---
title: "太虛大師全書．第十二編　宗體論 · 十　如來法身不思議變"
description: "太虛大師全書第十二編宗體論為民國佛教改革領袖釋太虛所著，成書於二十世紀上半葉，正值中國佛教面臨現代化轉型之際。本編系統闡述佛法根本原理，從教理與實證雙重角度論述法界緣起、真如實相與心性本體，釐清宗門與教下之關係，並融通唯識、中觀、如來藏思想。此書為太虛大師整體思想之理論核心，對現代漢傳佛教的學術建構與修行體系具有奠基性地位，被視為研究近代中國佛教哲學不可或缺的權威文獻。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmpjji5ha001et1bi3zy7qbbg"
---

### 十　如來法身不思議變

> Chapter 10: The Inconceivable Transformations of the Tathagata's Dharma Body

這裏所說的如來法身，正指大乘佛果的法身。雖然聖教也說有法身菩薩，但是真正能夠成就遍一切法為身的，只有如來佛果；菩薩之於法身，不過是證得一分而已。同時，這法身正簡別了二乘無學的解脫身。一般說，二乘無學有所謂戒、定、慧、解脫、解脫知見的五分法身，其實這只是解脫身，並不是法身。因為他僅為消極的解脫生死所成就之無漏功德聚，所獲得的相用都有限量，所以只叫解脫身。佛果位上的無邊福慧威神功德聚，則能遍集一切為法身；而於一切法界眾生興起無邊大用，才叫作法身。這種法身，即非二乘無學果所能有的。唯識三十頌云：『安樂解脫身，大牟尼名法』。意思說：共三乘無學的無漏功德聚，叫作解脫身；只有和釋迦牟尼一樣的諸佛究竟功德聚，才能叫做法身。這廣義的法身，不是對待報身，應身而分立三身的法身；而是總攝佛果一切最極清淨究竟無上法聚的佛法身。包括了一切法自性和自受用、他受用、三類應化佛果的廣義法身。這如來法身的不思議神變，就是本段所要說明的。且分三段來敘述：

> The Dharma body of the Tathāgata spoken of here refers specifically to the Dharma body attained as the fruit of the Great Vehicle Buddhahood. Although the sacred teachings also mention Dharma-body bodhisattvas, only the Buddha fruit of the Tathāgata can truly accomplish a body pervading all phenomena; bodhisattvas, in contrast, have only realized a fraction of the Dharma body. At the same time, this Dharma body clearly distinguishes itself from the liberation body of the arhats of the Two Vehicles. Generally speaking, the arhats of the Two Vehicles are said to possess the five-part Dharma body consisting of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation. In reality, however, this is merely a liberation body, not a Dharma body. Because it is only the accumulation of undefiled merit achieved through the passive liberation from birth and death, and the characteristics and functions it obtains are all limited in scope, it is only called a liberation body. The immeasurable merit, wisdom, majestic power, and spiritual attainments accumulated at the stage of Buddhahood, however, can gather all phenomena universally as the Dharma body; and by arousing immeasurable great functions throughout all realms of sentient beings, it is then truly called the Dharma body. Such a Dharma body is something that even the arhats of the Two Vehicles cannot possess. The Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only state: "The peaceful and blissful liberation body is called Dharma only for the Great Sage." This means: the accumulation of undefiled merit shared by the arhats of the Three Vehicles is called the liberation body; only the ultimate accumulation of merit of all Buddhas, like that of Shakyamuni, can be called the Dharma body. This Dharma body in the broad sense is not the Dharma body established in distinction from the reward body and the response body as three separate bodies; rather, it is the Buddha Dharma body that encompasses all the most pure, ultimate, and unsurpassed Dharma accumulations of the Buddha fruit. It includes the self-nature of all phenomena, the self-enjoyment body, the other-enjoyment body, and the three types of response bodies of Buddhahood—this is the Dharma body in its broadest sense. The inconceivable spiritual transformations of this Tathāgata Dharma body are precisely what this section will explain. It will be described in three parts:

