說人，一半說地，兩邊相違而合成一名。品名本身就是一句「不離而升」。
段一 十方圓遍：這一句是在說前一會沒有散
開頭這一句話很長：因為如來威神力的緣故，十方一切世界，每一個四天下的南閻浮提以及須彌山頂之上，都見到如來身處於大眾集會之中。
為什麼一開頭要說這個？澄觀判這一段叫「本會圓遍」，理由是一句話：前會不散而說後會。他把這一句拆成兩截——「爾時，如來威神力故」是遍的因，「十方」以下是遍的相。
這裡有一個容易讀錯的地方。八十本此處舉了兩個處所：南閻浮提，以及須彌頂上。六十本只舉閻浮提。澄觀正就八十本的多出一處而說：「但處加須彌」——加上須彌，是因為前一會就在須彌頂上；加了這一處，「而演說法」一句就上通前面三會。
換句話說，這一句不是在描寫佛有多大神通，是在申明一件事：第一會、第二會、第三會都還在，並沒有散場。後會不是接續前會，是與前會同時。若把前會散掉才開後會，那就成了一場一場輪流的說法，不是華嚴的法界無礙會。
段一續 菩薩承神力說法：為什麼是「莫不自謂恒對於佛」
接著一句：那些菩薩全都憑著佛的神力而演說法義，沒有一位不是自認為始終正對著佛的。
要先排掉一個誤讀。「自謂」不是『自以為』——不是說菩薩誤以為佛在面前而其實不在。這一句的重點在「恒對」二字，八十本比六十本多出一個「恒」字，六十本作「皆悉自謂在於佛所」。多這一字，說的是不間斷。
那麼落在哪裡？落在「悉以佛神力故」。菩薩之所以能在十方一一處演說法，是承佛神力；而承佛神力的當下，佛就不在別處。這是把上一句的「遍」從佛身翻到說法者身上再說一次：佛遍，所以承佛力而說法的人，處處都在佛前。
讀到這裡，「不離而升」其實已經先講過一遍了——只是主語不是佛，是菩薩。
段二 不離而升：所不離的是兩個地方
那時，世尊並沒有離開一切菩提樹下以及須彌山頂，卻已走向那夜摩天宮的寶莊嚴殿。
這一句是本品的樞紐，讀時要留意它與前一會的差別。前一會的同型句，所不離的是菩提樹下一處；這一會所不離的是兩處——菩提樹下，以及須彌山頂。多出來的須彌山頂，正是剛剛說完十住的那個場。
這件事往下推是有次第的：升忉利時不離樹下，升夜摩時不離樹下與忉利，往後升兜率、升他化，所不離的處所只會愈積愈多。澄觀在品名一門說「前升須彌，後升兜率，準此可知」，就是指這個可以類推的形。
要排掉的誤解是：這不是佛分了身。若說一個佛留在樹下、另一個佛去了天宮，那就成了兩個佛。經文說的是不離而向——同一個佛，在此不減，在彼不增。澄觀立的四義中第一義正是「不離前三而升此故」。
落到讀者身上：所謂『佛來了』，從來不是佛從遠處走到近處。是這一處有了感，就在這一處見。
段三 遙見佛來
那時，夜摩天王遠遠望見佛前來。
這一段極短，澄觀的處理也極短——他只寫「天王見佛，並如前會」，把釋義繫到上一會而不重出。這種寫法本身值得留意：本品有三處他都說「並如前會」，一是此處，一是佛同升殿，一是處忽寬容。不重出，不是省略，是判定這幾段的義理與前會同一。
但「遙」這個字仍要問一句。剛才才說佛不離不動，這裡怎麼會有「遙見」？
答案在能見的那一邊。佛體無去無來，見卻有遠有近。天王在殿前望見的那個「來」，是他自己的感所現的相。所以下一步他做的事不是迎接，是嚴殿——他要把這個能見佛的處所，備成一個可以住佛的處所。
段四之一 化作寶蓮華藏師子之座：三個字，三重義
他隨即以神力，在自己的殿內化現出一個寶蓮華藏師子之座。
澄觀把這一句總判為座的體，並且逐字拆過：說「化作」，是因為依空而起行；說「蓮華」，是因為無著而導行；說「藏」，是因為一行含多。
三個詞各對一義，值得慢讀。第一，為什麼是「化作」而不是『造作』？因為十行是依空而起的行——不是先有一個實有的東西再加工，是從無所依處生起妙用。第二，為什麼是蓮華？蓮華出水而不著水，行菩薩行而不被行所黏，這叫無著導行。第三，為什麼叫「藏」？因為一行裡含著無量行，不是十件事並排，是一件事含攝十件。
要排掉的誤讀是：把這個座當成一件家具。它是這一會之法的形象——十行之法門就在這個座上，佛坐上去，法才說得出來。
段四之二 座體備德嚴：五句莊嚴
接著是本品最密的一段。澄觀把「百萬」以下的莊嚴相分作四分，第一分叫座體備德嚴，逐句都是說這個座本身。
百萬層階級用來作莊嚴——階級是層層而上的，行是一級一級熏成的。百萬張金網用來交錯絡結——網是相互穿聯的，一行牽動一切行。百萬幅華帳、百萬幅鬘帳、百萬幅香帳、百萬幅寶帳，彌滿覆蓋在座的上方——四種帳分別以華、以鬘、以香、以寶，帳是覆蓋，覆在上方就有守護之意。華蓋、鬘蓋、香蓋、寶蓋也各有百萬，周迴環繞地布列——蓋與帳相對，帳是彌覆，蓋是周布；四蓋之名與四帳全同，是同一組莊嚴的兩種陳設方式。百萬道光明作為照耀——這一句收尾，前面所有的莊嚴都要有光才見得到。
這一節不必逐句配義理，經文自己已經把次第排好了：從底下的階級起，到上方的帳蓋，到遍在的光明。座的體，就是這樣一層一層備起來的。
段四之三 座旁圍繞嚴：人與雲
第二分澄觀叫座旁圍繞嚴，從「百萬夜摩天王」起。前一分說座本身，這一分說座的四周。
先是三眾：百萬位夜摩天王恭恭敬敬地頂禮，百萬位梵王踊躍而歡喜，百萬位菩薩稱揚讚歎。三眾的反應各不相同——天王是身業的禮，梵王是意業的喜，菩薩是口業的讚。要注意「百萬夜摩天王」這一句：化座的是這個世界的夜摩天王一位，而來禮的是百萬位。
接著是樂：百萬部天樂各自奏出百萬種法音，相續而不曾間斷。這裡要留意「法音」二字——不是好聽的聲音，是能顯法的聲音；而且「相續不斷」。
再接著是雲：百萬種華雲、百萬種鬘雲、百萬種莊嚴具雲、百萬種衣雲，周匝地彌滿覆蓋；百萬種摩尼雲，光明照耀。五種雲，前四種周匝彌覆，第五種摩尼雲則以光明照耀——與前一分末句的光明遙相呼應。用「雲」而不用「數」，是因為雲無定量、無定形，聚散自在。
這一分的六句合起來，說的是一件事：這個座不是孤立的一件物，它周圍有人、有聲、有雲，是一個完整的場。
段四之四 法門行德嚴：八句四對
第三分澄觀叫法門行德嚴，並且明說「文有八句，攝為四對」。八句是：從百萬種善根所生，百萬諸佛之所護持，百萬種福德之所增長，百萬種深心、百萬種誓願之所嚴淨，百萬種行之所生起，百萬種法之所建立，百萬種神通之所變現。
四對怎麼配？澄觀說：一因緣，二福智，三願行，四體用。
第一對是因緣——善根所生是因，諸佛護持是緣。行不是自己冒出來的，有自己的種，也有佛的護。第二對是福智——福德增長屬福，深心屬智；澄觀在這裡加了一句註腳，說深心是「契理故」，所以深心配的是智那一邊。第三對是願行——誓願與行，願是所期，行是所踐。第四對是體用——法之所建立是體，神通之所變現是用；澄觀說這是「無生法體之所起」，意思是用不從別處來，就從那個無生的法體起。
要排掉的誤讀是：把這八句讀成八件功勞。它們不是在誇這個座，是在說這一位所坐之法門是怎麼成的——有因有緣、有福有智、有願有行、有體有用。八句備，十行之座才立得住。
段四之五 法教流通嚴：恆出言音
最後一句：它並且恆常發出百萬種言音，顯示種種法義。
澄觀單獨把這一句判為第四分，叫法教流通嚴。前面三分是這個座如何成、如何嚴、如何備德，這一句是它往外做什麼——出聲，顯法。
一個座會出聲，這在讀慣了人間器物的眼裡是奇怪的。但把前面三分讀完就不奇怪了：這個座本來就是十行法門的形象，法門自己會顯自己。而且用的是「恒」字——不是佛坐上去才響，是恆常如此。
四分到此完足：體備、旁嚴、德成、法流。
為什麼是「百萬」
這一段從頭到尾用的都是「百萬」，全品二十七見。為什麼是這個數？
澄觀只給了一句：皆云百萬，位漸增故。
要看懂這一句，得回頭看前一會。上一會在須彌頂上說十住，那裡的莊嚴句一律用『十千』。這一會說十行，一律用「百萬」。數目本身不是要人去算，是要人看見「增」——位次高一階，所感之嚴就厚一層。往後兜率、他化，還會再增。
六十本此處一律作「十萬」，二十三見。八十本作「百萬」，六十本作「十萬」，二本並錄，不判高下；但要記得澄觀所立的「位漸增」之義，是就八十本的文而說的。
排掉一個誤讀：這不是誇飾。誇飾是把一說成十，這裡是把位次寫成數字。讀的時候不必想像一百萬個階級長什麼樣，只要記得——比上一會多，比下一會少。
段五 三稱善來：請法要有請法的樣子
那位天王敷設安置座位已畢，朝向佛世尊彎下身子合起雙掌，恭敬而尊重地說：善來啊世尊，善來啊善逝，善來啊如來、應、正等覺，唯願您哀憐愍念，就居止在這座宮殿裡吧。
澄觀判此段為「請佛居殿」。有幾件事值得點出來。
第一，次第是「敷置座已」而後請。先把座備好，再開口。不是先請佛來再張羅。第二，三稱「善來」並舉三號——世尊、善逝、如來應正等覺。六十本此處只有一稱「善來世尊」，八十本三稱。三稱是喜之至，舉三號是略歎其德。第三，所請的不是『來說法』，是「處此宮殿」——請的是住，不是講。
法要有人請，這是華嚴一路的常法。而請的資格，就在前面那一長段莊嚴裡——他先把處所備成法器，才有資格開這個口。
段六 如來受請：一切十方，悉亦如是
那時，佛接受了他的邀請，隨即上昇這座寶殿；一切十方，也都同樣是這樣。
這一句短，但它正是「升為神變」四義裡第二義的經證：升一處即升一切處。
要問一句：既然前面說佛不離菩提樹下，這裡怎麼又說「即昇寶殿」？
答案在四義的第一義與第二義要合起來讀。不離，所以在此不減；即升一切處，所以在彼不增。這裡的「昇」如前所說，本是「神變」的譯語——不是位移，是應。天王有感，佛就在天王的殿裡；十方的天王同時有感，佛就同時在十方的殿裡。所以下面立刻補一句「一切十方，悉亦如是」。
這一句在本品出現三次：起首、偈讚結通、最末各一次，把整品夾在「悉亦如是」之中。
段七 各念昔因：這裡少了一句樂音止息
那時，天王隨即自行憶念起過去在諸佛之處所種下的善根，承著佛的神力而說出偈頌。
這一段有一件事，澄觀自己主動提了出來，不提就看不見：六十本在這裡有「無量音樂寂然無聲」一句，八十本沒有。
他怎麼判？他說這是譯人之意，並且給了理由：這一會不像第三會的十解會那樣「事歸理」，所以不說樂音止息；也不像第四會之後的迴向會那樣「事理無礙」，所以不說熾然。退可同前，進可齊後，兩邊都可以，所以乾脆兩邊都不說。
這是一個很值得停下來的地方。澄觀沒有說八十本漏譯，也沒有說六十本多出；他把一處異文讀成一個位次上的判斷——這一會夾在中間，所以文字上也採取一個不偏兩邊的處理。
至於「承佛神力而說頌言」，六十本只作「以偈頌曰」。八十本多出的這四字，把說頌之力繫回佛身：天王能憶念、能讚歎，仍是承佛之力。
十頌總說：先看格式，再看內容
接下來的十偈是本品唯一的韻文，二十行，七言。讀之前先看澄觀給的格式，會省很多力氣。
他說這一段文有二：先明此界，後辨結通。前面十偈，每一偈又各有四句四義：第一句標名讚別德，第二句通顯具吉祥，第三句憶其曾入此殿，第四句結此處成勝極。
再往細看第一句。澄觀說：初二字是別名，次二字是通號，下三字是別德。以第一偈為例——「名稱」是別名，「如來」是通號，「聞十方」是別德。十偈只有第一句各各不同，第二句「諸吉祥中最無上」十偈全同，第三句只換殿名，第四句「是故此處最吉祥」十偈全同。
還有一個讀法上的鑰匙：澄觀說「亦皆以下別德釋上別名」——下面那三個字的德，是在解釋上面那兩個字的名。名不是隨便取的，佛的別名多因德而立；讚的人取那個德，來解釋那個名。
最後是這十佛的位置。澄觀說，這十佛是前一會所讚十佛之前的佛——位次愈高，所憶念的往昔就愈遠；而道理上說，三世諸佛都同樣在此處說法，獨讚這十位，是表其位次。
頌一 名稱如來聞十方
名稱如來的名聲遍聞於十方，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座摩尼殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
依澄觀的讀法：「名稱」是別名，「聞十方」是別德，而別德正是在解釋別名——以「聞十方」釋成「名稱」。名稱之所以叫名稱，因為名聞遍於十方。他在這一頌上說得極簡：一以聞十方釋成名稱。
殿名是「摩尼」。澄觀對十座殿名也有一句總判：初一舉能嚴之體，以下九座都是舉寶的別德。摩尼就是寶珠，是能嚴的東西本身；後面九個殿名，說的都是這個寶怎麼樣。
所以第一頌是十頌的樣板：名、號、德、殿、結，五件事各就各位。往下九頌只要看它換了什麼。
頌二 寶王如來世間燈
寶王如來是世間的明燈，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座清淨殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
這一頌澄觀釋得最詳，因為名與德之間隔了一層。「寶王」與「世間燈」怎麼接得上？
他的解法是打了個比方：寶珠裡有一種能在夜裡放光、可以代替燈的，這種珠是眾寶之王。佛有智光，照的是無明的長夜，所以叫寶王。
這一句要慢讀的是「無明夜」三字。燈之所以為燈，是因為有夜；佛之所以稱寶王，不是因為他貴重，是因為他在暗處管用。
殿名換作「清淨」。依澄觀的通判，這是舉寶的別德——此寶清淨。
頌三 喜目如來見無礙
喜目如來所見沒有障礙，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座莊嚴殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
澄觀對第三至第六這四頌只說了四個字：三四五六義並可知。意思是名與德的相接明白，不必再解。
依他的格式自己看：「喜目」是別名，「見無礙」是別德——目所以能喜，因為所見沒有障礙。名裡有一個「目」字，德裡就有一個「見」字，接得很直。
殿名是「莊嚴」，仍是寶的別德——以此寶用來莊嚴。
這裡順帶記一件事：六十本此頌作「喜王如來慧無量」，名與德都與八十本不同。十佛之名，二本有五同五異，此為異的第一處。二本並錄，不判。
頌四 然燈如來照世間
然燈如來照亮世間，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座殊勝殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
同樣屬於澄觀所說「並可知」的一頌。名是「然燈」，德是「照世間」——燈之為燈，就在能照。
要留意的是：上一會十頌的最後一位也是然燈如來。同一佛名在兩會的讚頌裡各出現一次，而位序不同——上一會在第十，這一會在第四。前面說過，澄觀判這一會的十佛在前一會十佛之前，位漸高而念昔亦遠；十佛之名有重出，正見「三世諸佛皆同此說」不是一份固定的名單。
殿名是「殊勝」，仍是寶的別德。六十本此頌作「慧眼如來世間燈」，名德全異，並錄不判。
頌五 饒益如來利世間
饒益如來利益世間，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座無垢殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
「饒益」與「利世間」，名與德幾乎是同一件事的兩種說法，所以澄觀不另作解。
值得指出的是這一頌的德句「利世間」，與第十頌苦行如來的德句完全相同——十頌之中唯此二頌用同一句德。六十本此頌作「饒益如來義無量」，佛名與八十本同而德句異；十佛名中二本相同的有五位，饒益是其一。
殿名是「無垢」，依澄觀所判仍屬寶之別德——他把清淨、莊嚴、殊勝、無垢四名連在一句裡說：此寶清淨，以用莊嚴，殊勝無垢。四座殿名是一路下來的。
頌六 善覺如來無有師
善覺如來沒有老師，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座寶香殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
「無有師」三字要小心讀。它不是說這位佛不曾親近佛，是說他的覺不從他人得——所以名為「善覺」。名與德的相接在這裡：覺之所以稱善，因為無師而自能覺。
這一頌仍在澄觀「並可知」之列。
殿名換到「寶香」，別德也隨之一轉。澄觀說：此寶發香，是香必妙。從第六頌起，殿名不再說淨與嚴，改說香——寶香、妙香連著兩座。
六十本此頌作「無師如來世間尊」，把八十本的德句「無有師」提上去作了佛名，二本並錄不判。
頌七 勝天如來世中燈
勝天如來是世間之中的明燈，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座妙香殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
這一頌澄觀又出手解了：七以世燈釋勝天者，身智光照勝於天故。
要排掉的誤讀是：把「勝天」讀成勝過某一位天神。不是。天之所以為天，在光；而佛的身光與智光照得比天更勝，所以名為勝天。所以下三字用「世中燈」來釋它——燈與天同以光為義，德句正好對上名。
殿名是「妙香」，接著上一頌的寶香而來——是香必妙。
頌八 無去如來論中雄
無去如來是論說之中的雄傑，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座普眼殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
澄觀的解是：八以論雄釋無去者，具勇智辯不可動故。
這一頌的名與德看起來離得最遠——「無去」是不動，「論中雄」是能說；不動的怎麼會是善論的？澄觀把兩邊接起來的字是「不可動」：具足勇、智、辯三者，論起法來無人能動搖他，這叫論中雄；而不可動，正是「無去」。
所以此處的「無去」不是不動彈，是不被移動。這與本品開頭「不離而升」的不動，是同一種不動。
殿名是「普眼」。澄觀說：能嚴之寶無所不見，可謂普眼。
頌九 無勝如來具眾德
無勝如來具足種種德，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座善嚴殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
澄觀對第九、第十兩頌只說四字：九十可知。
依格式自看：「無勝」是別名，「具眾德」是別德——無人能勝過他，因為他具足一切德。名是從反面說，德是從正面說，一句話的兩面。
殿名是「善嚴」。這一座澄觀單獨補了一句：又善嚴者，善因生故——這座殿的嚴，是善因所生。
六十本此頌作「分別如來功德持」，名德全異，並錄不判。
頌十 苦行如來利世間
苦行如來利益世間，在種種吉祥之中最為無上；他曾經進入這座普嚴殿，所以這個地方最為吉祥。
德句「利世間」與第五頌饒益如來全同，前面已經提過。「苦行」之名與「利世間」之德相接處也直白：所苦者己，所利者世。
殿名是「普嚴」。澄觀說：如是嚴者是善莊嚴，無處不嚴，名普嚴也。十座殿名到此收尾——從摩尼這個能嚴之體起，中間歷清淨、莊嚴、殊勝、無垢、寶香、妙香、普眼、善嚴八種別德，末後以「普嚴」總收，說的是無處不嚴。
十頌讀完可以回看一件事：十位佛的名各異，而十偈的第二句與第四句一字不改。變的是佛，不變的是「諸吉祥中最無上」與「是故此處最吉祥」。天王要說的其實只有一句——這個地方吉祥，因為佛曾經來過。
結通十方：一位天王的話，是十方天王的話
像這個世界之中的夜摩天王一樣，他承著佛的神力，憶念起往昔諸佛的功德而稱揚讚歎；十方世界的夜摩天王，也都同樣是這樣，讚歎佛的功德。
這一段把前面的十偈從一處放到十方。要點在「承佛神力」四字——這一句在本品出現兩次，一次在說頌之前，一次就在這裡。說頌是承佛力，結通也是承佛力。
六十本此處多重舉了一次「各自憶念過去佛所所種善根」，八十本沒有重舉。二本並錄，不判。
讀到這裡再回頭看開頭那句「莫不自謂恒對於佛」，會發現首尾是同一個結構：十方各自為一處，而各處所作全同——不是十方互相模仿，是同一佛力在十方同時起用。
佛同升殿：入的是摩尼莊嚴殿
那時，世尊進入摩尼莊嚴殿，在寶蓮華藏師子座上結跏趺坐。
這一段澄觀仍舊只寫「並如前會」，不重出釋義。但經文有一處值得指出來：前文說天王所居的是「寶莊嚴殿」，此處佛所入的是「摩尼莊嚴殿」。同一座殿，前後用了兩個名。而十偈第一頌所讚的第一座殿也正叫「摩尼殿」——名稱如來曾入的那一座。
佛所坐的，就是前面那一大段所化作的寶蓮華藏師子之座。從化作、莊嚴、備德、請佛，到此刻坐下，整品的動作到這裡才落地。
處忽寬容：殿沒有變大，是它本來就容得下
這座宮殿忽然變得廣大寬闊而容納得下，就如同那些天眾們各自所住的處所那樣；十方世界，也都同樣是這樣。
這是本品的最後一句，也是澄觀「升為神變」四義中第三義的經證——升已廣其處。
要排掉的誤讀是：以為殿被撐大了。經文說的是「如其天眾諸所住處」——這座殿所容納的量，就等於那些天眾各自所住的處所。也就是說，佛入了殿，殿並沒有擠；每一位天眾仍舊各在其所住之處，而全都在這一殿之中。
這正好與開頭那句對上。開頭說十方一一處皆見如來，那是一佛入多處；結尾說一殿容一切天眾之處，那是多處入一殿。一與多兩頭都通了，這一品才算把場立完。
而末句仍是「十方世界，悉亦如是」——與佛受請那一句首尾相應。整品從「不離」起，到「悉亦如是」止。
承衍
- 與前一會之繫：澄觀於本品第三段（天王見佛）、第九段（佛同升殿）、第十段（處忽寬容）皆繫「並如前會」而不重出，於十佛一科亦云「餘如前會」。所指即〈昇須彌山頂品〉。二品同型異位：彼處在須彌頂，此處在夜摩天；彼用『十千』，此用「百萬」；彼所不離者一處，此所不離者二處。澄觀於品名一門說「前升須彌，後升兜率，準此可知」，明示這是一個可以類推的形。
- 與下一品之繫：本品的會名，澄觀說「約人名功德林」，而功德林菩薩之名出於下品。本品只立處、立座、立請，說法之人與所說之法都在後面。所以他判前二品為「由致」，第三品才是「正宗」。
- 與十行之繫：本品之處所表的是十行，而十行的正說在〈十行品〉。李通玄說「故處此天而表之也」，所表的就是那一品。
- 李通玄之表法系統：通玄不只釋本品，他把須彌、夜摩、兜率、他化、第三禪五處配成一系——須彌表十住，夜摩表十行，兜率表十迴向，他化表十地，第三禪表佛華。他並且自己補一句：這樣安立只是就進修昇降而說表法，就理智而言則一一遍周，本無去來。他還老實記下第三禪一會「未有來文」，另舉他經為據。此為古德別行之一軌，誌錄不判。
- 法藏之異軌：法藏所疏為六十本，品名多「自在」二字，故他特設一問——前後諸會都是不離而昇，為什麼獨獨這一會標「自在」？他以三義答：一是不動昇遊而過了前面的地居天，二是初越地居而與兜率不同，三是約行入玄、過於前解。他並且引《俱舍論》釋夜摩為唱樂天，記此天著樂不念善而賴孔雀王菩薩與牟修樓陀天王開導之事——此事本品經文無，唯探玄記舉之。
- 異譯並錄不判：八十本與六十本之十佛名五同五異（喜目與喜王、然燈與慧眼、善覺與無師、勝天與天人中尊、無勝與分別），十座殿名全異，量詞百萬與十萬異，樂音止息之有無異。二本並錄，不判高下。
- 〔查無〕：本品無牒經釋論之別行論，不同於〈十地品〉之有《十地經論》，記闕。《法界玄鏡》所引「夜摩偈」屬下一品覺林菩薩之偈，非本品之文，不採。
Why a single scripture has to move its place of speaking once again
In this chapter the World-Honored One does not speak one sentence of Dharma with his own mouth (the bodhisattvas expound the Dharma upheld by the Buddha's spiritual power, and the heavenly king speaks the verses — neither is the Buddha's own speaking). It does one thing only — it sets up the ground on which the Dharma of the ten practices will be expounded further on.
In the previous assembly, on the summit of Mount Sumeru, the ten abodes were expounded, and what was spoken of there was ‘understanding’; in this assembly, in the palace of the Yāma Heaven, the ten practices are expounded, and what is spoken of is ‘practice.’ Explaining why these two assemblies must come one before the other, Chengguan used a very plain saying: to know is not the hard thing, to do is the hard thing. He says that the understanding of the previous assembly and the practice of this one are like fat and flame depending upon one another, like eye and foot supplying one another — a lamp must have fat before it can shine, and a person must have eyes and feet besides before he can walk to where he is going. Therefore the ten practices must follow upon the ten abodes; this is not pageantry, it is sequence.
For this reason too, in Chengguan's outline this chapter does not count as the “proper exposition” but only as the “occasioning” — the occasioning is the section that brings the matter about. He divides the four chapters of this assembly into three parts: the first two chapters are the occasioning, the third is the proper exposition, and the fourth is the advance beyond, tending toward what follows. And within those first two chapters, the present chapter comes first, and what it speaks of is “stimulus and response meeting on the way” — where sentient beings have stimulus, the Buddha has response; the next chapter comes after, and what it speaks of is the praising of the virtues that makes the substance manifest.
If in reading this chapter one does not first see that it is the “occasioning,” one will feel that it is merely a string of gorgeous embellishment. It is not embellishment. It is answering a question: on what ground does that field in which the ten practices are to be expounded stand up at all?
What the name “Ascent to the Palace of the Yāma Heaven” is saying
The graph in this chapter's title most easily read past is “ascent.”
Chengguan points out one thing in particular: in the Sanskrit text there was no graph “ascend” above; below there were the two graphs “spiritual transformation,” and it was the translator who rendered “spiritual transformation” as “ascend.” This is not a casual substitution. Following upon this point he established four senses: first, that he ascends here without leaving the places of the three preceding assemblies; second, that ascending to one place is the same as ascending to all places; third, that once he has ascended, this place becomes wider; fourth, that before and after are simultaneous and without obstruction.
So “ascent” here is not movement, it is spiritual transformation. The Buddha, with a body perfectly pervading, without rising ascends to the palace of the heaven of time-divisions. These four senses are not established in mid-air: the text of this chapter attests them one sentence at a time. The first sense is attested by “not leaving from beneath all the trees of awakening and the summit of Mount Sumeru, and yet going toward the Palace of Jeweled Adornment in that palace of the Yāma Heaven”; the second by the sentence after the Buddha accepts the invitation, “and in all the ten directions it was likewise so”; the third by the palace suddenly becoming vast and capacious; the fourth by the sentence said once more at the close, “and in the worlds of the ten directions it was likewise so.”
As for “Yāma,” Chengguan says that this means time-divisions, and that it is the first of the heavens dwelling in space. Fazang puts it more finely: fully stated it is “Suyāma,” su meaning good and yāma meaning time, since this heaven has no sun and moon by which the seasons might be known. Li Tongxuan says that in this heaven the opening of the lotus is day and its closing is night, and that it is therefore called the heaven of time-divisions. The glosses of the three are at one: this is a place ‘named by time.’
And Chengguan says “ascending belongs to the Tathāgata, and Yāma is with respect to the place” — the one half speaks of the person and the other half of the ground, and the two, standing opposed, combine into one name. The name of the chapter is itself a sentence saying “ascending without leaving.”
Segment one, pervading the ten directions: this sentence says that the previous assembly has not dispersed
The opening sentence is a long one: because of the majestic spiritual power of the Tathāgata, within all the worlds of the ten directions, in each and every southern Jambudvīpa of the four continents and upon the summit of Mount Sumeru, the Tathāgata was seen dwelling within the great assembly.
Why should this be said at the very opening? Chengguan determines this segment as “the whole assembly perfectly pervading,” and the reason is one sentence: the previous assembly does not disperse, and yet the later assembly is spoken. He divides this sentence into two halves — “at that time, because of the majestic spiritual power of the Tathāgata” is the cause of the pervading, and what follows from “the ten directions” is the mark of the pervading.
Here is a place that is easily misread. The eighty-fascicle text raises two places here: the southern Jambudvīpa, and the summit of Sumeru. The sixty-fascicle text raises Jambudvīpa alone. Chengguan speaks precisely upon this one further place of the eighty-fascicle text: “only the place has Sumeru added” — Sumeru is added because the previous assembly was on the summit of Sumeru; and with this one place added, the phrase “and expounded the Dharma” reaches upward and joins the three assemblies before.
Put otherwise, this sentence is not describing how great the Buddha's spiritual penetrations are; it is declaring one thing: the first assembly, the second assembly, and the third assembly are all still there, and have not broken up. The later assembly does not follow after the earlier; it is simultaneous with the earlier. If the earlier assembly had to be dispersed before the later could open, that would make it an expounding of the Dharma by one assembly at a time in turn, and not the unobstructed assembly of the Dharma realm of the Avataṃsaka.
Segment one continued, the bodhisattvas expounding the Dharma upheld by his spiritual power: why “there was not one that did not take himself to be facing the Buddha constantly”
Then comes the next sentence: those bodhisattvas all expounded the meaning of the Dharma by the Buddha's spiritual power, and there was not one of them that did not take himself to be facing the Buddha squarely from beginning to end.
One misreading must first be put aside. “Take himself to be” does not mean ‘imagine to himself’ — it is not saying that the bodhisattvas mistakenly supposed the Buddha to be before them when in fact he was not. The weight of this sentence is on the two graphs “constantly facing”; the eighty-fascicle text has one further graph, “constantly,” which the sixty-fascicle text lacks, the latter reading “all of them took themselves to be in the presence of the Buddha.” That one further graph says: without interruption.
Where, then, does it come to rest? It comes to rest on “all by the Buddha's spiritual power.” That the bodhisattvas are able to expound the Dharma in each and every place of the ten directions is because they are upheld by the Buddha's spiritual power; and in the very moment of being upheld by the Buddha's spiritual power, the Buddha is not somewhere else. This is the “pervading” of the preceding sentence turned over from the Buddha's body onto the bodies of those who expound the Dharma, and said once again: the Buddha pervades, and therefore those who expound the Dharma upheld by the Buddha's power are, in every place, before the Buddha.
Read this far, and “ascending without leaving” has in fact already been said once over — only that the subject is not the Buddha but the bodhisattvas.
Segment two, ascending without leaving: what he does not leave is two places
At that time the World-Honored One had not left from beneath all the trees of awakening or the summit of Mount Sumeru, and yet he had already gone toward the Palace of Jeweled Adornment in that palace of the Yāma Heaven.
This sentence is the pivot of the chapter, and in reading it one must attend to how it differs from the previous assembly. In the sentence of the same type in the previous assembly, what he does not leave is one place, beneath the tree of awakening; in this assembly what he does not leave is two — beneath the tree of awakening, and the summit of Mount Sumeru. The summit of Sumeru that has been added is precisely the field in which the ten abodes have only just been expounded.
Pushed forward, this matter has a sequence: in ascending to Trāyastriṃśa he does not leave from beneath the tree; in ascending to Yāma he does not leave from beneath the tree and from Trāyastriṃśa; and further on, in the ascent to Tuṣita and the ascent to the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others' Emanations, the places he does not leave will only go on accumulating. When Chengguan says, in the gate on the name of the chapter, “the ascent to Sumeru before and the ascent to Tuṣita after may be known on this pattern,” it is this extensible shape that he means.
The misunderstanding to be put aside is this: it is not that the Buddha has divided his body. If one said that one buddha stayed beneath the tree while another buddha went to the palace of the gods, that would make two buddhas. What the scripture says is that he goes toward without leaving — one and the same buddha, not diminished here and not increased there. The first of the four senses Chengguan established is precisely “ascending here without leaving the three preceding.”
Brought down to the reader: what is called ‘the Buddha has come’ is never the Buddha walking from a far place to a near one. It is that where there is stimulus in this place, in this place he is seen.
Segment three, seeing the Buddha coming from afar
At that time the king of the Yāma Heaven saw from afar the Buddha coming.
This segment is extremely short, and Chengguan's handling of it is extremely short as well — he writes only “the heavenly king sees the Buddha, as in the previous assembly,” attaching the explanation to the assembly before and not setting it out again. This way of writing is itself worth noticing: there are three places in this chapter where he says “as in the previous assembly,” one here, one at the Buddha's likewise ascending the palace, and one at the place suddenly becoming capacious. Not setting it out again is not omission; it is a determination that the doctrine of these segments is one with that of the previous assembly.
But the graph “afar” must still be asked about. It has only just been said that the Buddha neither leaves nor moves; how can there be a “seeing from afar” here?
The answer lies on the side of what is able to see. The substance of the Buddha is without going and without coming, but seeing has its far and its near. That “coming” which the heavenly king saw before his palace is the mark manifested by his own stimulus. So the next thing he does is not to go out and meet him, but to adorn the palace — he means to make this place, in which the Buddha can be seen, into a place in which the Buddha can dwell.
Segment four, part one, conjuring up a lion seat of the Treasury of the Jeweled Lotus Flower: three words, three senses
He thereupon, by his spiritual power, conjured up within his own palace a lion seat of the Treasury of the Jeweled Lotus Flower.
Chengguan determines this sentence in general as the substance of the seat, and takes it apart word by word: it says “conjured up” because practice is given rise to in dependence upon emptiness; it says “lotus flower” because it is non-attachment that leads the practice; it says “treasury” because one practice contains many.
The three words answer to three senses, and are worth reading slowly. First, why “conjured up” and not ‘fashioned’? Because the ten practices are practices given rise to in dependence upon emptiness — it is not that there is first some really existing thing which is then worked upon, but that wondrous function arises from a place with nothing depended upon. Second, why the lotus flower? The lotus comes forth from the water and is not stained by the water; one practices the bodhisattva practice and is not stuck fast by the practice — this is called non-attachment leading the practice. Third, why called “treasury”? Because within one practice are contained measureless practices; it is not ten matters set out side by side, but one matter gathering ten in.
The misreading to be put aside is this: taking this seat for a piece of furniture. It is the image of the Dharma of this assembly — the Dharma-gate of the ten practices is upon this seat, and only when the Buddha sits upon it can the Dharma be spoken at all.
Segment four, part two, the adornment of the substance of the seat complete in virtue: five phrases of adornment
What follows is the densest passage of the chapter. Chengguan divides the marks of adornment from “a million” onward into four parts, and the first part he calls the adornment of the substance of the seat complete in virtue; every phrase of it speaks of the seat itself.
