Major Expositions

KGSS II:84-100

[Ocean of the One Vehicle]

84 In the term "ocean of the One Vehicle," One Vehicle refers to the great vehicle (Mahayana). The great vehicle is the Buddha vehicle. To realize the One Vehicle is to realize the highest perfect enlightenment. The highest perfect enlightenment is non other than the realm of nirvana. The realm of nirvana is the ultimate dharma-body. To realize the ultimate dharma-body is to reach the ultimate end of the One Vehicle. There is no other tathagata, there is no other dharma-body. Tathagata is itself dharma-body. Reaching the ultimate end of the One Vehicle is without bound and without cessation. In the great vehicle there are no "two vehicles" or "three vehicles." The two vehicles and three vehicles lead one to enter the One Vehicle. The One Vehicle is the vehicle of highest truth. There is no One Vehicle other than the One Buddha-Vehicle, the Vow.

85 The Nirvana Sutra states:

Good people, true reality is called the great vehicle; that which is not the great vehicle cannot be called true reality. Good people, true reality is what the Buddha teaches. It is not what is taught by maras. What maras teach is not the Buddha's teaching and hence cannot be called true reality. Good people, true reality is the single way, pure and undefiled; there is no other way.

86 Further it states:

How does a bodhisattva accept and accord with the one reality? A bodhisattva knows that all sentient beings are led to enter the single way. The single way is none other that the great vehicle. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas divide it into three for the sake of sentient beings. This, a bodhisattva accepts and accords with it without going against it.

87 Further it states:

Good people, the term "ultimate" has two meanings; first, the ultimate is the process of consummation; second, the ultimate that has been consummated. The first is the ultimate in the realm of the mundane, the second is the ultimate in the realm of the supramundane. The ultimate that has been consummated is the One Vehicle that all sentient beings will realize. The One Vehicle is called Buddha-nature. For this reason, I teach that all sentient beings have Buddha-nature. All sentient beings, without exception, posses the One Vehicle. Because it is covered over by their ignorance, they are unable to see it.

88 Further it states:

Why is Buddha-nature "one"? Because all sentient beings are possessed of the One Vehicle. Why is it "not-one"? Because the three vehicles are taught. Why is it neither "one" nor "not-one"? Because it is the dharma beyond count.

89 The Garland Sutra states:

The dharma realized by Mañjusri is constantly such as it is;
The dharma-king is himself the one dharma.
All the unhindered ones
Have gone out from birth-and-death by means of the single way;

The bodies of all the Buddhas
Are solely the one dharma-body.
Their minds are one, their wisdoms are one;
So are their powers and fearlessnesses.

90 We see, therefore, that the realization described above is all the great benefit we receive in the Pure Land of peace, the inconceivable, perfect virtue of the Buddha's Vow.

91 Concerning the term "ocean": since the infinite past, the river waters of the sundry practices and disciplines performed by ordinary people and sages, and the ocean waters of the ignorance-infinite as the sands of the Ganges-of those who commit the five grave offenses, who slander the dharma, or who lack the seed of Buddha-hood, have been transformed into the waters of the great treasure ocean of all the true and real virtues-countless as the sands of the Ganges - of the great wisdom-compassion of the Primal Vow. This is likened to an ocean. We know truly, then, that it is as a sutra states, "The ice of blind passions melts and become the water of virtues."

The ocean of the Vow does not keep within it the dead bodies of the sundry good acts of the two vehicles, that is, the middle and lower vehicles. Hardly does it keep, then, the corpses of the empty, transitory, false, and deceitful good acts and the poisoned and impure minds of human beings and devas.

92 Thus, the Larger Sutra states:

Sravakas and even bodhisattvas
Are unable to know thoroughly the enlightened mind;
They are like persons born without sight
Desiring to guide others.
The ocean of the Tathagata's wisdom
Is deep, vast and without limit or bottom.
It cannot be fathomed by those of the two vehicles;
Only Buddhas alone can fully comprehend it.

