法華經義記 6.5

6.5

"The father saw him from afar" downwards is the third, the parable of releasing and abandoning the son, which then combines both parties' cessation of teaching. This corresponds to the cessation of teaching by exhortation in the burning house, which says, "they might fall down and be burned by the fire"; and to the cessation of teaching by admonition, which says, "they only ran around in amusement, looking at their father and that was all." It also remotely corresponds to the "Expedient Means Chapter," from "I then reflected to myself" down to the line "I would rather not preach the Dharma, but quickly enter nirvāṇa." Within this cessation of teaching, there are also two: first, contemplating wishing to release and abandon the son, which internally matches wishing for the cessation of teaching; second, from "The messenger told him" downwards, directly explaining releasing the son, which internally matches directly explaining the cessation of teaching. Furthermore, within each of these two sections, there are two. Within contemplating the cessation of teaching, there are two: first, contemplating wishing for the cessation of teaching; second, from "Why is this?" downwards, explaining the intention of wishing for the cessation of teaching. These two sections each have two meanings: first, contemplating wishing for the cessation of teaching; second, first explaining having the small, and afterwards explaining lacking the great. Now, first explaining having the small: "The father [saw him] from afar" means that the distance between the small capacity and the great teaching is exceedingly far; hence it says "from afar." Taking the teaching as a messenger, at that time wishing for the cessation of teaching is like "He spoke to the messenger, saying: 'There is no need for this man; do not bring him by force.'" The human and celestial capacity is like the face, and the human and celestial teaching is like cold water; the human and celestial teaching accords with and matches their disposition; hence it says "sprinkling his face [with cold water] to cause him to revive." "Do not speak with him again"—this explains the lack of capacity for the Great [Vehicle]; because there is no capacity for the Great [Vehicle], therefore do not speak with him again about having no capacity for the Great [Vehicle]. From "Why is this?" downwards is the second, explaining the two kinds of intentions above regarding wishing for the cessation of teaching. Merely because there is the small and a lack of the great, the cessation of teaching accordingly forms two sections: "His aspirations were base and inferior"—this is having the small, which explains the line above about "sprinkling cold water on his face"; "knowing that his own nobility would be difficult for the son [to approach]" downwards explains the lack of the great, which explains the line above, "Do not speak with him again," and is also said to explain the line above, "Do not bring him by force." Knowing with certainty that he was a son formerly transformed through the Great Vehicle under twenty billion buddhas, he simply did not himself speak of the bodhisattva path, for he was a son who had lost the understanding of the Great Vehicle; hence it says "he did not tell other people." From "The messenger told him" downwards: originally there were two sections in corresponding to the cessation of teaching, and this below is the second, directly explaining the cessation of teaching. Within it, there are also two: first, the statement, "The messenger told him: 'I now release you; go wherever you wish'"—this is directly the cessation of teaching; the Buddha no longer uses the Great Vehicle teaching for tentative adaptation, so it says "release." This is precisely in the burning house, regarding the cessation of the teaching of exhortation, "being attached to the place of amusement, they might fall down," and so forth, and regarding the cessation of the teaching of admonition, "they only ran around in amusement, looking at their father and that was all"; it is the meaning in the "Expedient Means Chapter" of "I would rather not preach the Dharma, but quickly enter nirvāṇa." Second, the statement, "The poor son was delighted": this explains that the cessation of teaching was appropriate, containing two meanings for his delight. First, since the small capacity was no longer pressed by the great teaching, it says "delighted"; second, "rising up from the ground"—previously, when subject to tentative adaptation by the Great Vehicle teaching, it was like falling prostrate on the ground; now, since he is no longer subject to tentative adaptation by the Great Vehicle teaching, it is like rising up from the ground. The human and celestial teaching is like the impoverished village, and the human and celestial retributions therein are like clothing and food; this means the human and celestial small teaching accords with and matches the human and celestial small capacity, hence he is delighted.