A million tiers of steps serve as its adornment — steps are what rise level upon level, and practice is perfumed and formed one grade at a time. A million nets of gold serve to interlace it — a net is what is threaded through itself, and one practice draws all practices with it. A million flower hangings, a million garland hangings, a million fragrance hangings, and a million jeweled hangings spread out and cover it above — the four kinds of hanging are by flower, by garland, by fragrance, and by jewel; a hanging is a covering, and to cover from above carries the sense of guarding. Flower canopies, garland canopies, fragrance canopies, and jeweled canopies, each of them a million, are set out encircling it round about — canopies stand over against hangings; hangings are what spread and cover, canopies are what are set out all around; and the names of the four canopies are entirely the same as those of the four hangings, being two ways of arranging one and the same set of adornments. A million rays of light serve to illumine it — this phrase closes the passage, for all the adornments before it must have light before they can be seen.
This section need not have a doctrine fitted to each phrase; the scriptural text has already set the sequence in order by itself: from the steps below, to the hangings and canopies above, to the light that is everywhere. The substance of the seat is prepared, level upon level, in just this way.
Segment four, part three, the adornment encircling the seat: persons and clouds
The second part Chengguan calls the adornment encircling the seat, beginning from “a million kings of the Yāma Heaven.” The part before spoke of the seat itself; this part speaks of what is round about the seat.
First the three hosts: a million kings of the Yāma Heaven most reverently bow their heads, a million Brahmā kings leap up and rejoice, a million bodhisattvas extol and praise. The response of each of the three hosts is different — the heavenly kings' is the reverence of bodily action, the Brahmā kings' is the joy of mental action, the bodhisattvas' is the praise of vocal action. Note the phrase “a million kings of the Yāma Heaven”: the one who conjured up the seat is the one king of the Yāma Heaven of this world, while those who come to bow are a million.
Then the music: a million kinds of heavenly music each play a million kinds of Dharma sounds, continuing on and never once breaking off. Here one should attend to the two graphs “Dharma sounds” — not sounds that are pleasant to hear, but sounds able to display the Dharma; and further, “continuing on without breaking off.”
Then the clouds: a million kinds of flower clouds, a million kinds of garland clouds, a million kinds of clouds of adornments, and a million kinds of garment clouds spread out and cover all around; a million kinds of maṇi clouds shine with light. Of the five kinds of cloud, the first four spread and cover all around, while the fifth, the maṇi clouds, shine with light — answering at a distance to the light in the closing phrase of the part before. That it uses “cloud” and not a number is because a cloud has no fixed quantity and no fixed shape, gathering and scattering at its own ease.
The six phrases of this part, taken together, say one thing: this seat is not one isolated object; around it there are persons, there are sounds, there are clouds — it is a complete field.
Segment four, part four, the adornment of the virtue of the practice of the Dharma-gate: eight phrases in four pairs
The third part Chengguan calls the adornment of the virtue of the practice of the Dharma-gate, and he states expressly that “the text has eight phrases, gathered into four pairs.” The eight phrases are: produced from a million kinds of roots of goodness, upheld by a million buddhas, increased by a million kinds of merit, adorned and purified by a million kinds of profound mind and a million kinds of vows, given rise to by a million kinds of practice, established by a million kinds of dharmas, manifested by transformation through a million kinds of spiritual penetration.
How are the four pairs to be fitted? Chengguan says: first, cause and condition; second, merit and wisdom; third, vow and practice; fourth, substance and function.
The first pair is cause and condition — that they are produced from roots of goodness is the cause, that they are upheld by the buddhas is the condition. Practice does not spring up of itself; it has its own seed, and it has the Buddha's upholding. The second pair is merit and wisdom — the increase of merit belongs to merit, and profound mind belongs to wisdom; Chengguan adds a note here, saying that profound mind is “because it accords with principle,” and therefore what profound mind is fitted to is the side of wisdom. The third pair is vow and practice — vows and practice, the vow being what is looked toward and the practice what is trodden. The fourth pair is substance and function — that they are established by dharmas is substance, and that they are manifested by transformation through spiritual penetration is function; Chengguan says that this is “given rise to by the substance of the unborn dharma,” meaning that function does not come from anywhere else, but arises from that unborn substance of dharma.
The misreading to be put aside is this: reading these eight phrases as eight meritorious deeds. They are not praising this seat; they are saying how the Dharma-gate that is here seated has come to be — it has cause and condition, merit and wisdom, vow and practice, substance and function. Only when the eight phrases are complete does the seat of the ten practices stand firm.
Segment four, part five, the adornment of the circulation of the Dharma-teaching: constantly sending forth speech-sounds
The last phrase: and it constantly sends forth a million kinds of speech-sounds, displaying the meanings of the Dharma in all their kinds.
Chengguan determines this phrase separately as the fourth part, calling it the adornment of the circulation of the Dharma-teaching. The three parts before speak of how this seat has come to be, how it is adorned, how it is complete in virtue; this phrase speaks of what it does outward — it sends forth sound, and displays the Dharma.
That a seat should send forth sound is strange to eyes accustomed to the implements of the human world. But having read the three parts before, it is no longer strange: this seat has all along been the image of the Dharma-gate of the ten practices, and a Dharma-gate displays itself of itself. Moreover the graph used is “constantly” — it is not that it sounds only once the Buddha has sat upon it; it is constantly so.
With this the four parts are complete: the substance prepared, the surroundings adorned, the virtue accomplished, the Dharma flowing forth.
Why “a million”
This whole passage, from beginning to end, uses “a million,” which occurs twenty-seven times in the chapter. Why this number?
Chengguan gives one sentence only: that all of them say a million is because the stage gradually increases.
To see what this sentence means, one must look back to the previous assembly. That assembly, on the summit of Sumeru, expounded the ten abodes, and its phrases of adornment used ‘ten thousand’ throughout. This assembly expounds the ten practices, and uses “a million” throughout. The number itself is not for anyone to count out; it is for one to see the “increase” — the stage being one degree higher, the adornment it draws to itself is one layer thicker. Further on, at Tuṣita and at the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others' Emanations, it will increase again.
The sixty-fascicle text here uses “ten myriads” throughout, twenty-three times. The eighty-fascicle has “a million,” the sixty-fascicle “ten myriads”; the two texts are recorded together, with no adjudication of better and worse; but it must be remembered that the sense of “the stage gradually increasing” that Chengguan establishes is stated with respect to the text of the eighty-fascicle.
Put aside one misreading: this is not hyperbole. Hyperbole makes one into ten; here the sequence of the stages is written out as a number. In reading, one need not picture what a million tiers of steps might look like; one need only remember — more than the last assembly, fewer than the next.
Segment five, thrice saying “Welcome”: inviting the Dharma must have the look of inviting the Dharma
When that heavenly king had finished spreading and setting out the seat, he bent his body and joined his palms toward the Buddha, the World-Honored One, and reverently and with esteem said: Welcome, World-Honored One; welcome, Well-Gone One; welcome, Tathāgata, Worthy One, Perfectly Awakened One; we pray only that you would take pity and be mindful of us, and dwell here within this palace.
Chengguan determines this segment as “inviting the Buddha to dwell in the palace.” Several things are worth pointing out.
First, the sequence is that the seat is “spread and set out” and only then the invitation. First the seat is prepared, and then the mouth is opened. It is not that the Buddha is first invited to come and the arrangements made afterward. Second, “Welcome” is said three times and three titles are raised — World-Honored One, Well-Gone One, Tathāgata Worthy One Perfectly Awakened One. The sixty-fascicle text here has only one “Welcome, World-Honored One,” while the eighty-fascicle says it three times. Saying it three times is joy at its utmost, and raising three titles is praising his virtues in brief. Third, what is asked for is not ‘to come and expound the Dharma’ but “to dwell in this palace” — what is asked for is his abiding, not his speaking.
That the Dharma must have someone to invite it is the constant rule throughout the Avataṃsaka. And the qualification for inviting lies in that long passage of adornment before — only after he has prepared the place into a vessel for the Dharma has he the standing to open his mouth in this way.
Segment six, the Tathāgata accepts the invitation: in all the ten directions it is likewise so
At that time the Buddha accepted his invitation and thereupon ascended this jeweled palace; and in all the ten directions it was likewise just so.
This sentence is short, but it is precisely the scriptural attestation of the second of the four senses of “ascending as spiritual transformation”: ascending to one place is ascending to all places.
One question must be asked: since it was said before that the Buddha does not leave from beneath the tree of awakening, how is it said here that he “thereupon ascended the jeweled palace”?
The answer lies in reading the first and the second of the four senses together. He does not leave, and therefore is not diminished here; he ascends to all places, and therefore is not increased there. The “ascending” here is, as said before, the translated word for “spiritual transformation” — it is not displacement, it is response. The heavenly king has stimulus, and the Buddha is in the heavenly king's palace; the heavenly kings of the ten directions have stimulus at the same time, and the Buddha is at the same time in the palaces of the ten directions. Hence the sentence added immediately after: “and in all the ten directions it was likewise so.”
This sentence occurs three times in the chapter: once at the opening, once at the concluding extension after the verses of praise, and once at the very end, so that the whole chapter is held between the words “it was likewise so.”
Segment seven, each calls to mind the causes of old: here one sentence about the music ceasing is missing
At that time the heavenly king thereupon of himself called to mind the roots of goodness he had planted in the past in the presence of the buddhas, and upheld by the Buddha's spiritual power he spoke verses.
There is one matter here that Chengguan raised of his own accord, and which one would not see if he had not raised it: the sixty-fascicle text has here the sentence “the measureless sounds of music became still and without sound,” and the eighty-fascicle text does not.
How does he determine it? He says that this is the intention of the translator, and he gives the reason: this assembly is not like the assembly of the ten understandings of the third assembly, which “gathers phenomena back into principle,” and therefore the ceasing of the music is not spoken of; nor is it like the assembly of dedication that comes after the fourth, in which “phenomena and principle are unobstructed,” and therefore the blazing forth is not spoken of. It may go back and be one with what precedes, or go forward and be level with what follows; and therefore both are simply left unsaid.
This is a place well worth stopping at. Chengguan does not say that the eighty-fascicle text failed to translate something, nor that the sixty-fascicle text has something in excess; he reads one textual variant as a determination about the sequence of the stages — this assembly stands in the middle, and therefore in its wording too it adopts a handling that leans to neither side.
As for “upheld by the Buddha's spiritual power he spoke verses,” the sixty-fascicle text has only “he spoke in verse, saying.” The four graphs the eighty-fascicle has in addition attach the power by which the verses are spoken back to the Buddha's body: that the heavenly king can call to mind and can praise is still by the Buddha's power upholding him.
The ten verses in general: first look at the form, then at the content
The ten verses that follow are the only metrical passage in the chapter, twenty lines, seven graphs to the line. Looking first, before reading them, at the form Chengguan gives will save much labor.
He says that this passage has two parts: first the making clear of this world, and afterward the discerning of the concluding extension. In the ten verses before that, each verse again has four lines with four senses: the first line names him and praises his particular virtue, the second displays in common that he is possessed of auspiciousness, the third calls to mind that he once entered this palace, and the fourth concludes that this place has become supremely excellent.
Look more closely still at the first line. Chengguan says: the first two graphs are the particular name, the next two are the common title, and the last three are the particular virtue. Take the first verse as the example — “Renown” is the particular name, “Tathāgata” is the common title, and “heard in the ten directions” is the particular virtue. Of the ten verses only the first line differs in each; the second line, “most unsurpassed among all things auspicious,” is the same in all ten; the third line changes only the name of the palace; and the fourth line, “and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all,” is the same in all ten.
There is one more key to the reading: Chengguan says “in every case the particular virtue below explains the particular name above” — the virtue in those three graphs below is explaining the name in the two graphs above. Names are not given at random; a buddha's particular names are for the most part established from virtues, and the one who praises takes that virtue in order to explain that name.
Last, the position of these ten buddhas. Chengguan says that these ten buddhas are buddhas earlier than the ten praised in the previous assembly — the higher the stage, the more distant the past that is called to mind; and that as a matter of principle all the buddhas of the three times expound in this same place, so that praising these ten alone displays their sequence of stages.
Verse one: the renown of the Tathāgata Renown is heard throughout the ten directions
The renown of the Tathāgata Renown is heard everywhere throughout the ten directions, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Maṇi, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
By Chengguan's way of reading: “Renown” is the particular name, “heard in the ten directions” is the particular virtue, and the particular virtue is precisely explaining the particular name — “heard in the ten directions” explains and completes “Renown.” Renown is called renown because the name is heard everywhere throughout the ten directions. On this verse he speaks with the utmost brevity: first, “heard in the ten directions” explains and completes “Renown.”
The name of the palace is “Maṇi.” Chengguan also has one general determination for the ten names of palaces: the first raises the substance that is able to adorn, and the nine below all raise particular virtues of the jewel. Maṇi is the jewel itself, the very thing that is able to adorn; the nine names of palaces that follow all speak of how this jewel is.
So the first verse is the template of the ten verses: name, title, virtue, palace, conclusion, five things each in its own place. In the nine that follow one need only see what has been changed.
Verse two: the Tathāgata Jewel King is the lamp of the world
The Tathāgata Jewel King is the lamp of the world, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Purity, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
This verse Chengguan explains most fully, because between the name and the virtue there is a layer in between. How do “Jewel King” and “lamp of the world” join together?
His way of resolving it is by drawing a comparison: among jewels there is a kind able to shine in the night and to take the place of a lamp, and such a jewel is the king of the many jewels. The Buddha has the light of wisdom, and what it shines upon is the long night of ignorance; and therefore he is called Jewel King.
What must be read slowly in this sentence is the three graphs “night of ignorance.” A lamp is a lamp because there is night; and the Buddha is called Jewel King not because he is precious, but because he serves in the dark.
The name of the palace is changed to “Purity.” By Chengguan's general determination this raises a particular virtue of the jewel — this jewel is pure.
Verse three: what the Tathāgata Joyful Eyes sees is without obstruction
What the Tathāgata Joyful Eyes sees is without obstruction, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Adornment, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
Of the third through the sixth of these verses Chengguan says only four graphs: the sense of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth may be known. That is to say, the joining of name and virtue is plain, and needs no further explaining.
By his form one may see it for oneself: “Joyful Eyes” is the particular name, and “sees without obstruction” is the particular virtue — the eyes can be joyful because what they see is without obstruction. The name has in it the graph “eyes,” and the virtue has in it the graph “sees”; they join very directly.
The name of the palace is “Adornment,” still a particular virtue of the jewel — this jewel is put to use in adorning.
One matter may be recorded here in passing: the sixty-fascicle text has this verse as “the wisdom of the Tathāgata Joy King is measureless,” differing from the eighty-fascicle in both name and virtue. Of the names of the ten buddhas, the two texts have five the same and five different, and this is the first of the differing ones. The two texts are recorded together, without adjudication.
Verse four: the Tathāgata Burning Lamp illumines the world
The Tathāgata Burning Lamp illumines the world, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Excellence, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
This too belongs among the verses of which Chengguan says “may be known.” The name is “Burning Lamp” and the virtue is “illumines the world” — a lamp is a lamp precisely in its being able to illumine.
What should be attended to is this: the last of the ten verses of the previous assembly was also the Tathāgata Burning Lamp. One and the same buddha-name appears once in the verses of praise of each of the two assemblies, but at a different position in the sequence — tenth in the previous assembly, fourth in this one. As was said before, Chengguan determines that the ten buddhas of this assembly are earlier than the ten of the previous, the stage gradually higher and the past called to mind more distant; that the names of the ten buddhas should recur is precisely a sign that “all the buddhas of the three times expound in this same way” is not one fixed roster.
The name of the palace is “Excellence,” still a particular virtue of the jewel. The sixty-fascicle text has this verse as “the Tathāgata Wisdom Eye is the lamp of the world,” differing wholly in both name and virtue; the two are recorded together, without adjudication.
Verse five: the Tathāgata Abundant Benefit benefits the world
The Tathāgata Abundant Benefit benefits the world, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Stainlessness, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
“Abundant Benefit” and “benefits the world” are almost two ways of saying one and the same thing, and therefore Chengguan offers no separate explanation.
What is worth pointing out is that the line of virtue in this verse, “benefits the world,” is entirely the same as the line of virtue of the Tathāgata Austere Practice in the tenth verse — among the ten verses only these two use one and the same line of virtue. The sixty-fascicle text has this verse as “the meaning of the Tathāgata Abundant Benefit is measureless,” the buddha's name being the same as in the eighty-fascicle while the line of virtue differs; of the names of the ten buddhas, five are the same in the two texts, and Abundant Benefit is one of them.
The name of the palace is “Stainlessness,” which by Chengguan's determination still belongs to the particular virtues of the jewel — he links the four names Purity, Adornment, Excellence, and Stainlessness together in a single sentence: this jewel is pure, is put to use in adorning, is excellent and stainless. The four names of palaces run on in one course.
Verse six: the Tathāgata Well Awakened has no teacher
The Tathāgata Well Awakened has no teacher, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Jewel Fragrance, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
The three graphs “has no teacher” must be read with care. They do not say that this buddha never drew near to a buddha; they say that his awakening was not got from another — and therefore he is named “Well Awakened.” The joining of name and virtue lies here: his awakening is called good because, without a teacher, he was able of himself to awaken.
This verse still stands among those of which Chengguan says “may be known.”
The name of the palace changes to “Jewel Fragrance,” and the particular virtue turns with it. Chengguan says: this jewel gives forth fragrance, and such fragrance must be wondrous. From the sixth verse onward the names of the palaces no longer speak of purity and adornment, but change to fragrance — Jewel Fragrance and Wondrous Fragrance, two palaces in succession.
The sixty-fascicle text has this verse as “the Tathāgata Without Teacher is the honored one of the world,” lifting the eighty-fascicle's line of virtue, “has no teacher,” up to serve as the buddha's name; the two texts are recorded together, without adjudication.
Verse seven: the Tathāgata Surpassing the Gods is the lamp within the world
The Tathāgata Surpassing the Gods is the lamp within the world, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Wondrous Fragrance, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
For this verse Chengguan again takes a hand in explaining: the seventh, “lamp of the world” explaining “Surpassing the Gods,” is because the light of his body and of his wisdom shines more excellently than that of the gods.
The misreading to be put aside is this: reading “Surpassing the Gods” as surpassing some particular god. It is not so. What makes gods gods is light; and the Buddha's bodily light and light of wisdom shine more excellently than the gods', and therefore he is named Surpassing the Gods. Hence the three graphs below use “lamp within the world” to explain it — lamp and god take light alike for their sense, and the line of virtue answers exactly to the name.
The name of the palace is “Wondrous Fragrance,” following upon the Jewel Fragrance of the preceding verse — such fragrance must be wondrous.
Verse eight: the Tathāgata Without Going is the hero among those who expound
The Tathāgata Without Going is the hero among those who expound, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of the Universal Eye, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
Chengguan's explanation is: the eighth, “hero among expounders” explaining “Without Going,” is because he is possessed of courage, wisdom, and eloquence, and cannot be moved.
In this verse name and virtue look to stand farthest apart — “Without Going” is not moving, and “hero among those who expound” is being able to speak; how should one who does not move be one who expounds well? The graph by which Chengguan joins the two sides is “cannot be moved”: possessed of the three, courage, wisdom, and eloquence, when he expounds the Dharma no one can shake him, and this is called the hero among expounders; and to be unable to be moved is precisely “Without Going.”
So the “Without Going” here is not an inability to stir, but an inability to be shifted. This is one and the same unmovingness as the unmovingness of “ascending without leaving” at the opening of the chapter.
The name of the palace is “the Universal Eye.” Chengguan says: the jewel that is able to adorn leaves nothing unseen, and may be called the universal eye.
Verse nine: the Tathāgata Unsurpassed is endowed with virtues of every kind
The Tathāgata Unsurpassed is endowed with virtues of every kind, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Good Adornment, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
Of the ninth and the tenth verses Chengguan says four graphs only: the ninth and tenth may be known.
By the form one sees for oneself: “Unsurpassed” is the particular name, and “endowed with virtues of every kind” is the particular virtue — no one can surpass him, because he is endowed with all virtues. The name states it from the negative side and the virtue from the positive; they are the two faces of one saying.
The name of the palace is “Good Adornment.” For this one palace Chengguan adds a sentence of his own: further, that it is good adornment is because it is produced by good causes — the adornment of this palace is what good causes have produced.
The sixty-fascicle text has this verse as “the Tathāgata Discernment is the upholder of merit,” differing wholly in both name and virtue; recorded together, without adjudication.
Verse ten: the Tathāgata Austere Practice benefits the world
The Tathāgata Austere Practice benefits the world, and among all things auspicious he is the most unsurpassed; he once entered this Palace of Universal Adornment, and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.
The line of virtue, “benefits the world,” is entirely the same as that of the Tathāgata Abundant Benefit in the fifth verse, as was mentioned before. The joining of the name “Austere Practice” with the virtue “benefits the world” is likewise plain: what is made to suffer is himself, and what is benefited is the world.
The name of the palace is “Universal Adornment.” Chengguan says: such adorning is good adorning, and there is no place it does not adorn, and so it is named universal adornment. Here the ten names of palaces come to their close — beginning from Maṇi, the substance that is able to adorn, passing through the eight particular virtues of Purity, Adornment, Excellence, Stainlessness, Jewel Fragrance, Wondrous Fragrance, the Universal Eye, and Good Adornment, and gathered up at the last by “Universal Adornment,” which says that there is no place unadorned.
Having read the ten verses one may look back on one thing: the names of the ten buddhas each differ, while the second and the fourth lines of the ten verses do not change by a single graph. What changes is the buddha; what does not change is “most unsurpassed among all things auspicious” and “and therefore this place is the most auspicious of all.” What the heavenly king has to say is in fact only one sentence — this place is auspicious, because the Buddha once came here.
The concluding extension to the ten directions: the words of one heavenly king are the words of the heavenly kings of the ten directions
Just as with the king of the Yāma Heaven within this world, who upheld by the Buddha's spiritual power called to mind the merits of the buddhas of old and extolled and praised them, so too the kings of the Yāma Heaven in the worlds of the ten directions were likewise just so, praising the merits of the Buddha.
This segment carries the ten verses before it from one place out to the ten directions. The point lies in the four graphs “upheld by the Buddha's spiritual power” — this phrase occurs twice in the chapter, once before the speaking of the verses, and once here. The speaking of the verses is by the Buddha's power upholding, and the concluding extension is by the Buddha's power upholding as well.
The sixty-fascicle text here raises once more the phrase “each of himself called to mind the roots of goodness planted in the presence of the buddhas of the past,” which the eighty-fascicle does not repeat. The two texts are recorded together, without adjudication.
Reading this far and then looking back to the opening sentence, “there was not one that did not take himself to be facing the Buddha constantly,” one finds that beginning and end are one and the same structure: each of the ten directions is a place of its own, and yet what is done in all those places is entirely the same — it is not that the ten directions imitate one another, but that one and the same Buddha-power acts at one and the same time in the ten directions.
The Buddha likewise ascends the palace: what he enters is the Palace of Maṇi Adornment
At that time the World-Honored One entered the Palace of Maṇi Adornment and sat with his legs fully crossed upon the lion seat of the Treasury of the Jeweled Lotus Flower.
For this segment Chengguan again writes only “as in the previous assembly,” without setting out the explanation again. But there is one place in the scriptural text worth pointing out: earlier the text said that what the heavenly king dwells in is the “Palace of Jeweled Adornment,” and here what the Buddha enters is the “Palace of Maṇi Adornment.” One and the same palace, called by two names before and after. And the first of the palaces praised in the first of the ten verses is likewise called the “Palace of Maṇi” — the one that the Tathāgata Renown once entered.
What the Buddha sits upon is precisely that lion seat of the Treasury of the Jeweled Lotus Flower conjured up in the long passage before. From the conjuring up, the adorning, the completing in virtue, and the inviting of the Buddha, down to this moment of sitting, the action of the whole chapter comes to the ground only here.
The place suddenly becomes capacious: the palace did not grow larger; it could contain them from the first
This palace suddenly became vast and broad and able to contain them, just like those dwelling places in which the hosts of gods severally dwell; and in the worlds of the ten directions it was likewise just so.
This is the last sentence of the chapter, and it is the scriptural attestation of the third of Chengguan's four senses of “ascending as spiritual transformation” — that once he has ascended, this place becomes wider.
The misreading to be put aside is this: supposing that the palace was stretched wider. What the scripture says is “just like those dwelling places in which the hosts of gods severally dwell” — the amount this palace contains is equal to the dwelling places in which those hosts of gods severally dwell. That is to say, the Buddha has entered the palace and the palace is not crowded; each of the hosts of gods still remains in the place where he dwells, and yet all of them are within this one palace.
This answers exactly to the sentence at the opening. The opening says that in each and every place of the ten directions the Tathāgata is seen, and that is one buddha entering many places; the close says that one palace contains the places of all the hosts of gods, and that is many places entering one palace. With both ends, the one and the many, opened through, this chapter has finished setting up its field.
And the last sentence is still “and in the worlds of the ten directions it was likewise so” — answering at beginning and end to the sentence at the Buddha's accepting the invitation. The whole chapter begins from “not leaving” and comes to rest at “it was likewise so.”
Lineage
- Its bond with the previous assembly: at the third segment of this chapter (the heavenly king seeing the Buddha), the ninth (the Buddha likewise ascending the palace), and the tenth (the place suddenly becoming capacious), Chengguan attaches all of them with “as in the previous assembly” and does not set them out again, and at the section on the ten buddhas he likewise says “the rest as in the previous assembly.” What is meant is the chapter “Ascent to the Summit of Mount Sumeru.” The two chapters are of one type at different positions: there the place is the summit of Sumeru, here the palace of the Yāma Heaven; there ‘ten thousand’ is used, here “a million”; there what he does not leave is one place, here what he does not leave is two. In the gate on the name of the chapter Chengguan says “the ascent to Sumeru before and the ascent to Tuṣita after may be known on this pattern,” stating expressly that this is an extensible shape.
- Its bond with the next chapter: as for the name of the assembly in this chapter, Chengguan says “with respect to the person it is named for the bodhisattva Merit Grove,” and the name of the bodhisattva Merit Grove appears in the next chapter. This chapter only sets up the place, sets up the seat, and sets up the invitation; the person who expounds the Dharma and the Dharma expounded are both further on. Hence he determines the first two chapters as the “occasioning,” and the third as the “proper exposition.”
- Its bond with the ten practices: what the place of this chapter displays is the ten practices, and the proper exposition of the ten practices is in the chapter “The Ten Practices.” When Li Tongxuan says “and therefore he abides in this heaven and displays it thereby,” what is displayed is that chapter.
- Li Tongxuan's system of displaying the Dharma: Li Tongxuan does not explain this chapter only; he arranges the five places of Sumeru, Yāma, Tuṣita, the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others' Emanations, and the third dhyāna into a single system — Sumeru displaying the ten abodes, Yāma the ten practices, Tuṣita the ten dedications, the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others' Emanations the ten grounds, and the third dhyāna the Flower of the Buddha. And he adds a sentence of his own: to set them out in this way is only to display the Dharma with respect to advance in cultivation, ascending and descending, whereas with respect to principle and wisdom each and every one of them pervades everywhere, and there is originally no going and coming. He further records honestly that for the assembly of the third dhyāna “there is as yet no text for it,” and adduces another scripture as his authority. This is one separate track of the ancient worthies, recorded without adjudication.
- Fazang's differing track: what Fazang commented upon was the sixty-fascicle text, whose chapter title has the two further graphs “self-mastery,” and therefore he sets up a question of his own — all the assemblies before and after are cases of ascending without leaving, so why does this assembly alone bear the mark of self-mastery? He answers it with three senses: first, that he ascends and roams without moving and has passed beyond the earth-dwelling heavens before it; second, that this is the first crossing beyond the earth-dwelling and is unlike Tuṣita; third, that with respect to practice he enters the profound, passing beyond the understanding that came before. He further cites the Abhidharmakośa explaining Yāma as the heaven that sings for pleasure, and records the matter of this heaven's being attached to pleasure and not mindful of the good, and its relying on the bodhisattva Peacock King and the heavenly king Musulundha to guide it — this matter is absent from the scriptural text of the chapter, and only the Tanxuan ji raises it.
- The parallel translations recorded together without adjudication: of the ten buddha-names in the eighty-fascicle and the sixty-fascicle texts, five are the same and five differ (Joyful Eyes and Joy King, Burning Lamp and Wisdom Eye, Well Awakened and Without Teacher, Surpassing the Gods and the Honored One among Gods and Humans, Unsurpassed and Discernment); the ten names of palaces differ throughout; the numerals differ, a million against ten myriads; and the presence or absence of the ceasing of the music differs. The two texts are recorded together, with no adjudication of better and worse.
- 〔not found〕: this chapter has no separately circulating treatise that quotes and explains the scripture, unlike the chapter “The Ten Grounds,” which has the Shidi jing lun; the lack is recorded. The “verses of Yāma” cited in the Fajie xuanjing are the verses of the bodhisattva Awakening Grove in the next chapter, and not the text of this chapter; they are not taken up.
