Outline of the Dharma Realm's Dependent Arising in the Huayan School

The Huayan school recognizes seven patriarchs, with Ashvaghosha as the first. However, his writings do not explicitly address the doctrine of perfect interpenetration. Why then is he honored as a patriarch? For a long time, no one could explain this, leaving later students confused and unable to distinguish the reasoning. As a result, they paid little attention to it, causing the profound tenets established by the ancients to remain obscure and unilluminated in the world. Therefore, I will now briefly outline the essential points, so that all may understand what this tradition truly upholds.

The Huayan Perfect School takes the One True Dharma Realm as the foundation that unifies the Four Dharma Realms. Based on the Four Dharma Realms, it establishes the Ten Profound Gates. However, the Four Realms and Ten Gates are all established through the Six Characteristics. Thus, the Six Characteristics form the principle of perfect harmony and unobstructed interpenetration. This treatise comprehensively clarifies the Six Characteristics, encompassing the principles and meanings of the Four Realms and Ten Gates without omission. Taking the Six Characteristics as the unifying principle of perfect harmony, this treatise encompasses the Dharma Realm boundlessly. Therefore, it begins by pointing to the One Mind, the True Suchness, as the essence of the great all-encompassing Dharma Gate of the One Dharma Realm.

Moreover, this treatise is based on the teachings of one hundred Mahayana sutras. These one hundred Mahayana sutras were established by the transformation bodies of the Buddha, representing skillful means that point to the ultimate truth. This treatise comprehensively gathers these skillful teachings and returns them to the One Ultimate Truth, aiming to reveal the ultimate reality within the skillful means and guide beings to the supreme culmination of perfect harmony in the ocean of fruition. Although the treatise does not explicitly elaborate on the principle of perfect harmony, the practices, realizations, and gradual or sudden paths of the Three Vehicles and Five Natures all trace back to the source of the One Mind, the ocean of fruition. The perfect harmony and complete virtues are all wondrous functions of the One Mind, already fully present within the Huayan School. Therefore, this is not reiterated here. Instead, the treatise focuses solely on guiding and drawing beings back to the ocean of true nature.

Thus, the ultimate refuge presented at the outset of the treatise is the Reward Body Buddha, and the Buddha seen upon the eradication of afflictions is also the Reward Body Buddha. The treatise thoroughly clarifies that both defilement and purity share the same true nature, representing the manifestations and functions of the One Mind. It takes a single thought as the conditioned arising of defilement and purity, which aligns entirely with Huayan's principle of taking the Dharma Realm's conditioned arising as its foundation. The twelve links of dependent origination are none other than the Tathagata's universally illuminating wisdom. Therefore, it is understood that to enter the Huayan Dharma Realm, one must take this treatise as the gateway to entering the Dharma Realm.

The six characteristics are: totality, particularity, sameness, difference, formation, and dissolution.

The Four Dharma Realms are spoken of. They are the Realm of Principle, the Realm of Phenomena, the Realm of Non-Obstruction between Principle and Phenomena, and the Realm of Non-Obstruction among Phenomena.

The Ten Gates of the Profound.

The meaning of these Ten Profound Gates is explained in the Dharma Realm Contemplation and in the Profound Discourse.