Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
[Kihwa] [HPC 7.131a10]
The word samanta means "universally extending." Bhadra means "great virtue." The word samantabhadra means to extend great compassion such that no type of sentient being is not improved, and to practice myriads of practices such that no virtue is not perfected.
Why does Samantabhadra ask the Buddha another question after Manju`sri? Manju`sri emphasizes the aspect of faith, while Samantabhadra emphasizes the aspect of practice. Since Manju`sri emphasizes the aspect of faith, he asked the Buddha to reveal the dharma-practice of the causal stage, first causing everyone to awaken pure Perfect Enlightenment. Since Samantabhadra emphasizes the aspect of practice, he asks the Buddha to teach the stages of practice and make everyone begin their practice relying on their awakening.
In a lamp, oil and flame are both necessary. In a person, eyes and legs both help each other. If the flame lacks oil, it will certainly go out. If legs cannot be guided by eyes, one's advance will certainly be halted. The flame, depending on the oil, gets brighter without going out. The legs, depending on the eyes, can further advance without having to stop. The relationship of practice to understanding is just like that of oil and flame. The relationship of understanding to practice is just like that of the eyes to the legs. An understanding that does not have practice is empty. A practice that does not have understanding will be obstructed. Therefore, if you desire to practice, you must first activate your understanding. If you have activated your understanding then you must begin to practice. It is for this reason that Manju`sri first awakens pure Perfect Enlightenment. Samantabhadra then, will cause the listeners to rely on their awakening and begin to practice. My verse:
Right understanding already accomplished, you must begin to practice.
Therefore Samantabhadra asks for the method.
When freedom from illusion is complete, there is nothing to be free from.
Nothing that one can be free from--this is the true eternal!
Samantabhadra's Questions on the Possibility of Practice
[Sutra (#15)] [T 842.17.9c23; HPC 7.131b5]
▼Then Samantabhadra Bodhisattva rose from his seat in the great assembly. He bowed to the Buddha's feet and circumambulated him three times to the right. He knelt down with his hands clasped, and said to the Buddha:
"Greatly Compassionate World-Honored One. I would like to ask for all the bodhisattvas at this assembly, and for sentient beings of the degenerate age who are practicing Mahaayaana: let them hear this teaching of the pure realm of perfect enlightenment. How should we practice?"
[Kihwa] [HPC 7.131b10]
Between the two phrases "practicing Mahaayaana" and "hear this teaching of perfect enlightenment" there is probably a line missing, saying "reveal the expedient stages of practice." The text should read:
"Greatly Compassionate World-Honored One. I would like to ask for all the bodhisattvas at this assembly and for the sentient beings of the degenerate age who are practicing Mahaayaana: Please reveal the expedient stages of practice and let them hear of this pure realm of perfect enlightenment. How should we practice?"
This means that since they have been able to awaken pure Perfect Enlightenment they must also initiate practice. If they want to initiate practice, upon what kind of expedient means of gradual practice should they depend?
[Sutra (#16)] [T 842.17.913c26; HPC 7.131b17]
World-Honored One, if these sentient beings know about "illusion," and that body and mind are also illusion, how can they remedy illusion using illusion?
[Kihwa] [HPC 7.131b19]
The myriad practices of the bodhisattvas depend upon body and mind. In the realization of the myriad practices, wisdom is the cutting edge. But the sutra has already said: "This awareness is just like empty space. Yet since the knowledge that it is like empty space is none other than the appearance of sky-flowers . . . " This being the case, then the wisdom that guides practice is illusory and not real. Again, the sutra has said: ". . . know that these are 'sky-flowers,' which is the same as knowing that there is no transmigration, and that there is no body/mind to undergo life-and-death." This being the case, the realm of practice is also illusory and not real. Since subjective and objective practice are both totally illusory, then in the one body of "(subjective) illusion and (objective) illusion" there is no place from which to practice. Where does the so-called practice have its referent?
[Sutra (#17)] [T 842.17.913c28; HPC 7.131c3]
If all illusory natures are completely annihilated, then there is no mind. Who is going to carry out the practice? Moreover, [based on this,] how can you teach the practice of "illusion?"
[Kihwa] [HPC 7.131c5]
It has already been said that all views of body and mind are illusion. Therefore illusion is empty without substance and also returns to extinction. If this is the case then there is no one who is able to practice. Who can carry out the myriad practices? It has already been said that all illusory practices are also to be called illusion. Yet the fact that practice leads to Buddhahood is well established. So how can we say practice is "illusory"?
[Sutra (#18)] [T 842.17.913c29; HPC 7.131c10]
If all sentient beings originally do not practice, then they will remain forever trapped within the illusion of life and death. Not having penetrated the realm of the illusory, how will they liberate the mind that is trapped in false conceptualization?
[Kihwa] [HPC 7.131c13]
If you say that practice is illusory, and fundamentally lacks any principle, then the present sentient beings will remain in illusion forever without ever completely realizing the "illusory realm," and their falsely conceptualizing floating mind will haphazardly arise and cease. If they do not remedy their illusory conceptualization, how can they be liberated?
[Sutra (#19)] [T 842.17.914a2; HPC 7.131c17]
I implore you on behalf of all sentient beings of the degenerate age: what kind of expedient means of gradual practice should we introduce to cause sentient beings to be permanently free from all illusions?
[Kihwa] [HPC 7.131c19]
There is probably text missing both before and after the phrase "all sentient beings of the degenerate age." Before, it should say: "all the bodhisattvas at this assembly," and "as well as for" After, it should say "teach the gradual expedient means of practice." Thus, the text should read like this:
I implore you on behalf of all the bodhisattvas at this assembly, as well as for all sentient beings of the degenerate age, to teach the gradual practice of expedient means: what kind of expedient means of gradual practice should we introduce to cause sentient beings to be permanently free from all illusions?
Starting from the top, the question points out three problems:
1) If subjective and objective illusion form one body, is there no standpoint from which to initiate practice?
2) Even though the Buddha has said everything is illusory, can practice be said to be in vain?
3) Even though the Buddha has said that practice is originally empty and fundamentally lacks any principle, the present sentient beings have fallen into false views and are bound up in their false conceptualization. If they do not practice, how can they be liberated?
Having finished these questions, Samantabhadra makes a request which we may paraphrase, saying: "If we desire to reach Buddhahood, we must first be freed from false conceptualization; if we desire to be free from false conceptualization, we must provisionally practice; if it is necessary to practice, we must know the stages. The Buddha has already revealed the perfectly enlightened pure realm, universally causing us to awaken and enter, and has made practice the basis. I hope that he will also teach the stages of practice to cause the multitude at this assembly, as well as all the sentient beings of the degenerate age to be free from false conceptualization and be able to reach realization."
[Translator's note: "Provisional explanation," or " expedient means," is a vitally important aspect of the Buddhist teaching, which is directly related to the concept of "two truths." The real or "absolute" Buddhist teaching is the immediate apprehension of the true nature of existence, which has no duality, is perfect in itself and inconceivable. The content of the Chapter of Manju`sri is emblematic of this kind of teaching. But the fact is, as Samantabhadra states here, that almost all sentient beings are completely bound in their illusory perceptions and conceptions, and when they hear the "truth," it goes over their heads, and makes no sense. Therefore the Buddha, adapting to the various capacities of his followers, provisionally gives them a teaching that they can grasp, which includes physical and mental techniques that purify body and mind. But since these methods are provisional, and practitioners are apt to hold to them as "reality," in this sutra and others like it, the Buddha will often undermine the substantiality of the provisional teaching soon after giving it.]