One Substance, Four Names
The ninth point, immutability, completes the treatise's account of the buddha stage — unborn, undying, unsick, unaging, each cashed out through a precise pair of reasons and a third verbatim citation of the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa Sūtra. The tenth point, non-differentiation, then opens with the treatise's most compressed statement of its own thesis: dharmakāya, tathāgata, the truth of ultimate meaning, and nirvāṇa are one substance under four names, "as light is never separate from the sun."
The Buddha-Body: Unborn, Undying, Unsick, Unaging
已說依不淨淨時不變不異，次說依善淨時不變不異故，說二偈：
佛身不變異， 以得無盡法，
眾生所歸依， 以無邊際故。
常住不二法， 以離妄分別，
恒不熱不作， 清淨心力故。
此偈示現何義？偈言：
不生及不死， 不病亦不老，
以常恒清涼， 及不變等故。
此偈明何義？偈言：
以常故不生， 離意生身故，
以恒故不死， 離不思議退，
清涼故不病， 無煩惱習故，
不變故不老， 無無漏行故。
此偈明何義？明如來性於佛地時無垢清淨光明常住自性清淨。以本際來常故不生，以離意生身故。以未來際恒故不死，以離不可思議變易死故。以本後際來清涼故不病，以離無明住地所攝故。若如是者不墮三世彼則不變，是故不老，以離無漏業迴轉故。
Thus far the unchanging, undiffering nature within the time of mixed impurity and purity has been explained. Next, to explain the unchanging, undiffering nature within the time of complete purity, two verses are spoken:
The buddha-body is unchanging, having attained the inexhaustible dharma;
it is the refuge of every sentient being, being without boundary or limit.
Ever-abiding, a non-dual dharma, apart from false discrimination;
ever free of affliction's heat, uncontrived, by the power of the pure mind.
What meaning do these verses reveal? A verse says:
Neither born nor dying, neither sick nor aging —
because of being ever-constant, everlasting, cool and tranquil, and unchanging.
What meaning does this verse make clear? A verse says:
Because of being ever-constant, it is unborn, being apart from the mind-made body;
because of being everlasting, it does not die, being apart from the inconceivable falling-away;
being cool and tranquil, it is without sickness, being without the habitual traces of affliction;
being unchanging, it does not age, being without the turning of uncontaminated karmic activity.
What meaning does this verse make clear? It clarifies that the Tathāgata's own nature, at the stage of buddhahood, is stainless, pure, radiant, ever-abiding, and pure by its own nature. Because, from the very beginning, it is ever-constant, it is unborn, being apart from the mind-made body. Because, into the endless future, it is everlasting, it does not die, being apart from the inconceivable death of transformation. Because, from beginning to end, it is cool and tranquil, it is without sickness, being apart from what is subsumed under the ignorance-dwelling-ground. Being such, it falls into none of the three times, and is therefore unchanging — it does not age, being apart from the turning of uncontaminated karmic activity.
The Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa Sūtra: Four Terms, Eight Reasons
又復偈言：
有二復有二， 復有二二句，
次第如常等， 無漏境界中。
此偈明何義？常恒清涼及不變等此四種句，於無漏法界中次第一一句二二本，二二釋義差別。如《不增不減修多羅》中說言：舍利弗！如來法身常，以不異法故、以不盡法故。舍利弗！如來法身恒，以常可歸依故、以未來際平等故。舍利弗！如來法身清涼，以不二法故、以無分別法故。舍利弗！如來法身不變，以非滅法故、以非作法故。
Furthermore, a verse says:
There are two, and again two, and again two twos —
in that order, like the constant and the rest, within the uncontaminated domain.
What meaning does this verse make clear? It clarifies that these four terms — ever-constant, everlasting, cool and tranquil, and unchanging — within the uncontaminated dharma-realm, each in turn rest on a pair of roots, and each pair explains its meaning distinctly. As the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa Sūtra says: "Śāriputra! The Tathāgata's dharmakāya is constant, being a dharma that does not differ and a dharma that is inexhaustible. Śāriputra! The Tathāgata's dharmakāya is everlasting, being a constant refuge and being equal throughout the endless future. Śāriputra! The Tathāgata's dharmakāya is cool and tranquil, being a non-dual dharma and a dharma without discrimination. Śāriputra! The Tathāgata's dharmakāya is unchanging, being a dharma that does not cease and a dharma that is not contrived."
This is the third time this collection has watched the treatise reach for the identical four-line Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa passage — constant/everlasting/cool-and-tranquil/unchanging — first for the tathāgatagarbha within the time of impurity (Part 9), then for the bodhisattva stage's mixed time, and now for the buddha stage itself. Each time the passage is unchanged, but its application shifts: the treatise is arguing, in effect, that these four qualities describe the identical reality at every stage of the path, and what changes is never the reality but only how obscured or unobscured a given being's view of it happens to be.
