妙法蓮華經文句 5.23

5.23

From "Just as the buddhas of the three periods of time" downward is the fourth [section], five and a half gāthā lines, which praises the rarity of the Dharma as before, not primarily serving as the basis for the subsequent non-falsity of the parables. This comprises two parts: first, one line praises the wonderful Dharma as such as above; the wonderful Dharma is the expedient and the real. "Just as the [buddhas of the] three periods of time" adduces identity with the buddhas' use of the expedient; the expedient is the model for guiding beings. "Preach the Dharma free from differentiation" adduces identity with the buddhas' revealing the real; as for the real, the path of words is cut off, so how could any model remain? Furthermore, the expedient and the real are fundamentally without differentiation; it is for those of dull faculties and minor wisdom that the expedient and the real are differentiated. Now, returning to awaken to and enter the non-duality of the one and the three, one knows that what the buddhas preach is the non-differentiation of the three and the one. All buddhas are like this; why should I alone be so? The four and a half lines from "When buddhas appear in the world" downward praise its being preached only after a long time, as above. Above it also cited the udumbara blossom; in the gāthās it again speaks the two lines "When buddhas appear in the world." Only after a long and distant time does a buddha appear; this brings up the difficulty of encountering the person. The two lines "Even if they appear in the world" bring up the difficulty of the Dharma, just as the present Buddha appeared in the world and only after forty-odd years revealed the real truth (and so forth). The two lines "Through immeasurable and incalculable kalpas" bring up the difficulty of hearing the Dharma, just as the group of five thousand, with the brahma voice filling their ears, crossed over their seats and departed; how could hearing not be difficult? The two lines "Those who are able to listen to this Dharma" bring up the difficulty of those who faithfully accept it; among the entire assembly, only Śāriputra attained it first, while those of intermediate and lower [faculties], though listening, were not yet able to comprehend. Citing the udumbara blossom illustrates the four difficulties above; it corresponds only to the difficulty of hearers, and the rest can be understood by analogy.