法華義疏 12.216

12.216

「佛告」下，第二、明佛答。為三：謂標、釋、結。釋中明四法者：一、外為諸佛護念，護令惡不侵、念令善根成就。二者、內殖德本，明初發一念不二正觀為眾善之本，以得此觀行與佛應故為佛護念。三者、入正定聚。聚有三種：一者、邪定聚，謂必入地獄；二者、正定聚，必得解脫；三者、二楹中間名不定聚。約位明者，舊云：內凡夫性種菩薩得生空解名為定聚。今謂十信第六心稱不退信，亦得名為入定聚。四者、發救一切眾生心，如《金剛般若論》四種心：一、廣大心，遍度眾生故；二、第一心，與眾生大涅槃樂故；三，常心，常不離是心故；四、不顛倒心，知眾生本來常寂滅故。佛答四法次第者，初一為外緣，次一為內因，謂因緣一雙。次一明位，後一明行，謂行位一雙。

From "The Buddha told" downward is the second, explaining the Buddha's reply. It has three parts: namely, the heading, the explanation, and the conclusion. In the explanation, the four dharmas are explained: First, externally being protected and held in mindful thought by the Buddhas: protected, so that evil does not encroach; held in mindful thought, so that good roots are accomplished. Second, internally planting roots of virtue, explaining that the initial bringing forth of a single thought of non-dual right contemplation is the root of all goods; because one attains this contemplative practice and resonates with the Buddhas, one is protected and held in mindful thought by the Buddhas. Third, entering the group of the truly settled. There are three groups: 1. the group of the wrongly settled, meaning those who will surely enter the hells; 2. the group of the truly settled, who will surely attain liberation; 3. midway between the two pillars, called the indeterminate group. Explaining in terms of stages, the old masters said: when bodhisattvas of the internal ordinary nature-gotra attain the comprehension of the emptiness of persons, it is called the settled group. Now it is maintained that the sixth mind of the ten faiths, called non-retrograde faith, can also be called entering the settled group. Fourth, bringing forth the mind to rescue all sentient beings, like the four kinds of minds in the Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitopadeśa: 1. the vast mind, because of universally delivering sentient beings; 2. the supreme mind, because of giving sentient beings the bliss of great nirvāṇa; 3. the constant mind, because of constantly not departing from this mind; 4. the non-deluded mind, because of knowing that sentient beings are fundamentally ever tranquil and extinct. As for the sequence of the four dharmas in the Buddha's reply: the first one is the external condition, the next one is the internal cause, which constitutes a pair of cause and condition. The next one clarifies the stage, and the last clarifies the practice, which constitutes a pair of practice and stage.