Dharmakāya, Tathāgata, Truth, Nirvāṇa: Four Names, One Meaning
已說不變異，次說無差別。無差別者，即依此善淨時本際以來畢竟究竟自體相善淨如來藏無差別故，說一偈：
法身及如來， 聖諦與涅槃，
功德不相離， 如光不離日。
此初半偈示現何義？偈言：
略明法身等， 義一而名異，
依無漏界中， 四種義差別。
此偈明何義？略說於無漏法界中依如來藏有四種義，依四種義有四種名應知。何等四義？偈言：
佛法不相離， 及彼真如性，
法體不虛妄， 自性本來淨。
此偈明何義？佛法不相離者，依此義故，聖者《勝鬘經》言：世尊！不空如來藏，過於恒沙不離不脫不思議佛法故。及彼真如性者，依此義故，《六根聚經》言：世尊！六根如是，從無始來畢竟究竟諸法體故。法體不虛妄者，依此義故，經中說言：世尊！又第一義諦者，謂不虛妄涅槃是也。何以故？世尊！彼性本際來常，以法體不變故。自性本來淨者，依此義故，經中佛告文殊師利：如來、應、正遍知本際以來入涅槃故。又復依此四義，次第有四種名。何等為四？一者法身、二者如來、三者第一義諦、四者涅槃。
以是義故，《不增不減經》言：舍利弗言如來藏者即是法身故。又復《聖者勝鬘經》言：世尊！不離法身有如來藏。世尊！不離如來藏有法身。世尊！依一苦滅諦說名如來藏。世尊！如是說如來法身無量無邊功德。世尊言：涅槃者即是如來法身故。
Thus far the unchanging, undiffering nature has been explained. Next, non-differentiation will be explained. Non-differentiation means that, from the very beginning within the time of complete purity, the tathāgatagarbha's own essential mark, ultimately and completely well-purified, is non-differentiated. Hence a verse is spoken:
Dharmakāya and tathāgata, the noble truth and nirvāṇa —
their qualities are not separate from one another, just as light is not separate from the sun.
What meaning does the first half-verse reveal? A verse says:
Briefly explained, dharmakāya and the rest are one in meaning though differing in name —
within the uncontaminated realm, there are four distinct meanings.
What meaning does this verse make clear? Briefly stated, within the uncontaminated dharma-realm, in dependence on the tathāgatagarbha, there are four meanings, and it should be understood that, in dependence on these four meanings, there are four names. What are the four meanings? A verse says:
The buddha-dharmas are not separate from it; and it has that nature of true suchness;
the essence of this dharma is not false; and it is, by its own nature, pure from the very beginning.
What meaning does this verse make clear? "The buddha-dharmas are not separate from it" — in dependence on this meaning, the Noble Śrīmālā Sūtra says: "World-Honored One! The not-empty tathāgatagarbha is, in number surpassing the sands of the Ganges, not separate from, not freed from, and inconceivably one with the buddha-dharmas." "And it has that nature of true suchness" — in dependence on this meaning, the Sūtra on the Cluster of the Six Faculties says: "World-Honored One! The six faculties are thus, from beginningless time, ultimately and completely the very essence of every dharma." "The essence of this dharma is not false" — in dependence on this meaning, a sūtra says: "World-Honored One! Moreover, the truth of ultimate meaning is precisely this: unfalse nirvāṇa. Why is this? World-Honored One! That nature, from the very beginning, is constant, because the essence of this dharma is unchanging." "It is, by its own nature, pure from the very beginning" — in dependence on this meaning, in a sūtra the Buddha tells Mañjuśrī: "The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, has, from the very beginning, entered nirvāṇa." And moreover, in dependence on these four meanings, there are, in this order, four names. What are the four? First, dharmakāya; second, tathāgata; third, the truth of ultimate meaning; fourth, nirvāṇa.
For this reason, the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa Sūtra says: "Śāriputra, the tathāgatagarbha is precisely the dharmakāya." And again the Noble Śrīmālā Sūtra says: "World-Honored One! Apart from the dharmakāya there is no tathāgatagarbha. World-Honored One! Apart from the tathāgatagarbha there is no dharmakāya. World-Honored One! In dependence on the one truth of the cessation of suffering, it is called the tathāgatagarbha. World-Honored One! Thus is spoken of the Tathāgata's dharmakāya, of immeasurable, boundless qualities." The World-Honored One says: "Nirvāṇa is precisely the Tathāgata's dharmakāya."
