|
上人：這我知道兩個時候了。
恆靜：有一個穿衣服的時候？
上人：你講你那十個時候，不要講我的，我這是大老粗。
恆靜：第一是一念，這個是《華嚴經》說的時候。《華嚴經》是什麼時候說的？可以說是在一念說的，怎麼在一念說呢？因為這個一念它本來就是沒有一個性，它沒
有一個性、一個體，它是空的。它既然空了，什麼都可以裝得進去，什麼都可以放在它裡邊。這個一念心就是包括十方三世一切世界、一切時間，所以可以說這個
《華嚴經》是在一念心說的，這是佛用一念心這麼樣說《華嚴經》。所以這個《華嚴經》雖然講了這麼多會、這麼多地方，就是在一念裡邊說的。
又可以說這個《華嚴經》是佛在菩提樹下，在道場裡邊「始成正覺」後，他在那兒坐三個禮拜。第一個禮拜，七天，他沒有說什麼，他就是受大法樂，他已得到無上菩提，他什麼都沒說，他就是受這個法樂。第二個禮拜和第三個禮拜，他沒有離開他那個坐的地方，不過在那個時候，他是以法身來說《華嚴經》。所以可以說「爾時」這一段經文，不是說哪一天。
可是你可以說是在十二月十五到十二月二十九那個時候。因為佛十二月初八
成道，第一個禮拜沒有講，十二月十五到十二月二十九是講《華嚴經》，所以十二月二十九就是華嚴菩薩誕。
這個「時」這一個字，又有一個講法。可以說是三際––過去、現在、未
來。過去的時候，佛也是說《華嚴經》，前邊講這個因緣說：「法爾」。法爾就是一切佛在以前也是這麼樣說《華嚴經》，所以這是講過去。現在呢？現在就是佛
「始成正覺」，當時在那兒坐，講《華嚴經》。未來，就是因為每一位佛一成佛的時候先講《華嚴經》。所以過去佛都說《華嚴經》，現在的佛也一樣說《華嚴
經》，將來一切諸佛也是講《華嚴經》。
單單說這個三世––過去、現在、未來，這還是一個大概的意思；這三世也
可以打開，這一個門又可以成十個門。在《華嚴經》裡所有這些個法門，都是可以一個成十個，十個的每一個再成十個，所以有一個、十個、百個、千個、萬個、萬
萬、無量無邊。可是這個三際––過去、現在、未來，也可以打開十個，也可以說過去過去、過去的現在和過去的未來，乃至未來的未來算九個。過去過去、過去現
在、過去未來、現在過去、現在現在、現在未來，乃至未來未來，是算九個，第十個是可以把這前九個都合而為一，都作一個時候。所以這十個門、這十世又是講三
世過去、現在、未來，又是講十世。你如果要深深研究這十的問題，這十個每一個又可以生出無量無邊，那是第三。
第四叫攝同類劫，什麼叫同類劫？同類劫就是和異類劫不同，所以現在要講
什麼叫同、什麼叫異，還有這個劫的關係。這可以用和現在的時間有關係、很摩登的一個比喻，我們現在在這兒有一個錄音機，這個錄音機轉這個法輪，有一個慢
的，有一個很快的。有一個是一秒鐘，它過了一吋錄音帶，那是一種劫；又有另外一個是在一秒鐘，它過了三吋錄音帶；還有一個在一秒鐘，它過了七吋錄音帶。這
三個都是不同的，譬如你用一吋錄下來，我們現在錄這些個講演是用一吋錄下來，你用一吋的，它的音質清楚；可是如果用三吋的，聽得不清楚，這個聲音變成好像
小鳥的聲音一樣，你不知道它講什麼，這兩個是異類劫。
所謂的同類劫，同類就是譬如某一個用一吋這麼快的錄音帶錄這個講演，有
好多其他的講演也都是用這一類的，就是一吋的錄下來，這是講同類。所以在同類劫說《華嚴經》，就是說他在每一個一樣的劫，譬如我們在這個佛堂裡邊，我們現
在有一個錄音帶，就是用一吋錄下來。上邊，現在在圖書館，有其他的錄音帶也是用一吋錄下來，那兩個都是同類；可是有的是用三吋錄下來，這是異類。所以這是
一個很簡單的譬喻，這是講同類和異類。所以第四種時候就是攝同類劫。
第五就是叫攝異類劫，異就是不同的。在攝同類劫的時候，譬如都用一吋的