品二十 夜摩宮中偈讚品Verses of Praise in the Palace of the Yāma Heaven
全文五層 →Full five layers →佛又一次坐著不說話，而這次說話的十位都叫「林」
這一品的格局，讀過〈須彌頂上偈讚品〉的人會覺得眼熟：十方各來一位大菩薩，各帶佛剎微塵數眷屬；佛放光；然後十位菩薩輪流說偈，世尊自己一個字也沒說。但眼熟不等於重複。前一會十位菩薩名字全帶「慧」，這一會全帶「林」；前一會十世界全帶「華」，這一會全帶「慧」；前一會十佛全帶「月」，這一會全帶「眼」。三組名字整組換過，而換的方式有規矩——上一會的「果」，成了這一會的「因」。
澄觀判這一品的來意，給了三個理由：助化讚揚、說行體性、行所依。他接著說了一句對讀者最有用的話：三處天宮的偈讚，來意與宗趣的大旨是相同的，所不同的只在解、行、願三者之別。所以這一品不是前一品的重演，是同一個結構套在「行」上跑一次。李通玄說得更白：要講十行之法，得先用偈把十行之中的因果總讚一遍；若不先舉出所行的因果，十行依什麼而成？
排一個誤讀：不要把十段偈當成十篇讚美詞。落到讀法上——這一百零二首偈是在你進入「十行」之前，把「佛」這個字裡面所有可以被抓住的東西，一樣一樣拿掉。
三組名字：林、慧、眼
十位菩薩名字末字全同，都是「林」。澄觀不把它讀成修辭，他列了五個理由：表十行建立、行類廣多、聚集顯發、深密無間、扶疎庇映；並且直說這十位菩薩表的是「行之體」。法藏的釋更形象：德高像樹，行廣稱林，十度齊修、萬行森然，所以叫林。智儼最簡，說只因這行利益眾生的樣子熾盛，聚在一起顯出齊備之相。李通玄又開四義——廣多、覆蔭、莊嚴，以及樹身枝條華葉果實彼此相資；他還舉了一個很生活的比方：川澤有林，眾鳥就歸過來；人有德行，很多人就依過來。
十個世界全帶「慧」，澄觀說那是「十解之慧行所依故」——十解就是十住，上一會所成就的解，正是這一會之行所依靠的地基。十位佛全帶「眼」，他說是「以智導行，了了分明，成有目之足故」：光有腳會走，沒有眼睛會走錯；行要有智引導才走得成。
排一個誤：這三組名字不是十位不同的菩薩、十個不同的世界、十尊不同的佛在各說各話。名同所顯的正是這一會的義。落地處：讀十段偈時若覺得『怎麼講來講去都在拆同一件事』，那不是重複，那正是這一品要你看見的。
澄觀存了一個疑，而且沒有解掉
集眾分裡有一句數目：「從十萬佛剎微塵數國土外」。澄觀讀到這裡停了下來。他的理由是：這一整部經的數目是隨位次遞增的——十信是十、十住是百、十迴向是萬；照這個級數，十行這裡應該是「千」，經文卻作「十萬」。於是他列了兩種可能：或是譯人之誤，或者本作「十百」而是傳寫之誤。他兩種都列，一種也沒有定下來。
這件事值得單獨講，因為它示範了古德讀經的分寸。澄觀不是不敢改，是他手上沒有足以定案的證據，於是把疑存住，把兩種可能都寫下來，讓後人自己看。法藏於六十本同處只說「前百、此十萬等」，把它讀成位次已增，並未起疑。二家所見不同，並錄不判。
排一個誤：不要因為疏家存疑就以為經文有誤。落地處：讀到與體系不合的地方，先照原樣記著，不要為了整齊而改順它——這是這一品之外、貫穿全部讀經的一條規矩。
放光在腳背上，不在腳指上
上一會佛從「兩足指」放光，這一會經文作「從兩足上」。澄觀特別點出這個字的差別：足上就是腳的趺背；腳指是站住用的，腳背是走動時要動的，所以前一會表「住」，這一會表「行」。他再進一步：腳背是依著腳輪與腳指才有用的，所以這是「表行依信解而成用故」——行不是憑空起來的，是踩在前面已經成就的信與解上面。
這裡要說清楚一件事：六十本此處作「兩足指」，所以法藏與智儼所釋的都是「足指有行、住二力」；八十本作「兩足上」，所以澄觀所釋的是趺背。二本文異，二家所釋各順自己所依的本節，並錄不判。李通玄則把五個位次的放光處排成一條線：十信在足下輪中、十住在足指端、十行在足趺上——他讀出來的是同一件事：位次在昇進。
排一個誤：不要去想那道光有多亮。落地處：光在這一品裡的作用是讓「遍」變成看得見的事——若沒有這一照，後面十位菩薩說「十方一切處」就只是一句斷言。
功德林菩薩十二偈：為什麼只有這一段多兩首
十段之中，九段各十偈，唯獨第一段有十二偈。這不是抄寫之誤，澄觀明白寫著「有十二頌」，並給了理由：功德林是這一會的會主，所以由他總敘這一會普遍之事。他把十二頌分成前八與後四：前八述讚奇特，後四舉德釋成。前八之中又分四層——第一首敘這一品的放光，第二、三首敘前一品的感應，第四到第六首敘這一品的眾集，第七、八首明自在普周。
逐首看。第一首說佛放大光明普照十方，於是全都見到了這位天人所尊者，通達無有障礙——先立「見」的起點，而這個見是光給的。第二首是這一品最直接的一句奇特：佛坐在夜摩宮，卻普遍周遍十方界；這件事甚為奇特，世間所稀有。第三首回望前品：須夜摩天王以偈讚十如來，這一會所見到的，一切處也都是這樣。第四首說他方的菩薩眾與此方同名，各在十方一切處演說無上法。第五首說他們所從來的世界名號也無別，各於其佛所淨修梵行。第六首說那些如來名號也全同，國土豐樂，神力自在。第七首是全段最著名的一句：「十方一切處，皆謂佛在此，或見在人間，或見住天宮」——每一處都說佛在自己這裡，有的見在人間，有的見在天宮。第八首把這句話落回說者自身：如來普安住一切國土，我們如今見佛處在這座天宮殿。
後四首是舉德釋成。第九首舉因：佛往昔所發的菩提願普及十方界，所以佛的威力充遍而難思議——遍不是神通的展示，是願的結果。第十首續舉因：遠離世所貪、具足無邊德，所以獲得神通力而眾生無不見。第十一、十二兩首辨果用之深廣。第十一首說遊行十方界如空無所礙，一身無量身而其相不可得——澄觀在這裡下了本品身相之綱：一身即多，則「一」相不可得；多即是一，則「多」相不可得，所以恆一恆多、又恆非一非多；一塵之內的身無不周遍十方，遍十方的身又都潛在一塵之內，都是圓滿地遍，不是分割開來各遍一塊。第十二首收在不可測：佛功德無邊，怎麼可能測知？無住也無去，普入於法界。澄觀釋此云不住故無處不至、不去故不離本位。
排一個大誤：「十方一切處，皆謂佛在此」不是說佛分身跑了很多地方。落地處：這一段給的是尺度感，是後面九十首偈的地基——你若把它讀成神通故事，後面所拆的那個『取相』，你就正好犯在裡面。
慧林菩薩十偈：知道這個義理，比供養無量佛還多
從第二段起入別。澄觀說第一段明的是功德，這一段辨的是智慧——能悟到這個、能除昏冥的那種難遇之慧，所以名慧林。他判十頌分三：初一明佛難遇，次六別釋難遇，後三校量顯勝。
第一首立章：世間大導師、離垢無上尊，經不可思議劫也難得值遇。第二、三首說益之廣：佛放大光明而世間無不見，為眾廣開演、饒益群生；如來出世間為世除癡冥，這樣一盞世間燈稀有難見。第四首說因之圓：已修施、戒、忍、精進、禪定與般若波羅蜜，用這些照世間——六度在此不是名相清單，是「難遇」的理由。第五到第七首說果之深：如來無與等，求一個比擬也不可得，不了法之真實就沒有誰能見；佛身及神通自在難思議，無去也無來而說法度眾生；若有人得見得聞這位清淨天人師，就永出諸惡趣、捨離一切苦。
後三首是校量，而且校量的方式很特別。第八首：經無量無數劫修習菩提行，若不能知此義，仍然不可得成佛。第九首：經不可思議劫供養無量佛，若能知此義，功德還超過那個。第十首：以無量剎的珍寶滿中布施於佛，若不能知此義，終不成菩提。三首一路把『時間長』『供佛多』『布施重』全都放在秤的一邊，另一邊只放一個「知此義」。
排一個誤：這不是在貶低修行與供養。校量之所以能成立，正因為那一邊也極重。落地處：這三首要回答的是一個很實際的問題——同樣在用功，為什麼有人一直走不到？答案不在量，在有沒有走在義上。
勝林菩薩十偈：從一輪赫日，走到無生
澄觀說勝林是悟勝義甚深之法，所以偈中歎的是深廣無涯之德；他判十頌分二：初三明佛德廣博，後七顯法體甚深，橫豎互顯。
前三首是喻與合。第一首取夏日之喻：譬如孟夏之月，天空清淨無雲翳，赤日揚起光輝，十方無不充滿。澄觀在這裡做了一件考據的事——他說「孟夏月」是取意而譯，梵本直對應的是「後熱月」；西域把一年立為熱、雨、寒三際，並引《西域記》「從正月十六日至五月十五日為熱時」，所以「後熱月」兼得漢地孟夏的後半。他又特別說明：舉赫日只取陽光時長、難窮其際這一點，不必往別處引申。第二首續喻：那光無限量，無有能測知；有眼睛的人尚且如此，何況盲冥者。第三首法合：諸佛也是這樣，功德無邊際，經不可思議劫也莫能分別知。
後七首轉入法體，而這一轉極陡。澄觀判這七首是「令於依他修三無性觀」，並把它分成三段：初三作生無自性性觀、次二兼修勝義無自性性觀、後二修相無自性性觀。第四首正觀無生：諸法無來處，也沒有能作者，沒有所從而生，不可得分別。澄觀逐句拆：首句是果空——緣生的果法不是先有一個現成的體從什麼地方跑來，若真有來處就是先已存在，像鳥飛來棲在樹上，那還能叫「生」嗎？次句是因空——既然沒有果，對著什麼說因？第三句雙遣因果。第五首以無生釋無滅：一切法無來，所以無生；生既然沒有，滅也不可得。第六首說觀成之益：一切法無生也無滅，若能如是解，這人就見如來。
第七、八兩首遣能所。第七首遣所觀：諸法無生故自性無所有，如是分別知，此人達深義。第八首遣能觀：以法無性故，沒有一個能了知的；這樣理解法，究竟是無所理解。澄觀在這裡舉了一個乾淨的例子：沒有人能了知龜毛的長短大小，知道「無所了」才是究竟的了。第九、十兩首是相無自性性觀：所說的有生，是因為現了諸國土；能知國土之性，其心就不迷惑。世間國土之性，觀察都如其實，若能於此知，就能善說一切義。
排一個誤：這七首不是在否定世間有國土。落地處：第九首正是分界線——不是不許說「有生」，是要知道那個「有」是怎麼被現出來的。
無畏林菩薩十偈：信這件事，本身就是果
澄觀說是以信樂之力聞深法而不畏懼，所以名無畏林，偈中歎的是信向益深之德。他判十頌分二：初一是所信之境，後九是聞信之益。
第一首立境：如來廣大身究竟於法界，不離於此座而遍一切處。澄觀釋此云法身之體即是法界、智身證極法界，因此應化之用身能夠不動而遍。第二首說聞信離惡：若聞如是法而恭敬信樂，就永離三惡道與一切苦難。第三、四首辨其難聞：設使前往無量不可數的世界，專心想要聽聞如來自在力——第四首把話說死：這樣的諸佛法就是無上菩提，假使只想暫聞一下，也沒有誰能得到。（本品「假使」二字只出現這一次，正落在這裡。）
第五到第七首是三世並舉：若有人在過去信如是佛法，已成兩足尊而作世間燈；若有人將來得聞如來自在力，聞已能生信，他也當成佛；若有人在現在能信此佛法，也當成正覺、說法無所畏。澄觀說這是「將過去已成證現未當成」——用一個已經兌現的例子，替現在與未來背書。第八首說聞必有由：無量無數劫此法甚難值，若有得聞者，當知那是本願力。第九、十兩首顯起行之益：若能受持如是諸佛法，持已廣宣說，此人當成佛；何況又勤精進、堅固心不捨，這樣的人決定成菩提。
排一個誤：不要把這一段讀成勸信的套話。它的重量在第八首——你此刻能聽到，本身就是一個果，不是偶然。落地處：從第九首起，經文把「信」推到「持」與「說」；信若停在感動，這一段所許的那些話一句也接不上。
慚愧林菩薩十偈：智不會從無智裡長出來
澄觀說拒妄崇真、拒迷崇智，所以名慚愧林；偈中讚的是如來大智之勝益。他判十頌分三：初三法說難思、次六以喻並決、後一結德歸佛。
第一首說聞法之勝益：若人得聞這稀有自在之法，能生歡喜心、疾除疑惑網——澄觀說「自在法者，即佛智也」。第二首說佛窮盡種智：一切知見人自己這樣說，如來無所不知，所以難思議。第三首是全段的軸：沒有從無智而生出智慧的；世間常暗冥，所以無能生。澄觀在這裡走得很細。他說這一句有兩重意思：一是成前——要生智慧當向佛求，因為佛無不知；不應該求之於凡夫，因為凡夫昏暗。他打了個比方：要採芙蓉必到深水裡去，跑到樹梢上怎麼採得到？二是成後——智是從熏習自己的種子而生，不是從煩惱、無智而生。
接著他自己設難：那麼經上說「煩惱泥中有佛法」怎麼講？他答：那是說在纏的如來藏；這個大智是從藏之德而生，不是從迷而起。再難：「煩惱即菩提」又怎麼通？他答：那是約體性說、約所迷說，如同波與濕。最後他把話收住：真妄愚智若約相成，二門並立；若約相奪，二相寂然。說「一」的時候是離之令異，說「異」的時候是合之令同——善須得意，勿滯於言。這段是本品義理最密的地方之一，逐字繫屬澄觀，誌錄不判。
第四到第八首是五個喻，都在說「二性相違」。第四首以色與非色為喻：色與非色不會是一個，智與無智也一樣，體各殊異。第五首舉相與無相、生死與涅槃：分別各不同，智無智如是。第六首舉世界初成時沒有敗壞相：智無智亦然，二相不在同一時。第七首舉菩薩初心不與後心俱：智無智亦然，二心不同時。第八首舉諸識身各各無和合：澄觀說眼識用不了耳的用，同是識身尚且不相合，愚智性異怎麼可能相生。第九首轉為功能不等：如阿伽陀藥能滅一切毒，有智也是這樣能滅無智。澄觀在此連舉三對：智能滅愚而愚不滅智，藥能去毒而毒不去藥，明能滅闇而闇不滅明——這是不對稱的，方向只有一個。第十首結歸如來：如來無有上，也沒有與他相等的，一切無能比，所以難值遇。
排一個誤：這一段不是在說眾生無分。它所遮的是『無智可以自己變成智』這個想法。落地處：第三首的實用面就是那句採芙蓉的比方——要往有的地方去求。
精進林菩薩十偈：差別是怎麼跑出來的
澄觀說勤觀理事同一無差別、離身心相，所以名精進；並點出這一段與上一段的關係：前一段是「無差之差」，這一段是「差之無差」，兩章相接，顯出非即非離而互相成就。他判十頌分二：初一約法雙標，後九就喻雙釋（前五釋所知，後四釋能知）。
第一首雙標：諸法無差別，沒有能知的；唯佛與佛知，因為智慧究竟。第二首是總喻：如金與金色其性無差別，法與非法也一樣，體性無有異。澄觀在此開橫豎二義。豎說是理事交徹：法是事、非法是理，色即是空；金是所依喻真法，色是能依喻妄法——妄無自體，攬真而起，所以真無不隱而唯妄現；真體實故妄無不盡，所以唯真現。橫說是異法相望：法是可軌之法，非法是不可軌之法，體性無異是說同一如。他還引《密嚴》「如金與指環，展轉無差別」為旁證。
第三首是假名不實喻：眾生與非眾生二俱無真實，諸法之性就真實義說都不是有。第四首是三世互無喻：譬如未來世裡沒有過去相，諸法也一樣沒有一切相——澄觀說這是舉一隅，另外兩世自己反推。第五首是四相非實喻：生滅等相種種皆非實，諸法也一樣自性無所有；生等四相離開所相之法沒有別的自性，一切諸法離開所依之理也沒有別的自性。第六首是遣疑：既然都無差別，為什麼看見有性相之殊？答：也如涅槃體離有無、百非俱絕，而勉強立名叫有餘、無餘；諸法也是這樣，真俗並虛，一分別就成了異。
後四首轉到「能知」，而且一首比一首更往回收。第七首：如依所數之物才有能數，那能數之性了無所有——既然所知無性，哪來能知？無知之知才是真了法。第八首再遣：譬如算數之法增一至無量，數法沒有體性，只因智慧而有差別。澄觀說晉譯這一句作「皆悉是本數」，今譯則明一多相待故無體性——兩本各成一義，並錄。第九首答「都無能所，何名佛智」之疑：譬如諸世間在劫燒時有終盡，虛空無損敗，佛智也是這樣。第十首答「佛智既等，應用何殊」之疑：如十方眾生各取虛空之相，對諸佛也是這樣，是世間在妄分別。
排一個誤：這一段不是說世間看到的差別是假的所以不必管。它問的是差別從哪裡來。落地處在第十首——你覺得這尊佛與那尊佛不一樣，那個不一樣是你取來的，如同各人所取的那一塊虛空。
力林菩薩十偈：把「世間」這個詞拆開
澄觀說是智了三種世間的性相而諸邊不動，所以名力林；十頌顯佛離相真智，分三：初四遍明世間、次五雙遣世與出世、後一觀成利益。他又說前四首裡有二觀：前二首是攝末歸本觀，顯眾生世間空；後二首是緣生無作觀，兼顯器世間空。
第一首：一切眾生界都在三世中，三世諸眾生都住在五蘊中。澄觀逐句拆：推假名眾生不出三世，顯它無常；推三世眾生不出於蘊，顯它無我。第二首：諸蘊以業為本，諸業以心為本，心法猶如幻，世間亦如是。續拆：蘊由業生是果空、顯非邪因；業唯是心，明心外無法；心如幻，不落性空與中道之外——如幻故無性、故非有非無；末句以本例末。第三首：世間非自作也非他作，然而它能有成也能有壞。澄觀在這裡引了很長一段——外道說自性作、梵天作，小乘說同類因自作、異熟因他作，因緣相待之說，以及《中論》「自作及他作，共作無因作，如是說諸苦，於果則不然」，一路遣盡；而下半又說「不礙緣成」，以此遣掉無因。第四首：世間雖有成、雖有壞，通達世間的人這二者都不應說——澄觀說這是「不壞假名而說實相」。
第五到第九首是雙遣。第五首設問又自答：云何為世間？云何非世間？世間與非世間只是名的差別。第六首出體：三世五蘊之法說名世間，那個滅了就不是世間，這樣說只是假名。澄觀在此引《淨名經》「世間性空即是出世間」——一個體說成兩個，所以叫假名。第七首徵蘊之名體：云何說諸蘊？諸蘊有何性？蘊性不可滅，所以說無生。澄觀說既然說「性不可滅」，就顯出前面所講的不是事相上的滅。第八首釋成：分別此諸蘊，其性本空寂，空故不可滅，這就是無生義。第九首例出世間：眾生既然如是，諸佛也一樣，佛與諸佛法自性無所有。第十首是觀成之益：能知此諸法如實不顛倒，那位一切知見人就常見在其前——澄觀說佛以實法為體，所以見法就是常見佛。
排一個誤：不要把「世間非世間，但是名差別」讀成什麼都可以隨便說。落地處：這一段所拆的是一個很難察覺的執——把「出世間」當成另一個地方。第六首直接堵死：那個滅了不是世間，也只是假名。
行林菩薩十偈：身不是佛，佛也不是身
澄觀說是照理觀佛而起正修，所以名行林；十頌觀佛體相普周之德，分二：前七約喻顯修、後三見實成益。
第一、二首是地種之喻。第一首：譬如十方界一切諸地種，自性無所有而無處不周遍。第二首法合：佛身也是這樣普遍諸世界，種種色相無主無來處。澄觀判這一對為「地種無性普周喻，喻佛無生遍應德」。
第三到第七首是業相之喻與合。第三首：只因為諸業的緣故才說名為眾生，也不能離開眾生而另有業可得——這是業與果互依。第四首：業性本空寂而為眾生所依止，普作眾色相也同樣無來處——這是相依而無性，業不離眾生所以業性空，因業有眾生所以眾生無來處。第五首雙結難思：這樣的諸色相業力難思議，了達其根本就在其中無所見。澄觀在此逆推了一次：業又有它的因，一路推到「無住」；無住即無本，無本所以無所見，而這個「無見之見」才算了達業空。第六首合：佛身也是這樣不可思議，種種色相普現十方剎。第七首以互不相是為合：身不是佛、佛不是身，只以法為身而通達一切法。澄觀防了兩個誤：身若就是佛，那轉輪王也是如來了；佛若就是身，正覺之心就該同於色相。
後三首是見實成益。第八首：若能見佛身清淨如法性，這人於佛法一切無疑惑。第九首：若見一切法本性如涅槃，這就是見如來，究竟無所住。第十首：若修習正念、明了見正覺，無相無分別，這叫法王子——澄觀說照了無相、心寂分別，寂與照雙流才叫正念；從佛法生，所以是法王之子。他還在這三首上疊了一層：初首知離名為法、次首知法名為佛、後首知無名為僧，是窮見三寶之實體。
排一個誤：「身亦非是佛」不是要人不敬佛身。落地處在第八首——所要見的是「清淨如法性」，不是別找一個更高級的身。
覺林菩薩十偈：心如工畫師
這是全品的眼。澄觀說是照心之本末，所以名覺林，並下了一個很重的判語：「十頌顯於具分唯識。」他判十頌大分為二：前五約喻顯法、後五法合成觀；前五之中又分二：前二約事、後三約心。
什麼叫「具分」？澄觀自己解釋得很清楚：若依生滅八識，只有『心與境』的依持；而因為那就是如來藏心，所以又有『真與妄』的依持。會緣入實、差別相盡，是真如門，前面的喻所顯的就是它；攝境從心而不壞相，是生滅門，後面的喻所明的就是它。存與壞不二、唯一緣起，二門無礙唯是一心；所以到了下面法合的地方只說「心造」，而為了把義分開來看，才用喻顯出二門——這就叫具分唯識。這一整段是澄觀的判釋，逐字繫屬，誌錄不判。
逐首讀。第一首：譬如工畫師分布諸彩色，虛妄取異相而大種無差別。澄觀四句逐句配：首句總喻一心，次句喻隨緣熏變而成依他，第三句喻不了依他而成遍計，第四句喻依他相盡體即圓成。第二首：大種中無色、色中無大種，也不離大種而有色可得。上半說「不即」——能造與所造不同，大種是身所觸、色是眼所見；下半說「不離」——所造的青黃等離開能造的地水火風就沒有別體。澄觀在這裡點出一個方向性的細節：大種能造色，色不能造大種；喻妄必依真而起，真不依妄而生，所以經文只說「亦不離大種，而有色可得」，不倒過來說。
第三首轉到心：心中無彩畫、彩畫中無心，然而不離於心而有彩畫可得。澄觀同樣分上下半：上半不即，心中無彩畫是不可見、彩畫中無心是無慮知；下半不離，隨心安布，離心就沒有境界相。他在此說出了「唯識」二字何以只能這樣說：要由心變於境，不是境能變心，所以說唯識，不說唯境；也所以經文只說「然不離於心，有彩畫可得」，不說「不離於畫而有心可得」。第四首：那個心恆不住、無量難思議，示現一切色而各各不相知。澄觀說『恆』是遮斷、『不住』是遮常，像瀑流一樣；含一切種所以說無量；示現一切是廣故難思，各不相知是深故難思。第五首：譬如工畫師不能知自心，而由心故畫，諸法性如是。澄觀說這一首重喻上文的「不相知」——不但所畫的彼此不相知，能畫之心也念念生滅而自不相知；並由此喻眾生雖迷於心之現量而心仍變出境來。
第六首就是那一句：心如工畫師，能畫諸世間，五蘊悉從生，無法而不造。澄觀合前：「心」合最初那一句的一心，「諸世間」合第二句的諸彩色；下面出諸相，即蘊界處，所以說無法不造。他並引晉譯作「造種種五蘊」，又引《正法念》「心如畫師手，畫出五彩，黑青赤黃白及白白」，以畫手譬心、以六色次第喻地獄、鬼、畜、修羅、人、天；若說「種種」則是十法界，五蘊等法皆心所造。
第七首：如心佛亦爾，如佛眾生然，應知佛與心，體性皆無盡。這一首八十本與六十本文異——六十本作「心佛及眾生，是三無差別」。澄觀二本並釋：心是總相，悟之名佛而成淨緣起，迷作眾生而成染緣起；緣起雖有染淨而心體不殊，佛果契心同真所以無盡，妄法有極所以不說它。若依舊譯的「三無差別」，則三者皆無盡，無盡就是無別之相。他還在這裡下了一句極重的話：因為妄的體本來是真所以也無盡，因此如來不斷性惡，正如同闡提不斷性善。二譯二釋，逐字繫屬澄觀，誌錄不判。
第八首：若人知心行普造諸世間，這人就見佛、了佛真實性。澄觀說這是反過來合前——虛妄取異色就不知心行，若知心行普造世間則無虛妄，便了真實。第九首：心不住於身、身亦不住心，而能作佛事，自在未曾有。澄觀說上半合前面兩首的「互無」之義，下半合「不離」之義；他並稱讚今譯用「不住」而不用「互無」是譯得妙——晉經只說「心亦非是身」，就只得到互無之義。
第十首是結勸，也是全品最為人所誦的一句：若人欲了知三世一切佛，應觀法界性，一切唯心造。澄觀在這裡沒有定於一解，他明白寫出「然有二釋」。第一釋：若想了佛，就應觀法界性；上面所說的一切差別皆唯心作，因為見法即是見佛。第二釋：「觀法界性」是真如門、「觀唯心造」是生滅門，這是雙結；也就是一個是真如實觀、一個是唯心識觀，大乘之觀要不出這二者，而觀此二門唯是一心，各各總攝一切法盡，二諦雙融無礙一味，三世諸佛證此為體。他的結語是：想知道那個，就應當觀這個——既然是妙極，所以暫時持念也能破地獄。
這裡要說得清楚一點，因為它關係到讀者手上這一句偈的來歷：本品所傳的是「若人欲了知，三世一切佛，應觀法界性，一切唯心造」。六十本異譯作「若人欲求知，三世一切佛」，二本並錄不判（見考據）；本帙照底本逐字。
排一個大誤：「一切唯心造」不是說世界是我想出來的。第三首已經先擋住了——心中無彩畫、彩畫中無心；不即，也不離。落地處在第五首：畫師不知自心而由心故畫。你此刻所受用的一切，正是在你不知道自己的心的情況下畫出來的；所以要緊的不是換一幅畫，是回頭知那個能畫的。
智林菩薩十偈：連「說法」本身也拆掉
澄觀說是鑒達諸佛迥超色聲、心與言的路都斷了，所以名智林；十頌分二：初一標章、後九解釋（初二釋不可取、次四釋不可見、後三釋不可聞）。
第一首標章：所取不可取、所見不可見、所聞不可聞，一心不思議。澄觀在此做了一次三本對校：晉本第四句作「所思不可思」，那樣則四句都是標章；今本上三句標章而第四句作總結，是說若了唯一真心則言思俱絕，就合於菩提之體。他並說梵本第四句作「於不思何思」。三本並錄不判。
第二首：有量及無量二俱不可取，若有人欲取，畢竟無所得。澄觀說有如理智不可說它是量，有如量智不可說它是無。第三首顯取之失：不應說而說是為自欺誑，己事不成就，也不能令眾歡喜。澄觀在此說得很直：說法的人應當如法而說，法本無所得而你想取得，心裡計著有所說，把石頭當寶就叫自欺；理上沒有卻說有就叫自誑，終究不能契理。
第四首起釋不可見。第四首法說：有人想讚如來無邊妙色身，窮盡無數劫也不能稱述得完。澄觀說非色而現色所以稱為妙，物一感就現所以叫無邊。第五首是摩尼隨映喻：譬如隨意珠能現一切色，自身無色而現色，諸佛也是這樣。第六首是淨空現色喻：又如淨虛空，非色所以不可見，雖現一切色而無能見空者。第七首法合：諸佛也是這樣普現無量色，那不是心所行處，一切莫能覩。
這裡澄觀自己設了一個難：二喻豈不違經？上面說佛有無邊妙色，這裡卻說非色無色；而且諸論說佛有妙色為增上緣。他先錄古德的兩種答法——一說若約初教大乘則如前所說，若約實教大乘則佛地沒有這種色聲麁相功德，只有大智、大悲、大定、大願等功德，而這些功德同證真如，眾生機感就現色無盡；另一說則質疑：那能現之體究竟是有是無？若執佛果唯有如如及如如智獨存，則無漏蘊界窮未來際、遍因陀羅網都不是實事，也違《涅槃》「滅無常色而獲常色」之說。澄觀最後會通：上面兩解各是一理、並符經論，如今會之——攝末從本則唯如如智，攝相從性則但有如如；既然所現即是如，何妨有妙色。他的結論是：摩尼現色只說「無色」，無只是無他，不是無自體；淨空現色說「非色」，非是非其自體。前喻自受用身、後喻法身，此二不二為佛真身。二解並錄，繫屬澄觀，不判高下。
第八到第十首釋不可聞。第八首：雖聞如來聲而音聲非如來，然而也不離於聲而能知正等覺。澄觀說以聲取是行邪道，離聲取則未免斷無。第九首約體釋：菩提無來去、離一切分別，怎麼能在這裡面自說能得見？澄觀說心離分別，尚且不是心所能見，何況耳聞；猶如天鼓無心而出聲。第十首是全品的結句：諸佛無有法，佛於何有說？只是隨著各人自己的心，說佛講了這樣的法。澄觀釋此云：若依權教，這是有影無本；若依此宗，則果海離言故無有說，用隨機現所以說有如是說——而這個本質也是自心。法藏於六十本同處判「佛地無說，說在機緣」。
排一個誤：這一段不是說佛沒說法、經典是假的。第八首已經先立好分寸：音聲不是如來，但也不離聲而能知正等覺。落地處：全品到這裡才算收乾淨——連『佛為我說了這個』這一念，也被放回你自己的心上。
承衍
本品之義為古德四軌所承，並錄不判。澄觀一系：四門釋品，判全品為集眾、放光、偈讚三分；集眾分內科十門，於「十萬」之數存疑而列二種可能不定；放光處依八十本作「兩足上」而釋為趺背表行；偈讚分判十菩薩即為十段，以功德林為會主而有十二頌、總敘此會普遍之事，餘九各歎佛德之一門。其逐段之判：慧林十頌分三、勝林十頌分二而後七修三無性觀、無畏林十頌分二、慚愧林十頌分三、精進林明「無差之差」與「差之無差」相接、力林十頌分三而立攝末歸本與緣生無作二觀、行林十頌分二而末三偈窮見三寶之實體、覺林十頌「顯於具分唯識」而開真如生滅二門、智林十頌分二而以二喻不二為佛真身。全品義理最密之處有三：慚愧林段「智從熏習自種而生」及其下煩惱即菩提之通、覺林段具分唯識之定義與「心佛眾生」二譯二釋、智林段二喻之會通。
法藏一系：於六十本〈菩薩說偈品〉四門分別，釋名作「自體妙因，行集文斑」；以世界同名慧為前解慧之所依、佛同名眼為行心見法明白、菩薩同名林為德高行廣；放光處依六十本作「足指」而釋為前彰住、此顯行；偈讚分判「初一總敘此會事理、後九別顯佛德義門」，並於「普觀十方」立四意而引《地論》「顯無我慢、無偏心故」。其於六十本功德林段作「十一行偈」，與八十本十二偈不同，係二本文異。
智儼一系：疏文最簡而十段偈科具足，立「十人即各以自已得緣起真如法因歎佛」一句總攝十段；慚愧林段立五喻之目（愚智性別、同成虛妄、二性乖違、愚智緣隔、用無相感），精進林段立八喻之目（法體無異、法體空無、法體無實、法體離相、法體成真、一成多用、起用依緣、體堅難壞），覺林段（六十本作如來林）判為「初五喻，展轉答五玄疑」而以「造如來者，謂無作佛也」收之。
李通玄一系：以十行位貫全品，長科一品為五段（來集、類通、放光、觀法說頌、十段頌），與澄觀之三分不同；於第一段中約十種因果，逐一配菩薩名、世界名、佛號與波羅蜜門並配善財所參之善知識，如判功德林當歡喜行檀波羅蜜門、其善知識名善見而在林中經行；又列十信、十住、十行三位放光之處以顯昇進。
四家所立之科段數不一（澄觀作三分十段，李通玄作五段，法藏於六十本作十段而以初一為總，智儼逐段別立偈科），所配之位次不一，逐段之偈科亦不一（澄觀依八十本立、法藏與智儼依六十本立，故同段而所科之偈數不同），古有異說，誌錄之，不判高下。
本品偈句於華嚴宗綱領書之承衍，有二處最明確：澄觀《華嚴法界玄鏡》以「夜摩偈云」牒引力林第八偈「分別此諸蘊，其性本空寂」作圓成實觀之例，又牒引精進林第二偈「如金與金色」作法非法無異之例；《華嚴一乘十玄門》則牒引精進林第八偈之首句。至於本品最著名的「心如工畫師」與「若人欲了知」二句，於《華嚴一乘教義分齊章》《十玄門》《華嚴經旨歸》《妄盡還源觀》《法界玄鏡》以及《搜玄記》《探玄記》《新華嚴經論》《大乘起信論義記》皆零命中，據實標闕——這與本品的性質相符：它是十方菩薩偈讚之場景經文，義在遮詮而不在立名相；唯澄觀於本疏他品曾自引本品此句以證唯識之義，一併誌之。
至於本品與前後之繫：上承〈昇夜摩天宮品〉——前品是佛不離菩提樹下而昇夜摩天宮，此品是十方菩薩來集、以偈讚；下接〈十行品〉——澄觀所謂「助化讚揚故、說行體性故、行所依故」一句，把兩品扣成一事：先讚佛德使人知行之體，然後才說十行之名與相。李通玄的說法更直接：若不先舉所行之因果，十行依什麼而成。
Once More the Buddha Sits Without Speaking, and This Time the Ten Who Speak Are All Named “Grove”
The framework of this chapter will look familiar to anyone who has read “Verses of Praise on the Summit of Sumeru”: from each of the ten directions one great bodhisattva comes, each with a retinue as many as the dust-motes of a buddha-land; the Buddha emits light; then ten bodhisattvas speak verses in turn, and the World-Honored One himself does not speak one graph. But familiar is not the same as repeated. In the preceding assembly the names of the ten bodhisattvas all carried “Wisdom,” and in this assembly they all carry “Grove”; there the ten worlds all carried “Flower,” and here they all carry “Wisdom”; there the ten buddhas all carried “Moon,” and here they all carry “Eye.” All three sets of names have been exchanged as sets, and the manner of the exchange has a rule to it — what was the “fruit” of the preceding assembly has become the “cause” of this one.
Chengguan, determining the reason for this chapter's coming, gives three grounds: it assists the converting by extolling and praising; it expounds the substance and nature of practice; it is that upon which practice depends. He then says the sentence most useful to a reader: the verses of praise in the three heavenly palaces are the same in the broad import of their coming and their aim, and what differs among them is only the difference of understanding, practice, and vow. So this chapter is not a rerun of the preceding one; it is the same structure run once over “practice.” Li Tongxuan says it more plainly still: if the dharma of the ten practices is to be expounded, the causes and fruits within the ten practices must first be praised in full in verse; if the causes and fruits of what is practiced are not first set forth, upon what would the ten practices be accomplished?
Clear away one misreading: do not take the ten segments of verse for ten pieces of eulogy. Brought down to how one reads — these one hundred and two verses are, before you enter the “ten practices,” the removal, one item at a time, of everything inside the word “Buddha” that can be grasped.
The Three Sets of Names: Grove, Wisdom, Eye
The last graph of the names of the ten bodhisattvas is the same throughout: “Grove.” Chengguan does not read it as a figure of speech; he lists five grounds — it betokens that the ten practices are established, that the kinds of practice are many and wide, that they gather and display, that they are deep and dense and without a gap, that they spread their branches and shelter and shade; and he says outright that these ten bodhisattvas betoken “the substance of practice.” Fazang's explanation is more pictorial: virtue is high like a tree, practice is wide and so is called a grove; the ten perfections are cultivated together in luxuriance and the myriad practices arise in thickets, and so it is named a grove. Zhiyan is the most concise, saying only that because the look of this practice benefiting beings is blazing, they gather together and display the mark of full array. Li Tongxuan opens four senses of his own — many and wide, covering and shading, adorning, and the mutual support of trunk, branch, twig, blossom, leaf, and fruit; and he offers a homely comparison: where rivers and marshes have a grove, the flocks of birds come home to it; when a person has practice, many people come to rely upon him.
The ten worlds all carry “Wisdom,” and Chengguan says that this is “because the wisdom of the ten understandings is that upon which practice depends” — the ten understandings are the ten abodes, and the understanding accomplished in the preceding assembly is exactly the ground upon which the practice of this assembly depends. The ten buddhas all carry “Eye,” and he says this is “because wisdom guides practice, so that all is clear and distinct, and the feet come to have eyes.” Feet alone will walk; without eyes one walks astray. Practice must have wisdom to guide it before it can be brought to accomplishment.
Clear away one mistake: these three sets of names are not ten different bodhisattvas, ten different worlds, and ten different buddhas each saying his own thing. The sameness of the names is precisely what displays the import of this assembly. Where it comes down: if, in reading the ten segments of verse, you feel that ‘they keep taking apart the same one thing over and over,’ that is not repetition — it is exactly what this chapter wants you to see.
Chengguan Leaves a Doubt Standing, and Does Not Resolve It
In the portion on the gathering of the assembly there is a sentence with a number in it: “from beyond lands as many as the dust-motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands.” Chengguan stopped here. His reason is that the numbers of this whole sūtra increase in step with the stations — the ten faiths are ten, the ten abodes a hundred, the dedications ten thousand; on this progression the ten practices here ought to be “a thousand,” yet the scriptural text says “a hundred thousand.” So he lists two possibilities: either it is an error of the translator, or the original had “ten hundreds” and it is an error of transmission and copying. He lists both, and settles neither.
This matter is worth treating on its own, because it exhibits the measure with which the ancient worthies read a scripture. Chengguan is not afraid to emend; it is that he has in hand no evidence sufficient to settle the case, and so he lets the doubt stand, writes down both possibilities, and lets those who come after look for themselves. Fazang, at the same place in the sixty-fascicle text, says only “before it was a hundred, here a hundred thousand,” reading it as the station having already increased, and raises no doubt. The two masters saw differently; both are recorded, with no adjudication.
Clear away one mistake: do not suppose that because a commentator lets a doubt stand there must be an error in the scriptural text. Where it comes down: when you come upon a place that does not fit the system, first record it as it stands, and do not smooth it out for the sake of tidiness — this is a rule that runs through the reading of every scripture, not this chapter alone.
The Light Is Emitted from the Insteps of the Feet, Not from the Toes
In the preceding assembly the Buddha emitted light from “the toes of his two feet”; in this assembly the scriptural text reads “from the insteps of his two feet.” Chengguan points out the difference in this graph particularly: the top of the foot is the instep; the toes are what one uses to stand still, while the instep is what must move when one walks, and so the preceding assembly betokens “abiding” and this one betokens “practice.” He goes a step further: the instep has its use in dependence upon the sole and the toes, and so this is “to betoken that practice comes to have its use in dependence upon faith and understanding” — practice does not arise out of nowhere; it stands upon the faith and the understanding already accomplished before it.
One thing must be made clear here: the sixty-fascicle text reads “the toes of the two feet” at this place, and so what Fazang and Zhiyan explain is that “the toes have the two powers of practice and of abiding”; the eighty-fascicle text reads “the insteps of the two feet,” and so what Chengguan explains is the instep. The two texts differ, and the two masters each explain in accord with the text they follow; both are recorded, with no adjudication. Li Tongxuan lays the places of the emitting of light at five stations out in a single line: the ten faiths within the wheel beneath the foot, the ten abodes at the tips of the toes, the ten practices upon the instep — what he reads out of it is the one same matter: the stations are ascending.
Clear away one mistake: do not go wondering how bright that light was. Where it comes down: the work of the light in this chapter is to make “pervading” into something that can be seen — without this one shining, the “every place in the ten directions” of the ten bodhisattvas that follows would be no more than an assertion.
The Twelve Verses of the Bodhisattva Merit Grove: Why This One Segment Alone Has Two More
Of the ten segments, nine have ten verses each, and the first alone has twelve. This is no copyist's error; Chengguan writes plainly that there are “twelve verses,” and gives the reason: Merit Grove is the host of this assembly, and so it falls to him to set forth in general the matter of this assembly's pervasiveness. He divides the twelve verses into the first eight and the last four: the first eight narrate and praise what is extraordinary, and the last four adduce the virtues and explain how it comes about. Within the first eight there are four further layers — the first verse narrates the emitting of light in this chapter, the second and third narrate the response in the preceding chapter, the fourth through the sixth narrate the gathering of the assembly in this chapter, and the seventh and eighth make clear the sovereign pervasiveness.
Read them one by one. The first says that the Buddha emits a great light shining everywhere on the ten directions, and thereupon all see this one honored by gods and humans, penetrating without obstruction — it first establishes the starting point of “seeing,” and that seeing is given by the light. The second is the most direct statement of the extraordinary in this chapter: the Buddha sits in the palace of the Yāma heaven and yet pervades everywhere the worlds of the ten directions; this matter is utterly extraordinary and rare in the world. The third looks back to the preceding chapter: the god-king Suyāma praised the ten Tathāgatas in verse, and as it is seen in this assembly, so it is in every place. The fourth says that the multitudes of bodhisattvas from the other quarters bear the same names as those here, and expound the unsurpassed Dharma in every place in the ten directions. The fifth says that the worlds they come from are likewise without difference in name, and that each purely cultivates the brahma-conduct in the presence of his own buddha. The sixth says that those Tathāgatas too bear the same titles, that their lands are rich and at ease, and that their spiritual powers are sovereign. The seventh is the most famous sentence of the whole segment: “in every place in the ten directions they all say the Buddha is here; some see him among human beings, some see him abiding in a heavenly palace” — every place says the Buddha is right there with them, some seeing him among human beings and some in a heavenly palace. The eighth brings that sentence back to the speakers themselves: the Tathāgata abides everywhere in all lands, and we now see the Buddha here in this heavenly palace.
