THE NATURE OF NATURE The Jewel Net of Indra Tu-suuw JeesT1on: ‘Things being thus, what about knowledge? Annwen: Knowledge accords with things, being in one and the same realm, mae by conditions, tacitly conjoining, without rejecting anything, suddenly appearing, yet not without before and after. Therefore the sutra says, “The sphere ofthe universal eye the pure body, [now wll expound; let people listen careflly.” By way of explanation, the “universal eye” is the union of knowledge and reality, all at once revealing many things. “This makes it clear that reality is known tothe knowledge ofthe universal «ye only and is not the sphere of any other knowledge. The “sphere” means ching. This illustrates how the many things interpenetate ike the realm of Indra’ ner of jewels—mliplid and remultplied ad infinitum, ‘The pure body ilsrates how al hing, a8 mentioned before, simultane ‘ously enter each other. Ends and beginnings, being collectively formed hy conditional origination, ate impossible to trace toa basis—the suing mind has nothing to rest on, ‘Now the celestial ewel net of Kanishka, or Indes, Fesperor of Gals, is called the net of Indr, ‘This imperil neti made all of jewels: because the jewels are clear, they reflect each other's images, appearing in eck Tiras (957-649), 4 special in the Haa-yo Sure, came the Bt pati arch of the Tlunyen school of Chinese Buddhism. He is remembered as 2 ‘monk with exceptional healing abilities wha lived close to the pesents Translation by Thomas leary The Nate of Nate 59 ‘others reflections ypon reflections, ad infinitum, all appearing at once Jn one jewel, and in each one iti s0—ahimately there is no going oF "Now forthe moment let ws turn to the southwest direction an pick 4 jewel and check it.'Thisjewel can show the rections ofall the ewes allatonce—an just as this isso ofthis jewel, ois of every other jewel the reflection is multiplied and remuliplied over and over endlesly These infinitely multiplying jewel reflections are all in one jewel and show clarly—the others dono hinder this, IFyou iin one jewel, den you are siting inal the jewels in evry direction, multiplied over and ‘over. Why? Because in one jewel chere areal the jewels If there sone jewel everse applies tothe totlity if you follow the same reasoning. Since i ‘one jewel you go into all the jewels without leaving this one jewel, so in all jewels you enter one jewel without leaving this one jewel all she jewels, then you ae sitting inal he jewels too, And the (Question: Ifyou sy that one enters all the jewels in one wel without ee leaving this one jewel, how iit posible to ener ll the owes? Answrra: Iti precisely by not leaving this one jewel that you can enter all che jewels. I'you lf this one jewel ro enterall the jewels, you couldn’ ‘enteral the jewels, Why? Because ouside this jewel there are ao separate ‘Ques rion: Ithereare no jewels ouside this one jewel, them this nec made of one jewel, How can you say chen tha i's made of many jewels tied together? Axswen: leis precisely because there is only one jewel that many can be Foined 0 form a net. Why? cause this one jewel alone forms the net— that is, if you take away this jewel there wll be no net (Quesrion: If theres only one jewel, how can you speak of tying into Answer: " fs the aspect of totality, containing the many in its formation Since all would nor exis if there were not one, this net is therefore male ng many jewels wo fon a nets itself ast one jewel. Why?fo Traciinos yRom Bubbitst Taabetions by one jewel The all entering she one can be known by thinking abou it inthis way ‘Question: Although the jewel inthe southwest contains all he jewels in the ten directions completely, without reminder, there ae jewel in ‘every direction. How can you say then thatthe nets made of ust one jewel? Awewea: All dhe jowels in the tn directions are in otlity the one jewel ‘ofthe southwest. Why? The jewel in the southwest all the ewels ofthe ten directions. Ifyou don't believe that one jewel in the southwest is all the jewels in the cen directions just puta doc on the jewel in the south- west. When one jewel i dotted, there are dots on al the jewels i all directions. Since dere are dots on all the jewels in he ten directions, we ‘now tha all ee jewels are one jewel. I anyone says thc all dhe jewels in the ten directions are not one jewel inthe southwest, could the that one person simulkaneousy pu dots on all che jewels in the ten directions Even allowing the universal doting ofall the jewels inthe ten cretion they are jut one jewel Since i is thus, using this one as beginning, the same is so when taking thers first—mulipied over and over bound lesly each dois the sme. [es obscure and hard to fathonn: when one is ‘complete ali done: Such subtle metaphor is applied to things to hep us think about them, but things are not so; simile is che same a not simile—they resemble each other ina way, s0 we we ito speak of What does this mean? These jewels only have their reflected images containing and entering each ouher—their substances are separate. ‘Things are not like this, because their whole substance merges completely. 