速度才可以聽，其他速度就聽不清楚；在攝異類劫是說雖然有的是一吋那麼快，有的是三吋那麼快，有的是七吋那麼快，可是都一樣可以聽得懂，這不同的都攝在一
起。所以佛在幾種的劫來講《華嚴經》，雖然每一個地方這個時間的關係，種類是不同，這種的劫是不同，可是都會聽這個《華嚴經》。
第六是叫一念為劫，這一念是念頭的念。這是說一個念頭、一個念是很短的
時間，可是在這種時間，這個念打開，它就變成一個劫，這個是大能入小。劫本來是大，念本來是小，這個大能入這個小，而沒有什麼不入的地方。所以一念打開變
成一個大劫，不但一個大劫，又是可以變所有的同類大劫，也可以變異類大劫，就是沒有一樣不包含。
第七種的時間叫念劫重收，就是它們兩個，佛也是在一念一念裡邊講說《華
嚴經》，可是他雖然在每一個念頭裡邊講《華嚴經》，這個不妨礙他同時在每一個大劫、每一個劫裡邊還講《華嚴經》，所以這個很短的和很長的都沒有什麼障礙，
也同時在大，同時在小。
第八叫異類界時，這個界不是方才講的劫，這是世界的界。每一個世界的時
間是不同的，這個還是可以用方才所講這三種錄音帶的關係，或者用現在的科學來講。你可以看在這個原子裡邊，裡邊有很多由種類分子組成的；你可以把一個分子
當作好像世界一樣。這個分子是生得很快，它成得也是很快，住得也是很快，成、住、壞、空都是或者在一秒鐘的千分之一這麼很短很短的時間。你拿人來講，這個
時間比較長一點，成、住、壞、空不是這麼快。你拿其他的世界來講更不同，各各地方、各各世界又有它自己的成、住、壞、空，它自己的因緣。所以每一個不同，
每一種世界有它自己的因緣，自己的情形；雖然每一個不同，佛還是同時在所有的世界講。所以講異類界的這種時間、這種時候，是說把所有不同世界的時間關係，
都做不差別的這種平等想，所以佛在這種的時間、時候，在每一個世界講《華嚴經》。
第九叫彼此相入，上邊講了這八種的時間、八種的時候，各各有它自己的
相，它自己的樣子，每一個是差別的，一個一個分開的。所有在上邊講的這些個時間，這種的劫都不相入，可是在這一種的時間，第九種時間是彼此相入。譬如在同
類劫，這個異類劫也可以入；在這個大的裡邊會有小的，小的裡邊會有大的；這個念還會包含劫，劫也會包含這個念。那麼上邊八種所有的不相等，能互相入，那是
第九。
第十種叫分時末，它也有另外一個名字說「以非劫為劫」。什麼叫以非劫為
劫？本來這個劫沒有一個劫，這個時間的關係，在實相來講根本沒有，這都是眾生的知見、眾生的因緣，在一個眾生的看法來看是這麼多種的劫。這可以說那個劫是
眾生的業、眾生的報，是這個依報，有的是在長劫，有的在短劫，每一個不同。可是在實相裡，這個根本沒有，譬如在華藏世界，華藏世界沒有這個劫的關係，根本
沒有這個劫，所以講五濁。五濁惡世第一濁就是講這個劫，你生一念心就是一念無明，第一個濁生出來就是這個劫濁。這個無明破了、沒有了，根本就沒有這麼一個
東西、一個劫。所以在第十門可以說是一種方便門，為什麼可以說是一種方便門呢？因為本來沒有一個劫，沒有什麼分別，譬如在華藏世界，或者以實相來講，沒有
什麼分別，可是你如果不用這個語言來講，我們這個世界的人就沒有法子明白，因為我們在這個世界就是以教化來明白道理。所以用這種的時間、這種的劫來方便地
講，本來不分開，就講它分開，這是大概地講這個時間。
如果你拿所有世界這十種的劫、十種的時間來看，每一個都能生無量無邊的
道理。不但能生無量無邊的道理，它所生的道理自己又可以開無量無邊。你拿所有所生出來的道理，乃至無量無邊、重重無盡都合起來講，這還不能說出《華嚴經》
的一句、一個字、一小部份那個道理。所以這個《華嚴經》是妙不可言，沒有法子說完的。
待續
|
|
Venerable Master:
I know those two times.