The last four adduce the virtues and explain how it comes about. The ninth adduces the cause: the vow for awakening that the Buddha made in ages past reaches everywhere to the worlds of the ten directions, and so the Buddha's awesome power fills and pervades and is hard to think or discuss — pervading is not a display of spiritual power; it is the outcome of a vow. The tenth continues to adduce the cause: because he has left far behind what the world covets and is complete in boundless virtue, he has gained the power of spiritual penetration, and there is no sentient being who does not see him. The eleventh and twelfth discern the depth and breadth of the function of the fruit. The eleventh says that he travels through the worlds of the ten directions unhindered as space, that one body is immeasurable bodies, and that this mark cannot be found — and here Chengguan lays down the guiding thread for the marks of the body in this chapter: one body is at once many, and so the mark of “one” cannot be found; many are at once one, and so the mark of “many” cannot be found; thus he is constantly one and constantly many, and also constantly neither one nor many; the body within a single dust-mote pervades the ten directions without exception, and the bodies that pervade the ten directions all lie hidden within a single dust-mote, and all of it is a whole pervading, not a pervading divided into parts. The twelfth closes upon the unmeasurable: the Buddha's merit is boundless — how could it be measured and known? Abiding nowhere and going nowhere, he enters everywhere into the Dharma realm. Chengguan explains this by saying that because he does not abide there is no place he does not reach, and because he does not go he does not leave his original place.
Clear away one great mistake: “in every place in the ten directions they all say the Buddha is here” does not mean that the Buddha divided his body and went to many places. Where it comes down: this segment gives the sense of scale, and is the ground for the ninety verses that follow — if you read it as a tale of spiritual powers, then the very ‘seizing upon marks’ that the rest takes apart is exactly what you have fallen into.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Wisdom Grove: To Know This Meaning Is More Than Making Offerings to Immeasurable Buddhas
From the second segment the particular is entered. Chengguan says that the first segment made merit clear and that this one discerns wisdom — the wisdom, hard to meet with, that is able to awaken to this and to remove the benighted dark; and so it is named Wisdom Grove. He determines the ten verses in three: the first one makes clear that the Buddha is hard to meet; the next six explain that difficulty in particular; the last three compare and display what is superior.
The first verse establishes the heading: the great Guide of the world, the unsurpassed one who has left defilement behind, is hard to meet with even through inconceivable kalpas. The second and third speak of the breadth of the benefit: the Buddha emits a great light and there is nothing in the world that does not see it, and he opens and expounds it widely for the multitude and benefits the throng of beings; the Tathāgata appears in the world and removes the deluded dark for the world, and such a lamp of the world is rare and hard to see. The fourth speaks of the fullness of the cause: he has already cultivated giving, precepts, patience, vigor, meditative concentration, and the prajñā-pāramitā, and with these he illumines the world — the six perfections here are not a list of terms; they are the reason for the “hard to meet.” The fifth through the seventh speak of the depth of the fruit: the Tathāgata has no equal, and one who seeks a likeness cannot find it, and without understanding the reality of dharmas none can see him; the Buddha's body and spiritual penetrations are sovereign and hard to think or discuss, and neither going nor coming he expounds the Dharma and delivers beings; if a person gets to see and hear this pure teacher of gods and humans, he comes out forever from the evil destinies and casts off all suffering.
The last three compare, and the manner of the comparison is very particular. The eighth: though one cultivate the practice of awakening through immeasurable, incalculable kalpas, if one cannot know this meaning one still cannot attain buddhahood. The ninth: though one make offerings to immeasurable buddhas through inconceivable kalpas, if one is able to know this meaning the merit surpasses that. The tenth: though one give to the Buddha jewels filling immeasurable lands, if one cannot know this meaning one will in the end not accomplish awakening. All three place ‘length of time,’ ‘many offerings to buddhas,’ and ‘weight of giving’ on one side of the scale, and on the other side place only one thing — “knowing this meaning.”
Clear away one mistake: this is not a belittling of practice and of offerings. The comparison can be made at all precisely because that other side is also of the greatest weight. Where it comes down: what these three verses answer is a very practical question — with two people working equally hard, why does one of them never arrive? The answer is not in the quantity; it is in whether one is walking upon the meaning.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Excellence Grove: From a Blazing Sun to the Unarisen
Chengguan says that Excellence Grove awakens to the dharma of the profound in the ultimate sense, and so what the verses praise is a virtue deep and broad beyond any shore; he determines the ten verses in two: the first three make clear the breadth of the Buddha's virtue, and the last seven display the profundity of the substance of dharmas, the horizontal and the vertical displaying each other.
The first three are simile and correlation. The first takes the simile of the summer sun: just as in the months of early summer the sky is pure with no veil of cloud, and the crimson sun lifts its radiance and there is nothing in the ten directions it does not fill. Here Chengguan does a piece of textual work — he says that “the month of early summer” is a rendering that takes the sense, and that what the Sanskrit text directly corresponds to is “the latter hot month”; in the Western regions the year is set as three seasons, hot, rainy, and cold, and he cites the Xiyu ji, “from the sixteenth day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the fifth month is the hot season,” so that “the latter hot month” takes in the latter half of what in the Han lands is early summer. He also explains particularly that in adducing the blazing sun only this one point is taken — the length of the sunlight and the impossibility of reaching its limit — and that one need not extend it elsewhere. The second continues the simile: that light has no limit and none can measure and know it; it is so even for those who have eyes, how much more for the blind and benighted. The third correlates the dharma: the buddhas too are thus, their merit boundless, and through inconceivable kalpas none can discriminate and know it.
The last seven turn to the substance of dharmas, and the turn is exceedingly steep. Chengguan determines these seven to be “causing one to cultivate the contemplation of the three non-natures upon the other-dependent,” and divides them in three: the first three make the contemplation of the non-nature of arising; the next two conjointly cultivate the contemplation of the non-nature of the ultimate sense; the last two cultivate the contemplation of the non-nature of marks. The fourth verse directly contemplates the unarisen: dharmas have no place from which they come, nor any maker; there is no place from which they arise, and they cannot be found by discrimination. Chengguan takes it apart phrase by phrase: the first phrase is the emptiness of the fruit — a fruit-dharma that arises from conditions is not a ready-made substance that has come from somewhere; if there truly were a place it came from, it existed already, and could that still be called “arising,” as a bird flies over and perches in a tree? The second phrase is the emptiness of the cause — since there is no fruit, with respect to what is a cause spoken of? The third phrase dismisses both cause and fruit. The fifth verse explains non-cessation by the unarisen: all dharmas have no coming and therefore no arising; since arising is not there, ceasing too cannot be found. The sixth speaks of the benefit of the contemplation's accomplishment: all dharmas are neither arisen nor ceased, and if one can understand it thus, this person sees the Tathāgata.
The seventh and eighth dismiss the object and the subject. The seventh dismisses the contemplated: because dharmas are unarisen their own-nature is without anything at all, and one who can discriminate and know it thus penetrates the profound meaning. The eighth dismisses the contemplator: because dharmas have no nature there is no one who knows them, and to understand dharmas thus is in the end to understand nothing. Chengguan here gives a clean example: no one can know the length or size of a tortoise's hair; to know that “there is nothing to be known” is the ultimate knowing. The ninth and tenth are the contemplation of the non-nature of marks: what is spoken of as arising is because the lands are made to appear, and one who can know the nature of the lands has a mind that is not deluded; the nature of the world and of the lands is contemplated all as it truly is, and one who can know here will be able to expound every meaning well.
Clear away one mistake: these seven verses are not a denial that the world has lands. Where it comes down: the ninth verse is exactly the dividing line — it is not that saying “there is arising” is forbidden, but that one must know how that “there is” has been made to appear.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Fearlessness Grove: That You Believe Is Itself a Fruit
Chengguan says that by the power of faith and delight one hears the profound and is not afraid, and so the name is Fearlessness Grove, and what the verses praise is the virtue of the deepening benefit of faith and inclination. He determines the ten verses in two: the first one is the object believed in, and the following nine are the benefits of hearing and believing.
The first verse establishes the object: the Tathāgata's vast body reaches ultimately to the Dharma realm; he does not leave this seat and yet pervades every place. Chengguan explains this by saying that the substance of the dharma-body is just the Dharma realm and that the wisdom-body realizes the Dharma realm to its limit, and that this is why the body of responsive function is able to pervade without moving. The second verse speaks of the leaving of evil through hearing and believing: if one hears such a dharma and reveres, believes, and delights in it, one forever leaves the three evil destinies and every affliction. The third and fourth discern how hard it is to hear: suppose one were to go to immeasurable, uncountable worlds, single-minded in the wish to hear of the Tathāgata's power of sovereign freedom — and the fourth puts the matter beyond appeal: such a dharma of the buddhas is unsurpassed awakening, and even wishing to hear it for a moment, there is no one who can obtain it. (The two graphs “even should” occur only this once in the whole chapter, and they fall exactly here.)
The fifth through the seventh set the three times side by side: if a person believed such a Buddha-dharma in the past, he has already become the most honored among those with two feet and has been a lamp for the world; if a person in time to come gets to hear of the Tathāgata's power of sovereign freedom and can give rise to faith upon hearing, he too will become a buddha; if a person in the present can believe this Buddha-dharma, he too will accomplish right awakening and expound the Dharma without fear. Chengguan says that this is “taking what is already accomplished in the past to attest what is to be accomplished in the present and the future” — an instance already made good stands surety for the present and the future. The eighth says that hearing has its ground: through immeasurable, incalculable kalpas this dharma is exceedingly hard to meet, and if a person gets to hear it, one should know that this is the power of his original vow. The ninth and tenth display the benefit of setting out in practice: if one can receive and uphold such a dharma of the buddhas and, having upheld it, proclaim it widely, this person will become a buddha; how much more one who also adds diligent vigor, firm in mind and not casting it away — such a person will assuredly accomplish awakening.
Clear away one mistake: do not read this segment as the stock phrases of an exhortation to faith. Its weight is in the eighth verse — that you are able to hear this at this moment is itself a fruit, and not an accident. Where it comes down: from the ninth verse the scriptural text pushes “faith” on to “upholding” and to “proclaiming”; if faith stops at being moved, not one sentence of what this segment promises can be taken up.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Shame-and-Conscience Grove: Wisdom Does Not Grow Out of Non-Wisdom
Chengguan says that to refuse the false and honor the true, to refuse delusion and honor wisdom, is why the name is Shame-and-Conscience Grove; and what the verses praise is the superior benefit of the Tathāgata's great wisdom. He determines the ten verses in three: the first three are the statement in terms of dharma of what is hard to think; the next six settle the matter by simile; the last one concludes the virtue and returns it to the Buddha.
The first verse speaks of the superior benefit of hearing the Dharma: if a person gets to hear this rare and sovereign dharma, he can give rise to a mind of joy and swiftly remove the net of doubt — and Chengguan says that “the sovereign dharma is just the Buddha's wisdom.” The second speaks of the Buddha exhausting the knowledge of kinds: the one who knows and sees all says so himself, that there is nothing the Tathāgata does not know, and so he is hard to think or discuss. The third is the axis of the whole segment: there is nothing that gives birth to wisdom out of non-wisdom; the world is constantly dark, and so nothing can give birth to it. Chengguan goes very finely here. He says this sentence has two layers of meaning: one is that it completes what came before — to give rise to wisdom one should seek it of the Buddha, because there is nothing the Buddha does not know, and one should not seek it of the ordinary person, because the ordinary person is benighted. He makes a comparison: to gather lotus one must go into deep water; how would running up to a treetop gather any? The second is that it completes what comes after — wisdom arises from perfuming one's own seed, and not from affliction and non-wisdom.
He then raises a difficulty against himself: then how is one to take the scriptural saying that “within the mire of the afflictions there is the Buddha-dharma”? He answers: that speaks of the Tathāgata-womb in its bonds; this great wisdom arises from the virtue of that womb, and does not arise from delusion. Again the difficulty: then how does “the afflictions are just awakening” hold good? He answers: that is said with respect to the substance and nature, and with respect to what is deluded about, as waves are to wetness. At last he closes the matter: the true and the false, folly and wisdom, if taken as completing one another, stand as two gates; if taken as taking one another away, the two marks are still. When “one” is said, they are separated so as to be made different; when “different” is said, they are joined so as to be made the same — one must be good at getting the sense, and not be stalled upon the words. This passage is one of the densest places in the doctrine of this chapter, attached graph by graph to Chengguan, recorded with no adjudication.
The fourth through the eighth are five similes, all of them saying that “the two natures are at variance.” The fourth takes form and what is not form as its simile: form and what is not form will not be one, and wisdom and non-wisdom are likewise, their substances each distinct. The fifth adduces what has marks and what is without marks, and birth-and-death and nirvāṇa: discriminated, they are each different, and so are wisdom and non-wisdom. The sixth adduces that when a world is first coming into being there is no mark of decay: so with wisdom and non-wisdom, the two marks are not at one time. The seventh adduces that a bodhisattva's first thought is not together with the later thought: so with wisdom and non-wisdom, the two minds are not at one time. The eighth adduces that the gatherings of the various consciousnesses do not combine one with another: Chengguan says that the eye consciousness cannot take up the function of the ear, and if even bodies of consciousness that are of one kind do not combine, how could folly and wisdom, whose natures differ, give birth one to the other? The ninth turns to the inequality of their functions: as the agada medicine can destroy every poison, so having wisdom can destroy non-wisdom. Chengguan here adduces three pairs together: wisdom can destroy folly while folly does not destroy wisdom; medicine can remove poison while poison does not remove medicine; brightness can destroy darkness while darkness does not destroy brightness — it is not symmetrical, and there is only one direction to it. The tenth concludes by returning to the Tathāgata: the Tathāgata has none above him and none equal to him, and among all things there is nothing to liken to him, and so he is hard to meet with.
Clear away one mistake: this segment is not saying that sentient beings have no share. What it blocks is the notion that ‘non-wisdom can turn itself into wisdom.’ Where it comes down: the practical face of the third verse is that comparison about gathering lotus — one must go to seek where the thing is.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Vigor Grove: Where Does Difference Come From?
Chengguan says that to contemplate diligently that principle and phenomena are alike without difference, and to be apart from the marks of body and mind, is why the name is Vigor; and he points out the relation of this segment to the one before it: the preceding segment was “the difference within no-difference,” and this one is “the no-difference within difference,” the two chapters joining so as to display that they are neither identical nor apart and that they complete one another. He determines the ten verses in two: the first one states both in terms of dharma, and the following nine explain both by simile (the first five explaining what is known, the last four explaining the knower).
The first verse states both: dharmas are without difference and there is none who knows this; only a buddha with a buddha knows it, because wisdom has reached the ultimate. The second is the general simile: as gold and the color of gold are without difference in nature, so dharma and what is not dharma are without difference in substance and nature. Chengguan here opens the horizontal and the vertical senses. The vertical is the mutual penetration of principle and phenomena: dharma is phenomena and what is not dharma is principle, and form is just emptiness; gold is that upon which the rest depends and figures the true dharma, and color is what depends upon it and figures the false dharma — the false has no substance of its own but arises by taking hold of the true, and so there is no true that is not hidden and only the false appears; and because the substance of the true is real there is no false that is not exhausted, and so only the true appears. The horizontal is two dharmas set over against each other: dharma is what can serve as a rule, what is not dharma is what cannot, and their being without difference in substance and nature says that they are one and the same suchness. He also cites the Miyan — “as gold and a finger-ring, turn and turn about without difference” — in corroboration.
The third verse is the simile of provisional names being unreal: sentient beings and what are not sentient beings are both without reality, and the nature of dharmas, spoken of in the sense of the real, is likewise not existent. The fourth is the simile of the three times being mutually absent: as within a future age there is no mark of the past, so dharmas have not any mark — Chengguan says this raises one corner and lets one infer the other two times oneself. The fifth is the simile of the four marks being unreal: the marks of arising and ceasing and the rest are in every kind unreal, and dharmas likewise are without own-nature; the four marks, arising and the rest, have no separate own-nature apart from the dharma that they mark, and all dharmas have no separate own-nature apart from the principle upon which they depend. The sixth dismisses a doubt: if all is without difference, why is a distinction of nature and marks seen? The answer: it is also as when the substance of nirvāṇa is apart from existence and non-existence and the hundred negations are all cut off, and yet names are forced upon it, “with remainder” and “without remainder”; so with dharmas — the true and the conventional are both empty, and the moment they are discriminated they become different.
The last four turn to “the knower,” and each is drawn further back than the last. The seventh: as it is in dependence upon what is counted that there is a counter, and the nature of that which counts is without anything at all — since what is known is without nature, whence would a knower come? The knowing that is a not-knowing is the true understanding of dharmas. The eighth dismisses further: as with the method of counting, one adds one on to the immeasurable, and the dharma of number has no substance and nature, and it is only because of wisdom that there is difference. Chengguan says the Jin rendering has this line as “all of them are the root number,” while the present rendering makes clear that one and many depend upon each other and so are without nature — each of the two texts completes a sense, and both are recorded. The ninth answers the doubt “if there is neither knower nor known, what is called the Buddha's wisdom?”: as the various worlds come to an end when the kalpa burns while space suffers no damage, so is the Buddha's wisdom. The tenth answers the doubt “if the buddhas' wisdom is equal, why should its function differ?”: as the sentient beings of the ten directions each seize a mark of space, so it is with the buddhas — it is the world that falsely discriminates.
Clear away one mistake: this segment does not say that the differences the world sees are false and so may be disregarded. What it asks is where difference comes from. Where it comes down is the tenth verse — your sense that this buddha and that buddha are not the same is a not-the-same that you have seized, like the patch of space each person takes for himself.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Power Grove: Taking the Word “World” Apart
Chengguan says that this is the true wisdom that knows the nature and marks of the three kinds of world so that the extremes do not move it, and so the name is Power Grove; the ten verses display the Buddha's true wisdom apart from marks, and are divided in three: the first four make the world clear throughout, the next five dismiss both the worldly and the world-transcending, and the last one is the benefit of the contemplation's accomplishment. He also says that within the first four there are two contemplations: the first two verses are the contemplation that gathers the branch back to the root and display the emptiness of the world of sentient beings, and the next two are the contemplation of conditioned arising without a maker and display in addition the emptiness of the receptacle world.
The first verse: the realm of all sentient beings is within the three times, and the sentient beings of the three times all abide within the five aggregates. Chengguan takes it apart phrase by phrase: to press the provisionally named sentient being back and find it does not exceed the three times displays its impermanence; to press the sentient beings of the three times back and find they do not exceed the aggregates displays their being without self. The second verse: the aggregates have karma as root, the karmas have mind as root, the dharma of mind is like a conjuring, and so is the world. He takes it apart further: that the aggregates arise from karma is the emptiness of the fruit and displays that the cause is not a wrong one; that karma is only mind makes clear that there is no dharma outside the mind; that mind is like a conjuring does not fall outside emptiness of nature and the Middle Way — because a conjuring is without nature, and therefore neither existent nor non-existent; and the last phrase takes the root as the pattern for the branch. The third verse: the world is not made by itself nor made by another, and yet it can have its coming to be and its decay. Chengguan here cites at length — the outer paths say that self-nature makes it or that Brahmā makes it; the lesser vehicle says that a cause of like kind makes it of itself and a cause of ripening makes it of another; and there is the account of causes and conditions depending upon one another; and the Zhonglun, “made by self and made by another, made by both and made without cause: to speak of sufferings thus does not hold with respect to the fruit” — dismissing them one after another; while the latter half says “yet it does not obstruct their being formed by conditions,” and by this dismisses the causeless. The fourth verse: though the world has its coming to be and its decay, one who has penetrated the world should speak of neither — and Chengguan says this is “without destroying the provisional name, to speak of the real mark.”
The fifth through the ninth dismiss both. The fifth asks and answers itself: what is called the world? what is called not the world? the world and what is not the world are only a difference of names. The sixth brings out the substance: the dharma of the five aggregates of the three times is called the world, and when that ceases it is not the world, and so to speak is only a provisional name. Chengguan here cites the Jingming jing, “the emptiness of the nature of the world is just the world-transcending” — one substance spoken of as two, and therefore called a provisional name. The seventh presses the name and substance of the aggregates: why are the aggregates spoken of? what nature do the aggregates have? the nature of the aggregates cannot cease, and therefore it is said to be unarisen. Chengguan says that since it says “the nature cannot cease,” this displays that what has been spoken of is not a ceasing at the level of phenomena and marks. The eighth explains how it comes about: discriminate these aggregates, and their nature is from the first empty and still; because it is empty it cannot cease, and this is the meaning of the unarisen. The ninth extends the case to the world-transcending: since sentient beings are thus, the buddhas too are thus, and the Buddha and the dharmas of the buddhas are without own-nature. The tenth is the benefit of the contemplation's accomplishment: one who can know these dharmas as they really are and without inversion has that one who knows and sees all constantly present before him — and Chengguan says that the Buddha takes the real dharma as his substance, and so to see the dharma is to see the Buddha constantly.
Clear away one mistake: do not read “the world and what is not the world are only a difference of names” as meaning that anything at all may be said. Where it comes down: what this segment takes apart is a grasping very hard to notice — taking “the world-transcending” for another place. The sixth verse blocks it outright: that its ceasing is not the world is also only a provisional name.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Practice Grove: The Body Is Not the Buddha, and the Buddha Is Not the Body
Chengguan says that this is to contemplate the Buddha in the light of principle and thereby to set out in right cultivation, and so the name is Practice Grove; the ten verses contemplate the virtue of the pervasiveness of the Buddha's substance and marks, and are divided in two: the first seven display cultivation by simile, and the last three are the benefit of seeing the real.
The first and second verses are the simile of the earth-element. The first: as the earth-element throughout the ten directions is without own-nature and yet there is no place it does not pervade. The second correlates: the Buddha's body too pervades all the worlds thus, and its various marks of form are without ruler and without any place from which they come. Chengguan determines this pair to be “the simile of the earth-element without nature pervading everywhere, figuring the Buddha's virtue of unarisen responding everywhere.”
The third through the seventh are the simile of the marks of karma and its correlation. The third: it is only because of the karmas that “sentient being” is named, nor can karma be found apart from sentient beings — this is the mutual dependence of karma and fruit. The fourth: the nature of karma is from the first empty and still and yet is what sentient beings rely upon, and it makes everywhere the many marks of form, which likewise have no place from which they come — this is dependence without nature: because there is karma apart from sentient beings there is no karma, therefore the nature of karma is empty; and because it is through karma that there are sentient beings, sentient beings have no place from which they come. The fifth concludes both as hard to think: such marks of form, the power of karma is hard to think or discuss; penetrate its root and one sees nothing therein. Chengguan here presses back once: karma too has its cause, and pressing back one arrives at “no abiding”; no abiding is no root, and being without root nothing is seen — and this “seeing that is not a seeing” is what counts as penetrating the emptiness of karma. The sixth correlates: the Buddha's body too is thus, not to be thought or discussed, and its various marks of form appear everywhere in the lands of the ten directions. The seventh correlates by their not being one another: the body is not the Buddha and the Buddha is not the body, and it is only that he takes the Dharma as body and penetrates all dharmas. Chengguan guards against two mistakes here: if the body were just the Buddha, then a wheel-turning king would also be a Tathāgata; if the Buddha were just the body, then the mind of right awakening would be the same as marks of form.
The last three are the benefit of seeing the real. The eighth: if one can see the Buddha's body as pure as the nature of dharmas, this person has no doubt at all about the Buddha-dharma. The ninth: if one sees the original nature of all dharmas as nirvāṇa, this is seeing the Tathāgata, ultimate and abiding nowhere. The tenth: if one cultivates right mindfulness and sees right awakening clearly, without marks and without discrimination, this is called a son of the Dharma king — and Chengguan says that to illumine the markless and to still discrimination, stillness and illumination flowing together, is what is called right mindfulness; being born from the Buddha's Dharma, he is a son of the Dharma king. He also lays a further layer upon these three verses: the first knows the apart and is called Dharma, the next knows the Dharma and is called Buddha, the last knows the without and is called Saṅgha, and this is to see through to the real substance of the three jewels.
Clear away one mistake: “the body is not the Buddha” is not asking anyone to be irreverent toward the Buddha's body. Where it comes down is the eighth verse — what is to be seen is “as pure as the nature of dharmas,” not some higher-grade body sought elsewhere.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Awakening Grove: The Mind Is Like a Skilled Painter
This is the eye of the whole chapter. Chengguan says that this is to illumine the root and branch of mind, and so the name is Awakening Grove; and he sets down a very weighty determination: “the ten verses display consciousness-only in its complete portion.” He determines the ten verses to divide broadly in two: the first five display the dharma by simile, and the last five correlate the dharma and complete the contemplation; and within the first five there is a further two: the first two with respect to phenomena, and the last three with respect to mind.
What does “complete portion” mean? Chengguan explains it very clearly himself: if one follows the eight consciousnesses of arising and ceasing there is only the dependence of mind and object; but because that is just the Tathāgata-womb mind, there is also the dependence of the true and the false. To gather conditions into the real so that the marks of difference are exhausted is the gate of suchness, and that is what the earlier similes display; to gather the object into the mind without destroying its marks is the gate of arising and ceasing, and that is what the later ones make clear. Standing and perishing are not two, and there is one conditioned arising only; the two gates are unobstructed and are only one mind, and so where the correlation comes below it says only “made by mind,” while for the sake of dividing the senses to be seen the similes display the two gates — and this is called consciousness-only in its complete portion. This whole passage is Chengguan's determination, attached graph by graph, recorded with no adjudication.
Read them one by one. The first verse: as a skilled painter spreads out the various colors, and one falsely seizes different marks while the great elements are without difference. Chengguan matches the four phrases one by one: the first phrase is the general simile of the one mind; the second figures the perfuming and transforming that follow conditions and form the other-dependent; the third figures the failure to understand the other-dependent, which forms the wholly imagined; the fourth figures that when the marks of the other-dependent are exhausted the substance is just the perfected. The second verse: within the great elements there is no color, within color there are no great elements, and yet no color can be found apart from the great elements. The upper half says “not identical” — what makes and what is made are not the same, the great elements being what the body touches and color what the eye sees; the lower half says “not apart” — the blue and yellow that are made have no separate substance apart from the earth, water, fire, and wind that make them. Chengguan here points out a detail of direction: the great elements can make color and color cannot make the great elements; this figures that the false must arise in dependence upon the true and that the true does not arise in dependence upon the false, and so the scriptural text says only “nor can color be found apart from the great elements,” and does not say it the other way about.
The third verse turns to mind: within the mind there is no painting, within the painting there is no mind, and yet no painting can be found apart from the mind. Chengguan divides the halves in the same way: the upper half is not identical, for within the mind there is no painting is its not being visible, and within the painting there is no mind is its being without deliberation and knowing; the lower half is not apart, for it is arranged following the mind, and apart from mind there is no mark of an object. Here he says why the two graphs “consciousness-only” can only be said thus: it must be that the mind transforms into the object, and not that the object can transform the mind, and so it is said “consciousness-only” and not “object-only”; and so too the scriptural text says only “yet apart from the mind no painting can be found,” and does not say “apart from the painting no mind can be found.” The fourth verse: that mind constantly does not abide, immeasurable and hard to think, displaying every form, and each not knowing the other. Chengguan says that “constantly” blocks annihilation and “does not abide” blocks permanence, like a cascading flood; that it holds all the seeds is why it is called immeasurable; that it displays all is hard to think through breadth, and that they do not know one another is hard to think through depth. The fifth verse: as a skilled painter cannot know his own mind and yet paints because of the mind, so is the nature of dharmas. Chengguan says that this verse takes up again the “not knowing one another” of the text above — not only do the things painted not know one another, but the mind that paints also arises and ceases moment by moment and does not know itself; and by this it figures that although sentient beings are deluded about the direct perception of mind, the mind still transforms the object into being.
The sixth verse is that very sentence: the mind is like a skilled painter, able to paint all the worlds, the five aggregates all arise from it, and there is no dharma it does not make. Chengguan correlates it with what came before: “mind” correlates with the one mind of that first phrase, and “all the worlds” correlates with the various colors of the second phrase; below, the various marks are brought out, which are the aggregates, the elements, and the sense-fields, and so it says there is no dharma it does not make. He also cites the Jin rendering as “paints the various five aggregates,” and cites the Zhengfa nian, “the mind is like the painter's hand, painting out the five colors, black, blue, red, yellow, white, and the whitest white,” taking the painting hand to figure the mind and the sequence of six colors to figure the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animals, the asuras, humans, and gods; and if “various” is said, then it is the ten dharma-realms, and the five aggregates and the rest are all made by mind.
The seventh verse: as the mind is, so is the Buddha; as the Buddha is, so are sentient beings; one should know that the Buddha and the mind are alike inexhaustible in substance and nature. This verse differs in the eighty-fascicle and the sixty-fascicle texts — the sixty has “mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, these three are without difference.” Chengguan explains both texts: mind is the general mark; awakened to, it is named Buddha and forms the pure conditioned arising; deluded, it becomes sentient beings and forms the defiled conditioned arising; and though conditioned arising has the defiled and the pure, the substance of mind is not other, and the fruit of buddhahood accords with mind and is one with the true and so is inexhaustible, while false dharmas have their limit and so are not spoken of. If one follows the old rendering, “these three are without difference,” then all three are inexhaustible, and the inexhaustible is just the mark of being without difference. He also sets down here a sentence of the greatest weight: because the substance of the false is originally the true it too is inexhaustible, and therefore the Tathāgata does not cut off the nature of evil, just as the icchantika does not cut off the nature of good. Two renderings and two explanations, attached graph by graph to Chengguan, recorded with no adjudication.
The eighth verse: if a person knows that the workings of mind make all the worlds everywhere, this person sees the Buddha and understands the Buddha's true nature. Chengguan says that this correlates with what came before in reverse — to seize different colors falsely is not to know the workings of mind, and if one knows that the workings of mind make the worlds everywhere then there is no falsity, and one understands the real. The ninth verse: the mind does not abide in the body and the body does not abide in the mind, and yet it can do the work of a buddha, sovereign as never was before. Chengguan says that the upper half correlates with the sense of “mutual absence” in the two verses above and the lower half with the sense of “not apart”; and he praises the present rendering for using “does not abide” rather than “mutually absent” as a fine piece of translation — the Jin scripture says only “the mind is likewise not the body,” and so obtains only the sense of mutual absence.
The tenth verse is the concluding exhortation, and also the most recited line of the whole chapter: if a person wishes to know fully all the buddhas of the three times, he should contemplate the nature of the Dharma realm — all is made by mind only. Chengguan does not settle upon a single explanation here; he writes plainly that “there are two explanations.” The first: if one wishes to understand the Buddha, one should contemplate the nature of the Dharma realm, for all the differences spoken of above are made by mind only, since to see the dharma is to see the Buddha. The second: “contemplating the nature of the Dharma realm” is the gate of suchness and “contemplating what is made by mind only” is the gate of arising and ceasing, and this is a conclusion of both; that is to say, one is the true contemplation of suchness and one is the contemplation of consciousness that is mind only, and the essentials of contemplation in the great vehicle do not go beyond these two; and contemplating these two gates as being one mind only, each of them gathers in all dharmas entirely, the two truths fusing without obstruction into one taste, and the buddhas of the three times realize this as their substance. His closing sentence is: if one wishes to know that, one should contemplate this — and since it is utterly marvelous, even to hold it for a moment can break the hells.
One thing should be made clearer here, because it bears upon the provenance of the very verse the reader holds: what this chapter transmits is “if a person wishes to know fully all the buddhas of the three times, he should contemplate the nature of the Dharma realm: all is made by mind only.” The sixty-fascicle text renders it otherwise, “if a person wishes to seek and know all the buddhas of the three times,” and both are recorded with no adjudication (see the apparatus); this edition follows the base text graph by graph.
Clear away one great mistake: “all is made by mind only” does not mean that the world is something I have thought up. The third verse has already blocked it — within the mind there is no painting, and within the painting there is no mind; not identical, and not apart. Where it comes down is the fifth verse: the painter does not know his own mind and yet paints because of the mind. Everything you are now experiencing has been painted under exactly the condition that you do not know your own mind; and so what matters is not to change the picture, but to turn back and know the one who can paint.
The Ten Verses of the Bodhisattva Knowing Grove: Even the Expounding of Dharma Itself Is Taken Apart
Chengguan says that this is to discern that the buddhas far surpass form and sound and that the roads of both mind and speech are cut off, and so the name is Knowing Grove; the ten verses are divided in two: the first one states the heading and the following nine explain it (the first two explaining what cannot be seized, the next four what cannot be seen, the last three what cannot be heard).
The first verse states the heading: what is seized cannot be seized, what is seen cannot be seen, what is heard cannot be heard, and this one mind cannot be thought or discussed. Chengguan here collates three texts: the Jin text has the fourth phrase as “what is thought cannot be thought,” and then all four phrases are the heading; the present text has the upper three phrases as the heading and the fourth as a general conclusion, saying that if one understands the one true mind then speech and thought are both cut off, and this accords with the substance of awakening. He also says that the Sanskrit text has the fourth phrase as “within the unthinkable, what is thought?” All three texts are recorded, with no adjudication.
The second verse: what has limit and what is without limit both cannot be seized, and if a person wishes to seize them he gains nothing in the end. Chengguan says that there is the wisdom that accords with principle, of which one cannot say that it has measure, and the wisdom that accords with extent, of which one cannot say that it is without. The third verse displays the fault of seizing: to speak what should not be spoken is to deceive and delude oneself, one's own task is not accomplished, and one cannot make the multitude rejoice. Chengguan speaks very directly here: one who expounds the Dharma should expound in accord with the Dharma; the Dharma is from the first without anything to be gained, and if you wish to gain it and reckon in your mind that there is something expounded, then to take a stone for a jewel is to deceive oneself; and to say there is where in principle there is not is to delude oneself, and in the end one will not accord with the principle.
From the fourth verse the explanation of what cannot be seen begins. The fourth states it in terms of dharma: should one wish to praise the Tathāgata's boundless body of wondrous form, one could not finish setting it forth though one exhausted incalculable kalpas. Chengguan says that because it is not form and yet makes form appear it is called wondrous, and because it appears the moment anything stimulates it, it is called boundless. The fifth is the simile of the maṇi reflecting what falls upon it: as a wish-granting jewel can make every color appear while itself having no color, so are the buddhas. The sixth is the simile of pure space making form appear: again like pure space, which is not form and so cannot be seen, and though it makes every form appear there is none who can see space. The seventh correlates: the buddhas too thus make immeasurable form appear everywhere, and that is not where the mind can go, and none of it can be seen.
