妙法蓮華經文句 5.55

5.55

It is asked again: "If so, the teaching would be permanent and unconditioned; if not so, why is it not burned?" Now it is explained: "It is not so. A gate consists of fixtures and emptiness: without fixtures there is nothing to mark the gate; without emptiness there is nothing to allow passage. The fixtures can turn to ashes, but emptiness cannot be burned. A teaching has that which expresses and that which is expressed: if not for the verbal expression, there would be no teaching; if not for what is expressed, how could one emerge? The verbal expression may be impermanent, but what is expressed is no longer impermanent. Attaining what is expressed beneath the teaching is called emerging safely and easily; because that which expresses wears away, it is called 'the burned gate.' Without passing through the burned gate, how could one emerge safely and easily? One relies on the verbal teaching to accord with what is expressed. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: 'Because the cause is impermanent, the fruit is permanent.' Explaining it in this way accords with the sūtra's 'burned gate.' In the case of the Hīnayāna teaching gate of impermanence, this is emerging from the burned gate; in the case of the Mahāyāna teaching gate of permanence, where words are themselves liberation, this teaching is itself the principle, fundamentally realizing both burning and non-burning, and emerging safely and easily. In terms of the Tathāgata's expedient wisdom, it is emerging from the burned gate; in terms of real wisdom, by comprehending the burned, one emerges safely and easily. Therefore, first trying to bring them out using clothing folds and table-seats failed, and later bringing them out with impermanence succeeded—this is precisely the meaning."