Heng Ching: And there’s a time for
putting on clothes?
Venerable Master: Talk about your
ten kinds of time, not mine. Mine are rough-and-ready ones.
Heng Ching: The first is “only one
thought.” This kind of time is the time when the Flower Adornment Sutra
was spoken. What time was the Flower Adornment Sutra spoken? You could
say it was spoken in a single instant of thought. How could it have
been spoken in a single thought? The reason is that a single thought in
its fundamental nature has no nature. It is without a nature or a
substance, being empty. Since it is empty, everything can fit inside.
That single thought can contain all world-systems of the ten directions
and the three periods of time, all times. Consequently one can say that
the Flower Adornment Sutra was spoken in a single thought. That is, the
Buddha used a single thought of the mind to speak the Flower Adornment
Sutra. Therefore, even though the Flower Adornment Sutra was spoken in
so many assemblies and locations, it was spoken in the interval of a
single thought.
One can also say that the Flower
Adornment Sutra was spoken by the Buddha in the Way-place under the
Bodhi tree when the Buddha had first accomplished proper Enlightenment.
He sat there for three weeks. During the first seven days—the first
week—he didn’t actually speak, but just experienced the great bliss of
Dharma. He had already attained unsurpassed Bodhi, and didn’t do
anything but experience that Dharma joy. During the second and third
weeks, he never left the place where he was sitting, and yet at that
time used the Dharma Body to speak the Flower Adornment Sutra. Hence we
could say that the phrase “at that time” in the Sutra text is not
specifying any particular time.
But you could say that it was the
time period from the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month until the
twenty-ninth day of the same month. That’s because the Buddha
accomplished the Way on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and
he didn’t speak during the first week; so he would have spoken the
Flower Adornment Sutra from the fifteenth
until the twenty-ninth of that month. Hence the twenty-ninth day of the
twelfth lunar month is the Anniversary of Flower Adornment Bodhisattva.
Another interpretation of time is
“pervading the three limits”: the past, the present, and the future. In
past time, the Buddha spoke the Flower Adornment Sutra. The section
before on the Causes and Conditions says, “The Dharma is that way.” The
Dharma being that way means all previous Buddhas spoke the Flower
Adornment Sutra in the same way. That’s the past. What about the
present? Right now Buddhas have first accomplished proper Enlightenment
and are seated speaking the Flower Adornment Sutra. Because each Buddha
upon accomplishing Buddhahood first speaks the Flower Adornment Sutra,
just as all the Buddhas of the past have spoken the Flower Adornment
Sutra and all present Buddhas are currently speaking the Flower
Adornment Sutra, so too all Buddhas of the future will also speak the
Flower Adornment Sutra.