Here Chengguan raises a difficulty of his own: do the two similes not contradict the scripture? Above it said that the Buddha has boundless wondrous form, and here it says not form and without form; moreover the treatises say that the Buddha has wondrous form as a dominant condition. He first records the two answers of the ancient worthies — one says that if it is with respect to the initial teaching of the great vehicle it is as stated above, while if it is with respect to the real teaching of the great vehicle then at the ground of buddhahood there are no such coarse marks of form and sound as virtues, but only the virtues of great wisdom, great compassion, great concentration, great vow and the rest, and these virtues alike realize suchness, and when the capacities of sentient beings are stirred, form appears inexhaustibly; the other answer questions this: is the substance that makes them appear then existent or non-existent? If one holds that at the fruit of buddhahood only suchness and the wisdom of suchness stand alone, then the undefiled aggregates, elements, and sense-fields to the end of the future and pervading Indra's net are none of them real matters, and this also contravenes the Nirvāṇa's saying that “the impermanent form is extinguished and the permanent form obtained.” Chengguan at last brings them together: the two explanations above are each one principle and both accord with the scriptures and treatises, and he now reconciles them — gathering the branch back to the root, there is only the wisdom of suchness; gathering marks back to nature, there is only suchness; and since what appears is just suchness, what should hinder wondrous form? His conclusion is this: of the maṇi making color appear it says only “without color,” and “without” is only without any other, not without a substance of its own; of pure space making form appear it says “not form,” and “not” is not its own substance. The former simile is the body of self-enjoyment and the latter is the dharma-body, and these two being not two is the Buddha's true body. Both explanations are recorded, attached to Chengguan, without adjudicating which is higher.
The eighth through the tenth explain what cannot be heard. The eighth: though one hears the Tathāgata's voice, that sound is not the Tathāgata, and yet apart from sound one cannot come to know the perfectly awakened one. Chengguan says that to seize by sound is to walk a wrong path, and that to seize apart from sound is not free of an annihilationist nothing. The ninth explains with respect to substance: awakening has no coming and going and is apart from all discrimination, so how could one, within this, say of oneself that one can see it? Chengguan says that the mind being apart from discrimination is not even something the mind can see, how much less something the ear can hear — as a heavenly drum is without mind and yet gives out sound. The tenth is the closing sentence of the whole chapter: the buddhas have no dharma; where would the Buddha have anything to expound? It is only that according to each one's own mind it is said that the Buddha expounded such a Dharma. Chengguan explains this by saying that if one follows the provisional teaching this is a case of a shadow with no original; but if one follows this school, then because the ocean of the fruit is apart from words there is no expounding, and because the function appears according to what stimulates it, it is said that there is such an expounding — and this original substance too is one's own mind. Fazang, at the same place in the sixty-fascicle text, determines that “at the ground of buddhahood there is no expounding, and the expounding lies in the conditions of capacity.”
Clear away one mistake: this segment does not say that the Buddha expounded nothing and that the scriptures are false. The eighth verse has already set the measure: sound is not the Tathāgata, and yet apart from sound one cannot come to know the perfectly awakened one. Where it comes down: only here is the whole chapter cleanly gathered up — even the thought ‘the Buddha expounded this for me’ is set back upon your own mind.
Lineage
The import of this chapter is carried on in four tracks by the ancient worthies, all recorded with no adjudication. The Chengguan track: he explains the chapter by four gates, and determines the whole chapter to be the three portions of the gathering of the assembly, the emitting of light, and the verses of praise; within the portion of the gathering of the assembly he classifies ten gates; upon the number “a hundred thousand” he lets a doubt stand and lists two possibilities without settling; for the place of the emitting of light he follows the eighty-fascicle text's “upon the two insteps” and explains it as the instep betokening practice; he determines the portion of the verses of praise to be ten segments in the ten bodhisattvas, with Merit Grove as the host of the assembly having twelve verses and setting forth in general the matter of this assembly's pervasiveness, and the remaining nine each praising one gate of the Buddha's virtue. His determinations segment by segment: Wisdom Grove's ten verses divided in three; Excellence Grove's ten verses divided in two, the last seven cultivating the contemplation of the three non-natures; Fearlessness Grove's ten verses divided in two; Shame-and-Conscience Grove's ten verses divided in three; Vigor Grove making clear that “the difference within no-difference” and “the no-difference within difference” are joined; Power Grove's ten verses divided in three, establishing the two contemplations of gathering the branch back to the root and of conditioned arising without a maker; Practice Grove's ten verses divided in two, the last three verses seeing through to the real substance of the three jewels; Awakening Grove's ten verses “displaying consciousness-only in its complete portion” and opening the two gates of suchness and of arising and ceasing; Knowing Grove's ten verses divided in two, with the two similes being not two as the Buddha's true body. The three places densest in doctrine in the whole chapter are these: in the Shame-and-Conscience Grove segment, “wisdom arises from perfuming one's own seed” and, below it, the reconciling of “the afflictions are just awakening”; in the Awakening Grove segment, the definition of consciousness-only in its complete portion and the two renderings and two explanations of “mind, Buddha, and sentient beings”; and in the Knowing Grove segment, the reconciling of the two similes.
The Fazang track: upon the sixty-fascicle text's “The Bodhisattvas Speak Verses” he distinguishes four gates, and explains the name as “the wondrous cause of its own substance, the gathering of practice, the text in variegation”; he takes the worlds sharing the name Wisdom to be that upon which the earlier understanding-wisdom depends, the buddhas sharing the name Eye to be the practicing mind's seeing the Dharma clearly, and the bodhisattvas sharing the name Grove to be virtue high and practice wide; for the place of the emitting of light he follows the sixty-fascicle text's “the toes” and explains that the former set forth abiding and this displays practice; he determines of the portion of the verses of praise that “the first one sets forth in general the phenomena and principle of this assembly, and the following nine display in particular the gates of the Buddha's virtue,” and upon “contemplating everywhere the ten directions” he establishes four senses and cites the Dilun, “because it displays the absence of the conceit of self and of a partial mind.” His “eleven lines of verse” for the Merit Grove segment of the sixty-fascicle text differs from the eighty-fascicle text's twelve verses, and this comes of the difference between the two texts.
The Zhiyan track: his commentary is the most concise of all, and yet its verse-classifications for the ten segments are complete; he establishes the one sentence “the ten persons each praise the Buddha by the dharma-cause of conditioned arising and suchness that they have themselves obtained” as the general gathering of the ten segments; for the Shame-and-Conscience Grove segment he establishes the headings of five similes (the difference in nature of folly and wisdom, their alike forming falsity, the two natures being at variance, folly and wisdom being separated by conditions, and function without a mark being what responds), and for the Vigor Grove segment the headings of eight similes (the substance of dharma without difference, the substance of dharma empty and without, the substance of dharma unreal, the substance of dharma apart from marks, the substance of dharma completing the true, one completing the function of many, function arising in dependence upon conditions, and the substance firm and hard to destroy); and the Awakening Grove segment (in the sixty-fascicle text, Tathāgata Grove) he determines to be “the first five similes, which in turn answer five profound doubts,” closing it with “the maker of a Tathāgata means a buddha who is without any making.”
The Li Tongxuan track: he runs the stations of the ten practices through the whole chapter, and lays the one chapter out in an extended outline of five segments (coming and gathering, extending the case throughout, the emitting of light, contemplating the dharma and speaking verses, and the ten segments of verse), which differs from Chengguan's three portions; within the first segment he treats ten kinds of cause and fruit, matching one by one the bodhisattva's name, the world's name, the buddha's title, and the gate of a perfection, together with the good friend whom Sudhana visits — as when he determines Merit Grove to belong to the practice of joy and the gate of the dāna-pāramitā, whose good friend is named Well Seen and walks to and fro within a grove; and he lists the places of the emitting of light at the three stations of the ten faiths, the ten abodes, and the ten practices, so as to display the ascent.
The number of segments the four masters establish is not the same (Chengguan makes three portions and ten segments, Li Tongxuan five segments, and Fazang upon the sixty-fascicle text ten segments with the first as the general, and Zhiyan a verse-outline set up segment by segment), the stations they match are not the same, and their verse-classifications segment by segment are likewise not the same (Chengguan establishing his upon the eighty-fascicle text and Fazang and Zhiyan upon the sixty, so that for one and the same segment the number of verses classified differs); the ancients held differing accounts, which are recorded without adjudicating which is higher.
Of the carrying on of this chapter's verse-lines in the outline-books of the Huayan school there are two places that are clearest: in the Fajie xuanjing Chengguan presents and cites Power Grove's eighth verse, “discriminate these aggregates, their nature is from the first empty and still,” as an instance of the contemplation of the perfected, and again presents and cites Vigor Grove's second verse, “as gold and the color of gold,” as an instance of dharma and what is not dharma being without difference; while the Huayan yisheng shixuan men presents and cites the first line of Vigor Grove's eighth verse. As for this chapter's most famous lines, “the mind is like a skilled painter” and “if a person wishes to know fully,” they return no result in the Wujiao zhang, the Shixuan men, the Zhigui, the Huanyuan guan, and the Fajie xuanjing, nor in the Souxuan ji, the Tanxuan ji, the Xin Huayan jing lun, or the Dasheng qixin lun yiji, and the lack is recorded as it stands — which accords with the character of this chapter: it is scriptural text depicting a scene of bodhisattvas of the ten directions praising in verse, and its import lies in the negating manner of disclosure rather than in establishing terms; only Chengguan, in another chapter of this same commentary, once cited this line of the present chapter himself in attesting the sense of consciousness-only, and this too is recorded.
As for this chapter's joining to what comes before and after: above it receives “Ascent to the Palace of the Yāma Heaven” — in the preceding chapter the Buddha ascends to the palace of the Yāma heaven without leaving the foot of the tree of awakening, and in this chapter the bodhisattvas of the ten directions come and gather and praise in verse; below it is followed by “The Ten Practices” — Chengguan's one sentence, “it assists the converting by extolling and praising, it expounds the substance and nature of practice, it is that upon which practice depends,” buckles the two chapters into one matter: the Buddha's virtues are first praised so that one may know the substance of practice, and only then are the names and marks of the ten practices expounded. Li Tongxuan puts it still more directly: if the causes and fruits of what is practiced are not first set forth, upon what would the ten practices be accomplished?
品二十一 十行品The Ten Practices
全文五層 →Full five layers →為什麼偈讚之後接十行
第四會到這一品才進入正說。前面兩品，一品說佛不離菩提樹而昇夜摩天宮，一品是十位「林」字菩薩以偈讚佛——都還在鋪場。到這一品，功德林菩薩入定、受加、出定、開口，說的是十種行。
澄觀判本品的來意立了兩義：一是前面是序、這裡是正；二是前面辨的是「所依」的佛智，這裡辨的是「能依」的行。法藏在六十本那邊判得一樣直白：序分既然彰顯了，正宗就該顯出來。智儼最省：大眾既已集合，接著就該說了。
李通玄的判法從另一頭接。他不從文序說，從處所說：夜摩天沒有日月，天光自相照，只看蓮華開合來分晝夜，所以叫「時分天」；這一位的菩薩知道眾生心欲開發的時候，就應時接引，還不該度的就先給他一個將來得度的因緣——所以在這個天上說十行。他還把十住與十行的依處對舉：十住還依著須彌山頂，十行則「依空所行」，以此表「行無著」。
四家的話合起來是一件事：讚歎是仰望，站住是十住，站住之後總要動起來——十行就是那個動。落到自己身上：一個人若只求「不退」，日子久了會變成守成；經文不許停在守成，接著就給你十種動法。
「行」這個字：不是做多少事，是順著理造修
十行的「行」，最容易被讀成『做事』或『修行的量』。古德沒有一家這樣讀。
澄觀訓得最緊：「隨緣順理，造修名行。」——隨著緣，順著理，造作修習，這才叫行。八個字裡兩個關節：一個是「隨緣」，行是在境上起的，不是關起門來的功課；一個是「順理」，行是有方向的，不是忙。少了隨緣就成了空談，少了順理就成了瞎忙。
法藏從六十本的品題「功德華聚」四字拆：德是行體、華是行用、聚是行相。這一拆很有用——行有它的本身（德）、有它的作用（華）、有它的樣子（聚）。智儼則說「功德者行體。華聚者喻名也」，並補一句「歎行勝妙，能與果為依」：行之所以貴，在它能給果作依靠。
排一個常見的誤解：不要把十行想成十件該做的事，也不要想成十個修行的科目。它們是十種「行」的品質——同一件布施，可以是歡喜行，也可以不是；差別不在事，在隨的什麼緣、順的什麼理。落地處在此：問自己的不是『我今天做了多少』，是『我今天做的那件事，順的是理，還是順的是我的情緒』。
至於「十」這個數，澄觀說「數越塵沙，寄圓辨十」——行的數目多過塵沙，寄託在十上是為了顯圓滿。所以不必問『為什麼不是九或十一』。他又誌了他經的異名：《仁王》叫十止，因為三學裡定心增上；《梵網》叫長養，因為長養道根。同一位法，各就一義而立名。
澄觀科的七分：這一品是怎麼組裝的
澄觀科此品為七分：三昧分、加分、起分、本分、說分、現證分、重頌分。智儼在六十本那邊也科七分，但第六叫利益分、第七叫偈誦。李通玄乾脆不用分科，把一品長科為十四段，並自註一句「如經自有分劑，不煩科文」——經文自己就有段落，不必再科。
讀者知道這七分有什麼用處？用處是：這一品不是一段話，是一套儀軌。入定（三昧分）、諸佛加持（加分）、出定開口（起分）、總標行體（本分）、正說十行（說分）、天地為證（現證分）、重宣一遍（重頌分）。每一步都不是裝飾，下面逐一說。
澄觀還特別辨了一句：這一品跟前兩會的體例不同。前兩會除了正說之位，還另有辨行、明德之品；這裡「有行德者以行為主，故略無之」，而且行德已經純熟，趣後的部分收在進趣之中，所以第四會的位法就這一品。也就是說：十行的行與德，都在這一品裡說完。
為什麼非要入定才說
功德林菩薩不是想說就說，是先入「菩薩善思惟三昧」。
澄觀逐字拆這個定名：稱「菩薩」，是為了揀去佛果之定——這是因位的定，不是果位的定；稱「善思惟」，是「巧順事理揀擇無礙，無心成事」——巧妙地順著事和理去揀擇而無所滯礙，並且是在無心之中把事成就了。
這個「無心成事」四字要緊。排一個誤解：不要以為「善思惟」是指想得很周到。若是想得周到，那還是有心；經文所指的是揀擇分明而不落作意。李通玄在這裡另走一路，他從禪的分類問「何以名善思惟三昧」，列四種禪而以愚夫所行禪為首——用禪之階差來標出這個定不是尋常之定。
那為什麼是功德林入定而不是別人？澄觀答兩事：他是眾中之首；而且「表說十行眾德建立故」——功德如林，正是十行所成之相。名字在這裡就是義理：說十行的人，名字必須是眾德叢立的樣子。
落地處：一個人真要談自己的修行，最好先問一句『這是我證到的，還是我想出來的』。經文把這一問寫成了一個入定的動作。
加分：諸佛給了什麼
十方各萬佛剎微塵數的佛現前，全都同名功德林。這一段有三件事。
第一件是口加。 諸佛先讚「善哉」，再說明加持的緣由，最後命他說法。緣由列了三重力：十方同名諸佛共加之力、毘盧遮那如來往昔的願力與威神之力、諸菩薩眾的善根力。三力並舉，不可只取一邊：全歸佛力則行者無事可做，全歸自力則不知法從何來。澄觀把這裡的加因數為四事——伴佛同加、主佛宿願、主佛現威、大眾機感；並註明本會略去了「助化善根」一項，或者是攝在「諸」字裡了。
接著是十個「故」字句：增長佛智、深入法界、了知眾生界、所入無礙、所行無障、得無量方便、攝取一切智性、覺悟一切諸法、知一切諸根、能持說一切法——說完十事，才點出正題：「發起諸菩薩十種行」。澄觀科這一段作十一句：前十句別明、後一句總結。這個科法值得記：前十句是『為什麼要說』，最後一句才是『要說什麼』。
第二件是意加。 諸佛給功德林菩薩十一種智：無礙智、無著智、無斷智、無師智、無癡智、無異智、無失智、無量智、無勝智、無懈智、無奪智。十一個名字幾乎都是遮詮——不是說給了什麼，是說去掉了什麼障礙。澄觀在這裡用九種辯才去配，並且獨獨拈出第三個「無師智」說：前後兩會所授之智都沒有這一項，這是本會所獨有的；而且它「即是本覺之智，了因自得、悟不由師，假佛緣顯故得云與」。
這一句是本品加分的義眼。既然是不由師而自得的本覺之智，那就不是佛從外面給的；經文說「與」，是因為要靠佛的緣才顯了出來。排一個誤解：不要把「諸佛與智」讀成佛把智慧裝進菩薩心裡。經文自己就把理由說明白了——「何以故？此三昧力，法如是故。」法本來如此，不是佛額外開恩。
第三件是身加。 諸佛各申右手，摩功德林菩薩的頂，為的是增威力。口加、意加、身加三業齊備，這是華嚴諸會加分的定式。
落地處：一個人真正說得出深法的時候，往往不覺得那是自己的本事。這一段就是把那件事寫成了儀軌。
起分與本分：行不可思議，與法界虛空界等
功德林從定而起，開口第一句不是十行的名目，是行的體：「菩薩行不可思議，與法界、虛空界等。」
澄觀在這裡下的功夫最深。他先說：「行即深心所修行海也」——行是從深心裡修出來的一片海。再說「與法界」以下是顯難思之相：「深等法界、廣齊虛空，故心言罔及也」——深度等同法界，廣度等齊虛空，所以心想不到、話說不出。
接著他翻了兩層。第一層，把「事」與「理」分開來配：即理之事行，同事法界之無量、等虛空之無邊；即事之理行，同理法界之寂寥、等虛空之絕相。一句話：從事上看，行是無量無邊的多；從理上看，行是寂寥絕相的空。這兩面都不是言語心思能到的地方，所以難思議。
第二層更要緊。澄觀不許把「不思議」只讀成遮遣：「又若唯遮者，則凡聖絕分故……遮融無二，則思與非思體俱寂滅，方曰真不思議。」——若一味說「不可思議不可思議」，那凡聖就永遠隔絕了；不但要遮掉尋常的心與言，也要融通尋常的心與言，於是在其中思議也思議不盡。遮與融兩邊都不執，思與非思一併寂滅，這才叫真的不思議。
排一個很常見的誤解：把「不可思議」當成談話的終點——『這個講不清楚』。澄觀的意思正相反：講不清楚只是半邊，另外半邊是講不完。落地處：遇到深法時，既不要以為自己想得通，也不要以為想它是白費。
那麼為什麼因位菩薩的行就叵思？經文自設一問自作一答：「何以故？菩薩摩訶薩學三世諸佛而修行故。」澄觀釋這一問一答：因為同於佛果的緣故——佛窮盡了事行之邊、極盡了理行之際，斷一切障、證一切理，因圓果滿融無障礙；菩薩既然學的是這個，哪裡還可以思議？
澄觀還在這裡順帶交代了行體有幾重：若約所依，就是前面那個善思惟三昧；若約所觀，是二諦雙融；若約能觀，是悲智無礙；若從教相，就是下面所說的四行；而「若約十行別體，即以十波羅蜜為體」。最後一句是十行配十度的疏據所在，下一節說。
十行之名與十度之配
經文接著標數列名：菩薩摩訶薩有十種行，是三世諸佛所宣說的；哪十種？歡喜、饒益、無違逆、無屈橈、無癡亂、善現、無著、難得、善法、真實——這就是十種。
先說一件底本自身的事。第五行的名字在這一品裡出現了兩個形：列名句作「無癡亂行」，而釋文的段首與結句都作「離癡亂行」。二形並存於同一品之中，本讀本一律照底本逐字，不代為齊一。澄觀科此行時取的是「離癡亂行」。又第四行底本三見都從木作「無屈橈行」，而澄觀疏中寫作「無屈撓行」，並訓「撓者曲也弱也，即牢強精進也」——訓義為彎、為軟，所以「無屈橈」就是不彎不軟的精進。
再說配。澄觀逐行以十波羅蜜相配：第一歡喜行配檀度（布施）、第二饒益行配戒度、第三無違逆行配忍度、第四無屈橈行配進度、第五離癡亂行配禪度、第六善現行配般若度、第七無著行配方便度、第八難得行配願度、第九善法行配力度、第十真實行配智度。六度之外加方便、願、力、智四度，正好十行十度。他並立一個通例：「約十度釋名，度各有三。」
這個配是澄觀的科判，經文本身沒有一句說『十行就是十度』。但經文留了一個內證：重頌第十八頌起頭一句是「檀波羅蜜已成滿」——在頌到第一行的地方，經文自己舉出了檀度之名。整品經文之中「波羅蜜」只出現兩次，另一次是第八難得行裡的「諸波羅蜜」泛稱。所以這一句是唯一的度名別舉，正落在第一行上。這不算經文自標十度，但足以說明配法不是憑空。
法藏在六十本那邊把配法擴得更大。他的宗趣門下，先以三乘寄位法統收十義，說十行在因度位、在第二精進行僧祇、在六慧中是思慧位、在六忍中是行忍、在六種姓中是性種性……又分「通行」與「別行」：通行是信等十行，別行就是這十度，本品所明是別非通。最後才立第三門，就圓教明普賢行——這十行之中具攝前後諸位之行。
李通玄則對次第下了一道很硬的判：「如是十行，總是一時一念無前後之行門，莫作前後延促之見。」十行不是十級台階一級一級上，是一時一念之中的十個面向。這一判與澄觀、法藏依十度次第逐行而釋的軌轍不同，古有此二說，並錄不判。
落地處：讀十行時，兩種讀法各有用。當你檢查自己的修行有沒有偏，用十度次第讀；當你以為自己『還沒到第七行』的時候，記起李通玄那一句。
行一 歡喜行：施到不見有施
第一行的標句是「佛子！何等為菩薩摩訶薩歡喜行？」，接著就是「此菩薩為大施主，凡所有物悉能惠施」。澄觀配檀度，並科此行為三：徵名、釋相、結名；釋相之中又先略辨體相、後就「修此行時」以下廣說。
先問一問：施是給東西，何以叫「歡喜」行？ 經文的答案不在施上，在施的心上。「其心平等，無有悔吝，不望果報，不求名稱，不貪利養」——五句話劃掉五種不純：不平等、事後懊悔、圖回報、要名聲、貪供養。劃完之後才說為什麼施：救護、攝受、饒益一切眾生，並且學習、憶念、愛樂、清淨、增長、住持、顯現、演說諸佛本所修行。八個動詞連著「諸佛本所修行」，說的是同一件事的八個層次——從學它、想它、愛它，到讓它清淨、增長、住持、顯現、演說出來。
再看那個極難的設境。 「假使於念念中，有無量無數眾生詣菩薩所」，來乞的不是財，是「施我身肉」。菩薩當下就施，讓他歡喜滿足；無量百千眾生一直來乞，菩薩不但不退怯，反而「倍復歡喜」，並且作念說：「此等眾生是我福田、是我善友，不求不請而來教我入佛法中。」
這是本行的眼。乞者不是負擔，是老師；來乞求的人是在教菩薩進入佛法。歡喜的來處在這裡——不是勉強自己高興，是真看見了對方的好處在哪。排一個誤解：不要把這一段讀成『菩薩很能忍』。經文用的字是「倍復歡喜」，不是『勉強忍受』。
接著是願。 「願我已作、現作、當作所有善根，令我未來……受廣大身，以是身肉，充足一切飢苦眾生」，並且「乃至若有一小眾生未得飽足，願不捨命，所割身肉，亦無有盡」；更進一步，願吃他肉的眾生也同得無上菩提；最後一句最重：「若一眾生心不滿足，我終不證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」
然後是觀。 經文緊接著就把這整套壯闊的施行『拆』掉：菩薩這樣利益眾生，卻沒有我想、眾生想、有想、命想、種種想、補伽羅想、人想、摩納婆想、作者想、受者想——十種想全無。只觀法界、眾生界，觀無邊際法、空法、無所有法、無相法、無體法、無處法、無依法、無作法。作這樣觀的時候，「不見自身，不見施物，不見受者，不見福田，不見業，不見報，不見果，不見大果，不見小果」。
九個「不見」是本行的骨。前面愈是壯闊，這裡愈要空掉。落地處：布施之後心裡若還有一筆帳——我給了誰、給了多少、他該不該領情——那還在「見」裡。
最後是一段觀身。 菩薩觀三世眾生所受之身當下壞滅，便歎：眾生愚癡，在生死裡受無數身，危脆不停，卻不肯「以不堅固身求堅固身」。這一句是全行的收處：施身肉不是苦行，是拿不堅固的換堅固的。所以結句說：「佛子！是名菩薩摩訶薩第一歡喜行。」
行二 饒益行：戒不是不做，是不著
第二行標句下即是「此菩薩護持淨戒，於色、聲、香、味、觸，心無所著」。澄觀配戒度，並判釋相「先略、後廣，皆顯三聚含於九戒」——三聚指攝律儀、攝善法、饒益有情三聚淨戒。
先問：既然是戒，何以叫「饒益」？ 因為戒在這裡不是防非，是給人好處。經文說得明白：菩薩不但自己於五塵無著，「亦為眾生如是宣說」；他持戒不求威勢、種族、富饒、色相、王位——五樣人間最想要的東西全部劃掉，只堅持淨戒。
戒的驗處在極難之境。 「於一日中，假使無數百千億那由他諸大惡魔詣菩薩所」，每一魔各帶無量天女，「皆於五欲善行方便，端正姝麗傾惑人心」，執種種珍玩之具來惑亂菩薩的道意。菩薩的反應只有一念：「此五欲者，是障道法，乃至障礙無上菩提。」於是「不生一念欲想，心淨如佛」。經文還補了一句例外與一句限制：例外是「唯除方便教化眾生」，限制是即便如此「而不捨於一切智心」。
再往下更嚴：菩薩不因欲的因緣惱一個眾生，寧捨身命也不作惱眾生的事；自從見佛以來未曾心生一念欲想，何況去做。排一個誤解：這一段不是在講戒律條文的守與犯，是在講心的乾淨程度。經文的標準是「未曾心生一念」，不是『沒有犯』。
戒的用處是回向給魔。 菩薩接著作念：一切眾生在長夜之中想念五欲、趣向五欲、貪著五欲，耽染沈溺不得自在；「我今應當令此諸魔及諸天女，一切眾生住無上戒」。來惑亂他的，正是他要度的。這一轉是本行叫「饒益」的第二個理由。
然後是一段極重要的破執。 菩薩要為眾生說法除顛倒，但經文立刻把「顛倒」與「眾生」的關係拆成八重雙非：不離眾生有顛倒，不離顛倒有眾生；不於顛倒內有眾生，不於眾生內有顛倒；亦非顛倒是眾生，亦非眾生是顛倒；顛倒非內法非外法，眾生非內法非外法。
為什麼要這樣拆？因為一旦把「顛倒」當成一個實在的東西擱在眾生身上，度生就成了拿掉一個東西；那樣既除不掉，還會生出『有可除者』的執。拆完之後經文才下結論：一切諸法虛妄不實，速起速滅無有堅固，如夢如影，如幻如化，誑惑愚夫。
最後是九對自他。 「自得度，令他得度；自解脫，令他解脫」，一路到「自快樂，令他快樂」——九對，每一對都是先自後他。這是饒益行的體例：饒益不是把自己撇開去成全人，是自己站住了才有得給。結句：「佛子！是名菩薩摩訶薩第二饒益行。」
行三 無違逆行：忍到不覺得是在忍
第三行標句下是「此菩薩常修忍法，謙下恭敬」。澄觀配忍度，並判釋相分二：先略辨行相、後對境正修；略辨之中又分修忍行、離忍過、修忍意三段。
先看『三個三』。 經文說：不自害，不他害，不兩害；不自取，不他取，不兩取；不自著，不他著，不兩著。害、取、著三事，各配自、他、兩三面，合成九句。這九句是忍的底線——忍不是壓下去，是連害、取、著的動機都不起。
再看那個「所謂」列。 這是本品四處逐條列名之一，不可略過。假使有百千億那由他阿僧祇眾生，每一眾生化作同樣多的口，每一口出同樣多的話語，所謂：不可喜語、非善法語、不悅意語、不可愛語、非仁賢語、非聖智語、非聖相應語、非聖親近語、深可厭惡語、不堪聽聞語——十種語，用來毀辱菩薩。
這十種語不是同義重複，是十個角度：前四種說它令人不悅（不可喜、非善法、不悅意、不可愛），中間四種說它不合聖者之格（非仁賢、非聖智、非聖相應、非聖親近），後兩種說它到了極處（深可厭惡、不堪聽聞）。從『聽了不舒服』一路到『根本聽不下去』。接著更進一步：這些眾生每一個又各有那麼多的手，每一手執那麼多的兵器來逼害；如是經阿僧祇劫，曾無休息。
語毀之後加身害，時間再拉到阿僧祇劫——這是把忍的境設到極處。
忍的關口在哪裡？ 經文寫菩薩此時「身毛皆豎，命將欲斷」——沒有粉飾，忍是真痛。他的念頭是：「我因是苦，心若動亂，則自不調伏、自不守護……何能令他心得清淨？」關口不在能不能受，在心動不動；而心不動的理由不是為了自己爭一口氣，是「何能令他心得清淨」。
接著三重轉。 第一重是往回看：「我從無始劫，住於生死，受諸苦惱」——這苦不是今天才有的。第二重是往下看：「此身空寂，無我、我所，無有真實，性空無二；若苦若樂，皆無所有，諸法空故。」第三重是往外給：「我當解了，廣為人說，令諸眾生滅除此見。」
最後是十個「故」。 為慈念眾生故、饒益眾生故、安樂眾生故、憐愍眾生故、攝受眾生故、不捨眾生故、自得覺悟故、令他覺悟故、心不退轉故、趣向佛道故。十個理由裡前六是為眾生、中二是自他覺悟、後二是為道。落地處：忍若只有『我要修忍辱』一個理由，撐不了多久；經文給了十個。結句：「是名菩薩摩訶薩第三無違逆行。」
行四 無屈橈行：精進不是使勁，是不為自己使勁
第四行標句下是「此菩薩修諸精進」，接著就是本品第三處「所謂」列（前二在加分與第三行）。
十種精進逐條看。 所謂：第一精進、大精進、勝精進、殊勝精進、最勝精進、最妙精進、上精進、無上精進、無等精進、普遍精進。這十個名字是一路加碼的形容：從「第一」到「大」到「勝」，再三重推到「殊勝」「最勝」「最妙」，再從「上」推到「無上」，再到「無等」——已經沒有可比的了；最後一個卻不再往上加，而是往寬走：「普遍精進」。前九個講高度，第十個講廣度。這個收法有講究：精進到極處不是更猛，是更遍。
接著是六個「性」字句。 性無三毒、性無憍慢、性不覆藏、性不慳嫉、性無諂誑、性自慚愧。注意用的是「性」不是「不」——不是勉強不起貪瞋癡，是體性上就沒有。精進的乾淨程度先立在這裡。
然後是一個「終不為……」與二十個「但為……故而行精進」。 開頭先劃掉一種：「終不為惱一眾生故而行精進」。然後正面列：為斷煩惱、拔惑本、除習氣；為知眾生界、知眾生死此生彼、知眾生煩惱、知眾生心樂、知眾生境界、知眾生諸根勝劣、知眾生心行——七句都在知眾生；為知法界；為知佛法根本性、平等性、三世平等性；為得佛法智光明、證佛法智、知佛法一實相、知佛法無邊際、得佛法廣大決定善巧智、得分別演說佛法句義智。
這一長串的次第值得留意：先斷自己的惑，再知眾生，再知法界，最後知佛法並且能說。精進的方向是從內往外、從斷往知、從知往說。排一個誤解：不要把精進讀成『時間投入』。經文一句「時間」都沒說，說的全是『為了什麼』。
兩問兩答是本行的驗處。 第一問：你能不能為無數世界的每一個眾生，在阿鼻地獄經無數劫備受眾苦，好讓他們見佛得樂乃至涅槃，然後你才成佛？答：「我能。」——經文只有兩個字，一點鋪陳都沒有。
第二問更絕：有無量阿僧祇大海，你用一根毛端把它滴乾；有無量阿僧祇世界，全磨成塵；那些水滴和微塵，一一數清。為眾生的緣故，經那麼多劫，念念受苦不斷。這一次經文連「我能」都不寫了，直接寫菩薩的反應：不但不生一念悔恨，反而「更增上歡喜踊躍，深自慶幸得大善利」，慶幸的理由是「以我力故，令彼眾生永脫諸苦」。
落地處：真正的不屈不在於咬牙撐住，在於根本不覺得那是損失。結句：「是名菩薩摩訶薩第四無屈橈行。」
行五 離癡亂行：定不是聽不見，是聽見了不亂
第五行標句下是「此菩薩成就正念，心無散亂」。澄觀配禪度，並判釋相「先總顯無癡亂、後別明無癡亂」，又說總顯這一段「句雖有六，義乃有十，初總、餘別」。
先看總句。 成就正念，心無散亂、堅固不動、最上清淨、廣大無量、無有迷惑——一總五別。定的相在這裡不是『什麼都不想』，是『念正而不亂』。