This four-name framework is the treatise's own resolution of a puzzle that could otherwise seem like the sūtras contradicting one another: some texts identify tathāgatagarbha with dharmakāya, others with nirvāṇa, others speak of it as the truth of the cessation of suffering. The treatise's answer is that all four names index the identical reality, each one picked out by a different one of four properties — inseparability from the buddha-dharmas, being suchness itself, being unfalsified, being pure from the start. This site's own translations supply three of the four citations directly: the "not-empty tathāgatagarbha" line from Śrīmālā, the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa's "the tathāgatagarbha is precisely the dharmakāya," and Śrīmālā's "apart from the dharmakāya there is no tathāgatagarbha" — letting a reader move directly between this treatise and its own sources.
The Śrāvaka's Nirvāṇa as Skillful Means
後半偈者，示現何義？偈言：
覺一切種智， 離一切習氣，
佛及涅槃體， 不離第一義。
此四種名，於如來法身無漏界中一味一義不相捨離，是故雖復有四種名，而彼四義不離一法門、不離一法體。此以何義？所證一切法、覺一切智，及離一切智障煩惱障習氣，此二種法，於無漏法界中不異不差別、不斷不相離。以是義故，《大般涅槃經》中偈言：「無量種功德， 一切不思議，不差別解脫， 解脫即如來。」
以是義故，《聖者勝鬘經》言：世尊！言聲聞辟支佛得涅槃者，是佛方便故。此明何義？言聲聞辟支佛有涅槃者，此是諸佛如來方便，見諸眾生於長道曠野遠行疲惓，恐有退轉，為止息故造作化城，如來如是於一切法中得大自在大方便故。
故明如是義，世尊如來應正遍知證平等涅槃，一切功德無量無邊不可思議清淨畢竟究竟。此明何義？依四種義，畢竟功德諸佛如來無差別，涅槃相無上果中佛及涅槃一切功德不相捨離。若離佛地果中證智，更無餘人有涅槃法。
What meaning does the latter half-verse reveal? A verse says:
The awakening that is omniscient wisdom, apart from every habitual trace —
the essence of buddha and of nirvāṇa is not separate from the truth of ultimate meaning.
These four names, within the Tathāgata's dharmakāya, the uncontaminated realm, are one flavor, one meaning, never separate from one another. Hence, although there are these four names, these four meanings are not separate from the one dharma-gate, not separate from the one essence. What is this meaning? What is realized — every dharma, the awakening that is omniscient wisdom — and what is left behind — every habitual trace of the cognitive obstruction and the afflictive obstruction — these two dharmas, within the uncontaminated dharma-realm, are not different, not distinguished, not cut off, not separate from one another. For this reason, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says in verse: "Immeasurable kinds of merit, every one inconceivable — liberation, undifferentiated: liberation is precisely the Tathāgata."
For this reason, the Noble Śrīmālā Sūtra says: "World-Honored One! The saying that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas attain nirvāṇa is a skillful means of the Buddha." What does this clarify? The saying that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have a nirvāṇa is a skillful means of every buddha, every tathāgata: seeing that sentient beings, traveling a long road through a vast wilderness, have grown weary, and fearing they might turn back, he conjures up an illusory city for their rest — the Tathāgata, in just this way, attains great mastery and great skillful means in regard to every dharma.
This clarifies the following meaning: the World-Honored One, the Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, realizes the equal nirvāṇa — every quality, immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable, pure, ultimate, and complete. What does this clarify? In dependence on these four meanings, the ultimate qualities of every buddha, every tathāgata, are undifferentiated; in the unsurpassed fruit that is the mark of nirvāṇa, the qualities of buddha and of nirvāṇa are never separate from one another. Apart from the realizing wisdom in the fruit that is the buddha-ground, there is no one else who possesses the dharma of nirvāṇa.
The "illusory city" (化城) conjured for weary travelers is the same image made famous by the Lotus Sūtra's parable of the phantom city, here compressed into a single sentence and applied specifically to the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha's own nirvāṇa: not a false teaching, but a genuine resting place built exactly far enough along the road to prevent despair, with the understanding — left unstated to the travelers themselves — that the journey does not actually end there. The chapter's closing claim, that "apart from the realizing wisdom in the fruit that is the buddha-ground, there is no one else who possesses the dharma of nirvāṇa," is the treatise's starkest statement yet that final nirvāṇa and buddhahood are, in the end, not two attainments but one.
Part 16 Complete
Part 17 closes Chapter 5 with the Ratnamālā Sūtra's parable of the many painters commissioned to complete a single portrait of the king — none finishing if even one painter fails to appear — mapped onto the bodhisattva's need to complete every pāramitā without exception, followed by the eighth, ninth, and tenth bodhisattva grounds, and the chapter's closing sun-simile for the inseparability of wisdom, gnosis, and liberation.
Continue to Part 17 — The King's Portrait, and the Sun of Liberation →