妙法蓮華經玄義 6
English (machine translation) 6
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6.1
Expounded by Great Master Tiantai Zhizhe.
6.2
VI. Clarifying the subtlety of stimulus and response. The four subtleties discussed above are called the perfect cause, while the secret storehouse of the three dharmas is called the perfect fruit: the subtlety of the objective realm being ultimately revealed is called Vairocana; the subtlety of wisdom being ultimately perfected is called Rocana; the subtlety of practice being ultimately perfected is called Śākyamuni. The three buddhas are neither one nor different, neither vertical nor horizontal; therefore they are called the subtle fruit. The Treatise says: 'Bow the head to the childless Buddha of wisdom-pāramitā.' The stage of the fruit is the perfect culmination and is no longer a causal stage; therefore it is called childless. The wisdom of the fruit is quiescent yet illuminating; whenever there is a stimulus, it is bound to become manifest. Therefore, the subtlety of stimulus and response is clarified. It has six parts: 1. Explaining the names of stimulus and response; 2. Clarifying their characteristics; 3. Clarifying their identity and difference; 4. Clarifying their mutual pairing; 5. Clarifying coarseness and subtlety; 6. Clarifying contemplation of mind.
6.3
Explaining the names also has three parts: 1. Explaining the names; 2. Correlating the explanation with the four siddhāntas; 3. Analysis. As for explaining the names, the Zheng Fahua says: 'In countless worlds, expounding the sūtra dharmas extensively'; what the World-Honoured One does as stimulus and response is like this, so it is now used as the name. Now, in the sūtras, the terms 'capacity' (ji) and 'condition' (yuan) are both alternative designations for 'stimulus' (gan), all referring to sentient beings; for the moment, explaining the meaning from the perspective of capacity makes it easy to see, and the stimulus of conditions can be understood by analogy.
6.4
Capacity has three meanings: First, capacity has the meaning of 'subtle'. Thus the Yijing says: 'The incipient is the subtlety of movement, the first manifestation of good fortune.' Furthermore, the Āgama says: 'Sentient beings have the capacity for good dharmas, and the sage comes to respond.' Sentient beings have good that is about to arise; when this good is subtle and about to stir, it can serve as a capacity. If one takes the good about to arise as the capacity, this formulation is narrow; now, explaining it as good that is capable of arising makes the phrasing broad. Just as a crossbow has a trigger that is capable of being released, so the archer releases it; when released, the arrow moves, but if not released, it does not advance. Sentient beings have good that is capable of arising; thus, when the sage responds, the good arises, but if he does not respond, it does not arise. Therefore it is said that capacity means subtle. Second, the Old Commentary on the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra says: 'Capacity has the meaning of concern/connection.' Why? Sentient beings have good and evil, which concern the sage's compassion; therefore capacity has the meaning of concern/connection. Third, capacity has the meaning of 'suitability'. For example, when one wishes to pull out the suffering of fundamental ignorance, it is precisely compassion that is suitable; when one wishes to bestow the joy of dharma-nature, it is precisely loving-kindness that is suitable. Therefore capacity has the meaning of suitability.
6.5
Next, clarifying 'response' also has three meanings: First, response has the meaning of 'going to meet/hastening to'. Since we say capacity has the principle of being capable of arising, when the subtlety of capacity is about to stir, the sage goes to meet it, and its goodness is able to arise; therefore we use 'going to meet' to explain response. Second, response has the meaning of 'counterpart/matching'. Like people conducting trade who mutually deal with each other as counterparts: if one wishes to sell while the other does not wish to buy, they do not match as counterparts; if seller and buyer are in mutual agreement, the trade is settled and transaction made, with neither repenting whether expensive or cheap. Now, sentient beings are compared to buying, and the Tathāgata is compared to selling; in terms of capacity we discuss the connection, and in terms of response we discuss the matching counterpart; therefore we explain response through matching. Third, response has the meaning of 'answering/accordance'. Since we said capacity is suitability, what kind of dharma is suitable? One should use the dharmas of loving-kindness and compassion, which are what good and evil are suited for. Compassion is suitable for rescuing from suffering; loving-kindness is suitable for bestowing joy. Following whatever dharma accords with what is suitable for them, we therefore explain response through accordance.
6.6
Second, clarifying the correlation with the four siddhāntas: capacity and response each have three meanings, which correspond precisely to the intent of the four siddhāntas. If one explains capacity as subtlety and response as going to meet, this is going to meet their wishing and desiring mind. Why should only the arising of mental goodness be called desire? Even plants and trees, though mindless, are said to be capable of growing, desiring to grow, and about to grow. Therefore we know that going to meet this arising of goodness accords with their wishing and desiring; this is clarifying capacity and response through the worldly siddhānta. If one explains capacity through connection/concern and response through counterpart, they mutually match one another: matching their capacity of suffering with compassion, and matching their capacity of goodness with loving-kindness; this is clarifying capacity and response according to the diagnostic siddhānta. Next, explaining capacity through suitability and response through accordance corresponds to the individual and paramārtha [siddhāntas]. Being suited for such dharmas accords with the stimulus of their capacity: being suited for the arising of phenomenal goodness is the individual siddhānta; being suited for the arising of noumenal goodness is the paramārtha siddhānta.
