法華玄義釋籤 6.34

6.34

次歎斥中二：先總歎，次「人不見」下得失。初又三：初約化儀，次佛意，三教旨。次得失又二：先失、次得。初文云「輕慢不止舌爛口中」者，不了《法華》宗極之旨，謂記聲聞事相而已，不如《華嚴》、《般若》融通無礙。如此說者諫曉不止，舌爛何疑？如彭城寺嵩法師云：佛智流動。至無常時，舌爛口中，猶不易志。又如《大經》第五云：「我今為諸聲聞諸弟子等說毘伽羅論，所謂如來常存不變，若有說言如來無常，云何是人舌不墮落？」又云：「若有說言如來許畜奴婢僕使，舌則卷縮。」如是乘戒兩門謗皆舌壞，故知若言事相者，不見一代獨顯之妙，不見般若付財之能，般若融通與法華何異？二乘於昔自無悕取，至今方云「不求自得」，已今當妙，於茲固迷，舌爛不止，猶為華報。謗法之罪苦流長劫，具如《止觀》第四逆流十心中說。次「若得」下，明得中又二：先正明得，次「攝大乘」下重破教道。初文又四：初約法以明得，次約三世佛以明得，三舉涅槃以釋疑，四結勸。初文者，有一毫之善咸至菩提，穿鑿權實、牢籠本迹，故云「意氣博遠」。大小互入，故云「更相」。越教相接，故云「間入」。從淺至深，故云「繡淡」。取機顯祕，故云「精微」。味味益遍，故云「橫周」。俱至法華，故云「竪窮」。次「二萬」下約佛者，應具如五佛章門，今略指燈明、彌勒等耳。承上曰「仰」，雖佛無優劣，我既施權同彼顯實，高尚實理，故云「仰同」。三釋疑者，疑云：法華既已顯實，涅槃何復施權？故即釋之。釋言「贖命重寶」者，《涅槃》十四云：「如人七寶不出外用，名之為藏，是人所以藏積此寶，為未來故，所謂穀貴賊來侵國，值遇惡王為用贖命，財難得時乃當出用。諸佛祕藏亦復如是，為未來世諸惡比丘畜不淨物，為四眾說如來畢竟入於涅槃，讀誦外典，不教佛經，如是等惡出現世時，為滅諸惡為說是經。是經若滅，佛法則滅。」今家引意指《大經》部以為重寶，若消此文應有單複兩義。所言複者，謂乘及戒。若言不許畜八不淨，此是戒門事門。若說如來畢竟涅槃及遮外典，此是乘門理門。以彼經部前後諸文皆扶事說常，若末代中諸惡比丘破戒說於如來無常，及讀誦外典，則並無乘戒，失常住命，賴由此經扶律說常則乘戒具足，故號此經為贖常住命之重寶也。所言單者，唯約戒門。彼經扶律，律是贖常住命之重寶也。所以法華明常已足更說贖命者，為護圓常，鄭重殷勤，如人抵掌，重叮嚀耳。《說文》云：「抵掌者，側手擊也。」四結勸中云「觀此」等者，且如諸法實相，即云百界千如，心佛眾生三無差別，乃至本因為今弄引，豈以劣見稱此經王？「莫以人情局彼太虛」者，勿以世情偏取如來赴機之說，局彼法華博遠意氣太虛之量。

