妙法蓮華經文句 2.105

2.105

Third, listing the miscellaneous assembly: in the past, some called it the 'assembly of ordinary people', but there are sages here; others called it the 'lay assembly', but there are those of the Way here; others called it the 'assembly of devas and humans', but there are nāgas and ghosts here; all these are inadequate. Now calling it the 'miscellaneous assembly', the meaning embraces all of them—namely, the five destinies, the two realms, and the eight classes, which is why it is called 'miscellaneous'. Vaipulya sūtras also list the hells, and the Zhongyin jing also converts the formless realm; these all appear appropriately according to capacities and cannot be equated uniformly, nor can their sequence be definitively fixed. In the past, it was said that humans are the masters of the land and defer to the guests by placing them in front; yet the Wuliangyi jing shares the same assembly with this sūtra, explicitly listing kings, ministers, gentlemen, and women of the realm without speaking of guests and hosts deferring to one another. The masters who compiled the sūtra purposefully arranged them in the text, perhaps with a distinct intention that is not yet clear. Now, observing this text, there are eight classes: first Śakra is designated, next the Four Heavenly Kings are listed, nāgas before and birds behind, with ghosts and spirits appearing repeatedly; for this reason it is called the 'miscellaneous assembly', and its sequence cannot be rigidly asserted. Furthermore, as for 'miscellaneous assembly': here there are those who have attained the Way and those who have not attained the Way, with mixed retributions and mixed forms and garments, hence called 'miscellaneous'. Among them, for those who attained the path of the two vehicles, undefiled wisdom is mixed with ignorance and afflictions, hence called 'miscellaneous'; among them, for those who attained the bodhisattva path, upāya is mixed with the diverse capacities of sentient beings, hence called 'miscellaneous'; among them, for those who attained the buddha path, one dharma possesses all dharmas, hence called 'miscellaneous'. The meaning of 'miscellaneous' is like this: how could it be judged by ordinary lay appearances, or judged merely by the five destinies, humans, and devas? Thus it is called 'miscellaneous'. This is the explanation according to the teachings (and so forth).