6.7
Third, the analysis.
6.8
Question:
6.9
Why is noumenal goodness called the paramārtha siddhānta?
6.10
Answer:
6.11
When noumenal goodness clearly arises, noumenal darkness is bound to be eliminated; it never happens that noumenal evil is eliminated and only then does noumenal goodness begin to arise. Therefore, noumenal goodness is called the paramārtha siddhānta. If phenomenal goodness arises, phenomenal evil is not necessarily removed; if phenomenal evil is removed, phenomenal goodness does not necessarily arise. Phenomena involve separation and distinction, and the diagnostic siddhānta is precisely the mutual opposition of medicine and illness; therefore, the paramārtha siddhānta is not opened within it. The meaning lies right here.
6.12
Question:
6.13
Are the capacity of sentient beings and the response of the sage one or different? If they are one, there is neither capacity nor response; if they are different, how do they interconnect to constitute capacity and response?
6.14
Answer:
6.15
[They are] neither identical nor distinct. Discussed in terms of principle, they are the same suchness; therefore they are not distinct. Discussed in terms of phenomena, there are spiritual capacity and response; therefore they are not identical. For example, father and son are naturally related, possessing a shared bodily constitution; that they should be distinct is unacceptable. Yet if they were identical, the father would be the son and the son would be the father; identity is also unacceptable. It is simply in terms of being neither identical nor distinct that father and son are discussed. Sentient beings in the nature of principle are not different from the Buddha; therefore they are not distinct. Yet sentient beings are concealed while the Tathāgata is manifest; therefore they are not identical. It is in being neither identical nor distinct that spiritual capacity and response are discussed. Furthermore, being identical in that both are neither phenomena nor principle, they are not distinct; sentient beings attain phenomena while the sage attains principle; and the sage attains phenomena while ordinary beings possess principle. Therefore they are discussed as distinct (and so on).
6.16
Question:
6.17
Does one respond by means of the dharma-kāya, or respond by means of the response body? If responding by the response body, the response body has no original source—how could it respond? If responding by means of the dharma-kāya, a response is then not the Dharma.
6.18
Answer:
6.19
In the ultimate discussion, all dharmas are neither past, future, nor present; they are neither response nor non-response, yet they are able to have response. One may also speak of a dharma-response, and one may also speak of a response-response. The dharma-response is hidden benefit, while the response-response is manifest benefit. The differentiation of hidden and manifest has four meanings, as will be explained later (and so on).
6.20
Second, concerning the clarifying of the characteristics of capacity and response: one clarifies the characteristics of capacity with reference to good and evil, and discusses the characteristics of response with reference to benevolence and compassion. If good and evil constitute capacity, are they solitary or combined? Commentators differ. Some say that evil alone constitutes capacity, quoting a sūtra: 'I am here to cut off the boils, warts, and grave illnesses of all sentient beings.' It also says: 'Suppose there are seven sons; yet toward the one who is sick, one's mind is particularly partial. The Tathāgata is also like this: toward sentient beings he is not unequal, yet toward those who have sinned, his mind is particularly partial.' It also says: 'The Tathāgata does not dwell in the world for unconditioned sentient beings.' Furthermore, the indeterminate is ignorance, which ultimately falls under the category of evil. This takes evil alone as capacity. Others take good alone as capacity, quoting the Mahā[parinirvāṇa]-sūtra: 'When I regard sentient beings, I do not look at whether they are old, young, or middle-aged, poor or rich, noble or base; if they have a good mind, I immediately look upon them with compassionate thought.' This takes good alone as capacity. Others say that neither good nor evil can individually constitute capacity. Why? Like the mind following the diamond[-like samādhi], which is just the Buddha, in which all goods universally gather and good surpasses none—how could this constitute capacity? Although it is said that 'Buddhas are mindful of Buddhas', this is a general statement, and there is neither pulling out nor bestowing; hence we know that good alone cannot constitute capacity. That evil alone cannot constitute capacity is because, as with icchantikas, supreme evil cannot stimulate the Buddha. The Mahā[parinirvāṇa]-sūtra says: 'A single hair cannot lift the body'; this refers to the goodness of principle in natural virtue. This is general capacity and ultimately does not accomplish stimulus. Others take the accompaniment of both good and evil as capacity: from an icchantika giving rise to a mind of remorse, up to equivalent enlightenment, there is always the accompaniment of both good and evil; therefore it can constitute capacity. Therefore, it is with reference to this good and evil that its characteristics are clarified (and so on).
6.21
Next, clarifying the characteristics of response with reference to benevolence and compassion: some take benevolence alone as response, as the sūtra says: 'Through the power of the roots of benevolence, the elephant sees the lion', as explained at length in the [Mahāparinirvāṇa]-sūtra (and so on). Some take compassion alone as response, as in the Qing Guanyin [jing], or sporting in the hells and enduring suffering on behalf [of beings] through great compassion. Or both benevolence and compassion are used together as response. Why? Truly, because the compassionate mind perfuming wisdom is able to pull out others' suffering, and the benevolent mind perfuming meditation is able to bestow joy on others. A lower passage states: 'Adorned with the power of meditation and wisdom, through this he delivers sentient beings.' A treatise states: 'When mercury is blended with pure gold, it can coat all forms and images.' When merit is blended with the dharma-kāya, it responds, manifests, and goes everywhere; could mercury or pure gold alone coat forms and images? One should know that benevolence and compassion are discussed together as response.
