法華文句記 8.40

8.40

Next, the Pañcaviṃśati is cited to discern that it did not intentionally come [from this]. In that Pañcaviṃśati, it clarifies that the shared [teaching's] bodhisattva surpasses the stage of the two vehicles; since it does not yet clearly state that this citadel is transformed, we know that that text combines the provisional while revealing the real. If it were to speak of a transformed citadel, it would have to lead them forward; if it were to lead them forward, it would have to confer prediction upon the two vehicles; since it has not yet conferred prediction upon the two vehicles, for that reason, in that text the citadel is still real. From “Since it has not yet discussed” onward, the present text sets up a question: since it does not yet say the citadel is transformed, it has not yet opened the provisional; if it has not yet opened the provisional, there should also be no real. Why? Because the Prajñā [sūtras] have already clarified real wisdom, and real wisdom is precisely the place of the real. The intent of the answer is that the words revealing the real are common, whereas opening the provisional is restricted to these ten meanings. Among the distinct ones, as for “cultivating causes for six hundred kalpas,” it is feared to be a scribal error; it should read “sixty kalpas and one hundred kalpas”: sixty for śrāvakas and one hundred kalpas for pratyekabuddhas; the rest can be seen. As for “the three carts of the burning house are now the two hundred,” the present text hypothetically raises an objection: why must the three carts of the Parable Chapter be abolished, whereas the transformed citadel only says that the two hundred must be advanced through, meaning that the two hundred is merely the two vehicles? From “Three faculties” onward is the answer. First, in answering the three carts: the faculties of the three vehicles are all burned by fire, and all seek to escape the house, which serves as a metaphor for the three carts. Next, from “The Buddha-path” onward answers the two hundred. The “Buddha-path” refers to the perfect fruit. Therefore, the two vehicles of the Piṭaka and Shared teachings are far removed from the Buddha-fruit; for this reason, they must cross the two hundred of the two vehicles before reaching the Buddha-fruit. As for “the Buddha-vehicle is not an obstacle,” the bodhisattvas of the Piṭaka and Shared teachings are also named the Buddha-vehicle; prior to this, they all advanced, hence it is said to be “not an obstacle.” Furthermore, if judged by severing delusions, the Piṭaka bodhisattva is inferior to the two vehicles; the three hundred must be left behind, so why only the two hundred? However, this bodhisattva has already brought forth the great aspiration, and although delusions are not yet severed, he is tentatively named the Buddha-vehicle. When people see “the Buddha-vehicle,” they treat it as identical. If so, Śākyamuni's preaching of the aggregates of Dharma should already have subsumed the nine assemblies; the five hundred arhats should be the four bodhisattvas; the Worldly Chapter should speak of the ocean of the Lotus Treasury; the Chapter on Worthies and Nobles should speak of the forty-two stages; the Chapter on Samādhi should be the Śūraṅgama Samādhi; the Chapter on Wisdom should be the various dhāraṇīs. Since both the doctrines and the assemblies are different, how could the converting master and the converting activities not be distinct? Such distinct characteristics are measureless and boundless, impossible to enumerate fully; because the bodhisattva seeks this vehicle, he is also tentatively named a mahāsattva.