甲、法身不思議神變：這法身的不思議神變，如大涅槃經中說：

> A. The Wondrous Miraculous Transformations of the Dharma Body: As stated in The Nirvana Sutra, the Dharma Body's inconceivable miraculous transformations are thus—

若有菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，須彌山王如是高廣，悉能令入葶藶子糩——芝麻芥子之類的微細種子——其諸眾生依須彌者亦無迫迮，無往來想，如本不異；唯應度者——如大力天神及菩薩等——見是菩薩以須彌山內葶藶糩；復還安止本所住處。善男子！復有菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，能以三千大千世界置葶藶；其中眾生亦不迫迮及往來想，如本不異；唯應度者見是菩薩以三千大千世界置葶藶糩，復還安止本所住處——以大入小——。善男子！復有菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，能以三千大千世界內一毛孔，乃至本處，亦復如是——以依入正——。善男子！復有菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，斷取十方三千大千諸佛世界置於針鋒，如貫棗葉，擲置他方異佛世界，其中所有一切眾生，不覺往返為在何處；唯應度者乃能見之，乃至本處，亦復如是。善男子！復有菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，斷取十方三千大千諸佛世界置於右掌，如陶家輪，擲置他方微塵世界，無一眾生有往來想；唯應度者乃見之耳，乃至本處，亦復如是——以動為靜——。善男子！復有菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，斷取一切十方無量諸佛世界悉內己身，其中眾生悉無迫迮，亦無往返及住處想；唯應度者乃能見之，乃至本處，亦復如是。善男子！復有菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，以十方世界內一塵中，其中眾生亦無迫迮往返之想；唯應度者乃能見之，乃至本處，亦復如是。善男子！是菩薩摩訶薩住大涅槃，則能示現種種無量神通變化。

> If a great bodhisattva abides in Great Nirvana, they can make Mount Sumeru—vast and towering as it is—fit entirely into a tiny seed, like a mustard seed or sesame seed. All the beings who live on Mount Sumeru feel no crowding, no sense of being moved, and everything remains exactly as it was before. Only those who are ready to be guided—such as mighty deities or bodhisattvas—can see this great bodhisattva place Mount Sumeru into a tiny seed and then return it to its original place. "Good man, there is also a great bodhisattva who abides in Great Nirvana and can place an entire great trichiliocosm—a universe of a thousand million worlds—into a tiny seed. The beings within it feel no crowding and no sense of movement; everything remains as it was. Only those ready to be guided see this bodhisattva place the great trichiliocosm into a tiny seed and then return it to its original place—the large entering the small. "Good man, there is also a great bodhisattva who abides in Great Nirvana and can place a great trichiliocosm into a single pore of their skin, and then return it to its original place—the many entering the one. "Good man, there is also a great bodhisattva who abides in Great Nirvana and can take worlds from the ten directions—entire great trichiliocosms of the Buddhas—and place them on the tip of a needle, like stacking jujube leaves on a thread, and then cast them into other Buddha worlds far away. All the beings in those worlds are unaware of any journey or change of location. Only those ready to be guided can perceive this. And then the bodhisattva returns everything to its original place. "Good man, there is also a great bodhisattva who abides in Great Nirvana and can take worlds from the ten directions—great trichiliocosms of the Buddhas—and hold them in their right palm, spinning them like a potter's wheel, and then cast them into other worlds as numerous as specks of dust. No being feels any sense of movement. Only those ready to be guided can see this. And then everything returns to its original place—movement appearing as stillness. "Good man, there is also a great bodhisattva who abides in Great Nirvana and can take all the countless Buddha worlds in the ten directions and place them within their own body. The beings in those worlds feel no crowding, no sense of coming or going, and no sense of dwelling. Only those ready to be guided can see this. And then everything returns to its original place. "Good man, there is also a great bodhisattva who abides in Great Nirvana and can place all the worlds of the ten directions into a single speck of dust. The beings within them feel no crowding and no sense of movement. Only those ready to be guided can see this. And then everything returns to its original place. "Good man, these great bodhisattvas who abide in Great Nirvana can display countless miraculous transformations like these."

