法華義疏 2.9

2.9

"Surrounded by the fourfold assembly": the Fahua lun says, "From this down to 'revering and praising' is still the conclusion of the assembly's gathering, called the accomplishment of abiding in deportment in accordance with the Dharma, clarifying that the aforementioned great assembly of gods and dragons gathered like clouds, and deportment refers to being surrounded in front and behind down to revering and praising." Now we clarify: viewed in light of the preceding general preface, it falls under the sixth, the assembly of common listeners; viewed in light of what follows, it falls under the preface developing the authentic sūtra. The reason is that because the fourfold assembly gathered like clouds and gave rise to offerings of the three actions, this was their thirsting and desiring to hear, and therefore the Tathāgata preached the Dharma for them. As for the "fourfold assembly": some say that the devas have two assemblies, namely the assembly of Māra and the assembly of Brahmā, citing the greatest among the Desire and Form Heavens; humans have two assemblies: śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas. The Da zhidu lun says, "Wise people are divided into two categories: householders are called brāhmaṇas, while renunciants are designated śramaṇas." Since the Buddha is the teacher of gods and humans, these four assemblies are cited. Dhyāna Master Zhiyi said: "1. The assembly of shadows and echoes, meaning those who sit in silence in the assembly; 2. the assembly generating the teaching, meaning those who initiate the Buddha's teaching, such as Śāriputra and Maitreya; 3. the assembly suited to the capacity, those who directly receive the teaching and gain awakening; 4. the assembly forming affinities, those who do not understand upon hearing, but merely establish distant causes and conditions." Now I say that in this sūtra text there are two kinds of fourfold assemblies: first, the sages have two kinds, namely śrāvakas and bodhisattvas; the ordinary beings have two assemblies, namely the guest assembly and the familiar assembly; these make four. As listed in the later text, renunciants and householders each have two assemblies. As for "surrounded": the Commentary says, "When the great assembly surrounds [him], it makes the Buddha's virtue even more venerable; once they venerate the person, they will surely accept his path, hence 'surrounded' is clarified. It is just like the various Brahmās surrounding the Brahmā King, or the Trāyastriṃśa devas surrounding Śakra, and the meaning of a lion in a sandalwood grove is also similar to this."