法華文句記 1.5

1.5

Regarding "master and flavor": it is not easy for the Master to arise, and moreover only after passing through the four flavors did he expound this sūtra; thus we know the first two are truly not easy. Regarding "praising the teaching": transmission and translation are not easy; passing across mountains and seas, although [the texts] arrived in this land, only when ruler and subjects were in harmony with the Way and the state was free from various tribulations could they be transmitted. Regarding "praising the practice": receiving [the teaching] from Nányuè, his realization did not depend on others; supported by what was planted in past lives, this wondrous awakening unfolded. Regarding "self-examination": being fortunate to have heard it oneself, he humbly undertook to record it. Thus the preface to the Profound Meaning says: "At Jiangling I received the profound import; only at Jianye did I hear the sūtra text. Patching and piecing it together, I barely completed one version"; how much more so having heard it at twenty-seven and revised it at sixty-nine—from beginning to end over forty years, only then completing the seventh revision, so correcting it was also difficult! Adding the difficulty of the compilation [of the canon] before transmission and translation makes eight difficulties altogether, because at the time of the compilation it also required the harmony of kings, ministers, and the great assembly, preventing Māra or non-Buddhists from gaining an advantage. "Adding" refers to adding refutations of ancient masters and citing sūtras and treatises, meaning rejecting what is wrong to reveal what is right. "Pruning" refers to pruning redundancies and perfecting the textual style, making the text concise and the meaning rich. In refuting the ancients, the fault was not entirely one's own, but because their divergent views were added, it is merely called "adding"; pruning pertained solely to oneself, because the initial record was overgrown and tangled, so it must be called "pruning." Thus the preface to the Profound Meaning says: "Either using the truthful words of sūtras and treatises to accord with this profound wonder, or marking the divergent interpretations of various masters to demonstrate that they are not perfect."