第五行第一處「所謂」：持言說而不亂。 因為正念的緣故，善解世間一切語言，能持出世諸法言說。所謂：能持色法、非色法言說，能持建立色自性言說，乃至能持建立受、想、行、識自性言說——五蘊自性之言說皆能任持，而心無癡亂。這一句很要緊：這個定不是離開語言，是在最細的法相語言中仍然不亂。
接著是八個「心無癡亂」：死此生彼、入胎出胎、發菩提意、事善知識、勤修佛法、覺知魔事、離諸魔業、於不可說劫修菩薩行——從生死大關到日常修學，八個場合一一點名。留意其中兩個：「覺知魔事」與「離諸魔業」——認得出魔，並且離得開，這也算定。
第五行第二處「所謂」：所聞之法。 甚深法、廣大法、莊嚴法、種種莊嚴法、演說種種名句文身法、菩薩莊嚴法、佛神力光明無上法、正希望決定解清淨法、不著一切世間法、分別一切世間法、甚廣大法、離癡翳照了一切眾生法、一切世間共法不共法、菩薩智無上法、一切智自在法。聽了之後「經阿僧祇劫，不忘不失，心常憶念，無有間斷」。
為什麼能不忘？經文自答：因為菩薩修行時終不惱亂一個眾生令他失念，不壞正法，不斷善根。——不令他人失念，所以自己不失念。這是因果，不是巧合。
第五行第三處「所謂」：七種聲。 高大聲、麁濁聲、極令人恐怖聲、悅意聲、不悅意聲、諠亂耳識聲、沮壞六根聲。七種裡有「悅意聲」——順耳的也在亂心之列。這一點常被略過：能亂定的不只是噪音，還有太好聽的。
第五行第四處「所謂」：十一種不亂。 正念不亂、境界不亂、三昧不亂、入甚深法不亂、行菩提行不亂、發菩提心不亂、憶念諸佛不亂、觀真實法不亂、化眾生智不亂、淨眾生智不亂、決了甚深義不亂。接著四句配障：不作惡業故無惡業障、不起煩惱故無煩惱障、不輕慢法故無有法障、不誹謗正法故無有報障。
最要緊的一句在後面。 這些聲音充滿阿僧祇世界、無量無數劫不斷，「悉能壞亂眾生身心一切諸根，而不能壞此菩薩心」。為什麼壞不了？不是因為他聽不見，是因為他在三昧中「思惟觀察一切音聲，善知音聲生、住、滅相，善知音聲生、住、滅性」，於是「不生於貪，不起於瞋，不失於念，善取其相而不染著」——知道一切聲無所有、不可得、無有作者、亦無本際、與法界等。
這是本行的眼。排一個誤解：離癡亂不是把耳朵關起來。經文的路徑是聽見、觀察、知其生住滅、知其與法界等——聽得比誰都清楚，所以不亂。落地處：對治散亂的辦法不是躲，是看清楚那個擾你的東西是怎麼生、怎麼住、怎麼滅的。
最後菩薩得「離音聲甚深三昧」，於一念中得無數百千三昧，聞聲而三昧「漸更增廣」——聲音反倒成了增上緣。結句：「是名菩薩摩訶薩第五離癡亂行。」
行六 善現行：現得出來，是因為無所得
第六行標句下是「此菩薩身業清淨、語業清淨、意業清淨」。澄觀配般若度，並引《瑜伽》所說般若三種——通達真實之慧、於五明處及三聚決定善巧之慧，以及第三種。
先問：既然是般若，何以叫「善現」？ 因為般若在這裡的樣子是「現」。經文說：住無所得、示無所得身語意業。一邊是「住無所得」，一邊是「示」——能示現，正因為無所得。若有所得，示現就成了炫耀；無所得，示現才是善巧。
經文接著一路推：知三業皆無所有、無虛妄故無有繫縛；凡所示現，無性無依；住如實心，知無量心自性、知一切法自性，無得無相，甚深難入；住於正位真如法性，方便出生而無業報；不生不滅，住涅槃界，住寂靜性；住於真實無性之性，言語道斷，超諸世間，無有所依。最後三個「入」：入離分別無縛著法、入最勝智真實之法、入非諸世間所能了知出世間法。收在一句：「此是菩薩善巧方便，示現生相。」
三個「無」是本行的骨。 一切眾生，無性為性；一切諸法，無為為性；一切國土，無相為相。眾生、法、國土三者，各以其「無」為其「性」「相」。接著說言說：一切三世唯有言說；一切言說於諸法中無有依處；一切諸法於言說中亦無依處。——法與言說互不依靠，這一句把「說法」這件事本身也空掉了。
然後是一段很平的話，卻極重。 「佛法不異世間法，世間法不異佛法；佛法、世間法，無有雜亂，亦無差別。」不異，卻又無雜亂。排一個誤解：不異不等於混同。經文緊接著說「了知法界體性平等」——是在體性平等上說不異，不是說世間事就等於佛法。
接著是五問。 我不成熟眾生，誰當成熟？我不調伏眾生，誰當調伏？我不教化眾生，誰當教化？我不覺悟眾生，誰當覺悟？我不清淨眾生，誰當清淨？五問自問自答：「此我所宜、我所應作。」這是全品裡語氣最直的一段——沒有第二個人可以推。
再接著是一段對眾生處境的描寫。 若我自解此甚深法，唯我一人獨得解脫；而眾生盲冥無目，入大險道，為諸煩惱纏縛；如重病人恆受苦痛，處貪愛獄不能自出，不離地獄、餓鬼、畜生、閻羅王界……住於八難，眾垢所著，邪見所迷，不行正道。看得這樣清楚，才說得出下面那句：「若此眾生未成熟、未調伏，捨而取證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，是所不應。」
本行的收處是一段功德。 菩薩住此行時，諸天、魔、梵、沙門、婆羅門，乃至乾闥婆、阿脩羅等，只要見到他、暫時同住、恭敬供養，甚至只是「暫耳聞，一經心者」——這樣所作全都不唐捐，必定當成無上菩提。落地處：「善現」的效驗不在他說了什麼，在旁人碰上他這件事本身。結句：「是名菩薩摩訶薩第六善現行。」
行七 無著行：連不著也不著
第七行標句下是「佛子！此菩薩以無著心，於念念中，能入阿僧祇世界」。澄觀配方便度，並說：依二種方便，由迴向故不住生死、由拔濟故不住涅槃，二俱無住，所以叫無著。
先看供養那一段。 菩薩往詣阿僧祇諸如來所，以阿僧祇的華、香、鬘、塗香、末香、衣服、珍寶、幢幡、妙蓋各阿僧祇來供養。這樣鋪張的供養，目的卻是「為究竟無作法故，為住不思議法故」——為了無作而作。
接著是一長串「無所著」。 於諸佛所無著、於諸佛剎無著、於佛相好無著、見佛光明聽佛說法無著、於十方眾會無著、聽法生歡喜而於佛法亦無著。這一串的次序是從外往裡：先是佛的國土，再是佛的身相，再是佛的光明說法，最後連佛法本身也不著。
見不淨世界亦無憎惡——為什麼？「此菩薩如諸佛法而觀察故。」諸佛法中：無垢無淨、無闇無明、無異無一、無實無妄、無安隱無險難、無正道無邪道。六對雙遣，淨與不淨的分別在這裡就沒有立足處了。
再接著是九句「不著」（六句作「而於……」式：三句「不生執著」、三句「心無所著」，另三句「心無所著」不帶「而於」）。 教化眾生而於眾生不著、受持諸法而於諸法不著、發菩提心住於佛住而於佛住不著、雖有言說而於言說無著、入眾生趣而於眾生趣無著、了知三昧能入能住而於三昧無著、往詣佛土若入若見若住而於佛土無著——並補一句「捨去之時亦無顧戀」。
留意這個句式：每一句都是『做了，而不著』。不是不做，是做而不著。排一個很常見的誤解：把無著讀成不管事。經文的無著恰恰建立在「能入」「能住」「能行」之上——沒做過的事談不上不著。
受記之後的一段觀凡夫。 凡夫愚癡，無知無見，無信無解……「聞諸法空，心大驚怖；遠離正法，住於邪法；捨夷坦道，入險難道；棄背佛意，隨逐魔意。」這幾對是本段最重的話：平坦大道不走要走險路，佛的意思不隨要隨魔的意思。菩薩見此而「增長大悲，生諸善根而無所著」——連生善根也不著。
毛端一段。 「以毛端遍量法界，於一毛端處，盡不可說不可說劫，教化調伏一切眾生；如一毛端處，一一毛端處皆亦如是。」而「乃至不於一彈指頃，執著於我，起我、我所想」。接著是十個「不著」：不著身、法、念、願、三昧、觀察、寂定、境界、教化調伏眾生，亦復不著入於法界。前八是自己的修行內容，第九是度生，第十是連「入法界」也不著。這是層層剝到底。
理由在五喻。 觀一切法界如幻、諸佛如影、菩薩行如夢、佛說法如響、一切世間如化（業報所持故）；又差別身如幻（行力所起故）、一切眾生如心（種種雜染故）、一切法如實際（不可變異故）。前五喻說『所著之境本自非實』，後三句各給一個所以然。無著的根據不是意志力，是看見了。
最後一問一答。 何以能於眾生的種種音聲、諸業、取著、施設、和合、流轉、所作、境界、種種生、種種沒之中，「安住其中而教化之，不令其心有動有退，亦不一念生染著想」？經文自答：「得無所著、無所依故，自利、利他，清淨滿足。」結句：「是名菩薩摩訶薩第七無著行。」
行八 難得行：不住兩邊而能運度
第八行標句下是「此菩薩成就難得善根、難伏善根……」。澄觀配願度，並判釋相分二：前明自分行、後明勝進行，並註明此行「略無神通」。
十種善根逐條看。 難得善根、難伏善根、最勝善根、不可壞善根、無能過善根、不思議善根、無盡善根、自在力善根、大威德善根、與一切佛同一性善根。前六說它的難與勝，第七說它不盡，第八第九說它的力與德，第十最重——「與一切佛同一性」。難得之所以難得，最後落在與佛同性上。
本品長行的三個「譬如」全在這一行。 這是全品修辭最密的地方，逐一說。
第一喻，船師。 「譬如船師，不住此岸，不住彼岸，不住中流，而能運度此岸眾生至於彼岸，以往返無休息故。」經文自己作合喻：菩薩不住生死、不住涅槃、亦不住生死中流，而能運度眾生至彼岸安隱無畏無憂惱處。
三處不住是關鍵：不住此岸（不隨生死）容易懂，不住彼岸（不取涅槃）也常聽說，難的是不住中流——不停在『我正在度眾生』的那個位置上。船師之所以能一直渡人，正因為他哪一頭都不停。
接著是五對眾生界的雙非：不捨一眾生著多眾生、不捨多眾生著一眾生；不增不減、不生不滅、不盡不長、不分別不二。理由是「菩薩深入眾生界如法界，眾生界、法界無有二」。
第二喻，鑽木出火。 「譬如鑽木以出於火，火事無量而火不滅。」合喻：菩薩化眾生事無有窮盡，而在世間常住不滅。接著五重雙非：非究竟非不究竟、非取非不取、非依非無依、非世法非佛法、非凡夫非得果。
這一喻與船師喻是一對：船師喻說「不住」，鑽木喻說「不滅」。不住所以不被困住，不滅所以用之不竭。
第三喻，虛空。 「譬如虛空，於十方中，若去、來、今，求不可得，然非無虛空。」合喻：菩薩觀一切法皆不可得，然非無一切法。
這一喻專治一個病：把「不可得」聽成「沒有」。虛空求不到，但誰能說沒有虛空？經文合喻之後立刻接一串「不失」：如實無異，不失所作，普示修行菩薩諸行；不捨大願，調伏眾生，轉正法輪；不壞因果，亦不違於平等妙法。——不可得而因果不壞，這是本行最要記住的一句。
中間還有一段「不說」。 菩薩修行時不說二乘法、不說佛法；不說世間、不說世間法；不說眾生、不說無眾生；不說垢、不說淨。何以故？「菩薩知一切法無染、無取、不轉、不退故。」又不生念「我現修此行、已修此行、當修此行」，不著蘊界處、內外世間、大願、諸波羅蜜。理由在法界之中沒有一個法叫作「向聲聞乘」「向獨覺乘」「向菩薩乘」「向阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」「向凡夫界」「向染、向淨、向生死、向涅槃」——連方向本身都不成立。
本行的收處是一段極動人的話。 世間眾生不知恩報、更相讎對、邪見執著、愚癡無智、隨逐惡友——「是我所修菩薩行處」。反過來，假設有知恩、聰明、慧解的人以及善知識充滿世間，「我不於中修菩薩行」。為什麼？「我於眾生，無所適莫，無所冀望，乃至不求一縷一毫，及以一字讚美之言。」
落地處：難行之處才是道場，這句話人人會說；經文更進一步——好度的地方我還不去。理由不是逞強，是「於眾生中為明導者，法應如是，不取不求」。結句：「是名菩薩摩訶薩第八難得行。」
行九 善法行：作一池清涼水
第九行標句下是「此菩薩為一切世間天、人、魔、梵、沙門、婆羅門、乾闥婆等作清涼法池」。澄觀配力度，科為徵名、釋相、結歎三段，並引《唯識》二力（思擇力、修習力）、《本業》三力。
清涼法池是本行的骨。 這個喻在本行起處出現一次，又在結處再出現一次：「菩薩安住此行，為一切眾生作清涼法池，能盡一切佛法源故。」一喻起結兩見，中間所有的內容都是在說這池子怎麼成的。池的性質有三：清涼（能解熱惱）、法（所盛的是法）、池（眾人可來取）。
十陀羅尼與十無盡辯。 這是本行的正身，逐條對配：得清淨光明陀羅尼故，說法授記辯才無盡；得具足義陀羅尼故，義辯無盡；得覺悟實法陀羅尼故，法辯無盡；得訓釋言辭陀羅尼故，辭辯無盡；得無邊文句無盡義無礙門陀羅尼故，無礙辯無盡；得佛灌頂陀羅尼灌其頂故，歡喜辯無盡；得不由他悟陀羅尼門故，光明辯無盡；得同辯陀羅尼門故，同辯無盡；得種種義身、句身、文身中訓釋陀羅尼門故，訓釋辯無盡；得無邊旋陀羅尼故，無邊辯無盡。
十對之間是『因為得了這個總持，所以那個辯才無盡』的關係。陀羅尼是「持」，辯是「說」——持得住才說得完。留意其中的次第：先是義、法、辭三種，再加無礙，這正是四無礙辯的次第；後面六種則是本經自有的開展。
接著是本品長行第五、第六處「假使」（第九行共三見，第七處「假使不可說不可說種種言辭而來問難」在後）。 第一境：假使有不可說種種業報無數眾生共會一處，會廣大到充滿不可說世界；其中每一眾生各有不可說阿僧祇口，每口出百千億那由他音，同時發聲，各別言辭，各別所問——菩薩「於一念中，悉能領受，皆為酬對，令除疑惑」。第二境更遠：假使一毛端處念念出不可說不可說道場眾會，一切毛端處皆然；盡未來劫，「彼劫可盡，眾會無盡」。
菩薩的反應是四個「無」：無怖無怯，無疑無謬。並作念：設一切眾生以如是語業俱來問我，我為說法無斷無盡；「一念悉領，一音咸答，普使開悟，無有遺餘」。理由列四：得一切智灌頂、得無礙藏、得一切法圓滿光明、具足一切智智。
然後是一句要緊的話。 菩薩安住善法行之後，能自清淨，也能以無所著方便普饒益一切眾生，「不見有眾生得出離者」。度盡而不見有度——這一句把前面所有的辯才與應答又空了一次。
第九行之「所謂」：十種身。 入無邊法界非趣身（滅一切世間故）、入無邊法界諸趣身（生一切世間故）、不生身（住無生平等法故）、不滅身（一切滅、言說不可得故）、不實身（得如實故）、不妄身（隨應現故）、不遷身（離死此生彼故）、不壞身（法界性無壞故）、一相身（三世語言道斷故）、無相身（善能觀察法相故）。
十身兩兩成對：非趣與諸趣（一滅世間一生世間）、不生與不滅、不實與不妄、不遷與不壞、一相與無相。每一對都是一邊遮、一邊表。特別看「不實身，得如實故」——正因為得了如實，所以說他的身不實；這與世俗理解正好相反。
接著是十喻。 為一切眾生舍（長養善根故）、救（得大安隱故）、歸（作大依處故）、導（得無上出離故）、師（入真實法中故）、燈（明見業報故）、光（照甚深妙法故）、為一切三世炬（曉悟實法故）、為一切世間照（入光明地中故）、為一切諸趣明（示現如來自在故）。前七是對「一切眾生」說，後三則換了對象——三世、世間、諸趣。從個人到時間到處所，範圍一層層放開。
落地處：善法行的力，不在能降伏什麼，在能被人依靠。結句：「佛子！是名菩薩摩訶薩第九善法行。」
行十 真實行：說得出，就做得到
第十行標句下是「此菩薩成就第一誠諦之語，如說能行，如行能說」。澄觀配智度，並說：若約二智——受用法樂、成熟有情，都是「如行能說、如說能行」。
先看那八個字。 「如說能行，如行能說」——說了的做得到，做了的說得出。兩句是一件事的兩面：前一句防空言，後一句防悶頭修而說不明白。真實行的「真實」，第一義就在這裡：言與行之間沒有縫。
接著是與三世諸佛的四同。 學三世諸佛真實語、入三世諸佛種性、與三世諸佛善根同等、得三世諸佛無二語。語、種性、善根、語——四者環環相扣，最後仍歸到「語」。
然後是十智。 知眾生是處非處智、去來現在業報智、諸根利鈍智、種種界智、種種解智、一切至處道智、諸禪解脫三昧垢淨起時非時智、一切世界宿住隨念智、天眼智、漏盡智。這是如來十力之智。經文緊接一句：「而不捨一切菩薩行。」得了佛的十力智還不捨菩薩行——這是本行最要緊的一個轉折。何以故？「欲教化一切眾生，悉令清淨故。」
再接著是增上心與六個「我為」。 「若我不令一切眾生住無上解脫道，而我先成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提者，則違我本願，是所不應。」——先讓一切眾生得無上菩提、無餘涅槃，然後成佛。理由那一句最重：「非眾生請我發心，我自為眾生作不請之友。」
然後六個自道：我為最勝（不著一切世間故）、我為最上（住無上調御地故）、我為離翳（解眾生無際故）、我為已辦（本願成就故）、我為善變化（菩薩功德莊嚴故）、我為善依怙（三世諸佛攝受故）。六句話都是自稱，卻每一句都繫著一個「故」——不是自大，是交代根據。排一個誤解：這不是慢心。前面剛說了「不求一縷一毫，及以一字讚美之言」的是同一個菩薩。
接著是身的自在。 念念遍遊十方世界、念念普詣不可說不可說諸佛國土、念念悉見不可說不可說諸佛及佛莊嚴清淨國土。而「於其身中，現一切剎、一切眾生、一切諸法、一切諸佛」——身中現剎，這是華嚴的本色語。
又四喻：觀諸菩薩如幻、一切法如化、佛出世如影、一切世間如夢。與第七行的五喻同軌而配對不同，可以對讀。
本行的收處是全品的高處。 「菩薩摩訶薩以諸眾生皆著於二，安住大悲，修行如是寂滅之法，得佛十力，入因陀羅網法界，成就如來無礙解脫人中雄猛大師子吼」——因陀羅網法界，就是帝釋天宮那張珠網，一珠現一切珠、一切珠入一珠。澄觀引本品這一句，正是用它來證「一行攝一切行、一位攝一切位」。
也就是說：十行說到第十行，最後給出的不是第十件事，是十行本來互攝的那個結構。第十行的「真實」，真實到把前九行都收了進來。
再往下：得無所畏，能轉無礙清淨法輪；得智慧解脫，了知一切世間境界；絕生死迴流，入智慧大海；為一切眾生護持三世諸佛正法，到一切佛法海實相源底。最後一句回到人身上：凡有親近他的，天、人、魔、梵、沙門、婆羅門、乾闥婆、阿脩羅等，「皆令開悟，歡喜清淨」。結句：「是名菩薩摩訶薩第十真實行。」
現證分：天地為證
十行說完，經文不作收束，先寫瑞相：因為佛的神力，十方各有佛剎微塵數世界六種震動——動、遍動、等遍動，起、遍起、等遍起，涌、遍涌、等遍涌，震、遍震、等遍震，吼、遍吼、等遍吼，擊、遍擊、等遍擊。六名各三，合十八相。接著天雨妙華、天香、天末香、天鬘、天衣、天寶、天莊嚴具，奏天樂音，放天光明。末了一句作結：「如此世界夜摩天宮，說十行法所現神變；十方世界，悉亦如是。」
澄觀科這一分叫「現證分」，智儼在六十本那邊叫「利益分」，李通玄把它分成三段：動地興供、都結十方同然、十方菩薩來集作證。三家科名不同而所指同一段。
為什麼說完法要地動？因為十行之法非人所能自證，天地之動是外證。落地處：這一段提醒讀者，前面那十段不是十篇議論，是說出來會震動世界的東西。
證成分：來作證的是菩薩，不是佛
接著是本品說者結構上最容易讀錯的一段。
十方各過十萬佛剎微塵數世界之外，有十萬佛剎微塵數菩薩俱來詣此土，充滿十方，對功德林菩薩說：「佛子！善哉！善哉！善能演說諸菩薩行。我等一切同名：功德林，所住世界皆名：功德幢，彼土如來同名：普功德。」
要分清楚：品首現前告勸、授智摩頂的，是十方同名功德林的諸佛；這裡說竟來作證的，是十方同名功德林的諸菩薩——經文明作「有十萬佛剎微塵數菩薩俱……語功德林菩薩言」。一頭一尾雖然都是「同名」，一為佛、一為菩薩，不可混。而且本品自始至終沒有問答：功德林承佛力自說到底，十方菩薩只來作證，不發問。
智儼把這一點辨得最清楚：正因為有這一段十方菩薩證成之文，才知道諸會後段那些同名的佛與菩薩都是為了證義而來；至於會初十方同名者的集合，「但是影響標位分齊，未是證法」——會初是標位，會末才是證法。二者職分不同。
李通玄則從表法解：十方菩薩皆名功德林，是表十行遍周；那些國土的佛號普功德，是表十行遍周即功德遍周——功德是行遍周所招的果。
還有一句不可略：「我等佛所，亦說此法；眾會眷屬，言辭義理，悉亦如是，無有增減。」他們在自己的佛那裡說的也是這一部，連言辭義理都一字不增不減。這是華嚴「十方同說」的定式，也是「一位攝一切位」在事相上的落腳。
重頌之科：一百一頌怎麼配
功德林承佛神力，普觀十方一切眾會暨于法界，說了一百一頌。說頌之前，經文先列了九個「欲令……故」：欲令佛種性不斷、菩薩種性清淨、願種性不退轉、行種性常相續、三世種性悉平等，欲攝三世一切佛種性，欲開演所種諸善根，欲觀察一切諸根欲解煩惱習氣心行所作，欲照了一切佛菩提。澄觀科這一段作「說偈儀意」，並判意「有九句，初總、餘別」。
九句之中五句連說「種性」——佛種性、菩薩種性、願種性、行種性、三世種性。重頌之所以要說，是為了種性不斷。智儼在這裡設了一個好問：佛種性與菩薩種性有什麼分別？他自答：因位菩薩由佛而成的就是佛性，由菩薩自成的就是菩薩性。
頌的分科。 澄觀依八十本判：「總有一百一頌，大分為三：初之一頌總申歸敬、次九十六頌正頌前文、三有四頌結歎深廣。」逐字對照底本：頌辭實計二百二行、每二行一頌，正好一百一頌；第一頌是「一心敬禮十力尊」，末四頌自「為令眾生出世間」以下正是結歎。李通玄依同一本判「二百二行頌，兩行一頌」，與澄觀相符。
智儼依六十本則判為一百一十二偈，分三：初七字偈總歎、二別歎、三後有四行總結大情。法藏依六十本逐段配位，如「十六偈頌前真實行」「九偈頌前所成因滿之德」「十五偈頌前所成佛果德」，末了「第三四偈總結十行」。四家所依之本不同，所判之數自異；六十本的頌是五言而八十本是七言，行數本來就不能相比。古有此四說，誌錄之，不判高下。
中間九十六頌在頌什麼。 澄觀在頌末處留下的科語可以看出一角：「六『一光』下二頌頌益物不空」——即「一光照觸無涯限」那一頌之後二頌是頌利益眾生不空過的；再往前，他判有十八偈是頌「學三世諸佛真實語得佛十力等」，也就是頌第十真實行的內容。可見中間這九十六頌是依十行的次第逐段重頌，最後才收到結歎。
幾首值得單看的頌。 第一頌是歸敬：「一心敬禮十力尊，離垢清淨無礙見，境界深遠無倫匹，住如虛空道中者。」——歸敬的對象不是別的，正是「住如虛空道」的人，與本分「與法界、虛空界等」一句相呼應。
第十八頌是「檀波羅蜜已成滿，百福相好所莊嚴」——全品經文之中唯一別舉度名的一句，落在頌第一行處，前面說過，是十行配十度的內證。
第五十四頌「無量無邊諸國土，悉令共入一塵中，普得包容無障礙」與第四十四頌「一毛端處見諸佛，其數無量不可說，一切法界悉亦然」——這兩頌是華嚴小大無礙之義在本品的頌文，與長行第七行的毛端遍量法界一段同軌。
第九十八頌以下四頌是結歎。它的收法很特別：先自問「此行廣大無邊際，云何而有能知者？」再說假使分身多如法界虛空一同稱揚，百千萬劫也說不盡；再說假使無量無邊佛於無量劫也說不盡；最後才是那句反詰：「何況世間天及人，一切聲聞及緣覺，能於無量無邊劫，讚歎稱揚得究竟。」
一路把能讚歎的人從「分身」推到「諸佛」再退到『天人與二乘』，愈推愈高、愈退愈低，而結論只有一個：說不完。全品以此收束——十行不是十件說得完的事。
承衍
本品之義為後世四軌所承，並錄不判。
澄觀一系：以四門（來意、釋名、宗趣、釋文）與七分（三昧、加、起、本、說、現證、重頌）科本品；以「隨緣順理，造修名行」訓行，以「寄圓辨十」解十之數，並誌《仁王》十止、《梵網》長養二異名；於本分辨行體立四重（所依、所觀、能觀、教相），而以十波羅蜜為十行之別體，逐行配檀、戒、忍、進、禪、般若、方便、願、力、智十度，立通例「約十度釋名，度各有三」；於「行不可思議」處立事理二法界之判，並補一層「遮融無二……方曰真不思議」；於加分獨拈無師智為本覺之智，判為前後二會所無；於重頌判一百一頌為歸敬一、正頌九十六、結歎四。
法藏一系：於六十本〈功德華聚菩薩十行品〉以「德是行體、華是行用、聚是行相」釋題，判為有財釋兼依主受稱、人法題章；宗趣立三門，第一門以三乘寄位法統收十義（因度位、第二精進行僧祇、破虛空器三昧行、樂德了因種、第三十行人、第二思慧位、行忍、性種性、行方便持、伏除聲聞畏苦），並註明所出（梁《攝論》、《本業經》、《瑜伽》《地持》）；又分通行別行，判本品所明是別非通、是因非果；第三門就圓教明普賢行，判此十行具攝前後諸位之行。其重頌逐行配位依六十本而立，與澄觀所判八十本者數目自異。
李通玄一系：不用七分而立十四段長科，並自云「如經自有分劑，不煩科文」；以夜摩天蓮華開合辨晝夜、名為時分天，釋本品何以在此天說；以十住依須彌之頂、十行依空所行，表行無著；以十方同名功德林菩薩表十行遍周、以佛號普功德表功德遍周；於次第下一硬判——「十行，總是一時一念無前後之行門，莫作前後延促之見」；並訓「暨于法界」之暨為及。這一軌以表法為主，與逐文分科的軌轍不同，古有此說，誌錄之。
智儼一系：於六十本立五門（釋名及來意、所治、所得、所成、釋文），判所治為「三乘終教者，聲聞畏苦障」、所得為「通行定及忍善根」、所成即十行位；科七分而第六名利益分、第七名偈誦；於意加處設問答辨六十本何以與法而前會與智，答為「法從智生，故親能成行」；於現證分辨會初同名與會末同名之職分不同——會初是影響標位、會末才是證法；於重頌計一百一十二偈而分三科；末補一句「此眾德，上十行一一位中皆具有也」。
四家所判之分數、頌數、次第義各有出入，皆古德成說，誌錄之，不判高下。
異譯：六十華嚴同段作〈功德華聚菩薩十行品第十七〉，十名之中三名與八十本全異——第三本作「無恚恨行」、第四本作「無盡行」、第八本作「尊重行」；定名六十本作「善伏三昧」而八十本作「善思惟三昧」；加分意加所與，八十本作十一智而六十本作十法。又八十本第一歡喜行有乞身肉、割身肉不盡之文，六十本此段但云應其所須悉令滿足，並無施身肉之語。二本詳略與名目俱異，異本取捨屬釋慧鏡，此處誌錄不判。
華嚴宗綱領之書：《華嚴經孔目章》於〈華聚品〉初立十波羅蜜章，直判「十波羅蜜者。即十行法也」，與澄觀約十度釋名同軌；又三處明「第四會說十行」。《華嚴經旨歸》以「忉利說十住法。夜摩等處說十行等」對配會處。《華嚴一乘教義分齊章》《十玄門》諸處則以「十信、十解、十行、十迴向」為位次並舉。皆列名作教相對比，非疏釋本品經文，亦誌錄不判。
本品之外，十行之行與位，上承〈十住品〉之站住、下接〈十無盡藏品〉之積蓄——住是不退，行是動起來，藏是所積之不盡。而本品第十真實行「入因陀羅網法界」一句，其義於〈十地品〉與華嚴十玄之說中廣開；本品在行位段先給了這一句經據，後面接得住。
Why the ten practices follow the verses of praise
The fourth assembly does not reach its principal exposition until this chapter. Of the two chapters before it, one tells how the Buddha ascended to the palace of the Yāma Heaven without leaving the tree of awakening, and one has ten bodhisattvas whose names all contain the word “forest” praise the Buddha in verse — both are still setting the stage. In this chapter the bodhisattva Merit Grove enters concentration, receives empowerment, comes out of concentration, and opens his mouth; and what he speaks is ten kinds of practice.
Chengguan sets up two senses for the reason this chapter comes: first, that what precedes is the preface and this is the principal exposition; second, that what precedes sets forth the buddha-wisdom that is “depended upon”, while this sets forth the practice that “depends”. Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle side, judges it just as plainly: since the part of the preface has been made manifest, the principal tenet ought to be disclosed. Zhiyan is the most sparing: since the assembly has gathered, the exposition should follow.
Li Tongxuan comes at it from the other end. He argues not from the order of the text but from the place: in the Yāma Heaven there is no sun or moon, the celestial light shines of itself, and day and night are told only by the opening and closing of the lotuses, so it is called the heaven of time-divisions; the bodhisattva of this station, knowing when a being’s mind and desire are ready to open, receives him at the fitting moment, and for one not yet ripe for deliverance first gives him a cause for future deliverance — and therefore the ten practices are spoken in this heaven. He also sets the supports of the ten abodes and the ten practices side by side: the ten abodes still rest on the summit of Mount Sumeru, whereas the ten practices are “carried out in dependence on space”, which figures that “practice is unattached”.
Taken together the four masters are saying one thing: praise is looking up, abiding is standing firm, and once one stands firm one must move — the ten practices are that movement. Brought home to oneself: a person who seeks only “not to fall back” will, as the days go by, turn into a keeper of what he has; the sūtra will not let one stop at keeping, and immediately gives ten ways of moving.
The word “practice”: not how much one does, but making and cultivating in accord with principle
The word “practice” in the ten practices is most easily read as ‘doing things’ or ‘the quantity of one’s cultivation’. Not one of the ancient worthies read it so.
Chengguan’s gloss is the tightest: “to follow conditions and accord with principle, making and cultivating, is called practice.” Following conditions, according with principle, making and cultivating — that is what practice means. Eight graphs, with two joints in them: one is “following conditions”, since practice arises upon objects and is not homework done behind closed doors; the other is “according with principle”, since practice has a direction and is not mere busyness. Without following conditions it becomes empty talk; without according with principle it becomes blind bustle.
Fazang takes apart the four graphs of the chapter title in the sixty-fascicle text, “Gathering of Merit-Flowers”: virtue is the substance of practice, flower is the function of practice, gathering is the aspect of practice. This taking-apart is very useful — practice has its own self (virtue), its function (flower), and its look (gathering). Zhiyan says instead, “merit is the substance of practice; gathering of flowers is a name taken from a simile,” and adds a clause: “it praises practice as surpassing and marvellous, able to serve as the support of the fruit.” What makes practice precious is that it can serve as the support of the fruit.
Clear away a common misunderstanding: do not think of the ten practices as ten things one ought to do, and do not think of them as ten subjects of cultivation. They are ten qualities of “practice” — one and the same act of giving may be the practice of joy or may not be; the difference lies not in the act but in which conditions are followed and which principle is accorded with. Here is where it comes home: the question to put to oneself is not ‘how much did I do today’ but ‘the thing I did today — did it accord with principle, or did it accord with my mood?’
As for the number “ten”, Chengguan says “their number exceeds the dust and sands; it is lodged in the round figure of ten as a means of setting them forth” — the number of practices is more than dust and sands, and lodging them in ten is a way of showing completeness. So there is no need to ask ‘why not nine or eleven?’ He also records the variant names in other scriptures: the Renwang calls them the ten stillnesses, because among the three trainings the mind of concentration is increased; the Fanwang calls them the long nurturing, because they nurture the root of the path. One and the same dharma of station, each name established from one sense.
Chengguan’s outline in seven parts: how this chapter is assembled
Chengguan outlines the chapter in seven parts: the part of samādhi, the part of empowerment, the part of arising, the part of the root, the part of exposition, the part of manifest attestation, and the part of the repeated verses. Zhiyan, on the sixty-fascicle side, also outlines seven parts, but his sixth is the part of benefit and his seventh the verses. Li Tongxuan dispenses with parts altogether and gives the chapter a long outline in fourteen segments, noting for himself that “since the sūtra itself has its own divisions, there is no need to trouble over outlining the text” — the sūtra already has its sections, and there is no need to outline them again.
What use is it for a reader to know these seven parts? The use is this: this chapter is not one stretch of talk but a whole rite. Entering concentration (the part of samādhi), the buddhas’ empowerment (the part of empowerment), coming out of concentration and speaking (the part of arising), the summary statement of the substance of practice (the part of the root), the exposition proper of the ten practices (the part of exposition), heaven and earth bearing witness (the part of manifest attestation), and the restating of it all (the part of the repeated verses). Not one of these steps is ornament; each is treated below in turn.
Chengguan also distinguishes one point in particular: this chapter does not follow the pattern of the two preceding assemblies. Those assemblies, besides the chapter of principal exposition of the station, had further chapters distinguishing practice and clarifying virtue; here, “where there is the virtue of practice, practice is taken as principal, and so it is omitted”, and moreover the virtue of practice is already fully matured and the part that follows is gathered into the advancing, so that the dharma of station of the fourth assembly is this one chapter alone. That is to say: both the practice and the virtue of the ten practices are fully spoken within this chapter.
Why he must enter concentration before speaking
The bodhisattva Merit Grove does not speak because he wishes to speak; he first enters the “bodhisattva samādhi of good reflection”.
Chengguan takes the name of the concentration apart graph by graph: it is called “bodhisattva” in order to mark off the concentration of the buddha-fruit — this is the concentration of the causal station, not of the fruition station; it is called “good reflection” because it “skillfully accords with phenomena and principle, discriminating without obstruction, and accomplishes matters without a mind bent on them” — it skillfully follows both phenomena and principle in discriminating, without being held up anywhere, and it accomplishes matters in the midst of having no mind bent on them.
These four graphs, “accomplishing matters without a mind bent on them”, are the crucial ones. Clear away a misunderstanding: do not suppose that “good reflection” means thinking things through very thoroughly. Thinking things through thoroughly is still having a mind bent on them; what the sūtra points to is discriminating clearly without falling into deliberate intent. Li Tongxuan takes another road here: he asks, from the classification of meditations, “why is it called the samādhi of good reflection?” and lists four kinds of meditation, the first being the meditation practised by the foolish — using the gradations of meditation to mark out that this concentration is no ordinary concentration.
Then why is it Merit Grove who enters concentration, and not someone else? Chengguan answers with two things: he is the head of the assembly; and further, it “figures that in speaking the ten practices the manifold virtues are established” — merits like a forest, which is exactly the look of what the ten practices accomplish. The name here is itself the doctrine: the one who speaks the ten practices must have a name that looks like a thicket of manifold virtues.
Where it comes home: anyone who really wants to speak about his own cultivation had best first ask, ‘is this something I have realized, or something I have thought up?’ The sūtra has written that one question as an act of entering concentration.
The part of empowerment: what the buddhas gave
Buddhas as many as the dust motes of ten thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions appear, all bearing the same name, Merit Grove. This passage has three matters in it.
The first is empowerment by speech. The buddhas first praise him, “good indeed”, then explain the grounds of the empowerment, and last charge him to expound the Dharma. The grounds list three powers: the power of the joint empowerment of the buddhas of the same name in the ten directions; the power of the past vows and the majestic power of the Tathāgata Vairocana; and the power of the good roots of the host of bodhisattvas. The three powers are raised together, and one may not take only one side: to credit it all to the Buddha’s power leaves the practitioner nothing to do; to credit it all to one’s own power leaves one ignorant of where the Dharma comes from. Chengguan counts the causes of the empowerment here as four matters — the companion buddhas empowering him together, the past vows of the host buddha, the present majesty of the host buddha, and the responsiveness of the great assembly; and he notes that this assembly omits the item of “the good roots that assist the transformation”, or perhaps gathers it into the word “all”.