Next, in praising and reproving, there are two parts: first, general praise; second, from "if people do not see..." onward, gain and loss. The first also has three parts: first, in terms of the modes of transformation; second, the Buddha's intent; third, the purport of the teaching. Next, gain and loss also has two parts: first, loss; second, gain. In the first text, where it says "if slighting and despising do not stop, their tongues will rot within their mouths," this refers to failing to understand the ultimate purport of the Lotus Sūtra, alleging that it merely confers prophecies upon the śrāvakas in phenomenal terms and is not like the unimpeded fusion of the Avataṃsaka and Prajñā. For those who speak like this, if warnings and reprimands do not stop them, how could there be any doubt that their tongues will rot? As Dharma Master Song of Pengcheng Monastery said: the Buddha's wisdom is fluid and dynamic. When [his life met] impermanence, his tongue rotted within his mouth, yet he still did not change his mind. Also, as the fifth fascicle of the Great Sūtra says: "I now expound the vyākaraṇa for the śrāvakas and disciples, namely that the Tathāgata is eternally abiding and unchanging. If anyone says that the Tathāgata is impermanent, how could that person's tongue not fall out?" It also says: "If anyone says that the Tathāgata permits keeping male and female slaves and servants, their tongue will curl up and shrivel." In this way, slander against both vehicles and precepts leads to the destruction of the tongue; therefore we know that those who claim it is merely phenomenal do not see the wondrousness solely revealed across the entire lifetime [of teachings] and do not see the capacity of Prajñā in transmitting the wealth. How is the fusion of Prajñā any different from the Lotus Sūtra? The two vehicles formerly had no longing to grasp it, and only now say, "without seeking, we obtained it of ourselves"; the past, present, and future wondrousness is obstinately misunderstood here, and their tongues rotting without end is still only the floral retribution. The sin of slandering the Dharma brings suffering flowing through long kalpas, fully explained as in the ten minds of reversing the flow in the fourth fascicle of the Zhiguan. Next, from "if one grasps..." onward, in clarifying gain there are also two parts: first, directly clarifying gain; second, from "the Mahāyānasaṃgraha..." onward, re-refuting the doctrinal path. The first text also has four parts: first, clarifying gain in terms of the Dharma; second, clarifying gain in terms of the Buddhas of the three periods; third, adducing the Nirvāṇa to resolve doubts; fourth, concluding exhortation. In the first text, every single hair's tip of good entirely reaches bodhi; boring through the provisional and the real, enclosing the origin and traces, hence it is said, "the spirit is vast and far-reaching." Great and small mutually enter, hence it is said, "mutually alternating." Transcending teachings to connect with one another, hence it is said, "interspersing." From the shallow to the deep, hence it is said, "embroidered and subtle." Grasping faculties to reveal the secret, hence it is said, "precise and minute." Benefit pervades flavor by flavor, hence it is said, "horizontally comprehensive." All arrive at the Lotus Sūtra, hence it is said, "vertically exhaustive." Next, from "twenty thousand..." onward, in terms of Buddhas, it should be fully as in the chapter on the five Buddhas; here it merely refers briefly to Candrasūryapradīpa, Maitreya, and so forth. Inheriting from above is called "revering"; although among Buddhas there is no superiority or inferiority, since I bestow the provisional identically to their revealing the real, exalting the real principle, it is called "reverently identical." Third, regarding the resolution of doubt: the doubt asks, since the Lotus Sūtra has already revealed the real, why does the Nirvāṇa Sūtra bestow the provisional again? Hence it is immediately resolved. The explanation says "the precious treasure that ransoms life": the fourteenth fascicle of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra states: "Just as when a person does not bring out the seven jewels for external use, it is called a treasury; the reason this person stores up this treasure is for the sake of the future, namely when grain is dear, thieves invade the state, or an evil king is encountered, using it to ransom life; only when wealth is hard to obtain is it brought out and used. The secret treasury of the Buddhas is also like this: for the sake of future evil bhikṣus who keep impure things, tell the fourfold assembly that the Tathāgata enters ultimate nirvāṇa, chant non-Buddhist classics, and do not teach Buddhist sūtras—when such evils appear in the world, this sūtra is preached to eliminate all evils. If this sūtra is destroyed, the Buddha-Dharma will be destroyed." The present master cites this intent to refer to the text of the Great Sūtra as the precious treasure. If explaining this text, there should be both compound and simple meanings. As for the compound, it refers to both vehicle and precepts. If it is said that keeping the eight impure things is not permitted, this is the precept gate, the phenomenal gate. If it says that the Tathāgata's nirvāṇa is ultimate and prohibits non-Buddhist classics, this is the vehicle gate, the principle gate. Because throughout the texts before and after in that sūtra, phenomena are supported to expound permanence, if in the latter age evil bhikṣus break the precepts, preach that the Tathāgata is impermanent, and chant non-Buddhist classics, then they would lack both vehicle and precepts and lose the life of eternal abiding; relying on this sūtra to support the Vinaya and expound permanence, both vehicle and precepts are fully present, and hence this sūtra is called the precious treasure that ransoms the life of eternal abiding. As for the simple, it is solely in terms of the precept gate. That sūtra supports the Vinaya, and the Vinaya is the precious treasure that ransoms the life of eternal abiding. The reason why, when the Lotus Sūtra has already sufficiently clarified permanence, the ransoming of life is spoken of again, is to protect the perfect and permanent with solemn earnestness, like clapping hands together to urge repeated caution. The Shuowen says: "To clap hands means to strike with the side of the hands." In the fourth, the concluding exhortation, where it says "observing this..." and so on: for instance, the true aspect of all phenomena directly refers to the hundred realms and thousand thusnesses, and that mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are three without distinction, up to the original cause serving as the prelude to the present—how could one measure this king of sūtras with an inferior view? "Do not use human sentiments to delimit that boundless space": do not use worldly sentiments to partially grasp the Tathāgata's teachings adapted to faculties, delimiting that vast and far-reaching spirit and the measure of boundless space of the Lotus Sūtra.