Just talking about the three
periods of time—past, present and future—then is a very general
approach. That one approach can also unfold into ten approaches. All of
the Dharma-doors in the Flower Adornment Sutra are such that any one of
them can become ten, and any one of those ten can further become ten,
so that one becomes ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred
million, infinitely many. However, the three boundaries—past, present
and future—can in turn open out into ten. That means we can talk about
what was past for the past, what was the present for the past, and what
was the future for the past. Continuing on like that until one reaches
what will be the future for the future, there are nine. The past had
its own past, it had its own present, and it had its own future. The
present has its own past, its own present, and its own future. The
future will also have its own past, its own present, and its own
future. That amounts to nine. The tenth is to combine all the previous
nine into one time. Hence those ten doors, the ten periods of time, are
the interpretation of ten times based on the alternative interpretation
of three periods of time—past, present, and future. If you wish to
investigate these ten matters profoundly, each one can open up into
limitless and boundless amounts. That is the third.
The fourth is “gathering similar
kinds of kalpas.” What is meant by similar kinds of kalpas? They are
similar by contrast with different kinds of kalpas, and so we must
define similar and different, and how that relates to kalpas. We can
use a contemporary analogy. We have a tape-recorder here, and as the
tape-recorder turns the Dharma-wheel, it has a slow speed, an average
speed, and a fast speed—three speeds in all. In measuring the
inch-per-second (IPS) revolutions of the reel tape, the 1-7/8 IPS speed
is slow, the 3-3/4 IPS speed is faster, and the 7-1/2 IPS speed is the
fastest of all. Now we’re using the 1-7/8 setting to record, and the
sound will be clear if we replay at 1-7/8 as well. But if we play the
tape back with the 3-3/4 speed setting, it won’t sound clear. It will
resemble birds chirping, and we won’t understand what is being said.
That’s comparable to kalpas of different kinds.
Similar kinds of kalpas, then can
be likened to using the 1-7/8 speed to record every lecture, and a
great many other lectures also all using that same recording speed of
1-7/8 IPS.
So for the Flower Adornment Sutra
to be spoken in a way that gathers in kalpas of similar kinds means
that it happens simultaneously in each and every kalpa of the same
sort. For example, right now here in this Buddha hall we have a tape
recorded at 1-7/8 IPS, and upstairs in the library there are other
tapes which have been recorded at 1-7/8 IPS, so they are all of the
same kind. But some tapes have been recorded at 3-3/4 IPS, and hence
are a different kind. This is a very rudimentary analogy to explain
“similar kinds” and “different kinds,” the fourth time being, gathering
in kalpas of similar kinds.
The fifth time is, collecting
different kinds of kalpas. Time which gathers in similar kinds of
kalpas is comparable to needing the 1-7/8 IPS speed for intelligible
playback, whereas the speed won’t be clear using other settings. But
time which collects different kinds of kalpas is like being able to
understand the tape clearly no matter whether it was recorded at 1-7/8
IPS, 3-3/4 IPS, or 7-1/2 IPS. All the different types are collected
together. That is, when the Buddha speaks the Flower Adornment Sutra,
even though each location has its own type of time which differs from
that in other locations, and the kalpas are dissimilar, nonetheless in
all of them the Flower Adornment Sutra can be heard.
The sixth kind of time is “using a
thought to gather kalpas.” A single instant of thought is an extremely
short time interval. However, in this type of time, the interval of a
thought expands into a kalpa, an eon. In this case, the great can enter
the small. Basically, a kalpa is great, and a thought interval is tiny.
Nonetheless, the great can enter the small with nothing left outside.
That is how one instant of thought
expands to become a great eon—not only one; it can also expand into all
great eons of similar types, as well as all great eons of different
kinds. In other words, there is nothing that it fails to include.
The seventh kind of time is called
“kalpas and thoughts collected in layers.” The Buddha in every instant
of thought is speaking the Flower Adornment Sutra. And yet, even though
he speaks the Flower Adornment Sutra in each single thought, that does
not prevent him from simultaneously speaking the Flower Adornment Sutra
in every great kalpa. Hence there is no mutual exclusion between what
is very short and what is very long. It happens at the same time in
both the great and the small.