6.22
Question:
6.23
Sentient beings' good and evil span the three periods of time; which period constitutes capacity? The sage's Dharma also spans the three periods of time; which period constitutes response? The past has already ceased, the present does not abide, and the future has not yet arrived. None can constitute capacity, nor can any constitute response. How then can capacity and response be discussed?
6.24
Answer:
6.25
If one examines the three periods of time thoroughly in terms of ultimate principle, none of them can be found; therefore there is neither capacity nor response. Hence the sūtra says: 'It is not that bodhi has past, future, or present; it is only spoken of as having three periods of time through conventional words and enumeration.' Through the power of the four siddhāntas, it is expounded in accordance with sentient beings. Sometimes past good is used as capacity; hence it is said: 'Through the blessings of our past fortune, we now are able to meet the World-Honoured One.' Again, like people of the five skillful means: for those who practiced skillful means in the past, giving rise to the real is easy, while for those who did not practice, it is difficult; therefore past good is taken as capacity. Sometimes present good can be used as capacity; hence it is said: 'At the very moment this thought arose, the Buddha appeared in the air.' Sometimes future good can be used as capacity: to cause unarisen good dharmas to arise; or again, like uncontaminated [roots] lacking a cause of habituation yet being able to stimulate the Buddha. Hence the Mahā[prajñāpāramitā]-śāstra says: 'Like lotuses in the water, there are those already grown, those just growing, and those not yet grown; if they do not receive the light of the sun, they will without doubt wither and die. If sentient beings' good in the three periods of time does not meet the Buddha, it has no way to come to fulfillment (and so on).' Evil is also like this: sometimes with past transgressions, all are now repented; with various evils currently committed, they are now also repented. For future transgressions, one cuts off the mind of continuity, preventing the future; this is called salvation. Why? Evils committed in the past obstruct present good from arising; to eliminate this evil, one therefore petitions the Buddha. Furthermore, present fruit and karmic suffering oppress them, and sentient beings seek rescue and protection. Furthermore, future evil, meeting with its time, is prevented from arising; therefore evil across the three periods of time is generally used as capacity. Response is also like this: sometimes past benevolence and compassion are used as response; hence it is said: 'I originally made a vow, wishing to cause them to attain this Dharma.' When present benevolence and compassion are used as response, all devas, humans, and asuras should arrive here for the sake of hearing the Dharma, to deliver those not yet delivered. When the future is used as response, this is the future benefit to living beings in the 'Life Span' [chapter]. It is also like what is said in the 'Practices of Ease and Delight' chapter: 'When I attain samyaksaṃbodhi, I will lead them to attain it and abide in this Dharma.' If discussed generally, good and evil across the three periods of time all constitute capacity; if discussed specifically, only future good and evil are taken as the primary capacity. Why? The past has already ceased and the present is already fixed; it is solely to eradicate future evil and give rise to future good.
6.26
Question:
6.27
If the future is the primary capacity, what is the meaning of the four right efforts?
6.28
Answer:
6.29
This already belongs to the general meaning! Now answering further in a specific sense: solely because past evil obstructs future good, one makes diligent effort to cut off past evil; solely because past good does not increase, that which increases is future good. Therefore, in the four right efforts, although the words speak of the past, the intention is truly in the future (and so on).
6.30
Question:
6.31
The future does not yet exist; how does the Buddha illuminate it?
6.32
Answer:
6.33
The Tathāgata's mirror of wisdom is able to know it thus; it is not what is known by lower stages. One should merely look up in faith; how could one discriminate it!
6.34
Question:
6.35
Is it that sentient beings are themselves able to stimulate, or that they stimulate because of the Buddha? Is it that the Tathāgata is himself able to respond, or that he responds because of sentient beings?
6.36
Answer:
6.37
Here one should formulate four positions: self, other, both, and without cause. Refuting these essential natures, none of them are tenable. Because these four positions do not exist, there is no essential nature. Because there is no essential nature, it is only in worldly names, within the four siddhāntas, that active and passive stimulus and response are discussed. The active responder belongs to the Buddha, and the passive object of response belongs to sentient beings; the active stimulator belongs to sentient beings, and the passive object of stimulus belongs to the Buddha. If one were to turn this over and produce various alternative formulations, conventional names would become confused and indistinguishable. Although such names are formulated, these words do not abide; because these words have no real existence, they are like dreams and illusions (and so on).
6.38
Question:
6.39
Since both good and evil constitute capacity, who lacks good and evil? Should all of them then receive benefit?
6.40
Answer:
6.41
Like sick people in the world calling for a physician, there are those who recover and those who do not. Capacity is also like this: there is ripe and unripe, so response has the distant and the near.