Then come ten clauses each ending in “because”: to increase the Buddha’s wisdom, to enter deeply into the Dharma realm, to know the realm of beings, that what is entered be unobstructed, that what is practised be unhindered, to obtain measureless skillful means, to take in the very nature of omniscience, to awaken to all dharmas, to know all the faculties, to be able to uphold and expound all dharmas — and only when these ten matters have been spoken is the theme itself named: “to give rise to the ten kinds of practice of the bodhisattvas”. Chengguan outlines this passage as eleven clauses: the first ten state it particularly, the last one sums up. This way of outlining is worth remembering: the first ten clauses are ‘why it is to be spoken’, and only the last clause is ‘what is to be spoken’.
The second is empowerment by mind. The buddhas confer on the bodhisattva Merit Grove eleven kinds of wisdom: unobstructed wisdom, unattached wisdom, uninterrupted wisdom, teacherless wisdom, undeluded wisdom, undeviating wisdom, unerring wisdom, measureless wisdom, unsurpassed wisdom, untiring wisdom, and wisdom that cannot be taken away. Almost every one of the eleven names is stated by negation — they say not what has been given but what obstruction has been removed. Chengguan pairs them here with nine kinds of eloquence, and singles out the third alone, teacherless wisdom, saying: neither the assembly before nor the assembly after confers this wisdom, and it belongs to this assembly alone; moreover it “is the wisdom of original awakening, obtained of itself through the revealing cause, awakened to without a teacher; because it is disclosed by borrowing the condition of the Buddha, one may speak of its being conferred.”
That sentence is the doctrinal eye of the part of empowerment in this chapter. Since it is the wisdom of original awakening, obtained of oneself and not through a teacher, it is not something the buddhas give from outside; the sūtra says “confer” because it takes the condition of the Buddha to bring it to light. Clear away a misunderstanding: do not read “the buddhas conferred wisdom” as the buddhas loading wisdom into the bodhisattva’s mind. The sūtra states the reason plainly itself — “Why so? Because such is the power of this samādhi, and because the dharmas are of themselves so.” The dharmas are just so of themselves; it is no extra favour from the buddhas.
The third is empowerment by body. The buddhas each stretch out a right hand and stroke the crown of the bodhisattva Merit Grove, in order to increase his majestic power. Empowerment by mouth, by mind, and by body — the three acts complete: this is the fixed form of the part of empowerment in the assemblies of this sūtra.
Where it comes home: when a person really is able to speak profound Dharma, he generally does not feel that it is his own accomplishment. This passage writes that fact as a rite.
The part of arising and the part of the root: practice is inconceivable, equal to the Dharma realm and the realm of space
Merit Grove rises from concentration, and the first thing he says is not the names of the ten practices but the substance of practice: “A bodhisattva’s practice is inconceivable, equal to the Dharma realm and the realm of space.”
Here Chengguan works hardest. He says first: “practice is the ocean of practice cultivated by the profound mind” — practice is an ocean cultivated out of the profound mind. Then, that from “equal to the Dharma realm” onward he discloses the character of what is hard to conceive: “its depth equals the Dharma realm and its breadth matches space, and so mind and speech cannot reach it” — in depth equal to the Dharma realm, in breadth matching space, so that the mind cannot conceive it and words cannot say it.
Then he turns it over twice. In the first turn he pairs it by separating “phenomena” from “principle”: phenomenal practice that is identical with principle matches the measurelessness of the Dharma realm of phenomena and equals the boundlessness of space; principial practice that is identical with phenomena matches the stillness of the Dharma realm of principle and equals the absence of characteristics in space. In a word: seen from phenomena, practice is a measureless, boundless many; seen from principle, practice is a still and characteristicless emptiness. Neither of these two faces is a place that speech or thought can reach, and so it is hard to conceive.
The second turn matters more. Chengguan will not let “inconceivable” be read as sheer negation: “Again, if there were only negation, then the ordinary and the noble would be cut off from one another … when negation and fusion are not two, then the substance of conceiving and of not conceiving are alike in quiescence; only then is it called truly inconceivable.” — If one only keeps saying “inconceivable, inconceivable”, then the ordinary and the noble are sundered forever; not only must the ordinary mind and speech be negated, the ordinary mind and speech must also be fused, and then within it conceiving can never be exhausted. Clinging to neither side, negation or fusion, with conceiving and not conceiving alike quiescent — that is what is truly called inconceivable.
Clear away a very common misunderstanding: taking “inconceivable” as the end of the conversation — ‘this cannot be explained’. Chengguan means just the opposite: cannot be explained is only half; the other half is cannot be exhausted. Where it comes home: meeting a profound teaching, one should neither think one has thought it through, nor think that thinking about it is wasted effort.
Then why is the practice of a bodhisattva at the causal station beyond conceiving? The sūtra poses its own question and gives its own answer: “Why so? Because a bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises by learning from the buddhas of the three times.” Chengguan explains this question and answer: because it is the same as the buddha-fruit — a buddha exhausts the furthest bound of phenomenal practice and reaches the utmost limit of principial practice, cuts off every obstruction and realizes every principle, cause round and fruit full, fused without obstruction; and since what the bodhisattva learns is just this, how could it still be conceived?
Chengguan also takes the occasion here to set out how many layers the substance of practice has: if one takes what is depended upon, it is the samādhi of good reflection just spoken of; if one takes what is contemplated, it is the two truths fused together; if one takes that which contemplates, it is compassion and wisdom unobstructed; if one takes the aspect of the teaching, it is the four lines that follow; and “if one takes the particular substance of the ten practices, then the ten perfections are the substance.” This last clause is where the commentarial ground for pairing the ten practices with the ten perfections lies, and the next section treats it.
The names of the ten practices and their pairing with the ten perfections
The sūtra then states the number and lists the names: a bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of practice, which the buddhas of the three times have expounded; and what are the ten? Joy, benefiting, non-opposition, unbending, without deluded confusion, good manifestation, non-attachment, hard to attain, good dharmas, the real — these are the ten.
First, a matter belonging to the base text itself. The name of the fifth practice appears in two forms within this chapter: the list of names reads “the practice without deluded confusion”, whereas the opening and the closing sentence of the exposition both read “the practice of parting from deluded confusion”. Two forms stand side by side within one and the same chapter, and this reader follows the base text graph for graph throughout, without evening them out on its behalf. Chengguan, when he outlines this practice, takes “the practice of parting from deluded confusion”. Again, the fourth practice appears three times in the base text with the graph written with the wood radical, whereas Chengguan’s commentary writes it with the hand radical and glosses it, “to bend is to be crooked, to be weak; that is, firm and strong vigour” — the gloss is bent, soft, and so “unbending” is vigour neither bent nor soft.
Now the pairing. Chengguan pairs each practice with the ten perfections: the first practice, that of joy, with the perfection of giving (dāna); the second, that of benefiting, with the perfection of morality; the third, that of non-opposition, with the perfection of forbearance; the fourth, that of unbending, with the perfection of vigour; the fifth, that of parting from deluded confusion, with the perfection of meditation; the sixth, that of good manifestation, with the perfection of wisdom; the seventh, that of non-attachment, with the perfection of skillful means; the eighth, that hard to attain, with the perfection of vows; the ninth, that of good dharmas, with the perfection of powers; the tenth, that of the real, with the perfection of knowledge. To the six perfections are added the four of skillful means, vows, powers, and knowledge, so that ten practices and ten perfections come out even. He also sets up a general rule: “explaining the names in terms of the ten perfections, each perfection has three.”
This pairing is Chengguan’s outline; the sūtra itself nowhere says ‘the ten practices are the ten perfections’. But the sūtra has left one internal attestation: the first line of the eighteenth of the repeated verses is “the dāna-pāramitā already fulfilled” — at the place where the first practice is being restated in verse, the sūtra itself names the perfection of giving. In the whole sūtra text of the chapter the word “pāramitā” occurs only twice, the other being the general phrase “the perfections” within the eighth practice, that hard to attain. So this line is the only individual naming of a perfection, and it falls exactly on the first practice. This does not amount to the sūtra marking the ten perfections itself, but it is enough to show that the pairing is not made out of nothing.
Fazang, on the sixty-fascicle side, extends the pairing much further. Under his gate of tenet and purport he first gathers ten senses under the dharma of provisional placement in the three vehicles, saying that the ten practices belong to the station of the perfection of cause, to the second asaṃkhyeya, that of the practice of vigour, to the station of the wisdom of reflection among the six wisdoms, to the forbearance of practice among the six forbearances, to the nature-lineage among the six lineages … He also divides “general practices” from “specific practices”: the general are the ten practices of faith and the rest, and the specific are these ten perfections, and what this chapter clarifies is the specific and not the general. Only then does he set up his third gate, clarifying the Samantabhadra practice in terms of the perfect teaching — within these ten practices are gathered the practices of all the stations before and after.
Li Tongxuan, for his part, delivers a very hard judgement on sequence: “These ten practices are altogether a gateway of practice of one time and one thought, without before and after; do not form the view of before and after, of extension and contraction.” The ten practices are not ten steps to be climbed one at a time; they are ten faces within one time and one thought. This judgement runs on a different track from Chengguan’s and Fazang’s explanations, which follow practice by practice the sequence of the ten perfections; anciently there are these two accounts, and both are recorded without adjudication.
Where it comes home: in reading the ten practices, both ways of reading have their use. When you are checking whether your own cultivation has gone lopsided, read by the sequence of the ten perfections; when you catch yourself thinking ‘I have not yet reached the seventh practice’, remember that sentence of Li Tongxuan’s.
Practice one, joy: giving until one does not see any giving
The heading sentence of the first practice is “Sons of the Buddha! What is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s practice of joy?”, and it is immediately followed by “this bodhisattva is a great donor: whatever he possesses he is able to give away”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of giving and outlines this practice in three: the questioning of the name, the explanation of its character, and the concluding of the name; and within the explanation of its character he first briefly distinguishes the substance and the character, and then expounds at length from “when he cultivates this practice” onward.
First a question: giving is giving things away — why is it called the practice of “joy”? The sūtra’s answer lies not in the giving but in the mind of the giving. “His mind is even, without regret or grudging; he does not look for reward, does not seek a good name, does not covet gain and support” — five clauses striking out five impurities: unevenness, regret afterwards, angling for return, wanting reputation, coveting offerings. Only when these have been struck out does it say why he gives: to rescue, to gather in, and to benefit all beings, and to learn, be mindful of, delight in, purify, increase, uphold, manifest, and expound the practice originally cultivated by the buddhas. Eight verbs strung to “the practice originally cultivated by the buddhas”, saying eight layers of one and the same thing — from learning it, thinking of it, and loving it, to making it pure, increasing it, upholding it, manifesting it, and expounding it.
Now look at that extremely hard situation. “Suppose that, thought after thought, measureless and countless beings come to where the bodhisattva is” — and what they beg for is not wealth but “give us the flesh of your body”. The bodhisattva gives it on the spot, making them joyful and satisfied; measureless hundreds of thousands of beings keep coming to beg, and the bodhisattva not only does not shrink back but is “doubly joyful”, and thinks: “these beings are my field of merit, they are my good friends; without waiting for me to ask, without waiting for me to invite, they come to teach me to enter into the Buddha’s Dharma.”
This is the eye of this practice. The beggar is not a burden but a teacher; the one who comes begging is teaching the bodhisattva to enter the Buddha’s Dharma. This is where the joy comes from — not forcing oneself to be cheerful, but really seeing where the other’s benefit lies. Clear away a misunderstanding: do not read this passage as ‘the bodhisattva is very good at enduring’. The words the sūtra uses are “doubly joyful”, not ‘bearing it with an effort’.
Then comes the vow. “May all the good roots I have already made, am now making, and shall hereafter make, cause me in the future … to receive a vast body, and with the flesh of that body to fill and satisfy all beings hungry and suffering”, and further, “even if there be one small being not yet fully satisfied, I vow not to give up my life, and the flesh cut from my body shall likewise have no exhaustion”; further still, he vows that the beings who eat his flesh may likewise attain unsurpassed awakening; and the last sentence weighs most: “If there be one being whose mind is not satisfied, I shall in the end not realize unsurpassed perfect awakening.”
Then comes the contemplation. The sūtra immediately “takes apart” this whole magnificent giving: the bodhisattva benefits beings in this way, and yet has no notion of a self, of a being, of existence, of a life, of the various kinds, of a pudgala, of a person, of a māṇava, of an agent, of an experiencer — all ten notions gone. He only contemplates the Dharma realm and the realm of beings, contemplates the dharma without bound, the dharma of emptiness, the dharma of nothing whatever, the dharma without characteristics, the dharma without substance, the dharma without place, the dharma without support, the dharma without doing. When he contemplates thus, “he does not see his own body, does not see the thing given, does not see the one who receives, does not see a field of merit, does not see deeds, does not see retribution, does not see fruit, does not see a great fruit, does not see a small fruit”.
The nine “does not see” clauses are the skeleton of this practice. The more magnificent what came before, the more thoroughly this must be emptied. Where it comes home: if after giving there is still an account in one’s mind — whom I gave to, how much I gave, whether he ought to be grateful — one is still inside “seeing”.
Last is a passage of contemplating the body. The bodhisattva contemplates that the bodies received by beings of the three times are destroyed on the spot, and sighs: beings are deluded, receiving countless bodies in birth-and-death, perilous and frail and not remaining, and yet unwilling “to use this unsolid body to seek that solid body”. That sentence is where the whole practice gathers: giving the flesh of the body is not asceticism but exchanging the unsolid for the solid. And so the closing sentence says: “Sons of the Buddha! This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s first practice, that of joy.”
Practice two, benefiting: discipline is not refraining but not clinging
Under the heading sentence of the second practice comes “this bodhisattva guards pure moral discipline; toward form, sound, smell, taste, and touch his mind clings to nothing”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of morality and judges the explanation of its character to be “first briefly and then at length, both disclosing that the three collections are contained within the nine precepts” — the three collections being the pure discipline of restraint, of gathering good dharmas, and of benefiting sentient beings.
First a question: since it is discipline, why is it called “benefiting”? Because discipline here is not the warding off of wrong but the giving of benefit to others. The sūtra says it plainly: not only does the bodhisattva himself cling to nothing in the five sense-objects, but “he expounds it thus for beings as well”; in keeping the precepts he does not seek majesty and power, high family, riches, fine appearance, or kingship — the five things most wanted in the human world all struck out — and only holds firmly to pure discipline.
Discipline is tested in an extremely hard situation. “Within a single day, suppose countless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of great evil demons come to where the bodhisattva is”, each demon bringing measureless goddesses, “every one of them skilled in devising means in the matter of the five desires, upright and beautiful, enough to sway and confuse a person’s mind”, holding all manner of precious playthings, to come and confuse the bodhisattva’s intent upon the path. The bodhisattva’s response is a single thought: “these five desires are dharmas that obstruct the path, and even obstruct unsurpassed awakening.” And so he “does not give rise to a single thought of desire, and his mind is as pure as a buddha’s”. The sūtra then adds one exception and one limit: the exception is “only when it is for the skillful transforming of beings”, and the limit is that even then “he does not forsake the mind of omniscience”.
Further down it is stricter still: the bodhisattva will not, on account of desire, trouble a single being, and would rather give up body and life than do what troubles beings; since he first saw a buddha he has never given rise in his mind to a single thought of desire, how much less would he act on it. Clear away a misunderstanding: this passage is not about keeping or breaking the articles of the precepts; it is about how clean the mind is. The sūtra’s standard is “has never given rise in his mind to a single thought”, not ‘has not committed an offence’.
The use of discipline is that it is turned toward the demons. The bodhisattva then thinks: all beings through the long night think upon the five desires, incline toward them, cling to them, steeped and drowned and not free; “I should now cause these demons and the goddesses, and all beings, to abide in unsurpassed discipline”. The very ones who came to confuse him are the ones he means to deliver. This turn is the second reason the practice is called “benefiting”.
Then comes a passage of very great importance, the breaking of clinging. The bodhisattva means to expound the Dharma for beings so as to remove inversion, but the sūtra at once takes apart the relation between “inversion” and “beings” into an eightfold paired negation: apart from beings there is no inversion, apart from inversion there are no beings; it is not that within inversion there are beings, nor that within beings there is inversion; nor is inversion beings, nor are beings inversion; inversion is neither an inner nor an outer dharma; beings are neither an inner nor an outer dharma.
Why take it apart in this way? Because once “inversion” is treated as a real thing lodged in beings, then delivering beings becomes the removing of a thing; and so it can never be removed, and there arises besides the clinging to ‘something removable’. Only after the taking-apart does the sūtra draw its conclusion: all dharmas are false and unreal, swift to arise and swift to cease, without solidity, like a dream, like a shadow, like an illusion, like a conjuration, deluding the foolish.
Last are nine pairs of self and other. “He is himself delivered and causes others to be delivered; is himself liberated and causes others to be liberated”, all the way to “is himself happy and causes others to be happy” — nine pairs, each of them self first and other after. This is the pattern of the practice of benefiting: benefiting is not setting oneself aside in order to complete others, but having something to give because one stands firm oneself. The closing sentence: “Sons of the Buddha! This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s second practice, that of benefiting.”
Practice three, non-opposition: forbearing until one does not feel one is forbearing
Under the heading sentence of the third practice comes “this bodhisattva constantly cultivates the dharma of forbearance, humble and reverent”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of forbearance and judges the explanation of its character to divide in two: first the brief distinguishing of the character of the practice, then the cultivation proper in the face of objects; and within the brief distinguishing there are three passages — cultivating the practice of forbearance, parting from the faults of forbearance, and the intent of cultivating forbearance.
First look at the ‘three threes’. The sūtra says: he does not harm himself, does not harm others, does not harm both; does not grasp at himself, does not grasp at others, does not grasp at both; does not cling to himself, does not cling to others, does not cling to both. Harming, grasping, and clinging — three matters, each set against the three faces of self, other, and both, making nine clauses. These nine clauses are the floor of forbearance: forbearance is not pressing something down but not even giving rise to the motives of harming, grasping, and clinging.
Now look at that list introduced by “namely”. This is one of the four places in this chapter where items are listed one by one, and it must not be passed over. Suppose there are beings numbering a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas, and each being conjures up as many mouths, and each mouth utters as many utterances, namely: words that cannot be delighted in, words not of good dharmas, words that do not please the mind, words that cannot be loved, words not of the humane and worthy, words not of noble wisdom, words not in accord with the noble ones, words not to be approached by the noble ones, words deeply to be loathed, words not to be borne to hear — ten kinds of speech, with which they revile the bodhisattva.
These ten kinds of speech are not synonymous repetitions but ten angles: the first four say that it makes one unhappy (cannot be delighted in, not of good dharmas, does not please the mind, cannot be loved), the middle four say that it does not meet the standard of the noble ones (not of the humane and worthy, not of noble wisdom, not in accord with the noble ones, not to be approached by the noble ones), and the last two say that it has reached the extreme (deeply to be loathed, not to be borne to hear). From ‘uncomfortable to hear’ all the way to ‘impossible to listen to at all’. Then it goes further: each of these beings has as many hands, and each hand grasps as many weapons with which to press upon and harm him; and thus, through asaṃkhyeya kalpas, without ever a rest.
Reviling speech followed by bodily harm, and the time stretched to asaṃkhyeya kalpas — this is setting the situation of forbearance at its extreme.
Where is the crux of forbearance? The sūtra writes that at this moment the bodhisattva’s “hair stands on end and his life is about to be cut off” — no prettifying: forbearance really hurts. His thought is: “If, because of this suffering, my mind should be moved and confused, then I would be one who cannot tame himself, cannot guard himself … how then could I make the minds of others pure?” The crux is not whether he can bear it but whether the mind moves; and the reason the mind does not move is not to win a point for himself but “how then could I make the minds of others pure”.
Then come three turns. The first turn looks back: “From beginningless kalpas I have dwelt in birth-and-death and undergone all manner of suffering and affliction” — this suffering did not begin today. The second turn looks down: “This body is empty and still, without self and without what belongs to self, with nothing real to be found, its nature empty and not two; whether suffering or pleasure, there is nothing whatever, because dharmas are empty.” The third turn gives it outward: “I should understand this clearly and expound it widely for others, so that all beings may extinguish this view.”
Last are ten clauses of “for the sake of”. For the sake of being loving and mindful toward beings, of benefiting beings, of bringing beings peace and happiness, of pitying beings, of gathering beings in, of not abandoning beings, of his own awakening, of causing others to awaken, of a mind that does not turn back, of heading toward the Buddha’s path. Among the ten reasons the first six are for beings, the middle two are the awakening of self and other, and the last two are for the path. Where it comes home: if forbearance has only one reason, ‘I want to cultivate patience’, it will not last long; the sūtra gives ten. The closing sentence: “This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s third practice, that of non-opposition.”
Practice four, unbending: vigour is not straining, but not straining for oneself
Under the heading sentence of the fourth practice comes “this bodhisattva cultivates every kind of vigour”, followed at once by the third of this chapter’s lists introduced by “namely” (the first two being in the part of empowerment and in the third practice).
Look at the ten kinds of vigour one by one. Namely: foremost vigour, great vigour, excellent vigour, especially excellent vigour, supremely excellent vigour, supremely marvellous vigour, high vigour, unsurpassed vigour, unequalled vigour, universally pervading vigour. These ten names are a description raised step by step: from “foremost” to “great” to “excellent”, then pushed up three times to “especially excellent”, “supremely excellent”, “supremely marvellous”, then from “high” pushed to “unsurpassed”, then to “unequalled” — by now there is nothing left to compare with. But the last does not push higher; it goes wider: “universally pervading vigour”. The first nine speak of height, the tenth of breadth. There is a point to closing in this way: vigour at its extreme is not fiercer but more pervasive.
Then come six clauses with the word “nature”. His nature is without the three poisons, his nature is without arrogance, his nature does not conceal, his nature is without stinginess and envy, his nature is without flattery and deceit, his nature has shame and conscience of itself. Note that the word used is “nature” and not “does not” — it is not that he forcibly refrains from greed, hatred, and delusion, but that in his very substance these are absent. The cleanness of vigour is established here first.
Then one clause of “in the end he does not …” and twenty clauses of “only in order to … does he practise vigour”. It begins by striking out one thing: “in the end he does not practise vigour in order to trouble a single being.” Then it lists positively: in order to cut off afflictions, to pull up the root of delusion, to remove habitual tendencies; in order to know the realm of beings, to know how beings die here and are born there, to know beings’ afflictions, to know what beings’ minds delight in, to know beings’ objective realms, to know whether beings’ faculties are superior or inferior, to know beings’ mental conduct — seven clauses all on knowing beings; in order to know the Dharma realm; in order to know the root nature, the evenness, and the evenness of the three times of the Buddha’s dharmas; in order to obtain the light of wisdom of the Buddha’s dharmas, to realize the wisdom of the Buddha’s dharmas, to know the one real character of the Buddha’s dharmas, to know that the Buddha’s dharmas are without bound, to obtain the vast, decisive, skillful wisdom of the Buddha’s dharmas, and to obtain the wisdom that distinguishes and expounds the phrases and meanings of the Buddha’s dharmas.
The order of this long string is worth noting: first cutting off one’s own delusion, then knowing beings, then knowing the Dharma realm, and finally knowing the Buddha’s dharmas and being able to speak them. The direction of vigour runs from inside outward, from cutting off to knowing, and from knowing to speaking. Clear away a misunderstanding: do not read vigour as ‘time invested’. The sūtra says not a word about time; everything it says is ‘for the sake of what’.
Two questions and two answers are where this practice is tested. The first question: can you, for each single being of countless worlds, remain in the Avīci hell for countless kalpas undergoing every suffering, so that they may see buddhas, gain happiness, and even reach nirvāṇa, and only then become a buddha yourself? The answer: “I can.” — two words in the sūtra, with not a trace of elaboration.
The second question is more extreme still: there are measureless asaṃkhyeyas of great oceans, and you are to dry them up with the tip of a single hair; there are measureless asaṃkhyeyas of worlds, all to be ground into dust; those drops and motes are to be counted one by one. For the sake of beings you must pass so many kalpas, thought after thought undergoing suffering without a break. This time the sūtra does not even write “I can”, but writes the bodhisattva’s response directly: not only does he give rise to no thought of regret, but “his joy and exultation increase all the more, and he deeply congratulates himself on gaining a great benefit”, and the reason for the congratulation is “because there is such power in me, I can cause those beings forever to escape all suffering”.
Where it comes home: true unbending lies not in gritting one’s teeth and holding on but in not feeling it a loss at all. The closing sentence: “This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s fourth practice, that of unbending.”
Practice five, parting from deluded confusion: concentration is not not hearing, but hearing and not being confused
Under the heading sentence of the fifth practice comes “this bodhisattva accomplishes right mindfulness; his mind is not scattered”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of meditation and judges the explanation of its character to be “first the general disclosure of being without deluded confusion, then the particular clarification of being without deluded confusion”, adding of this general passage that “though the clauses are six, the senses are ten, the first general and the rest particular”.
First look at the general clause. He accomplishes right mindfulness; his mind is not scattered, is firm and unmoving, supremely pure, vast and measureless, and without confusion — one general and five particular. The character of concentration here is not ‘thinking of nothing’ but ‘mindfulness right and unconfused’.
The first “namely” of the fifth practice: upholding utterance without confusion. Because of right mindfulness, he well understands all the speech of the world and can uphold the utterance of the dharmas that transcend the world. Namely: he can uphold the utterance of dharmas that are form and dharmas that are not form; can uphold the utterance that establishes the own-nature of form; and so on to being able to uphold the utterance that establishes the own-nature of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness — he can uphold the utterance of the own-nature of all five aggregates, and his mind is without deluded confusion. This clause is very important: this concentration is not a leaving behind of language, but a remaining unconfused within the finest language of the characteristics of dharmas.
Then come eight clauses of “his mind is without deluded confusion”: dying here and being born there, entering the womb and leaving the womb, giving rise to the intent upon awakening, serving good friends, diligently cultivating the Buddha’s Dharma, becoming aware of the works of demons, leaving behind the deeds of demons, cultivating bodhisattva practice through kalpas beyond speech — from the great passages of birth and death to daily training, eight situations each named. Note two of them: “becoming aware of the works of demons” and “leaving behind the deeds of demons” — to recognize a demon and to be able to leave it also counts as concentration.
The second “namely” of the fifth practice: the dharmas heard. The most profound Dharma, the vast Dharma, the adorned Dharma, the Dharma of every kind of adornment, the Dharma of expounding every kind of name-body, phrase-body, and syllable-body, the Dharma of bodhisattva adornment, the unsurpassed Dharma of the light of the Buddha’s spiritual power, the pure Dharma of right aspiration and decisive understanding, the Dharma that clings to nothing in the world, the Dharma that distinguishes everything in the world, the exceedingly vast Dharma, the Dharma that parts from the film of delusion and illumines all beings, the Dharma of what is common and not common to all worlds, the unsurpassed Dharma of bodhisattva wisdom, the Dharma of the freedom of omniscience. Having heard them, “through asaṃkhyeya kalpas he does not forget them or lose them; his mind is constantly mindful of them, without a break.”
Why can he not forget? The sūtra answers itself: because when the bodhisattva cultivates he never troubles a single being so as to make him lose mindfulness, does not destroy the true Dharma, and does not cut off good roots. — Because he does not make others lose mindfulness, he does not lose it himself. This is cause and effect, not coincidence.
The third “namely” of the fifth practice: seven kinds of sound. Loud and great sounds, coarse and turbid sounds, sounds that terrify to the utmost, pleasing sounds, displeasing sounds, sounds that jangle and confuse the ear-consciousness, sounds that ruin the six faculties. Among the seven is “pleasing sounds” — what is agreeable to the ear is also on the list of what confuses the mind. This point is often passed over: what can disturb concentration is not only noise but also what is too pleasant to hear.
The fourth “namely” of the fifth practice: eleven kinds of non-confusion. Right mindfulness not confused, the objective realm not confused, samādhi not confused, entering the most profound Dharma not confused, carrying out the practice of awakening not confused, giving rise to the mind of awakening not confused, being mindful of the buddhas not confused, contemplating the real Dharma not confused, the wisdom that transforms beings not confused, the wisdom that purifies beings not confused, resolving the most profound meaning not confused. Then four clauses paired with obstructions: because he does not do evil deeds he has no obstruction of evil deeds; because he does not give rise to afflictions he has no obstruction of afflictions; because he does not slight the Dharma he has no obstruction of Dharma; because he does not malign the true Dharma he has no obstruction of retribution.
The most important sentence comes later. These sounds fill asaṃkhyeya worlds and are unbroken through measureless, countless kalpas; they “are all able to ruin and confuse the bodies, minds, and every faculty of beings, and yet they cannot ruin this bodhisattva’s mind”. Why can they not ruin it? Not because he does not hear them, but because within samādhi he “reflects upon and contemplates all sounds; he well knows the characteristics of the arising, abiding, and ceasing of sounds, and well knows the nature of the arising, abiding, and ceasing of sounds”, and so “he does not give rise to greed, does not give rise to hatred, does not lose right mindfulness; he well takes up their characteristics without being stained by them” — knowing that all sounds are nothing whatever, not to be found, without a maker and without any original limit, the same as the Dharma realm.
This is the eye of this practice. Clear away a misunderstanding: parting from deluded confusion is not stopping up one’s ears. The sūtra’s route is hearing, contemplating, knowing their arising, abiding, and ceasing, and knowing that they are the same as the Dharma realm — he hears more clearly than anyone, and therefore is not confused. Where it comes home: the remedy for distraction is not to hide, but to see clearly how the thing that disturbs you arises, abides, and ceases.
At the last the bodhisattva obtains “the most profound samādhi that parts from sound”, obtains countless hundreds of thousands of samādhis in a single thought, and on hearing sounds his samādhis “gradually grow the more expansive” — sound itself becomes the augmenting condition. The closing sentence: “This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s fifth practice, that of parting from deluded confusion.”
Practice six, good manifestation: he can manifest because there is nothing to be attained
Under the heading sentence of the sixth practice comes “this bodhisattva’s bodily action is pure, his verbal action is pure, his mental action is pure”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of wisdom and cites the three kinds of prajñā stated in the Yuqie — the wisdom that penetrates reality, the wisdom of decisive skill in the five sciences and the three collections, and a third.
First a question: since it is prajñā, why is it called “good manifestation”? Because the look of prajñā here is “manifesting”. The sūtra says: he abides in nothing to be attained and manifests bodily, verbal, and mental action that has nothing to be attained. On one side, “abiding in nothing to be attained”; on the other, “manifesting” — he can manifest precisely because there is nothing to be attained. Were there something to be attained, manifesting would become display; with nothing to be attained, manifesting is skillful means.
The sūtra then pushes on: he knows the three kinds of action are nothing whatever, and because they are without falsity he has no bondage; whatever he manifests is without own-nature and without support; he abides in the mind that is as it truly is, knows the own-nature of measureless minds and the own-nature of all dharmas, nothing attained and without characteristics, most profound and hard to enter; he abides in the true suchness and Dharma-nature of the right position, and by skillful means brings forth what has no retribution of deeds; neither arising nor ceasing, he abides in the realm of nirvāṇa and in the nature of quiescence; he abides in the nature that is truly without own-nature, where the way of speech is cut off, transcending the worlds, without support. Then three clauses of “entering”: entering the dharma that parts from discrimination and is without bond and clinging; entering the real dharma of supremely excellent wisdom; entering the world-transcending dharma that the worlds cannot know. It gathers into one sentence: “This is the bodhisattva’s skillfulness in means, manifesting the characteristic of arising.”
Three “withouts” are the skeleton of this practice. All beings have no own-nature as their nature; all dharmas have the unconditioned as their nature; all lands have no characteristic as their characteristic. Beings, dharmas, and lands — each takes its “without” as its “nature” or “characteristic”. Then it speaks of speech: all the three times are only speech; all speech has, among dharmas, no place of support; all dharmas have, within speech, likewise no place of support. — Dharmas and speech do not depend on one another; this clause empties the very business of “expounding the Dharma” as well.
Then comes a passage very plain in its wording and yet very weighty. “The Buddha’s dharmas are not different from worldly dharmas, and worldly dharmas are not different from the Buddha’s dharmas; the Buddha’s dharmas and worldly dharmas are neither jumbled together nor different.” Not different, and yet not jumbled. Clear away a misunderstanding: not different does not mean mixed into one. The sūtra immediately goes on to say “he knows that the substantial nature of the Dharma realm is even” — it is upon the evenness of substantial nature that they are said not to be different, not that worldly affairs are the same as the Buddha’s Dharma.
Then come five questions. If I do not ripen beings, who will ripen them? If I do not tame beings, who will tame them? If I do not transform beings, who will transform them? If I do not awaken beings, who will awaken them? If I do not purify beings, who will purify them? Five questions asked and answered by himself: “this is what befits me, this is what I ought to do.” This is the most direct passage in the whole chapter — there is no second person to hand it to.
Then comes a description of the plight of beings. If I myself understand this most profound Dharma, then I alone would be liberated; while beings, blind and eyeless, enter the great dangerous road, bound fast by afflictions; like a gravely ill person constantly suffering pain, sunk in the prison of craving and unable to get out, never free of the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, and the realm of Yama … dwelling among the eight difficulties, stained by every defilement, deluded by wrong views, not walking the right path. Only one who sees this clearly can then say what follows: “If these beings are not yet ripened, not yet tamed, and I should abandon them and take realization of unsurpassed perfect awakening for myself, this would not be right.”
This practice closes with a passage of merit. When the bodhisattva abides in this practice, gods, demons, Brahmās, śramaṇas, brahmins, and even gandharvas, asuras and the rest — any who merely see him, dwell with him for a while, honour and make offerings to him, or even merely “hear of him for a moment so that it passes once through their minds” — for all such, what is done is never in vain, and they will certainly accomplish unsurpassed awakening. Where it comes home: the effect of “good manifestation” lies not in what he says but in the very fact of others meeting him. The closing sentence: “This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s sixth practice, that of good manifestation.”
Practice seven, non-attachment: not even attached to being unattached
Under the heading sentence of the seventh practice comes “Sons of the Buddha! With a mind of non-attachment, this bodhisattva is able, thought after thought, to enter asaṃkhyeya worlds”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of skillful means and says: relying on two kinds of skillful means, by dedicating and directing he does not abide in birth-and-death, and by delivering he does not abide in nirvāṇa; abiding in neither, it is called non-attachment.
First look at the passage on offerings. The bodhisattva goes to where asaṃkhyeya tathāgatas are, and with asaṃkhyeyas of flowers, incense, garlands, unguents, powdered incense, garments, precious things, banners and pennants, and marvellous canopies, each in asaṃkhyeya number, he makes offerings. Yet the purpose of offerings so lavish is “for the sake of the ultimate dharma of non-doing, for the sake of abiding in the inconceivable dharma” — doing for the sake of non-doing.
Then comes a long string of “no clinging”. No clinging toward where the buddhas are, no clinging toward the buddha-lands, no clinging toward the marks and signs of a buddha, no clinging in seeing a buddha’s light and hearing a buddha expound the Dharma, no clinging toward the assemblies of the ten directions, and joy at hearing the Dharma with yet no clinging toward the Buddha’s Dharma either. The order of this string runs from outside inward: first the buddha’s land, then the buddha’s bodily marks, then the buddha’s light and expounding, and last not clinging even to the Buddha’s Dharma itself.
Seeing impure worlds he has no aversion either — why? “Because this bodhisattva contemplates in accordance with the dharmas of the buddhas.” Among the dharmas of the buddhas: neither defiled nor pure, neither dark nor light, neither different nor the same, neither real nor false, neither at peace nor in peril, neither right path nor wrong path. Six pairs doubly dismissed, and the discrimination of pure and impure has no footing left.
