法華義疏 2.173

2.173

「若人遭苦」下，第二、明三乘教，即支末法輪。東方諸佛為小根性不堪受一故於一說三，即顯釋迦《法華》之前亦爾也。一乘法輪有三句，今三乘法輪亦三句也。舊經師云：以前三句總明教，後三句別明教。蓋是不識本末二輪失教旨也。然雖是一章經實是大事，若《法華》中有《華嚴》即成甚深經；若依四時釋者，即成淺近教也。

From 'If someone encounters suffering' downward is the second part: clarifying the triyāna teaching, which is the branch Dharma-wheel. The buddhas of the east, for those of lesser faculties who cannot receive the one, preach the three within the one, which shows that it was also thus prior to Śākyamuni's Lotus Sūtra. The ekayāna Dharma-wheel has three lines, and now the triyāna Dharma-wheel also has three lines. The old sūtra commentators said that the first three lines generally clarify the teaching, and the latter three lines specifically clarify the teaching. This is failing to recognize the two wheels of root and branch, thereby missing the purport of the teaching. Although it is just one passage of the sūtra, it is truly a great matter: if within the Lotus Sūtra there is the Avataṃsaka, it becomes an extremely profound sūtra; if one explains it according to the four periods, it becomes a shallow and proximate teaching.