6.42
Third, clarifying the differences in spiritual capacity and stimulus comprises three points: first, discussing the differences with reference to four positions; second, discussing the differences with reference to thirty-six positions; third, discussing the differences with reference to the ten dharma realms. But sentient beings' faculties and dispositions are of hundreds of thousands of kinds, and the Buddhas' skillful responses are immeasurable; they are delivered differently according to their various sorts. Hence the text says: 'Their names and forms are each different, of several types, like superior, middling, and inferior roots, stems, leaves, and so on; according to their seed-nature, each attains growth.' This is the meaning of the differences in capacity and response.
6.43
Now briefly stated, there are four: first, hidden capacity and hidden response; second, hidden capacity and manifest response; third, manifest capacity and manifest response; fourth, manifest capacity and hidden response. What are their characteristics? If one practiced the three actions well in the past, and does not currently employ body and mouth, relying on the power of past good—this is called hidden capacity. Although one does not visibly see a wondrous response, one is secretly benefited by the dharma-kāya; without seeing or hearing, one senses and knows—this is called hidden benefit. Second, concerning hidden capacity and manifest benefit: one cultivated good in the past and hidden capacity is already mature; then one is able to meet the Buddha and hear the Dharma, obtaining benefit before one's eyes—this is manifest benefit. For example, when the Buddha first appeared in the world, did those first delivered people ever practice in the present? The Buddhas, illuminating their past capacity, went themselves to deliver them; that is the meaning. Third, concerning manifest capacity and manifest response: diligently exerting body and mouth in the present without laxity, one is able to bring down a response. Like Sudatta kneeling and the Buddha going to the Jetavana, or Yuegai bowing low and the sage residing at the threshold. Or like practitioners today bowing and repenting in the bodhimaṇḍa, able to stimulate auspicious omens—this is manifest capacity and manifest response. Fourth, concerning manifest capacity and hidden response: like a person who, although laboring diligently for an entire lifetime and accumulating dense present good, does not visibly stimulate, yet secretly possesses its benefit—this is manifest capacity and hidden benefit.
6.44
If one understands these four meanings, then with every bowing of the head and raising of the hand, blessing is not discarded in vain; though having no stimulus all day, one has no regret all day. If one sees someone fond of killing having a long life, or someone fond of giving being poor, one will not give rise to wrong views. If one does not understand this, one will say that their effort was in vain and their plans lost, grieving, regretting, and losing principle. The [Mahāprajñāpāramitā-]śāstra says: 'My present sickness and suffering are all due to the past; cultivating blessings in this life, the retribution is in the future; keep right mindfulness without deviation.' This attains these four meanings.
6.45
Second, regarding the discussion of the differences in capacity and response with reference to thirty-six positions: the previous mutual discussion of hidden and manifest briefly cited four positions. If distinguished fully, one takes the four capacities as the root: namely, hidden capacity, manifest capacity, both hidden and manifest capacity, and neither hidden nor manifest capacity. Hidden is the past, manifest is the present, both hidden and manifest is past and present, and neither hidden nor manifest is the future, as when the Buddha expounds the Dharma for an icchantika (and so on). Within one position, there are again four positions: namely, hidden capacity and hidden response, hidden capacity and manifest response, hidden capacity and both hidden and manifest response, and hidden capacity and neither hidden nor manifest response. The remaining three capacities are also like this; four times four makes sixteen positions. Since capacity evokes response, response also has sixteen positions. One capacity stimulates four responses, and one response answers four capacities; capacity and response each have sixteen, combining to make thirty-two positions. Together with the former four root positions, this makes thirty-six positions of capacity and response.
6.46
Third, in discussing the differences in spiritual capacity and response with respect to the ten dharma realms: regarding just the bodily action of one person, spiritual capacity comprises thirty-six [phrases]; regarding the three actions, there are one hundred and eight spiritual capacities. Regarding the three periods of time and the three actions, there are three hundred and twenty-four. Since this is so for one realm, the ten dharma realms then have three thousand two hundred and forty differences in spiritual capacity and response. Since this is so with respect to one's own practice, it is likewise so for converting others; combined, there are six thousand four hundred and eighty spiritual capacities and responses. This is considered with respect to the ten dharma realms successively. Thus, if considered with respect to the mutual interpenetration of the ten dharma realms, it increases ninefold, totaling sixty-four thousand eight hundred spiritual capacities and responses.
6.47
Fourth, in clarifying the mutual correspondence of spiritual capacity and response, there are four points: first, clarifying the mutual correspondence between the suffering and joy of the various realms of existence and the loving-kindness and compassion of the samādhis; second, the mutual correspondence of spiritual capacity, trigger, and so forth; third, the mutual correspondence of the thirty-six phrases; fourth, the mutual correspondence of the distinctive and the perfect.
6.48
Regarding the mutual correspondence of the various samādhis: the various spiritual capacities, however numerous, do not exceed the twenty-five realms of existence; the various responses, however numerous, do not exceed the twenty-five samādhis.
