法華玄論 1.37

1.37

Answer: The Dvādaśanikāya-śāstra says, 'The Mahāyāna is the profound Dharma-treasury of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time; expounded for those of great merit and sharp faculties, it is called the Great Vehicle.' The Great Vehicle has six meanings in total: First, it surpasses the two vehicles, hence it is called great. Second, it is what the great persons, the Buddhas, ride, hence it is called great. Third, it is what great beings such as Avalokiteśvara and Maitreya ride, hence it is called great. Fourth, the Buddhas are the greatest, and this vehicle can reach them, hence it is called great. Fifth, it can extinguish the great suffering of sentient beings and confer great benefit, hence it is called great. Sixth, it can exhaust the outermost limit and bottom of all dharmas, hence it is called great. The profound meaning of the great part is what is called emptiness; if one thoroughly penetrates this emptiness, one thoroughly penetrates the Great Vehicle and completes the six pāramitās without obstruction. The treatise clarifies that the Great Vehicle is the profound Dharma-treasury of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three periods of time, and emptiness is further the most profound within the Dharma-treasury; hence we know that emptiness is the ultimate profundity within the profound, the supreme greatness within the great. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra grandly opens the three tracks, taking emptiness as the high seat, and broadly explains the four practices, taking emptiness as peaceful and joyful practice. How could this not be the clear instruction of the bodhisattva and the profound model of the bodhimaṇḍa?