尔时,普慧菩萨问普贤菩萨言:佛子!菩萨摩诃萨有几种神通?普贤菩萨言:佛子!菩萨摩诃萨有十种神通。何等为十?一者、他心智神通;二者、天眼智神通;三者、宿住随念智神通;四者、知尽未来际劫神通;五者、天耳智神通;六者、无体性神通;七者、善分别一切言辞神通;八者、无数色身神通;九者、一切法智神通;十者、灭尽定智神通。
逐句解释
神通(abhijñā)在菩萨道中的地位
「通」(梵文 abhijñā)意为「透彻的了知」,中文译作「神通」——「神妙的贯通」。在佛教传统中,神通有六种(六神通):天眼通、天耳通、他心通、宿命通、神足通、漏尽通。《华严经》的十通在传统六通的基础上深化扩展,加入了华严特色的神通,如「无数色身神通」和「一切法智神通」。重要的是:《华严经》对神通的态度与民间信仰截然不同——这里的神通不是超自然的奇能,而是菩萨对现实深度了知后自然开显的能力。菩萨不追求神通,神通是证悟的副产品,也是服务众生的工具。
The place of spiritual penetrations (abhijñā) in the bodhisattva path.
The term "神通" (abhijñā) is often translated as "supernormal powers" or "miraculous abilities," but its literal meaning — "penetrating knowing" — is more accurate. These are not arbitrary supernatural gifts but capacities that arise naturally from deep realisation: when the mind fully understands the nature of reality, certain obstructions to knowledge and action dissolve. The traditional Buddhist list includes six abhijñās (天眼, 天耳, 他心, 宿命, 神足, 漏尽). The Avatamsaka's ten include these but extend them with distinctively Huayan formulations — particularly "无体性神通" (penetration of the no-body nature of things) and "一切法智神通" (penetrating knowledge of all phenomena). In the Avatamsaka's vision, spiritual penetrations are not goals to pursue but flowers that bloom when the roots of realisation go deep enough.
一者、他心智神通;二者、天眼智神通;三者、宿住随念智神通
「他心智神通」——了知他人心念的能力:菩萨能清楚感知任何众生当下的心理状态——其念头、情绪、根器与需求。这不是侵犯隐私,而是深度的同理心,是菩萨为众生提供最适切帮助的基础。「天眼智神通」——超越物质障碍的视觉:能见到远方、微细处、他方世界的情况,以及众生的因果流转。「宿住随念智神通」——回忆过去世的能力(宿命通):能忆念自身与众生过去无量劫的经历,了解每一种现在状态背后的业因,从而更深刻地帮助众生。
First: penetrating knowledge of others' minds. Second: the divine eye. Third: recollection of past lives.
The first three penetrations correspond to three of the traditional six abhijñās. Knowledge of others' minds (他心通) is the contemplative capacity that makes genuine compassion possible: to help someone you need to know where they actually are, not where you imagine them to be. The divine eye (天眼) is the removal of the opaque boundary between visible and invisible, near and far, coarse and subtle — the bodhisattva can see the full causal texture of any situation. Recollection of past lives (宿命通) provides the temporal depth: understanding why someone is in their current situation requires seeing not just this moment but the long thread of causes and conditions that produced it. Together these three penetrations make the bodhisattva an extraordinarily well-resourced helper: knowing minds, seeing fully, and perceiving the history of the situation.
六者、无体性神通;七者、善分别一切言辞神通
「无体性神通」是《华严经》十通中最具华严特色的一种:「无体性」意为「无固定自性」——菩萨能以一切法「无体性」(无自性、空性)的如实本质来显现和行动,不被任何固定形态所束缚。这是将空性哲学直接转化为行动能力:因为知道一切法无固定体性,菩萨能以任何形态出现、以任何方式行动,自在无碍。「善分别一切言辞神通」——通达一切语言、一切表达方式的神通:菩萨能听懂并使用宇宙中任何众生的任何语言和表达方式,确保法的传达永不受语言障碍阻挡。
Sixth: penetration of the body-less nature of things. Seventh: the ability to discern all forms of language.
The sixth penetration — "penetrating knowledge of the no-fixed-nature of all things" (无体性神通) — is distinctively Avatamsaka. It is the direct practical expression of the doctrine of emptiness (空性, śūnyatā): because no phenomenon has a fixed, independent, obstruction-causing nature, the bodhisattva who has fully realised this can move through all phenomena without getting stuck in any. This is not a theoretical position but a lived freedom — the freedom to appear in whatever form is needed, act in whatever way serves beings, and respond to any situation without the friction of "but that's not how things are." The seventh penetration — discernment of all forms of language — removes communication as a barrier: the bodhisattva can speak to any being in any world in the language that being can receive.
九者、一切法智神通;十者、灭尽定智神通
「一切法智神通」——对一切法(一切现象、一切存在)的透彻了知:没有任何现象在菩萨的了知之外。这是华严「事事无碍」的智慧层面——知道一切现象之间的相互关系,没有任何「不知道」的死角。「灭尽定智神通」——「灭尽定」(梵文 nirodha-samāpatti)是最深的禅定,在这一定境中,感知和意志活动完全暂停,接近涅槃的状态;菩萨能自在出入这一定境,同时知道何时进入、何时出定以利益众生。十通以这种「既能彻底寂止,又能自在出入」的能力结束,完美地呼应了《华严经》的核心:涅槃与世间、定与行,本来不二。
Ninth: penetrating knowledge of all phenomena. Tenth: penetrating knowledge of the concentration of cessation.
The ninth penetration — knowledge of all dharmas — is the cognitive completion of the ten: no phenomenon is opaque, no relationship is hidden, no corner of reality is unknown. This is the bodhisattva as an epistemologically complete being — not omniscient in a theological sense, but fully open to whatever is actually present in any situation. The tenth penetration — mastery of the concentration of cessation (灭尽定, nirodha-samāpatti) — is the deepest possible stillness in Buddhist contemplative practice, a state in which mental activity comes to a complete stop. The bodhisattva's mastery lies not just in the ability to enter this state but in the wisdom to know when to emerge — when the stillness has served its purpose and activity is again what serves beings. The ten penetrations end on this note of complete integration: the deepest stillness and the most active engagement are both available, and wisdom knows which is needed when.
总结 · Summary
第二十八品由普贤菩萨宣说菩萨的十种神通:他心智通、天眼智通、宿住随念智通、知尽未来际劫通、天耳智通、无体性神通、善分别一切言辞通、无数色身神通、一切法智通、灭尽定智通。这十通不是超自然奇能,而是高度证悟后自然开显的了知与行动能力,覆盖时间(知过去未来)、空间(天眼天耳)、语言(一切言辞)、形态(无数色身)与寂静(灭尽定)各个维度——使菩萨能在任何条件下为任何众生提供最适切的帮助。
Chapter 28 presents the Ten Spiritual Penetrations — the bodhisattva's capacities for knowing and acting that arise naturally from deep realisation. They span the full range of what it means to be fully present to reality: knowing others' minds (empathy at its deepest), seeing without obstruction (divine eye), perceiving causal history (past lives), discerning all languages, manifesting in any form, and achieving complete stillness. The distinctively Avatamsaka contribution is the sixth penetration: the penetration of the no-fixed-nature of all things, which directly translates emptiness philosophy into practical freedom of action. The chapter closes with mastery of the concentration of cessation — the ability to enter complete stillness and to know when to return, making the deepest peace and the most active service two expressions of the same realised freedom.