6.49
In the existence of hell, there are capacities of good and evil, triggering the response of loving-kindness and compassion of the immaculate samādhi. Discussing its evil: there are dark karma, evil views, evil of thought, evil of sands of dust, and evil of ignorance. Discussing its good: there are the good of white karma, the good that is identical with emptiness, the good that is identical with the provisional, and the good that is identical with the middle. These are called the capacities of hell. As for the loving-kindness and compassion of the immaculate samādhi serving as the response: when first cultivating the immaculate samādhi, one contemplates the realm of hell. There are the loving-kindness and compassion of the contemplation of dependent arising, the loving-kindness and compassion of the contemplation that is identical with emptiness, the loving-kindness and compassion of the contemplation that is identical with the provisional, and the loving-kindness and compassion of the contemplation that is identical with the middle. When contemplating through dependent arising, with compassion one uproots the suffering of hell's dark karma; when contemplating through dependent arising, with loving-kindness one confers the joy of white karma. When contemplating through identity with emptiness, with compassion one uproots the suffering of views and thoughts; when contemplating through identity with emptiness, with loving-kindness one confers the joy of the taintless. When contemplating through identity with the provisional, with compassion one uproots the suffering of the sands of dust; when contemplating through identity with the provisional, with loving-kindness one confers the joy of the knowledge of the paths. When contemplating through identity with the middle, with compassion one uproots the suffering of ignorance; when contemplating through identity with the middle, with loving-kindness one confers the joy of the dharma-nature. These are the capacities of good and evil in the existence of hell, triggering the response of loving-kindness and compassion of the immaculate samādhi. Uprooting suffering and conferring joy is the meaning of mutual correspondence.
6.50
Second, regarding the mutual correspondence of capacity and trigger: the evil of dark karma within the hell realm has the meaning of subtlety, the meaning of triggering, and the meaning of suitability. When these three capacities trigger the immaculate samādhi, loving-kindness and compassion have the meaning of arriving, the meaning of matching, and the meaning of responding. The white karma of hell also has six meanings in mutual correspondence, as do [the contemplations of] identity with emptiness, views and thoughts, the sands of dust, ignorance, and so forth. Both good and evil possess six meanings in mutual correspondence (and so forth).
6.51
Third, regarding the mutual correspondence of the thirty-six phrases: the dark and white karma of hell possess hidden capacity with hidden response, hidden capacity with manifest response, manifest capacity with manifest response, and manifest capacity with hidden response. These trigger the loving-kindness and compassion of the immaculate samādhi, whose four hidden and manifest responses arrive in hell. Views and thoughts with identity with emptiness, the sands of dust with the knowledge of paths, ignorance with the middle way, and so forth, all possess the mutual correspondence of the four capacities and four responses (and so forth). Furthermore, the existence of hell possesses thirty-six hidden and manifest capacities, which match the thirty-six responses of the immaculate samādhi (and so forth).
6.52
Fourth, regarding the mutual correspondence of the distinctive and the perfect: if the existence of hell has capacities that are successive and distinct, the responses of the samādhi are then successive and distinct. If it has capacities that are perfect and universal, the responses of the samādhi are also perfect and universal. If successive and distinct capacities arise, and the samādhi responds distinctively, then when the karma of one realm of existence has ceased, the karma of the other realms of existence has not necessarily ceased; when the thoughts of the three evil realms are exhausted, the thoughts of the other realms of existence are not necessarily exhausted; when the knowledge of the paths in hell is clarified, it is not necessarily clarified for the other realms of existence; when the buddha-nature in hell is clearly understood, it is not necessarily clearly understood for the other realms of existence. If one takes them to be perfect capacities and perfect responses: when the karma of mastery in hell is not yet consummate, it is also not yet consummate for the other realms of existence; when views and thoughts are not yet exhausted in one realm of existence, they are also not yet exhausted in the other realms of existence; when the knowledge of the paths is not yet clarified in one realm of existence, it is also not yet clarified in the other realms of existence; when the buddha-nature is not yet clearly understood in one realm of existence, it is also not yet clearly understood in the other realms of existence. When it is clearly understood in one realm of existence, it is also clearly understood in the other realms of existence; and so forth, until when karma is mastered in one realm of existence, karma is also mastered in the other realms of existence. The analysis of the mutual correspondence of spiritual capacity and response in hell is as explained above; the mutual correspondence of spiritual capacity and response in the remaining twenty-four realms of existence is likewise modeled on this.
6.53
Question:
6.54
Can there be good capacity with evil response, evil capacity with good response, partial capacity with perfect response, or perfect capacity with partial response?
6.55
Answer:
6.56
In adapting freely to the times, there is also this meaning. The Vimalakīrti-sūtra says: 'At times manifesting wind and fire, illuminating them to make them understand impermanence.' This is an evil response to the good. King Śubhavyūha accepted evil and heterodoxy, and three bodhisattvas responded by becoming his wife and sons; this is a good response to evil. As for a partial response to a perfect capacity: when the vow for omniscient wisdom still remains and is not lost, not being lost is the perfect capacity; teaching the śrāvaka Dharma is the partial response. As for a perfect response to a partial capacity: first drawing them out with three carriages, and later giving them one great carriage, [whereupon they] grasp and understand, saying, 'The supreme cluster of jewels has been obtained naturally without seeking'—this is its meaning. Uprooting suffering and conferring joy can be understood by following these examples (and so forth).
