妙法蓮華經玄義 10.4

10.4

The present sūtra is not like that. Anything that pertains to the detailed framework of dharma-gates, the great and small methods of contemplation, the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, and various rules is not discussed here, because these were already explained in previous sūtras. It discusses only the initial origin of the Tathāgata's dispensation of teachings, his giving and withholding in the middle period, his adjusting sudden and gradual to the proper time, the cause and condition of the one great matter, and the final culmination—the overarching framework of the spoken teachings, the fish trap and snare of the great conversion. To those whose past cultivation was pure and substantial, he immediately gave the sudden at the outset, directly explaining the stages, practices, and merits of bodhisattvas without mentioning the small. The text says: 'From the very first they saw my body and heard what I taught; they all immediately had faith in it, accepted it, and entered the Tathāgata's wisdom.' For those who could not bear this, he concealed his immeasurable divine virtues and, with the method of that which the impoverished delight in, expediently approached them, telling them to work diligently. The text says: 'If I were to praise the buddha-yāna, sentient beings would sink in suffering.' For such persons, he had to use this method to lead them gradually into the Buddha's wisdom. Once they had attained the path, they had to be reprimanded; this is just like the vaipulya [sūtras], using the great to shatter the small. The text says: 'Having sternly rebuked them, he showed them the jewel tied to their clothes.' If it was suitable to combine with the shared and wash away [attachments] with the half and full, then like the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra, he swept away attachment to characteristics and brought them to the essential path. The text says: 'He led the multitude, wishing to cross the perilous road.' Having crossed this difficulty, he established them as son and father, entrusted them with the family estate, swept away provisional traces, and revealed the real original source.