妙法蓮華經玄贊 1.38

1.38

As for the direct explanation of the text, the Buddhabhūmi-śāstra says: "The word 'Thus' operates based on four meanings. First, based on metaphor: as when someone says, 'wealthy like this, like Vaiśravaṇa,' so the Dharma transmitted and heard is like what the Buddha preached, definitely not different, definitely the cause of benefit, happiness, and expedient means; or it means the sentences to be spoken now are thus, like what I heard in the past. Second, based on instruction: as when someone says, 'You should read and recite sūtras and treatises like this,' here 'Thus' is, from afar, the Buddha's instruction, and from near, the instruction of the transmitter of the Dharma; or it tells the assembly of the time: 'Listen thus to what I heard in the past.' Third, based on question and answer: meaning someone asks: 'Did you definitely hear in the past what you are about to preach?' Therefore this answers, saying: 'Thus have I heard.' Fourth, based on consent: as when someone says: 'I shall think thus for you, act thus, and speak thus'; meaning at the time of compilation, the assembly of bodhisattvas all requested together, saying: 'Speak thus according to what you heard.' The bodhisattva transmitting the Dharma then consented, saying: 'I shall speak thus according to what I heard'; or in affirmation, saying: 'This matter is thus,' meaning such a Dharma is what I heard in the past, this matter is thus, up to here I shall speak definitely without difference. Due to these four meanings, 'Thus have I heard' is placed at the beginning of all sūtras." Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha said: "The Weixi lü explains that when Ānanda ascended the seat to compile the Dharma repository, his body was like all buddhas, endowed with all marks and signs; when he stepped down from the seat, he returned to his original form. The compilation records also say this. Sentient beings had three doubts: first, they doubted whether the Buddha, out of great compassion, had arisen from nirvāṇa to preach the wonderful Dharma again; second, they doubted whether another buddha had come from another direction to abide here and preach the Dharma; third, they doubted whether Ānanda had transformed his body, become a buddha, and was preaching the Dharma for the assembly. Now, by revealing that this Dharma spoken thus was personally heard by me in the past while attending the Buddha, it is not that the Buddha arose again, nor that a buddha from another direction arrived, nor that [I] transformed into a buddha. To remove these doubts, the sūtra says 'Thus have I heard' at the beginning."