6.57
Fifth, in clarifying the crude and the subtle, there are three points: first, clarifying the crude and subtle of spiritual capacity; second, clarifying the crude and subtle of response; third, clarifying the opening of the crude and revealing of the subtle.
6.58
First, regarding the crude and subtle of spiritual capacity: as in the interval of joy in hell, this joy is due to slight goodness. The Abhidharmakośa-sthāpanā-śāstra says: 'If a person raises the six domestic animals, giving them drink and food and keeping them warm or cool, in the hot hells they obtain intervals of cool, and in the cold hells they obtain intervals of warmth.' If according to this meaning, in the intervals of joy one can discuss the capacities of the ten dharma realms. In Avīci there are no intervals of joy and thus no concrete good; how could it possess all ten? However, it is because Avīci has inherent goodness that is never severed. Furthermore, although it has no concrete good in the recent age, it may have had it in distant kalpas; with evil being strong and good weak, it remains hidden, dormant, and unarisen, but if it encounters causal conditions, when it might arise is indeterminate. Therefore, Avīci can possess the ten capacities. Now evaluating the crude and the subtle: the capacities of the nine realms are crude, and the capacity of the buddha realm is subtle. Crude capacities summon provisional responses; these capacities have mature and immature states, and provisional responses have shallow and deep levels. Those whose capacity is mature receive a response; those who are immature do not yet receive a response. As for the shallow and deep of responses: as when moving from the uninterrupted [Avīci] to an interval, leaving hell for the animals, leaving animals for the ghosts, leaving the three evil realms for humans and devas, leaving humans and devas for the two vehicles, and so forth—all these are the unripeness and ripeness of capacity, the shallowness and depth of response, and all fall under the category of crude capacity.
6.59
Subtle capacities summon consummate, subtle responses. Subtle capacities also have unripeness and ripeness; subtle responses also have shallowness and depth. For instance, when Maitrakanyaka was in hell, by taking on retribution on behalf of others he immediately attained rebirth in heaven; this was a shallow ripeness of subtle capacity, being close at hand merely in heaven. The others can be understood by following this example.
6.60
Second, in clarifying that responses have the crude and the subtle: the loving-kindness, compassion, and vows of the sages sustain their practices, like glue to an object, spontaneously adhering to the spiritual capacity. Therefore, by the power of the root of goodness of loving-kindness, lions emerge from their hands. If there were no vows, though they might contemplate suffering and joy, they would be unable to uproot or confer them. By the power of loving-kindness, in accordance with the crude or subtle nature of the capacity, those mature first are responded to first, and those mature later are responded to later. Sages of the tripiṭaka and shared teachings can also have responses, but these are only intentional supernormal powers; like drawing and painting, they are completed through deliberate management, but upon careful examination have no foundation. Why? Their bodies are reduced to ashes and their wisdom is extinguished; having no permanent foundation, on what basis could they give rise to responses? If the distinctive teaching incorporates the shared teaching, but distinctive afflictions are not yet severed, they also cannot have responses; even if they go out to beings, these are all termed crude responses. If in both the distinctive and perfect teachings, those at the initial mind merely subdue afflictions, they cannot yet have responses. When the three contemplations become manifest before those at the initial stage [of the distinctive teaching] and initial dwelling [of the perfect teaching], they realize the twenty-five samādhis. The dharma-kāya is pure, undefiled like empty space, serenely responding to all; without thought or conceptualization, it matches immediately according to capacity. Just as a single moon does not descend, and a hundred bodies of water do not ascend, yet according to the length of the river and the shape of the vessel, it manifests universally at once without before or after—this is the inconceivable subtle response. Moreover, it is like a bright mirror, clear inside and out; whether one reflection or a thousand reflections, it makes no distinctions, requires no effort, and spontaneously reflects them: this is called the subtle response. This is the subtlety of stimulus and response discussed in mutual relativity.
6.61
Third, regarding opening the crude and revealing the subtle: if the capacities of the nine realms are crude and the capacity of the one realm is subtle, and if the response before attaining the dharma-kāya is crude and the response upon attaining the dharma-kāya is subtle, then the various Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Avataṃsaka explain the crude and subtle as separated from each other, so that the two vehicles do not hear and do not understand, as if deaf and mute. The Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings clarifies the crude and subtle by having the immeasurable crude and subtle capacities and responses arise from the one principle; the one principle is subtle, and that which arises into the immeasurable is crude. This is emerging from the subtle into the crude, separated and not yet unified. The present sūtra returns the immeasurable to the one; this is opening the provisional and revealing the real, where the crude itself is the subtle. Why? Originally, in order to reveal the one principle, various expedients were devised; the expedients are themselves the real. Therefore it says: 'Whatever is done is solely for one matter, never once abandoned.' For example, the three herbs and two trees merely grow from a single ground; this is the oneness of capacity from a shared source. Being moistened by the single rain is the oneness of response shared in common. The foolish, not understanding, say that the four subtle atoms of herbs and trees are forever not the earth; the wise thoroughly understand that the arising of the four subtle atoms is merely the transformation of the earth, and the cessation of the four subtle atoms is merely their return to the earth—how could herbs and trees not be the earth! This is opening the provisional and revealing the real, resolving and understanding the śrāvaka Dharma to be the king of all sūtras. The capacities of the nine dharma realms are all the capacity of the buddha realm; the responses of the four types of sages are none other than subtle responses.