'The book on ratual origination i dhe Hug-y Sura says, “Tn order to benefit sentient beings and make them all understand, nonsmiles are used eo illustrate real truth Such a sub teaching as this is ard to hear even in inumeasir- able cons; only those with perseverance and wisdom ean heat of the tmatrix of the sue of thusnes.” The sutra says, "Nonsmiles are used es. Those who practice should think of tis in accord with the similes”” Vairocana Buddha's past practices “Male oceans of Budha-feks al pure The Nato of Rutore 68 Immeassrable, innumerable, boundless, He Feely permeates all places ‘The realty-boy of the Buddha is inconceivable; Fores, signs, without comparison, le manifests material forms for the sake of beings In the ten directions they receive its teaching Nowhere ot manifest In the atoms of all Buddha-felds Vairocana manifests selfsubsstent power, Promising the thundering ound of the ocean of Budhahood tame all the species of sentient beings. The Coincidence of Opposites Sui-r'o0 ‘The min of the grest sage of Indi ‘was intimately conveyed rom west ro cs hough people may be sharp-witel or dl, there's no north and south in che Way. The deep spring sparkles in the pe igh, its branches sreaming through the darkness, Grasping at phenomena ithe source of delusion; ‘nitng with che absolute fills shore of awakening, All of the senses, ll the things sensed Inceracting, they permeate one another. yet each remains in its own place Shim Ge po) fe rat gs ely Chin Ze (Chen Mind et ec aa tng a ca thoy set nde St el Sha Tata Ne ee62 Tractimos PROM BuobuisT TRADITIONS By nature, forms ifr in shape and appearance, ‘By nature, sounds bring pleasure oF pain In darkness, the fine and mediocre acori ‘rightness makes clear and murky distinct. ach element comes back to its own nature just a a child Finds its own mothe, Fire isha, the wind blows, water is wet and earth solid, eyes see fonts, ears hear sounds, ‘noses smell tongues tl alk fom sour— so iis with everything everywhere. The roo puts forth each separate shou. Both rut a shoot go back tothe fundamental fact. Exalted and lowy i just a matter of words. In the very mids of light, there's darkness, ‘don't meet anther in the darkness. Inthe very midst of darkness, there's ight; don't observe another in the igh. Light and darkness complemene each other, Tike stepping forward and stepping back ‘Fach of the myriad things has ts patcular wire “ncitably expressed in its use and station Phenomena accord withthe Fundamental ay id its its box, the fundamental mects phenomena like arrows in mir. Hearing these words, understand dhe fundamental don’t cook up principles from your own ideas Ifyou overlook the Way eight before your eyes, hhow will you know the path beneath your feet? Advancing has nothing to do with near an fr, yet delusion creates obstacles high and wide Sudents ofthe mystery, I humbly urge you, don’t waste a moment night o day! The Natu of Nature 65 Letter to the Island Mvor Die i teen How have you been sine the ast sme I saw you? Aer ‘ezured from visting you, have neither received any message from you, for have {sent any greetings to you, T think sboet your physical form as something ted to che word of este, «kind of concrete manifestation, an object visible tothe eye, condition prcevable by the faculty of sight, and a substance composed of earth i, ite, and water that ean be experienced as color, smell taste, and touch Since the nature of physieal frm sential to wisdom, there ‘snothing that snot enlightened, Since the natare of widow i idntial to the underying principle of the universe, there no place it does not teach. The underlying principle of the universe identical to the absolute truth, and the absolute cut is identical to the ultimate body ofthe Bud ha, According to the rule by which no distinctions ean be made berween things, the underlying principle of che universe is ential wo che word of ordinary beings and thus cannot be distinguished from it Therefore, ven though we speak of inanimate objets, we must not think of dem 25 being separate from living beings is cerainly true thatthe physieal subsance of country is but one ‘ofthe ten bodies f the Buddha, There nothing spare from the marvel ‘us only of the radiant Buddha. To speak of the teaching of nondiferen ‘ition and perketinterhsion of thesis characterises ofall chings—their general conditions, specie details, differences, similarities, formation, tn disintegration —is to say that your physieal form a a sland consis ofthe land of this nation, which is one par of che body of the Bua In terms ofthe characteristic that things dif, we can speak of you aso a the other nine bodies of the Buddha: the bodies of ving beings, the Myc (2175-1238), a monk of the Jpanese Shingo sect, spent mos of his life at Koran empl inthe moustains outst Kyoto, He endorsed Hus yon (Kegon) teachings and advocted » eetara to stct observance of the Precepts Traslaton by George). Tanabe, J