93 The [Commentary of the] Treatise on the Pure Land states:

What is the fulfillment of the adornment, "the virtue of sustaining without any futility"? The gatha states:

Contemplating the power of the Buddha's Primal Vow,
I see that no one who encounters it passes by in vain;
It quickly beings to fullness and perfection
The great treasure ocean of virtues.

The fulfillment of the virtue of sustaining without any futility refers to the power of Amida Tathagata's Primal Vow. The meaning of "sustaining without any futility" will be revealed by briefly illustrating with examples that [sentient beings'] activities are futile and cannot be sustained....Sustaining without any futility is based on the Forty-eight Vows that Dharmakara Bodhisattva made in the past in the causal stage and on Amida Tathagata's transcendent powers freely working in the present. The Vow gives rise to the power; the power fulfills the Vow. The Vow has not been made in vain; the power has not been actualized in futility. Power and Vow accord with each other and are never in conflict. Hence, the "fulfillment" [of this virtue].

94 Further it states:

The term "ocean" signifies that the Buddha's all-knowing wisdom is profound, vast, and fathomless; it does not keep within it the dead bodies of the sundry good acts of the two vehicles, that is, the middle or lower vehicles. This is likened to an ocean. For this reason, it is said:

The immovable ones among devas and human beings
Are born from the ocean of pure wisdom.

"Immovable" means that those devas and human beings, having actualized the root of the great vehicle in themselves, cannot be moved.

95 The Master of Kuang-ming temple states:

I rely on the bodhisattva-pitaka,
The sudden teaching, the ocean of the One Vehicle.

96 Further he states:

In the Ornament Sutra the gradual teaching is expounded;
Performing practices for a myriad kalpas, one attains the stage of nonretrogression.
What is taught in the Contemplation and the Amida Sutras
Is the sudden teaching, the bodhi[sattva]-pitaka.

97 It is stated in the Collection of Passages of the Land of Bliss compiled by Master Tsung-hsiao:

One grain of elixir transforms iron into gold; one word of truth transforms evil karma into good.

98 When, from the perspective of the teaching, the nembutsu and the various good practices are compared, we find the following contrasts:

Easy, in contrast to difficult;
Sudden, in contrast to gradual;
Crosswise, in contrast to lengthwise;
Leaping across, in contrast to fording;
Accordant, in contrast to opposing;
Great, in contrast to small;
Many, in contrast to few;
Superior, in contrast to inferior;
Intimate, in contrast to remote;
Close, in contrast to distant;
Profound, in contrast to shallow;
Strong, in contrast to weak;
Momentous, in contrast to trivial;
Vast, in contrast to narrow;
Pure, in contrast to mixed;
Direct, in contrast to roundabout;
Quick, in contrast to slow;
Special, in contrast to general;
Nonretrogressive, in contrast to retrogressive;
Straightforward exposition, in contrast to incidental explanation;
The Name, in contrast to meditative and non meditative practices;
Exhaustive of truth, in contrast to not exhaustive in truth;
Encouraged, in contrast to not encouraged;
Uninterrupted, in contrast to interrupted;
Unceasing, in contrast to ceasing;
Continuous, in contrast to non-continuous;
Unsurpassed, in contrast to surpassed;
Highest of the high, in contrast to the lowest of the low;
Inconceivable, in contrast to conceivable;
Resultant virtue, in contrast to causal practices;
Buddha's exposition, in contrast to those of others;
Not-directing merit, in contrast to directing merit;
Protected, in contrast to unprotected;
Witnessed, in contrast to unwitnessed;
Praised, in contrast to unpraised;
Entrusted, in contrast to unentrusted;
Fully expressed teaching, in contrast to that not fully expressed;
Able to eradicate evil, in contrast to unable;
Selected, in contrast to unselected;
True, in contrast to provisional;
Buddha's deathlessness, in contrast to Buddha's extinction;
Unperishing dharma, in contrast to perishing;
Beneficial, in contrast to nonbeneficial;
Other Power, in contrast to self-power;
Embodying the Vow, in contrast to not embodying the Vow;
Practicer grasped, in contrast to not grasped;
Practicer entering the stage of the truly settled, in contrast to not entering;
Fulfilled land, in contrast to transformed land.