大涅槃、就是上段所說的解脫、般若、法身三德祕藏。直言之，就是此間所指的如來法身。住大涅槃——如來法身中，就有這以大入小、以小攝大、以依入正、以正攝依、以動攝靜、以靜攝動………種種的不思議神變。

> Great Nirvana is what was described above as Liberation, Prajna, and the Dharma-body—the three secret virtues. Simply put, it refers to the Tathagata's Dharma-body. Abiding in Great Nirvana—within the Tathagata's Dharma-body—there exist all kinds of inconceivable miraculous transformations: the large entering the small, the small encompassing the large, the dependent entering the principal, the principal encompassing the dependent, motion encompassing stillness, stillness encompassing motion, and so on.

這不思議神變的事理，在維摩詰經不思議品、首楞嚴三昧經、華嚴經、法華經等大乘經裏，均有所明。有的說這些神變通於初住以上的菩薩，有的說只通於初地以上，有的說只通於八地以上。楞嚴三昧則說唯等覺以上才有。實際說來，真能窮神極妙盡其無礙變化者，只有佛果，而菩薩都是仗佛加持而有限量的。八地以前的菩薩雖有神變而不自在，大都是仗諸佛及上地菩薩的加持，加功用行而起的。八地菩薩得色自在，能無功用而自在起諸依正神變，然較之第九地得心自在、第十地得業自在者之神變，乃至十地較之等覺，等覺較之妙覺，都是有限有上的，所以都不能盡有無礙的神變。且以此現覺實變義，審定其所有的神變，須有實用，不能只是些無用的幻相。「變大地為黃金，攪長河成酥酪」，不僅形狀相像，還要真能有黃金、酥酪實用以濟眾生。這在二乘聖者及七地以前的菩薩，都是做不到的；八地以上菩薩，其所變雖亦能有實用，但比之佛果還不能窮變極化，盡其無邊的勝用。所以這種不思神變，只是如來法身圓明照了的現覺上所起的實用妙變。

乙、成佛等善順化跡：如來法身，常能現起一切善順的變化事跡，現成佛相，就是很明顯的一個例子。其實又何嘗限於現成佛相，還有無量善順的化跡。如大涅槃經云：

我於三千大千世界或閻浮提示現涅槃，亦不畢竟取於涅槃。或閻浮提示入母胎，令其父母生我子想，而我此身畢竟不從愛欲和合而得生也。我已久從無量劫來離於愛欲，我今此身即是法身，隨順世間，示現入胎。

善男子！此閻浮提林微尼園示現從母摩耶而生，生已即能東行七步，唱如是言：「我於人、天、阿修羅中最尊最上」！父母人天見已驚喜，生希有心；而諸人等謂是嬰兒，而我此身無量劫來久離是法。如是身者即是法身，非是肉血筋脈骨髓之所成立，隨順世間眾生法故，示為嬰兒。南行七步，示現欲為無量眾生作上福田；而行七步，示現生盡，永斷老死是最後身；北行七步，示現已度諸有生死；東行七步，示為眾生而作導者。四維七步，示現斷滅種種煩惱四魔種姓，成於如來應正遍知。上行七步，示現不為不淨之物之所染污，猶如虛空；下行七步，示現法雨滅地獄火，令彼眾生受安隱樂。

如閻浮提生七日已，又示剃髮，諸人皆謂我是嬰兒初始剃髮，一切人、天、魔王波旬、沙門、婆羅門無有見我頂相者，況有持刀臨之剃髮！若有持刀至我頂者，無有是處。我已久於無量劫中剃除鬚髮，為欲隨順世間法故，示現剃髮。我既生已父母將我入天祠中，以我示於摩醯首羅；摩醯首羅即見我時合掌恭敬，立在一面。我已久於無量劫中捨離如是入天祠法，為欲隨順世間法故，示現如是。我於閻浮示現穿耳，一切眾生實無有能穿我耳者，隨順眾生故示現如是；復以諸寶作獅子璫用莊嚴耳，然我已於無量劫中離莊嚴具，為欲隨順世間法故作是示現。示入學堂修學書疏，然我無量劫中具足成就，遍現三界所有眾生無有堪任為我師者。為欲隨順世間法故示入學堂，故名如來應正遍知。習學乘象、槃馬、挽力種種技藝，亦復如是。