The eighth kind is called “time of
different kinds of realms.” The Chinese character used for
“kalpas/eons” before sounds like “time-spans” here. “Realms” means
“world-realms” or “world-systems.” The time-spans of different
world-systems differ. The previous analogy of recording at three
different speeds could also apply here. Or we could use an example from
present-day particle physics. An atom is composed of many sub-atomic
particles of various types.
Each sub-atomic particle could be
considered a world-system. The particles come into existence very
quickly, and their duration is also very brief. They might pass through
the process of coming into being, stasis, decay, and disappearance in a
thousandth of a second—that is, a minute interval of time. A human
being, by comparison, goes through the same process at a slower rate.
You will find even greater differences when considering other
world-systems. Each location or realm has its own rate of coming into
being, stasis, decay, and disappearance according to its own causes and
conditions—which is why each one is different. The conditioning factors
and situations differ for each world-system. But even though they
differ, nonetheless the Buddha is simulataneously speaking in all of
those world-systems. Therefore, when speaking during the time of
different kinds of realms, all the varying time-spans in the many
different world-systems are considered as being one sameness. Hence the
Buddha speaks the Flower Adornment Sutra in that kind of time within
each world-realm.
The ninth kind of time is called
“mutual entry of each into the others.” Each of the eight kinds of time
previously discussed had its own distinct characteristics and
independent existence. Those time-frames did not yet interpenetrate,
but here in the ninth time-frame, they do. For example, kalpas of
different kinds can enter into similar kinds of kalpas. The small can
exist inside the great while the great exists inside the small. One
thought can still contain eons at the same time as the eons are
containing single thought-intervals. Consequently, all the eight
discussed before, which are not the same as each other, can still go
into each other. That is the ninth.
The tenth is called “using the
root to collect the branch-tips,” another name for which is “using
non-kalpas as kalpas,” that is, non-time-frames as time-frames. What
does that mean? Fundamentally there are no time-frames, no durations of
time. From the vantage point of real-mark, there basically are no
considerations of time. All such things are due to the knowledge and
views of living beings, living beings’ causes and conditions. From the
view points of all the various types of living creatures, there seem to
be all those many kinds of time-durations. You could say that
time-frames are simply the retribution from living beings’ karma,
retribution in the form of their environment so that some are within
longer and some within shorter time-frames, all different. However, in
the actual sense, none of that exists. For instance, the world-systems
of the Flower Treasury have no considerations of time-durations. There
are no time-divisions. Therefore, in the evil world of the five
turbidities, the first turbidity is that of kalpas or time-divisions.
That is, the first thought arising from the mind is the first thought
of ignorance, and the first turbidity that arises is the turbidity of
time-divisions. But when ignorance is broken through, none of that
exists. Fundamentally there is no such thing as a time-division. Hence
you could say that the tenth door is the door of expedients.
Why? It’s because basically there
are no time-divisions, no discriminations. For example, in the
world-systems of the Flower Treasury, or from the vantage point of
real-mark, there are no distinctions. However, if you don’t use
language to discuss this, the people of this world have no way to
understand. That’s because in this world, teaching and transforming are
done through words, which lead to the understanding of principle. Hence
one speaks expediently of those kinds of time-divisions. Whereas
fundamentally there are no such distinctions, one nonetheless
distinguishes them.
That is an overall explanation of
the times. If you looked into all those ten kinds of time-divisions in
all world-systems, each one would in turn open up into infinitely many
principles. Not only that, but each principle thus produced would in
its own turn produce infinite amounts. But even if you were to discuss
all the limitless, boundless, infinitely replicating, endlessly many
principles, that would still not fully express even a minute fraction
of a single phrase or a single word within the Flower Adornment Sutra.
Hence the Flower Adornment Sutra is inexpressibly and indescribably
wonderful. There is no way to discuss it completely.
To be continue
|
