妙法蓮華經玄義 4.112

4.112

Fourth, clarifying the subtlety of stages: the principle of the truths having been harmonized, wisdom being round and unobscured, it guides practice to become subtle. The three meanings having been revealed, the substance, central purport, and function are complete. Further clarifying the subtlety of stages: these are the gradations of practice. However, stages are both provisional and real, and are scattered throughout the sūtras and treatises. If the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra and Abhidharma classify stages, their words do not encompass the Mahāyāna. If the Daśabhūmika, Mahāyānasaṃgraha, and other treatises classify stages, they describe a single particular path, and their meaning does not comprehensively encompass [all]. The various Vaipulya sūtras clarify stages, and the Yingluo [sūtra] has already distinguished their shallowness and depth. The various Prajñā sūtras clarify stages, and the Renwang [sūtra] extensively discusses their height and lowness, but has not yet illuminated the coarse and the subtle. In the present sūtra, the names of the stages are not made explicit, yet its intention encompasses both small and large, roughly distinguishing provisional and real. However, the Sanskrit text was not fully translated; the root sūtra must surely have possessed them.