Teaching of Vimalakirti Sutra; Pure Mind; Deliver Living Beings; Purify Buddha-land; Bhikkhu Huimin; Shih, Huimin; 釋惠敏; 維摩詰經; 心淨; 成就眾生; 淨佛國土
摘要
There is a very close relation between the concept that "To the Extent that the Mind of a Bodhisattva is Pure is his Buddha-land Purified" in The Teaching of Vimalakirti sutra, the thought of Mind-only Pure Land，and "Earthly" Pure Land. How have Chinese commentators interpreted this statement? How did this statement become established? What，concretely，is Pure land practice? How should the stages and steps in this progress be treated? How is this related to "The mind is pure; therefore，living beings are pure"? May we take this statement as evidence that The Teaching of Vimalakirti asserts "mind-only"? How should the "pure mind" be interpreted? This essay examines and compares extant Chinese translations of the sutra as well as commentators' interpretations. I refer to explanations in Nyagarjuna's Great Wisdom Discourse and other works as well as researches done by modern scholars, to reach the following conclusions.
For the disciplining and great favour of living beings, the bodhisattva who are on the path to supreme and perfect enlightenment acquire Buddha-land and practice the purification of his Buddha-land. The eighteen practices for the purification of his Buddha-land：If practice is pure，living beings are pure; if living beings are pure，his Buddha-land is pure. By means of these eighteen practices, the Bodhisattva purifies himself as well as all living beings; this is why it is said，"if practice is pure，then living beings are pure." The purified living beings of this practice become companions and reach his Buddha-land in their next life，which is why it is said，"if living beings are pure，then his Buddha-land is pure." The Hui-yuan's (慧遠，523-592) Commentary and Chi-tsang's cite "the theory of Stages in practices for the purification of his Buddha-land" in the Seng-chao's (僧肇，374?-414) Commentary which they match with the thirteen Stages in the progress towards Buddha-hood. For example，the Bodhisattva Caste Stage，the practice Progress Stage...the Seventh Stage is delivering living beings, the Eighth is the purification of his Buddha-land，the Ninth is the purification of teaching，the Tenth is the purified wisdom，the Diamond Mind universal enlightenment Stage is the purified mind，and the Buddha Stage is the purified merit. However，this conflicts with Nagarjuna's Great Wisdom Discourse，in which the Seventh Stage is complete self-benefiting self and others, teaching living beings and his Buddha-land may be purified. The Hsuan-tsang Translation and the Kui-ji's (窺基，632-682) Commentary explain by means of the model that Eighteen practices for the purification of his Buddha-land → Purify all living beings → Purify his Buddha-land → Teach to deliver living beings. This is similar to the quote in Nagarjuna's Great Wisdom Discourse，from the Mahaprajna-paramita-sutra："Benefit all living beings to purify his Buddha-land. Purifying his Buddha-land，all kinds of wisdom are attained. When all kinds of wisdom are attained，turn the Dharma Wheel for teaching. When the Dharma Wheel is turned rightly place living beings in the Three Vehicles, so that they may attain complete Nirvana." "When the mind is pure，Buddha-land is pure" may not be taken to mean that when one's own mind is pure，the Pure Land 8is created automatically. Rather，when the mind of a Bodhisattva is pure，living beings disciplined by him are pure，his Buddha-land is pure; the key point is the purity of living beings. The "pure mind" in this statement should be understood as the Non-mind，the Non-mind mind，the inexistence of mind of the Mahaprajna-paramita-sutra and the Madhyamika School. This accords more closely to the basic thinking of The Teaching of Vimalakirti sutra. The interpretation of the "pure mind" as the pure Eighth Consciousness by the Kui-ji's Commentary is a kind of viewpoint from the Yogacara School.
