A Commentary on the Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Manifestation of Consciousness

Original text: 佛见贤护。举身放光。流照贤护。贤护尔时。便获无畏,。绕佛三匝。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。唯愿世尊。悲愍教授。我今始于佛所。得净信心。心悕妙法。欲有所问。而我久处生死。溺烦恼苦。乱念纷杂。于戒等业。无作冥资。虽心奇重。我今不知。于此愚惑。疑网之中。如何超出。得度生死。世尊是一切智。普见一切,。佛出甚难。希有逢遇。如如意珠。施众生乐。佛是大如意宝。 一切众生。咸由依佛。得大安乐。是大父母,。众生善本。因佛父母。得见正路。唯愿悲愍。开晓疑闇。

佛告贤护。汝有所疑。恣汝意问。我当为汝。分别解说。尔时贤护。蒙佛听许。心专请问。在一面住。

Explanation: The Buddha's appearance in the world is indeed extremely rare and hard to encounter. The Buddha told us in the sutras that in the Saha world, a Buddha appears only once in a very long span of time. In the Auspicious Kalpa (Bhadrakalpa), one thousand Buddhas will appear; Śākyamuni Buddha is the fourth, and the fifth Buddha is Maitreya Buddha. According to the sutras, the time between Śākyamuni Buddha's appearance and Maitreya Buddha's appearance is 9.6 billion years. This interval between these two Buddhas is considered the shortest; often, not a single Buddha appears within many great kalpas, and sometimes not even one Buddha appears within several tens of great kalpas. How long are several tens of great kalpas? One complete cycle of the earth's formation, abiding, decay, and emptiness is one great kalpa. Such a length of time is 16.8 million years (one small kalpa), and multiplying that by eighty gives one great kalpa. If not a single Buddha appears within several tens of great kalpas, then how anguished must the beings living in this world be—no one to rescue them from birth and death, with no end to the cycle of transmigration. For such a long time no Buddha appears in the world, so the appearance of a Buddha in this world is truly rare and extremely difficult to encounter.

"All sentient beings, by relying on the Buddha, attain great peace and bliss; the Buddha is the great father and mother"—this is said from the phenomenal perspective. From the standpoint of actual principle, all sentient beings can attain great peace and bliss only by relying on the Tathāgata Buddha within the five aggregates. The tathāgatagarbha is the father and mother that gives birth to the five aggregates, the parent that brings all dharmas to sentient beings. The Buddha within the five aggregates can bring the Tripitaka and the twelve divisions of the teachings, the dharma of attaining buddhahood, and the dharma of liberation to sentient beings; by cultivating and studying in accordance with these, beings can attain great peace and bliss. All sentient beings can attain great bliss only by relying on their own tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha is also the father and mother of sentient beings, bringing them everything. The tathāgatagarbha is the root of goodness of sentient beings; only because of the tathāgatagarbha can sentient beings cultivate wholesome dharmas. Because of the Buddha, this parent, beings are able to see the correct path of practice; once on the correct path, there is hope for liberation. May the World-Honored One compassionately take pity on us, enlighten us, dispel the darkness of our doubts, and enable us to remove our ignorance and doubts.

The Buddha told Xianhu: "If you have any doubts, ask whatever you wish. Whatever you ask, I shall answer one by one." In fact, the Buddha already knew what Xianhu was going to ask, which is why He spoke this way. Knowing that the Buddha had permitted him to ask questions, Xianhu stood to the side of the Buddha, single-mindedly ready to pose his questions.