法華義疏 8.177

8.177

今以三門釋之：一、來意門；二、釋名門；三、決疑門。來意門者，乘權乘實凡有三周之說：一、法說門；二、譬說門。此二已竟，今是第三，亦法亦譬門。〈化城〉之前名為法說，〈化城〉已去稱為譬說，上中二根各稟一說，下根之人須具陳法譬也。〈化城〉之前明法說者，謂說過去世結緣之始；〈化城〉已去明譬說者，由過去結緣、現在更復相值，故重為說化城之譬。具序二世始終，鈍根方乃領解，故有此品來也。二者、為釋疑故來。疑者云：聲聞之人稟《法華經》即能解悟，現在得記、未來成佛，若爾，何用菩薩歷劫修行？為釋此疑，故明：三根聲聞久劫已來曾發大心修菩薩行，但中途忘失暫證小果，今聞大乘還得本悟，故現在得記、未來成佛。為釋此疑故說今品。故上二周領解，即是得悟之果，今一品明得領解之因，故雖有三周，不出因果二義也。三者、〈譬喻品〉云「為諸聲聞說大乘經名妙法蓮華教菩薩法」，但聲聞有二種：一者、本乘聲聞；二者、退大證小聲聞。為二種人明二種說：為本乘聲聞直說現在法門，謂現在有三乘根性，在三界火宅之中，權說三車引令得出。既得出宅，更以種種方便調伏其心，令小志漸移、大根稍熟，然後為說佛慧，令初起信心。上法譬二周多明斯意，謂化本乘聲聞也。二者、為退大證小聲聞說過去世法凡有三時：一者、初學大乘時；二、退大取小時；三、捨小悟大時。現在說化城譬亦有三時：一者、初說大乘時，二者、中途說小時，三、後還說大時。如此之說，多為退大證小聲聞人也。故聲聞不出二種，三周唯此兩門。此皆大判為言，二門互通前後也。依《法華論意》者，《論》云「實無而謂有增上慢人，以有世間三昧三摩跋提對治此，故說化城喻」。《論》明凡夫人得世間禪定，計非想無想為涅槃，故今明聲聞涅槃尚如化，何況凡夫是實也。欲令聲聞人捨小涅槃得大涅槃，故說化城喻也。

Now it is explained through three headings: first, the heading on the purpose of its occurrence; second, the heading on explaining the title; third, the heading on resolving doubts. Regarding the heading on the purpose of its occurrence: the expounding of the provisional vehicle and the real vehicle comprises three cycles in all: first, the heading of teaching through Dharma; second, the heading of teaching through parables. These two are already complete; now is the third, the heading of teaching through both Dharma and parables. Before the "Conjured City" is called teaching through Dharma, and from the "Conjured City" onwards is called teaching through parables. Those of superior and middling faculties each receive one teaching, whereas those of inferior faculties require both Dharma and parables to be set forth in full. That prior to the "Conjured City" it clarifies teaching through Dharma means preaching the beginning of establishing connections in past lives; that from the "Conjured City" onwards it clarifies teaching through parables means that, having established connections in the past, they encounter each other again in the present, and so the parable of the conjured city is preached once more. Only when the beginning and end of the two lifetimes are fully narrated do those of dull faculties grasp and understand, which is why this chapter occurs. Second, it occurs to resolve doubts. The doubter says: śrāvakas, upon receiving the Lotus Sūtra, are able to awaken and understand, attaining prophecy in the present and achieving buddhahood in the future; if so, what need was there for bodhisattvas to cultivate practices across kalpas? To resolve this doubt, it clarifies: the śrāvakas of the three faculties had in fact long kalpas ago given rise to the aspiration for greatness and cultivated bodhisattva practices, but forgot them halfway and temporarily realized the small fruit; now, hearing the Mahāyāna, they return to their original awakening, and thus attain prophecy in the present and achieve buddhahood in the future. To resolve this doubt, the present chapter is preached. Therefore, the understanding gained in the preceding two cycles is the fruit of attaining awakening, while the present chapter clarifies the cause of attaining that understanding; thus, although there are three cycles, they do not exceed the two meanings of cause and fruit. Third, the "Parable Chapter" states: "For the śrāvakas, he preached the Mahāyāna sūtra called the Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma, a teaching for bodhisattvas." However, there are two kinds of śrāvakas: first, original-vehicle śrāvakas; second, śrāvakas who retrogressed from the Mahāyāna and realized the Hīnayāna. For these two kinds of persons, two kinds of teachings are clarified: for original-vehicle śrāvakas, he directly preaches the present Dharma-gate, meaning that in the present they possess the triyāna disposition, and while they are inside the burning house of the three realms, he provisionally speaks of the three carriages to lead them out. Once they have escaped the house, he further tames their minds through various expedient means, causing their small aspirations gradually to shift and their Mahāyāna faculties to ripen somewhat, after which he preaches the Buddha-wisdom to them, causing faith to arise for the first time. The preceding two cycles of Dharma and parables largely clarify this intention, namely converting original-vehicle śrāvakas. Second, for śrāvakas who retrogressed from the Mahāyāna and realized the Hīnayāna, preaching the Dharma of past lives comprises three periods in all: first, the time of initially studying the Mahāyāna; second, the time of retrogressing from the Mahāyāna and taking up the Hīnayāna; third, the time of abandoning the Hīnayāna and awakening to the Mahāyāna. In the present, preaching the parable of the conjured city also comprises three periods: first, the time of initially preaching the Mahāyāna; second, the time of preaching the Hīnayāna halfway through; third, the time of subsequently preaching the Mahāyāna again. Such an exposition is mostly for those śrāvakas who retrogressed from the Mahāyāna and realized the Hīnayāna. Therefore, śrāvakas do not exceed these two kinds, and the three cycles consist solely of these two approaches. These are all broad divisions of speech; the two approaches mutually interpenetrate the preceding and following. According to the intention of the Fahua lun, the treatise states: "For persons of overweening pride who consider what is truly nonexistent to be existent, to counteract this by means of mundane samādhis and samāpattis, the parable of the conjured city was therefore preached." The treatise clarifies that ordinary persons attain mundane dhyāna-concentrations and reckon the state of neither perception nor non-perception to be nirvāṇa; therefore, it now clarifies that even the nirvāṇa of śrāvakas is like an illusion, how much more so that of ordinary persons could not be real. Wanting to cause śrāvakas to abandon the small nirvāṇa and attain the great nirvāṇa, he therefore preached the parable of the conjured city.