爾時大慧菩薩摩訶薩 白佛言 世尊 諸外道說 有常作者 離於求那 周遍不滅 世尊 亦說如來 常恒不變 豈不同彼外道所說 佛告大慧 我說如來 非如外道 所說之常 所以者何 外道常者 作諸功德 自然而得 大慧 我說如來常者 謂如來以如如智 證如如理 自覺聖境 無有變異 名如來常 大慧 如來者 現前覺法 無有虛妄 故名爲常
ěr shí dà huì púsà mó hē sà bái fó yán shì zūn zhū wài dào shuō yǒu cháng zuò zhě lí yú qiú nà zhōu biàn bù miè shì zūn yì shuō rú lái cháng héng bù biàn qǐ bù tóng bǐ wài dào suǒ shuō fó gào dà huì wǒ shuō rú lái fēi rú wài dào suǒ shuō zhī cháng suǒ yǐ zhě hé wài dào cháng zhě zuò zhū gōng dé zì rán ér dé dà huì wǒ shuō rú lái cháng zhě wèi rú lái yǐ rú rú zhì zhèng rú rú lǐ zì jué shèng jìng wú yǒu biàn yì míng rú lái cháng dà huì rú lái zhě xiàn qián jué fǎ wú yǒu xū wàng gù míng wèi cháng
Key Message
Eternity is not the persistence of some substance. When the wisdom that knows things as they truly are becomes one with the principle of things as they truly are, in that very place stands the unchanging Tathāgata.
▸The Chapter on the Eternity of the Tathāgata (如來常品) addresses the most philosophically subtle debate in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: it clearly distinguishes how the Buddhist declaration that 'the Tathāgata is permanently abiding' differs from the Hindu concept of an 'eternal creator' (常作者).
The Chapter on the Eternity of the Tathāgata (如來常品) addresses the most philosophically subtle debate in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: it clearly distinguishes how the Buddhist declaration that 'the Tathāgata is permanently abiding' differs from the Hindu concept of an 'eternal creator' (常作者). Mahāmati asks: since non-Buddhists also assert a permanently abiding creator, why is the Buddhist Tathāgata's permanent abiding different? The Buddha responds: the non-Buddhist's 'permanence' (常) is something naturally obtained through meritorious deeds, but the Tathāgata's 'permanence' (常) is that which — through 'the wisdom of suchness' (如如智), the wisdom of knowing things as they truly are — directly realizes 'the principle of suchness' (如如理), the principle of things as they truly are, and thereby remains without change in the realm of one's own inner realization. This is not substantialist permanence but the permanence of non-discrimination attained through direct realization.