法華義疏 8.142

8.142

第五、明階位門者，經論不同，或說一種授記故直名為授記經也。或說二種授記，如《涅槃經》明，應與遲記者授之以遲，其人聞速得佛心生輕慢，故授以遲記；若言佛道難得久受懃苦然後成佛，心即退失，為此人故授以速記。又善根熟者授之以速記，善根未熟者授之遲記。又樂久處生死化物者授之以遲，厭惡生死欲早成佛者授之以速。又有二種記：一、總記；二、別記，如上釋之。《智度論》明三種授記：一、自知他不知，為利益自故不為利他；二、他知自不知，為利益他故；三、自他具知，具利益自他故。又有四種授記：一、未發心授記；二、發心授記；三、現前授記；四、不現前授記。未發心授記有二：一、都未發心而授記，如鳩鳥等；二、雖已發心而未成立，亦名未發心也。二、已發心授記有二種：一者、初始發心即與授記；二者、發心成立名為發心，即十信位。三、不現前授記，謂三賢菩薩未得無生忍，故不堪現前與無生記。四、現前授記，初地已上得無生忍，堪為現前授無生記。《地持論》云有六種授記，四種大同於前而明位小異；第五、時量時定，謂劫數有限；第六、時無量時不定，謂劫數無限。此二猶是上總別記耳。

Fifth, as for the section on clarifying stages and levels: Sūtras and treatises differ. Some teach one kind of conferment of prophecy, hence calling it straightforwardly a 'prophecy sūtra.' Others teach two kinds of conferment of prophecy, as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra explains: to those who should be given a delayed prophecy, it is conferred with delay, because if such a person were to hear that they would quickly attain Buddhahood, pride and arrogance would arise in their mind, hence they are conferred with a delayed prophecy; but if it were said that the Buddha Path is difficult to attain, requiring long suffering of toil and distress before Buddhahood, their mind would backslide and fall away, and for such a person, it is conferred with a speedy prophecy. Furthermore, to those whose roots of goodness are mature, a speedy prophecy is conferred; to those whose roots of goodness are not yet mature, a delayed prophecy is conferred. Furthermore, to those who delight in remaining long in saṃsāra to transform living beings, a delayed prophecy is conferred; to those who loathe saṃsāra and wish to quickly attain Buddhahood, a speedy prophecy is conferred. Furthermore, there are two kinds of prophecy: first, a general prophecy; second, an individual prophecy, as explained above. The Dazhidu lun clarifies three kinds of conferment of prophecy: first, knowing oneself while others do not know, for the sake of benefiting oneself and not for benefiting others; second, others knowing while oneself does not know, for the sake of benefiting others; third, both oneself and others knowing, fully benefiting both oneself and others. Furthermore, there are four kinds of conferment of prophecy: first, prophecy before generating the bodhicitta; second, prophecy upon generating the bodhicitta; third, prophecy face-to-face; fourth, prophecy not face-to-face. Prophecy before generating the bodhicitta has two aspects: first, receiving a prophecy without having generated the bodhicitta at all, like the dove and the like; second, having generated the bodhicitta but it not yet being established, which is also called not having generated the bodhicitta. Second, prophecy after having generated the bodhicitta has two kinds: first, receiving a prophecy immediately upon the initial generation of the bodhicitta; second, when the generation of the bodhicitta is established it is called generating the mind, which is the stage of the ten faiths. Third, prophecy not face-to-face refers to bodhisattvas of the three ranks of the worthy who have not yet attained the forbearance of the non-arising of phenomena, and thus are not capable of receiving the prophecy of non-arising face-to-face. Fourth, prophecy face-to-face refers to those from the initial ground upward who have attained the forbearance of the non-arising of phenomena and are capable of receiving the prophecy of non-arising face-to-face. The Bodhisattvabhūmi Sūtra (Dichi lun) states that there are six kinds of conferment of prophecy: four kinds are largely identical to the preceding with slight differences in explaining the stages; the fifth is when the measure of time is determinate, meaning the number of kalpas is limited; the sixth is when the measure of time is indeterminate, meaning the number of kalpas is limitless. These two are still just the general and individual prophecies mentioned above.