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Sixth, clarifying the contemplation of mind (and so forth).
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Seventh, clarifying the subtlety of supernormal powers: this has four points: first, clarifying the sequence; second, names and numbers; third, sameness and difference; fourth, crude and subtle. The purpose of its coming: previously, in discussing spiritual capacity and response, it merely analyzed the characteristics of what can arise and what can arrive. If properly discussing the transformative function that benefits others, this is the three wheels of inconceivable transformation: namely, the body wheel, the speech wheel, and the mind wheel [of knowing the minds of others]. The 'Universal Gate Chapter' has only two passages, yet comprehensively includes the three meanings. 'Roaming in the Sahā world' is the body wheel; 'and preaching the Dharma for them' is the speech wheel. Just as seeing a large lotus flower indicates that the pool's water is deep, if one sees that the preaching of Dharma is great, one knows that wisdom is great. Thus the two wheels also indicate the mind wheel. Furthermore, in converting others, one mostly displays the two wheels and rarely displays the mind wheel. Following the majority, there are only two, so there is no mind wheel. The sūtra says: 'Those who see or hear them all attain deliverance.' Displaying the body wheel is displaying the body of the king of medicinal trees and the body of the king of wish-fulfilling gems. Displaying the speech wheel is displaying the poison drum and the celestial drum. This is loving-kindness and compassion perfuming body and speech, so that there is the manifestation of the two bodies and the proclamation of the two drums. If displaying the mind wheel, this is displaying following one's own intent, following others' intent, and so forth; it is also identical with the conduct of illness and the conduct of an infant. Above, the mutual relation of capacity and stimulus was analyzed, yet the subtle principle is difficult to reveal; it requires supernormal powers to set it in motion and display auspicious portents, secretly symbolizing the principle. Worldly people take the hanging of a spider to mean that a joyous event will come, and the call of a magpie to mean that a traveler will arrive. If small things still have omens, how could great things lack auspicious signs? Using the near to symbolize the far should also be like this.
6.64
Second, concerning the names and numbers: what appears in the various sūtras varies in name and number. For now, we rely on the six kinds: the divine eye, the divine ear, [knowledge of] others' minds, [recollection of] past lives, the supernatural bodily power of free action, and the outflow-free [power], and so forth. That these six are all called 'spiritual penetrations' (abhijñā) is as the Yingluo [jing] says: '"Spiritual" (shen) is named "the heavenly mind"; "penetration" (tong) is named "the nature of wisdom".' 'The heavenly mind' is the natural mind. 'The nature of wisdom' is to pervade without obstruction. The Abhidharma also speaks of 'obstruction to penetration'; if ignorance is removed, the nature of wisdom then arises. One should know that when the natural nature of wisdom corresponds with these six dharmas, it is able to transform freely; hence it is called 'spiritual penetration'. The 'Chapter on Powers' of the Dichi [jing] says: '"Spiritual" means difficult to fathom and know; "penetration" means free of obstruction.' This explanation is identical with that of the Yingluo [jing]. 'The heavenly mind' is precisely the meaning of being difficult to fathom and know; 'the nature of wisdom' is precisely the meaning of being free of obstruction. However, in the practice of these six dharmas there is no before and after, in their realization there is no sequential order, and their application also accords with the moment; therefore the various sūtras list them in differing sequences. The [Dazhidulun] Treatise says: 'The deeds of illusory arts are deceptive phenomena; modeling themselves on grasses and trees, they deceive and delude human eyes, but the things do not truly transform.' Spiritual penetrations are not like that; they truly attain the transformation of phenomena, causing things to truly transform. For example, earth contains the principle of becoming water, and water contains the sense of becoming earth. If gold and silver encounter fire, they melt; when water meets cold, it congeals. Fire and cold are the phenomena of melting and congealing. When it congeals, it truly congeals; when it melts, it truly melts. If one attains the natural nature of wisdom, one is truly able to transform and apply them freely in this way. The transformed water and fire enable others to truly experience their utility; yet these are not their karmic retributions, but merely what is performed at that moment through spiritual penetrations.
6.65
Third, clarifying the differences among spiritual penetrations: the ghost realm possesses penetrations attained through retribution; humans who are able to ingest medicines also attain penetrations; non-Buddhists also develop penetrations on the basis of the fundamental dhyānas; the devas possess penetrations attained through retribution; the two vehicles, relying on the [eight] liberations, the [eight] bases of mastery, and the [ten] all-pervading bases, cultivate the fourteen transformations to develop and attain spiritual penetrations; the bodhisattvas of the six perfections attain five penetrations through dhyāna, and when sitting at the seat of awakening are able to attain the six penetrations; the bodhisattvas of the shared teaching attain five penetrations through dhyāna, and relying on the wisdom that embodies phenomena, attain the outflow-free penetration; before the stages in the distinctive teaching, they develop the five penetrations relying on dhyāna, and upon ascending the stages, develop the true outflow-free penetration, spontaneously illuminating constantly and not viewing the buddha-lands through dual characteristics. As for the penetrations of the perfect teaching, relying on the present sūtra and the Puxian guan [jing], they take the two sense faculties of nose and tongue to constitute the count of six. The Pusa chutai jing is identical: [knowledge of] others' minds and [recollection of] past lives are subsumed under the mental faculty. However, the text of the sūtra explains the 'penetration of the nose' most exhaustively, adopting its interchangeable function without obstruction. For the tongue faculty, it adopts unobstructedness in the four types of eloquence, being able to fill the three thousand worlds with a single wondrous voice, and does not adopt the knowing of tastes, for knowing tastes is a karmic retribution phenomenon. The sūtra says: 'The faculties are penetrating and keen, and wisdom is clear.' That all six faculties are wisdom is precisely the meaning of their interchangeable function.
