法華經義記 1.12

1.12

The present fruition, contrasted with the past fruition, likewise each has three meanings. The three meanings of the present fruition are: first, explaining that the substance of the present fruition is long, which contrasts with the substance of the past fruition being short; second, that the scope of the present fruition is broad, which contrasts with the scope of the past fruition being narrow; third, that the function of the present fruition is superior, which contrasts with the function of the past fruition being inferior. Why is it said that the substance of the present fruition is long? In the past, when speaking of fruition, lifespan was said to be merely eighty [years] or seven hundred asaṃkhyeyas. Today, in clarifying fruition, the lifespan is vast and distant, multiplied many times over. Therefore, the text of the sūtra below states that the lifespan is obtained through deeds cultivated over countless kalpas, taking the metaphor of ink-dots across five hundred nayuta asaṃkhyeyas of three-thousand-great-thousand realms, and saying that the lifespan surpasses even this. In the past, there was no such lifespan. While arhats and pratyekabuddhas are not without life extended by the knowledge of the limit [of life], in the end they themselves do not have a vastly distant duration. Therefore, contrasting the vastly distant fruition of today with the short and fleeting lifespan of the past, the past is coarse and the present is sublime; such is its meaning. Second, regarding the contrast between broad and narrow: in the past, the unconditioned fruition was deficient, consisting only in the unconditioned state of cutting off fragmentary saṃsāra. Today, because both kinds of saṃsāra are cut off, the unconditioned state is complete. The substance of the conditioned fruition in the past possessed merit and wisdom, yet its merit was not full and its wisdom was not complete: it illuminated only the quantifiable noble truths, not the unquantifiable noble truths; alternatively, it illuminated only the three causes and three fruitions, not the One Cause and One Fruition. Consisting only of the knowledge of exhaustion and the knowledge of non-arising as its substance, its meaning was narrow. As for merit not being full: benevolence and compassion extended only to sentient beings within the three realms, not reaching sentient beings beyond the three realms; hence it was called incomplete. Today, in clarifying the conditioned fruition, wisdom illuminates the eight truths and further illuminates the One Cause and One Fruition; in terms of merit, benevolence and compassion extend to sentient beings both within and beyond [the three realms]; thus merit and wisdom are both full and complete. Thus, the present is broad and therefore sublime, while the past was narrow and therefore coarse. Third, in clarifying the contrast between superior and inferior function of fruition: this fruition has no other distinct function; it is merely employing various forms, myriad manifestations, and supernatural powers to benefit beings. As the text below states: 'Such are my supernatural powers; throughout asaṃkhyeya kalpas I constantly dwell on the Vulture Peak and in other abodes.' Not only does he dwell on the Vulture Peak to benefit beings, but he also divides his body throughout the ten directions to deliver people: those who see his form have the three poisons extinguished, and those who hear his voice have the four inverted views eliminated. While the fruition of the past was not without minor expositions of the Dharma, it was insufficient for such a description. Therefore, contrasting the superior function of today's boundless supernatural powers that benefit beings with the inferior function of the past: the past is inferior and the present is superior; the inferior is coarse and the superior is sublime. Such is the meaning of the mutual relativity of the two designations.