於閻浮提而復示現為太子，眾生皆見我為太子，於五欲中歡娛受樂；然我已於無量劫中捨離如是五欲之樂，為欲隨順世間法故，示如是相。相師占我若不出家當為轉輪聖王，王閻浮提，一切眾生皆信是言；然我已於無量劫中捨轉輪王位，為法輪王。於閻浮提現離婇女五欲之樂，見老病死及沙門已，出家修道，眾生皆謂悉達太子初始出家，然我已於無量劫中出家學道，隨順世法故亦如是。乃至大涅槃者即是諸佛如來法界。我又示現閻浮提中出於世間，眾生皆謂我始成佛，然我已於無量劫中所作已辦，隨順世法故復示現於閻浮提初出成佛。

如是從如來法身上起不思議神變，就是示現入胎、降生、出家、成佛，以及現為菩薩、聲聞、獨覺等善順化跡。故梵網經云：「我來此世界成佛已八千返」；法華經如來壽量品明佛久已成佛，隨本願力故示現八相成佛，都是如來法身在現覺中起無量善順化跡的實變用。

丙、犯戒等惡逆變現：如來法身中又可以示現犯戒等惡逆的不思議神變。如大涅槃經云：

我又示現於閻浮提不持禁戒、犯四重罪，眾人皆見謂我實犯；然我已於無量劫中堅持禁戒，無有漏缺。我又示現於閻浮提為一闡提，眾人皆見是一闡提，然我實非一闡提也；一闡提者，云何能成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提？我又示現於閻浮提破和合僧，眾生皆謂我是破僧；我觀人天無有能破和合僧者。我又示現於閻浮提護持正法，眾人謂我是護法神，悉生驚怪，諸佛法爾不應驚怪。我又示現於閻浮提為魔波旬，眾人皆謂我是波旬；然我久於無量劫中離於魔事，清淨無染猶如蓮華。我又示現於閻浮提女身成佛，眾人皆言：甚奇！女人能成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提！如來畢竟不受女身，為欲調伏無量眾生故現女像。憐愍一切諸眾生故，而復示現種種色像。

我又示現於閻浮提中生於四趣，然我久已斷諸趣因——以業因故墮於四趣——，為度眾生故生是中。我又示現閻浮提中作梵天王，令事梵者安住正法；然我實非梵天，而諸眾生咸皆謂我為真梵天。示現天像遍諸天廟，亦復如是。我又示現於閻浮提中入婬女舍；然我實無貪欲之想，清淨不污猶如蓮華。為諸貪淫嗜色眾生，於四衢道宣說妙法，然我實無欲穢之心，眾人謂我守護女人。我又示現於閻浮提入青衣（奴婢）舍，為教諸婢令住正法；然我實無如是惡業墮在青衣。我又示現於閻浮提中而作博士，為教童蒙令住正法。我又示現於閻浮提入諸酒舍博奕之處，示受種種勝負鬥諍，為欲拔濟彼諸眾生；而我實無如是惡業，而諸眾生皆謂我作如是之業。我又示現久住塚間，作大鷲身，度諸飛鳥，而諸眾生咸謂我是真實鷲身；然我久已離於是業，為欲度彼諸鷲鳥故示如是生。

這種惡逆變相，都是如來法身所起的不思議變。也就約這種意義，天台家說佛也不斷性惡。性惡的「性」，是可能性的意思，佛果位上有現起這一切犯戒等惡逆相的可能性，所以說佛不斷性惡。因為佛果對於是處非處等因果理法，都能圓明覺了毫不迷惑，所以能窮神極變而應機化現這一切惡逆相。