Then come nine clauses of “no clinging” (six in the form “and yet toward …”: three reading “gives rise to no clinging” and three “his mind clings to nothing”, with three further clauses of “his mind clings to nothing” that lack the “and yet toward”). He transforms beings and yet does not cling to beings; he upholds all dharmas and yet does not cling to dharmas; he gives rise to the mind of awakening and abides where the buddhas abide and yet does not cling to the abode of the buddhas; though there is speech, his mind clings to nothing in speech; he enters the destinies of beings and yet clings to nothing in the destinies of beings; he knows samādhi and can enter and abide in it and yet clings to nothing in samādhi; he goes to measureless buddha-lands, entering, seeing, or abiding in them, and yet clings to nothing in the buddha-lands — and there is added the clause “nor has he the least attachment when he leaves and goes away”.
Note the sentence pattern: each clause is ‘he does it, and does not cling’. It is not not doing, but doing and not clinging. Clear away a very common misunderstanding: reading non-attachment as not bothering with things. The sūtra’s non-attachment is built precisely upon “being able to enter”, “being able to abide”, “being able to practise” — one cannot speak of not clinging to what one has never done.
A passage contemplating ordinary people, after the prediction. Ordinary people are deluded and foolish, without knowledge and vision, without faith and understanding … “hearing that dharmas are empty, their minds are greatly terrified; they leave the true Dharma far behind and dwell in false dharmas; they abandon the level road and enter the road of peril; they turn their backs on the Buddha’s intent and follow after the intent of demons.” These pairs are the weightiest words in the passage: refusing the broad level road and taking the road of peril, refusing the Buddha’s intent and following the demons’ intent. Seeing this, the bodhisattva “increases great compassion and gives rise to every kind of good root without clinging” — not clinging even to the giving rise to good roots.
The passage of the hair’s tip. “With the tip of a hair he measures the whole Dharma realm, and in the space of a single hair’s tip he exhausts kalpas beyond speech beyond speech in transforming and taming all beings; as in the space of one hair’s tip, so in the space of each and every hair’s tip.” And “even for the space of a snap of the fingers he never clings to a self or gives rise to the notion of a self or of what is mine”. Then ten clauses of “does not cling”: not clinging to body, dharmas, mindfulness, vows, samādhi, contemplation, quiescent concentration, the objective realm, the transforming and taming of beings, nor to entering the Dharma realm either. The first eight are the content of his own cultivation, the ninth is the delivering of beings, and the tenth does not cling even to “entering the Dharma realm”. This is peeling away layer by layer to the very bottom.
The reason lies in the five similes. He contemplates the whole Dharma realm as an illusion, the buddhas as shadows, bodhisattva practice as a dream, the Buddha’s expounding of the Dharma as an echo, and every world as a conjuration (since it is sustained by the retribution of deeds); and further, differentiated bodies as an illusion (since they arise from the power of activity), all beings as the mind (since there are all manner of defilements), all dharmas as the true limit (since they cannot be altered). The first five similes say that ‘the objects clung to are of themselves not real’, and the last three clauses each give a reason why. The ground of non-attachment is not willpower but having seen.
Last, one question and one answer. How is it that amid the beings’ various sounds, deeds, clingings, contrivances, conjunctions, driftings, doings, objective realms, various births and various deaths, he can “abide therein and transform them, not letting his own mind be shaken or turn back, nor giving rise to a single thought of stained clinging”? The sūtra answers itself: “Because he has obtained the state of clinging to nothing and depending on nothing, so that benefiting himself and benefiting others are pure and complete.” The closing sentence: “This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s seventh practice, that of non-attachment.”
Practice eight, hard to attain: not abiding in either extreme and yet able to ferry across
Under the heading sentence of the eighth practice comes “this bodhisattva accomplishes good roots hard to attain, good roots hard to subdue …”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of vows and judges the explanation of its character to divide in two: the former clarifies the practice of one’s own portion, the latter the practice of surpassing advance; and he notes that in this practice “supernormal powers are omitted”.
Look at the ten kinds of good root one by one. Good roots hard to attain, hard to subdue, supremely excellent, indestructible, that none can surpass, inconceivable, inexhaustible, of the power of freedom, of great majestic virtue, and of one and the same nature with all buddhas. The first six speak of their difficulty and excellence, the seventh of their inexhaustibility, the eighth and ninth of their power and virtue, and the tenth weighs most — “of one and the same nature with all buddhas”. What makes what is hard to attain hard to attain comes down at the last to being of the same nature as the buddhas.
All three “it is like” similes of this chapter’s prose fall within this practice. This is the densest place in the chapter for figures of speech, and each is treated in turn.
The first simile, the ferryman. “It is like a ferryman: he does not abide on this shore, does not abide on the far shore, does not abide in midstream, and yet he is able to ferry the beings of this shore over to the far shore, because his going and returning have no rest.” The sūtra makes its own correlation: the bodhisattva does not abide in birth-and-death, does not abide in nirvāṇa, nor does he abide in the midstream of birth-and-death, and yet is able to ferry beings across to the far shore, to a place of peace and ease, without fear and without sorrow.
The three non-abidings are the crux: not abiding on this shore (not following birth-and-death) is easy to understand, and not abiding on the far shore (not grasping nirvāṇa) is often heard of; what is hard is not abiding in midstream — not halting at the position of ‘I am ferrying living beings across’. The reason the ferryman can keep on carrying people across is precisely that he halts at neither end.
Then come five pairs of paired negation concerning the realm of beings: not forsaking one being and clinging to many, not forsaking many and clinging to one; neither increasing nor decreasing, neither producing nor extinguishing, neither exhausting nor extending, neither discriminating nor making it two. The reason is that “the bodhisattva enters deeply into the realm of beings as into the Dharma realm, and the realm of beings and the Dharma realm are not two”.
The second simile, drilling wood to bring forth fire. “It is like drilling wood to bring forth fire: the works of the fire are measureless, yet the fire is not extinguished.” The correlation: the bodhisattva’s work of transforming beings has no exhaustion, and yet in the world he abides constantly and is not extinguished. Then five layers of paired negation: neither final nor not final, neither grasping nor not grasping, neither dependent nor without dependence, neither a worldly dharma nor a buddha-dharma, neither an ordinary person nor one who has gained the fruit.
This simile pairs with that of the ferryman: the ferryman simile says “not abiding”, the drilling simile says “not extinguished”. Because he does not abide, he is not trapped; because he is not extinguished, the use of him is inexhaustible.
The third simile, space. “It is like space: in the ten directions, whether past, future, or present, it cannot be found when sought, and yet it is not that there is no space.” The correlation: the bodhisattva contemplates that all dharmas cannot be found, and yet it is not that there are no dharmas.
This simile treats one ailment in particular: hearing “cannot be found” as “does not exist”. Space cannot be got hold of, but who can say there is no space? Immediately after making the correlation the sūtra strings together a series of “does not lose”: as it truly is and without alteration, he does not lose what he does, and everywhere manifests the cultivation of all bodhisattva practices; he does not forsake his great vow, tames beings, and turns the wheel of the true Dharma; he does not destroy cause and effect, nor does he go against the even and marvellous Dharma. — Cannot be found, and yet cause and effect are not destroyed: this is the sentence of this practice most to be remembered.
In between there is also a passage of “does not speak”. When the bodhisattva cultivates he does not speak of the dharma of the two vehicles, does not speak of the Buddha’s Dharma; does not speak of the world, does not speak of worldly dharmas; does not speak of beings, does not speak of the absence of beings; does not speak of defilement, does not speak of purity. Why so? “Because the bodhisattva knows that all dharmas are unstained, ungrasped, unturning, and unretreating.” Nor does he give rise to the thought “I am now cultivating this practice, I have cultivated this practice, I shall cultivate this practice”; he does not cling to the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, to the inner and outer world, to his great vows, or to the perfections. The reason is that within the Dharma realm there is no dharma called “heading toward the śrāvaka vehicle”, “heading toward the pratyekabuddha vehicle”, “heading toward the bodhisattva vehicle”, “heading toward unsurpassed perfect awakening”, “heading toward the realm of ordinary people”, “heading toward defilement, toward purity, toward birth-and-death, toward nirvāṇa” — even direction itself does not stand.
This practice closes with a deeply moving passage. Worldly beings do not know how to repay kindness, meet one another as foes, cling to wrong views, are foolish and without wisdom, follow after evil companions — “this is exactly the place where I cultivate bodhisattva practice”. Conversely, suppose there were people who knew kindness, who were clever, who had understanding, and good friends filling the world: “I would not cultivate bodhisattva practice there.” Why? “Toward beings I have neither favour nor distance, and nothing I hope for; I do not seek so much as a single thread or hair, or a single word of praise.”
Where it comes home: that the hard place is the very site of practice, anyone can say; the sūtra goes one step further — the easy place I will not even go to. The reason is not bravado but that “for one who acts as a bright guide among beings, the dharma should be just so: not grasping, not seeking”. The closing sentence: “This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s eighth practice, that hard to attain.”
Practice nine, good dharmas: making a pool of cool water
Under the heading sentence of the ninth practice comes “this bodhisattva makes himself a cool pool of Dharma for all the worlds’ gods, humans, demons, Brahmās, śramaṇas, brahmins, gandharvas, and the rest”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of powers, outlines it in three passages — the questioning of the name, the explanation of its character, and the concluding praise — and cites the two powers of the Weishi (the power of deliberation and the power of cultivation) and the three powers of the Benye.
The cool pool of Dharma is the skeleton of this practice. The simile appears once at the opening of the practice and once again at its close: “A bodhisattva abiding in this practice makes himself a cool pool of Dharma for all beings, because he is able to reach the source of all the Buddha’s Dharma.” One simile appearing at both opening and close, and everything in between says how that pool came to be. The pool has three properties: cool (able to relieve fever and affliction), Dharma (what it holds is Dharma), and pool (all may come and draw from it).
The ten dhāraṇīs and the ten inexhaustible eloquences. These are the body proper of this practice, paired item by item: because he obtains the dhāraṇī of pure light, he expounds the Dharma and confers predictions with inexhaustible eloquence; because he obtains the dhāraṇī of complete meaning, his eloquence in meaning is inexhaustible; because he obtains the dhāraṇī of awakening to the real dharma, his eloquence in dharma is inexhaustible; because he obtains the dhāraṇī of glossing and explaining words, his eloquence in wording is inexhaustible; because he obtains the dhāraṇī of the gate of the unobstructed, of boundless phrases and inexhaustible meaning, his unobstructed eloquence is inexhaustible; because he obtains the dhāraṇī of the buddhas’ consecration, by which they consecrate his crown, his joyous eloquence is inexhaustible; because he obtains the gate of the dhāraṇī of awakening not by another, his eloquence of light is inexhaustible; because he obtains the gate of the dhāraṇī of the same eloquence, his eloquence of sameness is inexhaustible; because he obtains the gate of the dhāraṇī of glossing within every kind of meaning-body, phrase-body, and syllable-body, his eloquence in glossing is inexhaustible; because he obtains the dhāraṇī of boundless turning, his boundless eloquence is inexhaustible.
Between each pair the relation is ‘because he has obtained this all-holding, that eloquence is inexhaustible’. A dhāraṇī is “holding”, eloquence is “speaking” — one can speak to the end only if one can hold. Note the order: first the three of meaning, dharma, and wording, then the unobstructed added — this is precisely the order of the four unobstructed eloquences; the six that follow are developments proper to this sūtra.
Then come the fifth and sixth occurrences of “suppose” in this chapter’s prose (there are three within the ninth practice, the seventh being “suppose that words of every kind beyond speech beyond speech came to challenge me”, further on). The first situation: suppose countless beings of every kind of retribution beyond speech gather in one place, an assembly so vast as to fill worlds beyond speech; each being there has asaṃkhyeyas beyond speech of mouths, and each mouth sends forth a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of sounds, all sounding at once, each with different words and each with a different question — and the bodhisattva “in a single thought is wholly able to receive them and to answer them all, causing them to remove their doubts”. The second situation goes further: suppose that in the space of a single hair’s tip, thought after thought, there appear assemblies at the seat of awakening beyond speech beyond speech, and so in the space of every hair’s tip; exhausting kalpas of the future, “those kalpas may be exhausted, but the assemblies are not exhausted”.
The bodhisattva’s response is four “withouts”: without fright and without timidity, without doubt and without error. And he thinks: suppose all beings, with such verbal activity, came together to question me, I would expound the Dharma for them without break and without end; “in a single thought I would receive them all, in a single sound answer them all, causing them everywhere to awaken with nothing left out”. Four reasons are listed: he obtains the consecration of omniscience, obtains the unobstructed treasury, obtains the full light of all dharmas, and is fully endowed with the wisdom of omniscience.
Then comes an important sentence. After the bodhisattva abides in the practice of good dharmas, he is able to purify himself and also, by skillful means that cling to nothing, to benefit all beings everywhere, and yet “he does not see a single being who has been brought out”. Delivering to the utmost and yet seeing no delivering — this sentence empties once more all the eloquence and answering that went before.
The “namely” of the ninth practice: the ten kinds of body. The body that enters the boundless Dharma realm and is not of the destinies (because it extinguishes every world); the body that enters the boundless Dharma realm and is of the destinies (because it is born in every world); the unborn body (because it abides in the even dharma of non-arising); the unceasing body (because all ceasing and all speech cannot be found); the unreal body (because he has attained what is as it truly is); the unfalse body (because he manifests according to what is fitting); the unshifting body (because it parts from dying here and being born there); the indestructible body (because the nature of the Dharma realm is indestructible); the body of a single characteristic (because the way of speech in the three times is cut off); the signless body (because he is well able to contemplate the characteristics of dharmas).
The ten bodies fall into pairs: not of the destinies and of the destinies (one extinguishing the world, one born in the world), unborn and unceasing, unreal and unfalse, unshifting and indestructible, of a single characteristic and signless. Each pair has one side negating and one side disclosing. Look especially at “the unreal body, because he has attained what is as it truly is” — precisely because he has attained what is as it truly is, his body is said to be unreal; this is the reverse of the ordinary understanding.
Then come the ten similes. A dwelling for all beings (because he nurtures good roots), a rescue (because they gain great peace and ease), a refuge (because he serves as a great place of support), a guide (because they gain unsurpassed escape), a teacher (because they enter the real Dharma), a lamp (because they see clearly the retribution of deeds), a light (because they illumine the most profound and marvellous Dharma), a torch for all the three times (because they understand the real Dharma), an illumination for all worlds (because they enter the ground of light), a beacon for all destinies (because he manifests the freedom of the Tathāgata). The first seven are said with respect to “all beings”, while the last three change the object — the three times, the world, the destinies. From the person to time to place, the scope opens out layer by layer.
Where it comes home: the power of the practice of good dharmas lies not in what it can subdue but in its being something people can rely on. The closing sentence: “Sons of the Buddha! This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s ninth practice, that of good dharmas.”
Practice ten, the real: what he can say, he can do
Under the heading sentence of the tenth practice comes “this bodhisattva accomplishes foremost truthful speech: as he speaks he is able to do, and as he does he is able to speak”. Chengguan pairs it with the perfection of knowledge and says: if taken in terms of the two wisdoms — enjoying the delight of Dharma and ripening sentient beings — both are “as he practises he can speak, as he speaks he can practise”.
First look at those eight graphs. “As he speaks he is able to do, as he does he is able to speak” — what he has said he can do, and what he has done he can say. The two clauses are two faces of one thing: the first guards against empty words, the second against cultivating with one’s head down and being unable to say it clearly. The “real” of the practice of the real has here its first sense: between word and deed there is no seam.
Then come four samenesses with the buddhas of the three times. He learns the true speech of the buddhas of the three times, enters the lineage of the buddhas of the three times, is equal to the good roots of the buddhas of the three times, and obtains the non-dual speech of the buddhas of the three times. Speech, lineage, good roots, speech — the four are linked one to the next, and in the end it returns to “speech”.
Then come the ten wisdoms. The wisdom that knows what is and is not the case for beings, the wisdom of the retribution of deeds past, future, and present, the wisdom of whether the faculties are keen or dull, the wisdom of the various elements, the wisdom of the various understandings, the wisdom of the paths leading to all destinations, the wisdom of the meditations, liberations, and samādhis and their defilement and purity and whether the time for arising is right or not, the wisdom of recollecting former abodes in all worlds, the wisdom of the divine eye, and the wisdom of the exhaustion of the outflows. These are the wisdoms of the Tathāgata’s ten powers. The sūtra immediately adds a clause: “and yet he does not forsake any bodhisattva practice.” Having obtained the wisdom of the Buddha’s ten powers he still does not forsake bodhisattva practice — this is the most important turn in the practice. Why so? “Because he wishes to transform all beings and cause them all to be pure.”
Then come the superior mind and six clauses of “I am”. “If I do not cause all beings to abide in the unsurpassed path of liberation, and yet I myself first accomplish unsurpassed perfect awakening, then I would go against my original vow, and this would not be right.” — First cause all beings to gain unsurpassed awakening and nirvāṇa without remainder, and only then become a buddha. The weightiest sentence is the reason: “It is not that beings invited me to give rise to the aspiration; it is that I of myself act as an uninvited friend to beings.”
Then six declarations about himself: I am supremely excellent (because I cling to nothing in any world); I am supreme (because I abide in the unsurpassed ground of the tamer); I am free of the film over the eye (because I understand that beings are without bound); I am one whose work is done (because my original vow is accomplished); I am one who transforms well (because of the adornment of bodhisattva merit); I am a good support (because I am gathered in by the buddhas of the three times). All six are declarations about himself, and yet each is tied to a “because” — this is not self-aggrandizement but the stating of grounds. Clear away a misunderstanding: this is not conceit. The same bodhisattva has just said that he does not seek “so much as a single thread or hair, or a single word of praise”.
Then comes the freedom of the body. Thought after thought he travels throughout the worlds of the ten directions; thought after thought he goes to buddha-lands beyond speech beyond speech; thought after thought he sees buddhas beyond speech beyond speech and the pure lands they have adorned. And “within his body he manifests all lands, all beings, all dharmas, and all buddhas” — lands manifested within the body: this is the characteristic language of this sūtra.
There are also four similes: he contemplates that bodhisattvas are like an illusion, that all dharmas are like a conjuration, that a buddha’s appearing in the world is like a shadow, and that all worlds are like a dream. They run with the five similes of the seventh practice while pairing differently, and may be read against them.
This practice closes at the high point of the whole chapter. “Because beings all cling to duality, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in great compassion and cultivates such a quiescent dharma; he obtains the Buddha’s ten powers, enters the Dharma realm of Indra’s net, accomplishes the Tathāgata’s unobstructed liberation and the great lion’s roar of the valiant one among humans” — the Dharma realm of Indra’s net is that net of jewels in the palace of Śakra, where one jewel manifests all jewels and all jewels enter one jewel. Chengguan cites this very sentence of the chapter, and does so in order to attest that “one practice gathers in all practices, one station gathers in all stations”.
That is to say: when the ten practices reach the tenth, what is finally given is not a tenth thing but the structure by which the ten practices have all along gathered one another in. The “real” of the tenth practice is real to the point of taking the first nine practices back into itself.
Further on: he obtains fearlessness and can turn the unobstructed and pure wheel of Dharma; obtains liberation through wisdom and knows the objective realms of all worlds; cuts off the returning current of birth-and-death and enters the great ocean of wisdom; for the sake of all beings upholds the true Dharma of the buddhas of the three times and reaches the very source of the real character in the ocean of all the Buddha’s Dharma. The last sentence returns to persons: any who draw near to him — gods, humans, demons, Brahmās, śramaṇas, brahmins, gandharvas, asuras and the rest — “he causes to awaken, to be joyful and pure”. The closing sentence: “This is called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s tenth practice, that of the real.”
The part of manifest attestation: heaven and earth bear witness
The ten practices spoken, the sūtra does not draw to a close but first writes the auspicious signs: by the Buddha’s spiritual power, worlds as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land in each of the ten directions quake in six ways — quaking, quaking throughout, quaking throughout equally; rising, rising throughout, rising throughout equally; surging, surging throughout, surging throughout equally; shaking, shaking throughout, shaking throughout equally; roaring, roaring throughout, roaring throughout equally; striking, striking throughout, striking throughout equally. Six names each in three, eighteen aspects in all. Then the heavens rain marvellous flowers, heavenly incense, heavenly powdered incense, heavenly garlands, heavenly garments, heavenly treasures, and heavenly adornments; heavenly music is played and heavenly light sent forth. A last sentence concludes: “Just as in the palace of the Yāma Heaven of this world, where the spiritual transformations appeared as the dharma of the ten practices was expounded, so it is in the worlds of the ten directions as well.”
Chengguan names this part “the part of manifest attestation”, Zhiyan on the sixty-fascicle side calls it “the part of benefit”, and Li Tongxuan divides it into three segments: the quaking of the earth and the raising of offerings, the conclusion that the ten directions are all alike, and the coming of the bodhisattvas of the ten directions to bear witness. The three masters name it differently, and what they point to is one and the same passage.
Why must the earth quake when the exposition is finished? Because the dharma of the ten practices cannot be attested by a person alone, and the movement of heaven and earth is the outward attestation. Where it comes home: this passage reminds the reader that the ten sections above are not ten pieces of argument but something that, when spoken, shakes the world.
The part of attestation accomplished: those who come to bear witness are bodhisattvas, not buddhas
Next comes the passage most easily misread in the structure of speakers in this chapter.
Beyond worlds as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions, there are bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands who come together to this land, filling the ten directions, and say to the bodhisattva Merit Grove: “Son of the Buddha! Good indeed! Good indeed! You are well able to expound the practices of the bodhisattvas. We are all of one and the same name, Merit Grove; the worlds where we dwell are all named Banner of Merit; and the tathāgatas of those lands are all of one and the same name, Universal Merit.”
The distinction must be kept clear: those who appear at the head of the chapter, exhorting him, conferring wisdom, and stroking his crown, are the buddhas of the ten directions all named Merit Grove; those who come at the end to bear witness when the exposition is finished are the bodhisattvas of the ten directions all named Merit Grove — the sūtra says plainly “there were bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands who came together … and said to the bodhisattva Merit Grove”. Though head and tail alike are “of the same name”, one is buddhas and one is bodhisattvas, and they must not be confounded. Moreover, from beginning to end this chapter has no question and answer: Merit Grove, sustained by the Buddha’s power, expounds throughout by himself, and the bodhisattvas of the ten directions only come to bear witness; they ask nothing.
Zhiyan distinguishes this point most clearly: it is precisely because of this text of the bodhisattvas of the ten directions attesting that one knows the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the same name at the close of the assemblies all come in order to attest the meaning; whereas as to the gathering of those of the same name from the ten directions at the opening of an assembly, they “are merely the resonance that marks the bounds of the station; they are not yet attesting the Dharma” — the opening of the assembly marks the station, and only its close attests the Dharma. The two have different offices.
Li Tongxuan reads it figuratively: that the bodhisattvas of the ten directions are all named Merit Grove figures that the ten practices pervade everywhere; that the buddhas of those lands are named Universal Merit figures that the pervading of the ten practices is the pervading of merit — merit being the fruit drawn forth by the pervading of practice.
There is one more sentence that must not be passed over: “Where our buddhas are, we too expound this Dharma; the assemblies and their retinues, the words and the meanings, are likewise the same, without increase or decrease.” What they expound where their own buddhas are is this same text, with not a word added or taken away, in wording and in meaning. This is the fixed form of this sūtra’s “the ten directions expound alike”, and it is also where “one station gathers in all stations” comes to rest in the sphere of phenomena.
The outline of the repeated verses: how the one hundred and one verses are paired
Merit Grove, sustained by the Buddha’s spiritual power, contemplates everywhere all the assemblies of the ten directions and reaches to the Dharma realm, and speaks one hundred and one verses. Before the verses, the sūtra first lists nine clauses of “in order that … ”: in order that the lineage of the buddhas should not be cut off, that the lineage of the bodhisattvas should be pure, that the lineage of vows should not turn back, that the lineage of practice should continue constantly, that the lineage of the three times should be wholly even; in order to gather in the lineage of all buddhas of the three times; in order to open out and expound the good roots that have been planted; in order to contemplate all the faculties, desires and understandings, afflictions, habitual tendencies, and doings of mental conduct; in order to illumine the awakening of all buddhas. Chengguan outlines this passage as “the manner and intent of speaking the verses”, and judges the intent to have “nine clauses, the first general and the rest particular”.
Five of the nine clauses speak of “lineage” — the lineage of the buddhas, of the bodhisattvas, of vows, of practice, and of the three times. The reason the repeated verses must be spoken is that the lineage should not be cut off. Zhiyan sets a good question here: what is the difference between the buddha-lineage and the bodhisattva-lineage? He answers himself: for a bodhisattva at the causal station, what is accomplished by way of a buddha is the buddha-nature; what is accomplished by the bodhisattva himself is the bodhisattva-nature.
The outline of the verses. Chengguan, following the eighty-fascicle text, judges: “There are one hundred and one verses in all, broadly divided into three: the first one verse expresses homage in general; the next ninety-six verses properly restate the preceding text; the third, four verses, close with praise of its depth and breadth.” Checked graph by graph against the base text: the verses actually count two hundred and two lines, two lines to a verse, making exactly one hundred and one verses; the first verse is “with one mind I reverently bow to the honoured one of the ten powers”, and the last four verses, from “in order that beings may come forth from the world” onward, are precisely the closing praise. Li Tongxuan, following the same text, judges “two hundred and two lines of verse, two lines to a verse”, which agrees with Chengguan.
Zhiyan, following the sixty-fascicle text, judges instead one hundred and twelve verses, divided in three: the seven-graph verse of general praise, the particular praise, and the last four lines concluding the great intent as a whole. Fazang, following the sixty-fascicle text, pairs section by section with the stations, as with “sixteen verses restate the foregoing practice of the real”, “nine verses restate the foregoing virtue of the fullness of cause”, “fifteen verses restate the foregoing virtues of the buddha-fruit”, and finally “third, four verses conclude the ten practices as a whole”. The witnesses the four masters follow are different, and so the numbers they judge naturally differ; the verses of the sixty-fascicle text are in five graphs while those of the eighty-fascicle text are in seven, so that the numbers of lines cannot be compared at all. Anciently there are these four accounts; they are recorded, without judging higher and lower.
What the ninety-six verses in the middle restate. A corner of it can be seen from the outline-words Chengguan leaves at the end of the verses: “Sixth, the two verses from ‘a single light’ onward restate that the benefiting of things is not in vain” — that is, the two verses following the verse “a single light touches without any limit” restate the benefiting of beings that is not passed in vain; and earlier he judges eighteen verses to restate “learning the true speech of the buddhas of the three times and obtaining the Buddha’s ten powers and the rest”, that is, restating the content of the tenth practice, that of the real. It can be seen that these ninety-six verses in the middle restate section by section following the order of the ten practices, and only at the last gather into the closing praise.
A few verses worth looking at singly. The first verse is the homage: “With one mind I reverently bow to the world-honoured one of the ten powers, who is stainless and pure, who sees all without obstruction, whose objective realm is deep and far and has no peer, who abides in the path that is like space.” — The object of homage is nothing else than the one who “abides in the path that is like space”, answering to the clause of the part of the root, “equal to the Dharma realm and the realm of space”.
The eighteenth verse is “the dāna-pāramitā already fulfilled, adorned with the marks and signs of a hundred merits” — the only place in the whole sūtra text of the chapter where a perfection is named individually, and it falls at the place of the verse restating the first practice; as said above, it is the internal attestation for pairing the ten practices with the ten perfections.
The fifty-fourth verse, “the measureless, boundless lands he causes all to enter together into a single mote of dust, able to contain them everywhere without obstruction”, and the forty-fourth verse, “in the space of a single hair’s tip he sees the buddhas, their number measureless and beyond speech, and so it is throughout the whole Dharma realm” — these two verses are this chapter’s verse-form of this sūtra’s sense that small and great are unobstructed, running with the passage on the hair’s tip measuring the Dharma realm in the seventh practice of the prose.
The four verses from the ninety-eighth on are the closing praise. Its way of closing is peculiar: first it asks itself, “this practice is vast and without bound — how could there be one able to know it?”; then it says that suppose bodies divided as many as the Dharma realm and space together extolled it, through a hundred thousand myriad kalpas they could not exhaust it; then it says that suppose measureless, boundless buddhas, through measureless kalpas, could not finish speaking it; and only then comes that rhetorical question: “How much less the gods and humans of the world, and all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas — could they, through measureless, boundless kalpas, praise and extol it and reach the end?”
All the way, those able to praise are pushed from “divided bodies” to “the buddhas” and then dropped back to ‘gods and humans and the two vehicles’, higher and higher on one side, lower and lower on the other, and there is only one conclusion: it cannot be finished. The whole chapter closes with this — the ten practices are not ten things that can be finished in the telling.
Lineage
The sense of this chapter was carried on by four later tracks, all recorded without adjudication.
The line of Chengguan: it outlines this chapter by four gates (the reason for its coming, the explanation of the name, the tenet and purport, the explanation of the text) and seven parts (samādhi, empowerment, arising, root, exposition, manifest attestation, repeated verses); it glosses practice as “to follow conditions and accord with principle, making and cultivating”, explains the number ten as “lodged in the round figure of ten as a means of setting them forth”, and records the two variant names, the ten stillnesses of the Renwang and the long nurturing of the Fanwang; in distinguishing the substance of practice in the part of the root it sets up four layers (what is depended upon, what is contemplated, that which contemplates, the aspect of the teaching), takes the ten perfections as the particular substance of the ten practices, pairs each practice with the ten perfections of giving, morality, forbearance, vigour, meditation, wisdom, skillful means, vows, powers, and knowledge, and sets up the general rule “explaining the names in terms of the ten perfections, each perfection has three”; at “practice is inconceivable” it sets up the judgement of the two Dharma realms of phenomena and principle, and adds a further layer, “when negation and fusion are not two … only then is it called truly inconceivable”; in the part of empowerment it singles out teacherless wisdom as the wisdom of original awakening and judges it absent from the assemblies before and after; and for the repeated verses it judges the one hundred and one verses as one of homage, ninety-six of restatement, and four of closing praise.
The line of Fazang: on the sixty-fascicle text’s “The Ten Practices of the Bodhisattva Gathering of Merit-Flowers”, it explains the title by “virtue is the substance of practice, flower is the function of practice, gathering is the aspect of practice”, judging it a possessive compound together with a dependent-determinative naming, and treating person and dharma in the title; for tenet and purport it sets up three gates, the first gathering ten senses under the dharma of provisional placement in the three vehicles (the station of the perfection of cause, the second asaṃkhyeya of the practice of vigour, the samādhi-practice of breaking the vessel of space, the revealing-cause seed of the virtue of bliss, the third person of the ten practices, the second station of the wisdom of reflection, the forbearance of practice, the nature-lineage, the sustaining of the skillful means of practice, and the subduing and removing of the śrāvaka’s dread of suffering), noting the sources of each (the Liang Shelun, the Benye jing, the Yuqie and the Dichi); it further divides general practices from specific practices, judging that what this chapter clarifies is the specific and not the general, the cause and not the fruit; and its third gate clarifies the Samantabhadra practice in terms of the perfect teaching, judging that these ten practices fully gather the practices of all the stations before and after. Its pairing of the repeated verses with the stations is set up on the sixty-fascicle text, and its numbers naturally differ from those Chengguan judges on the eighty-fascicle text.
The line of Li Tongxuan: it uses no seven parts but sets up a long outline in fourteen segments, saying for itself “since the sūtra itself has its own divisions, there is no need to trouble over outlining the text”; it tells day from night by the opening and closing of the lotuses of the Yāma Heaven, whence the name heaven of time-divisions, and so explains why this chapter is spoken in this heaven; it figures that practice is unattached by the ten abodes resting on the summit of Sumeru and the ten practices resting on space; it takes the bodhisattvas of the ten directions named Merit Grove as figuring that the ten practices pervade everywhere, and the buddhas named Universal Merit as figuring that merit pervades everywhere; on sequence it delivers a hard judgement — “the ten practices are altogether a gateway of practice of one time and one thought, without before and after; do not form the view of before and after, of extension and contraction”; and it glosses “reaching to the Dharma realm”, that to reach is to extend to. This track is chiefly one of figurative reading, running differently from the track of outlining through the words; anciently there is this account, and it is recorded.
The line of Zhiyan: on the sixty-fascicle text it sets up five gates (the explanation of the name together with the reason for its coming, what is counteracted, what is obtained, what is accomplished, the explanation of the text), judging what is counteracted to be “for the final teaching of the three vehicles, the obstruction of the śrāvaka’s dread of suffering”, what is obtained to be “the general practices, concentration, and the good roots of forbearance”, and what is accomplished to be the station of the ten practices; it outlines seven parts, of which the sixth is named the part of benefit and the seventh the verses; at the empowerment by mind it sets up questions and answers to distinguish why the sixty-fascicle text confers dharma while the preceding assembly conferred wisdom, answering that “dharma is born from wisdom, and so it is what directly accomplishes practice”; at the part of manifest attestation it distinguishes the differing offices of those of the same name at the opening and at the close of the assembly — the opening is resonance marking the station, and only the close attests the Dharma; it counts one hundred and twelve verses and divides them in three; and it adds at the end the clause “these manifold virtues are all fully present in each of the ten practice-stations above”.
The four masters differ among themselves in the numbers of the divisions, the numbers of the verses, and the sense of the sequence; all are the settled statements of the ancient worthies, and are recorded, without judging higher and lower.
The parallel translations: the corresponding passage of the sixty-fascicle Avataṃsaka is “The Ten Practices of the Bodhisattva Gathering of Merit-Flowers, Chapter Seventeen”; three of the ten names differ entirely from the eighty-fascicle text — the third reads “the practice without anger and hatred”, the fourth “the inexhaustible practice”, the eighth “the practice of reverence”; the name of the concentration is “the samādhi of good subduing” in the sixty-fascicle text and “the samādhi of good reflection” in the eighty; and what is conferred in the empowerment by mind is eleven kinds of wisdom in the eighty-fascicle text and ten dharmas in the sixty. Further, the eighty-fascicle text has, in the first practice, that of joy, the text of begging for the flesh of the body and of the cut flesh not being exhausted, whereas the sixty-fascicle text in this passage says only that he meets what they need and satisfies them all, and has no words of giving the flesh of the body. The two witnesses differ both in fullness and in names; the choice among witnesses belongs to Shi Huijing, and here it is recorded without adjudication.
The works that give this school its guiding outlines: the Huayan jing kongmu zhang sets up a chapter on the ten perfections at the head of its treatment of the Merit-Flower chapter, judging outright that “the ten perfections: these are the dharma of the ten practices”, running with Chengguan’s explaining of the names in terms of the ten perfections; and in three places it clarifies that “the fourth assembly expounds the ten practices”. The Huayan jing zhigui matches the assembly-places with “in Trāyastriṃśa the dharma of the ten abodes is expounded; in the Yāma Heaven and such places the ten practices and the rest are expounded”. The Huayan yisheng jiaoyi fenqi zhang and the Shixuan men in several places list “the ten faiths, the ten understandings, the ten practices, the ten dedications” as a sequence of stations. All of these list names for the comparison of teachings and are not commentary on the sūtra text of this chapter; they too are recorded without adjudication.
Beyond this chapter, the practice and station of the ten practices carry on from the standing firm of “The Ten Abodes” and lead into the storing up of “The Ten Inexhaustible Treasuries” — abiding is not falling back, practice is moving, and the treasuries are the inexhaustibility of what is stored. And the phrase of the tenth practice, that of the real, in this chapter, “entering the Dharma realm of Indra’s net”, has its sense expounded at length in “The Ten Grounds” and in the account of the ten mysteries of this school; this chapter gives that scriptural ground first, within the section on practice-stations, and what follows is able to take it up.