法華經義記 7.22

7.22

A questioner asks: "In the [parable of the] burning house, it is explained that transforming through the Great Vehicle does not succeed, and then transforming through the three vehicles succeeds; thereafter the capacity for the Great Vehicle arises, and when the capacity arises, the Great Vehicle is preached for them. Why is it that here, without a capacity for the Great Vehicle, the Great Sūtra is preached for them, and only afterward does transforming through the Great Vehicle fail and transforming through the Lesser Vehicle succeed?" The explicator says: "This meaning is solely due to the correspondence between ancient and present causes and conditions. In the past, when I was the sixteenth prince, I already knew that you had the capacity for the Great Vehicle, and immediately repeated the exposition, preaching the Great Vehicle; at that time you had already attained understanding of the Great Vehicle as a cause and condition, so now, when the capacity for the Great Vehicle arises, I immediately preach the Great Vehicle sūtra for you, which you cannot fail to believe. As for the sequence set forth in the burning house: at the beginning of the Tathāgata's appearance in the world, he originally wished to preach the Great Vehicle sūtra, but at that time there was no capacity for the Great Vehicle; since using the Great Vehicle to tentatively adapt and transform did not succeed, and these sentient beings could not be allowed to sink forever into long suffering, the Tathāgata therefore used the teaching of the three vehicles to transform and retrieve sentient beings, and only later, when the capacity for the Great Vehicle arose, did he preach the Great Vehicle sūtra."