Such are the contrast. However, when I consider the ocean of the One Vehicle of the Primal Vow, I see it is the teaching that is perfect, complete, instantaneous, unhindered, absolute, and incomparable.

99 Further, when they are compared from the perspective of the practicer, there are the following contrasts:

Entrusting, in contrast to doubt;
Good, in contrast to evil;
Right, in contrast to wrong;
Suitable, in contrast to unsuitable;
Real, in contrast to empty;
True, in contrast to false;
Pure, in contrast to defiled;
Intelligent, in contrast to dull;
Quick, in contrast to slow;
Lofty, in contrast to mean;
Bright, in contrast to dark.

Such are the contrast. However, when I consider the practicer of the ocean of the One Vehicle, I see that the one who has realized diamondlike shinjin is the absolute and incomparable practicer. Let this be known.

100 Respectfully I say to all people who aspire to be born in the Pure Land: The ocean of the One Vehicle, the universal Vow, has consummated the highest virtue, which is unhindered, unbounded, supreme, profound, inexplicable, indescribable, and inconceivable. How can this be? It is because the Vow surpasses conceptual understanding.

The Vow of compassion is life vast space, for all its excellent virtues are broad and boundless.
It is like an immense cart, for it carries all people - whether ignorant or wise - wherever they may be.
It is like an wonderful lotus blossom, for it is not stained by anything in the world.
It is like the clearsight tree, the king of medicines, for it overcomes all the diseases of blind passions.
It is like a sharp sword, for it rends the armor of pride and arrogance.
It is like the banner of a valiant general, for it subdues all the armies of maras.
It is like a keen saw blade, for it fells all the trees [in the forest] of ignorance.
It is like a sharp ax, for it lops off all the branches of suffering.
It is like a true teacher, for it unknots all the ropes of birth-and-death.
It is like a guiding master, for it informs foolish beings of the essential way of liberation.
It is like a spring, for it wells forth with the waters of wisdom, which are inexhaustible.
It is like a lotus, for it is not tainted by any karmic evil.
It is like a swift wind, for it dispels the fogs of all hindrances.
It is like a good nectar, for it perfectly possesses all tastes of virtue.
It is like the right path, for it leads the multitudes of beings into the capital of wisdom.
It is like a magnet, for it draws to itself the virtues originating from the Primal Vow.
It is like Jambunada gold, for it overwhelms all the good of the conditioned world with its brightness.
It is like a hidden treasure-store, for it embraces the dharmas of all the Buddhas.
It is like the great earth, for all the Tathagatas of the past, present, and future throughout the ten quarters arise from it.
It is like the light of the sun, for it breaks through the darkness and ignorance of all foolish beings and gives rise to shinjin in them.
It is like the supreme ruler, for it stands above all those of the upper vehicle.
It is like a strict father, for it gives guidance to all, both the ignorant and the wise.
It is like a compassionate mother, for it gives birth to and nurtures the true and real cause of birth in the fulfilled land for all, both the ignorant and the wise.
It is like a nursing mother, for it raises and protects all people who aspire for birth, both the good and the evil.
It is like the great the great earth, for it sustains the birth of all beings.
It is like the great waters, for it washes away the scum of all blind passions.
It is like the great fire, for it burns the firewood of all views.
It is like the great wind, for it goes everywhere in the world and is without hindrance.

[The Vow] liberates one form the castle of the fetters of the three realms of existence and closes the gateways to the twenty-five forms of existence. It brings one to attainment of the true and real fulfilled land and distinguishes the wrong from the right path. It dries up the ocean of ignorance and cases beings to flow into the ocean of the Vow. It brings one to ride on the ship of all-knowing wisdom, so that one sails out in tot he ocean of beings. It brings to perfect fulfillment the sore of merit and wisdom and opens the store of provisional means. Truly we should reverently receive and accept it.