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Now, saying that the penetrations of the six faculties do not arise through mundane dhyāna means that this is the truth of the Middle Way. The truth naturally possesses penetrations, which are spontaneously accomplished without the need for deliberate intention; therefore it is called 'dhyāna of non-defiled transformation upon transformation' (avyākṛta-nirmāṇa-nirmāṇa-dhyāna). Because it does not deliberately intend, it is called 'non-defiled' (avyākṛta); being spontaneously ever luminous, it is like the asura's lute; because transformation can further transform, it is called 'transformation upon transformation'. The true penetration of the Middle Way is spontaneously like this, different from other penetrations. As for its cultivation, it always takes as its object the principle of the permanently abiding real mark. The text says: 'One attains the purity of this permanent eye faculty.' Since it says 'this is permanent', it is purity of original nature; the permanent nature is free from defilement. The Abhidharma-vibhāṣā says: 'The six sense-entrances are extraordinary, because they are fundamentally so.' The Aṅgulimāla says: 'That so-called eye faculty is permanent in the Tathāgatas, fully endowed with non-deficient cultivation, seeing clearly and distinctly.' Up to: the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are all permanent in the Tathāgatas, fully endowed with non-deficient cultivation, hearing, knowing, and so forth clearly and distinctly. 'That' is self to the Buddhas, and is other to sentient beings; sentient beings regard it as impermanent, but to the Tathāgatas it is permanent. 'Deficient cultivation' means cultivating by relying on dhyāna, which is called deficient cultivation; cultivating by relying on the real mark is called non-deficient cultivation. Not seeing buddha-nature is called seeing Unclearly; if one sees buddha-nature, it is called seeing clearly. Furthermore, seeing the principle of the real mark is called 'clear'; and knowing the phenomena of the dharma realm is called 'distinct'.
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There are two kinds of seeing: first, resemblance seeing; second, partial-truth seeing. As for resemblance [seeing], it is as distinguished in [the stage of] purity of the six faculties. Concerning its true seeing, it is as explained in the Avataṃsaka, the buddha-eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. In this sūtra, the characteristic of the true bodily penetration is also explained: the so-called 'universal manifestation of physical form, displaying the body that all sentient beings delight to see', is precisely the external bodily penetration; displaying a body like lapis lazuli, wherein the Buddhas of the ten directions all manifest within the body, is precisely the internal manifestation of bodily penetration. The eye, ear, nose, tongue, and so on manifesting internally and externally are also patterned after this. Thus the spiritual penetrations of the perfect teaching are different from those previously discerned, and so forth.
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Question:
6.69
If one takes the six faculties as the six penetrations, why do their merits have increase and decrease?
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Answer:
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Fascicle forty of the Great Treatise says: 'Nose, tongue, and body are alike called "perception"; the eye is called "seeing"; the ear is called "hearing"; the mind is called "knowing".' What the three consciousnesses know is unified; what the [other] three consciousnesses know is distinct. Moreover, because the three consciousnesses have many dharmas aiding the Path, they are explained distinctly; the [other] three consciousnesses are not so, and thus are explained together. Furthermore, because the three consciousnesses only know mundane affairs, they are explained together; because the [other] three consciousnesses know both the mundane and the supramundane, they are explained distinctly. Furthermore, the three consciousnesses are only non-defiled (avyākṛta) phenomena, whereas the [other] three consciousnesses may take as objects good, evil, non-defiled, and so forth; furthermore, because the three consciousnesses are able to generate the conditions for the three karmas, they are explained distinctly. If one models on this meaning: because the various meanings of the three faculties are strong, they possess one thousand two hundred merits; because the power of the [other] three faculties is weak, they possess only eight hundred merits. This is merely a distinct explanation from one perspective, not the perfect intention of the sūtra. In the Zheng fahua, 'merits are equally matched at a thousand'.
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The present sūtra reveals the interchangeable function of the six faculties, bringing the three faculties to add two hundred toward the interchangeable function of the [other] three faculties. Free and unobstructed, they can be equal, as the Zheng fahua explains; they can contract, as in the eight hundred of the body, eye, and nose; they can expand, as in the one thousand two hundred of the ear, tongue, and mind. The sūtra says: 'If one can uphold this sūtra, one's merits will be immeasurable, like empty space without boundary, and its blessings cannot be limited.' The meaning of interchangeable function is thus made clear!
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- 妙法蓮華經玄義 — Classical Chinese