妙法蓮華經玄贊 1.59

1.59

The eulogy states: The second is the time when the teaching was preached. This has two meanings: First, when the Dharma King initiated conversion and the capable vessels were all assembled, the completion of the preaching and listening is collectively called "at one time." Second, the preacher and listeners met together, and their periods of time were not different; hence it is called "at one time," because the occasions of receptive capacity and responsive transformation were not different. First, regarding the uninterrupted continuity of moments of preaching and listening, their completion is conventionally called "at one time." There are two explanations for this: First, the time of principle. Although the two parties of preacher and listener exist only in the present, with the formations of the five aggregates arising and ceasing moment by moment, this present dharma itself has the meaning of repaying what came before and inducing what comes after. By that which is repaid, it is conventionally designated the past; by that which is induced, it is conventionally designated the future; and in contrast to these two, it is spoken of as the present. These past and future periods are both conventionally established upon present dharmas; that is, the preachings and listenings of the five aggregates arise and cease moment by moment in prior and subsequent continuity, and the completion of the enterprise is conventionally established as the three times, collectively called "at one time," not the "at one time" of a single arising and ceasing. Second, the time of consciousness-only. Upon the conscious minds of both preacher and listener, appearances of the three times arise transformed; in reality they are present, yet in accordance with the limits of the mind they are transformed into short or long, and the completion of the enterprise is collectively called "at one time." Just as in a dream one perceives many lifetimes, yet upon awakening there is only the mind and no real external objects whatsoever; the listener's mind transforming the three times is likewise: it is an object solely of the mental consciousness, an unassociated conditioned formation included within the dharma-element and dharma-base. This expression "at one time": first, it is not definitely determined by moments; second, it is not definitely determined by continuity; third, it is not definitely determined by the four seasons, six periods, eight periods, twelve periods, and so forth; fourth, it is not definitely determined by the number of years and seasons after attaining awakening as being called "at one time." It simply means that the listener's faculties were mature, eliciting the Buddha's preaching, and the preacher was compassionate, speaking in response to capacity; the completion of the enterprise of preaching and listening is collectively called "at one time." As for not being definitely determined by moments, the listeners to the Dharma may have dull faculties: although the time of preaching was short, the time of listening and understanding was long; or the time of the preacher was long, and the listeners also spent a long time, being unable to understand in a single moment; hence it is not a moment. Nor is it definitely determined by continuity, because the preacher may have attained dhāraṇī, so that by speaking the meaning of a single syllable everything was completely understood, or the listener may have attained pure ear and mental faculties, so that upon hearing a single syllable everything could be understood; hence it is not continuity. Because within a single assembly the capacities of the listeners included both sharp and dull, the Tathāgata's supernatural power might extend a brief thought-moment into long kalpas, or compress many kalpas into a brief thought-moment; being indefinite, it is comprehensively designated "at one time" based on the completion of preaching and listening. Nor is it definitely determined by the four seasons, six periods, eight periods, or twelve periods, because a single sun and moon shine upon the four continents, where length and shortness, warmth and cold, nearness and farness, day and night are indefinite in various directions, as two continents always function simultaneously. Furthermore, except for those below, the devas above and so forth do not have these four seasons, eight periods, and so on; since the sūtra is intended to circulate in higher realms and in all directions, if it spoke of the four seasons and so forth, its circulation would not be pervasive. Nor is it definitely determined by the number of years and seasons after attaining awakening, because the reward and transformation bodies of the Buddha seen by the ordinary persons and noble ones of the three vehicles, the length and shortness of years, and the proximity or distance of time since attaining awakening are each different. Since the sūtra is intended to be heard equally by ordinary persons and noble ones of the three vehicles, it does not separately state the number of years after attaining awakening. However, among the sūtras there are those that speak of continuity, such as later in this sūtra where it says "preached this Lotus Sūtra for full sixty minor kalpas," which is just such an instance. There are those that speak of the four seasons, such as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra saying "the fifteenth day of the second month." There are those that speak of the six periods, eight periods, or twelve periods, such as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra saying "in the morning at the time of chewing the willow twig," the Diamond Prajñā saying "having finished the meal, gathered his robe and bowl, washed his feet, and laid out his seat, at the exact midday," the Sūtra on Rebirth [in Tuṣita] saying "in the first watch of the night, emitting light from his entire body," and the Bequeathed Teaching Sūtra saying "in the middle of the night, tranquil and soundless." There are those that speak of the number of years and seasons after attaining awakening, such as the Daśabhūmika-sūtra saying "in the second seven days, in the Palace of the King of the Paranirmitavaśavartin Devas, within the Maṇiratnagarbha Hall, he preached the Avataṃsaka-sūtra," the Lotus Sūtra saying "having reflected during three seven-day periods, he went to Vārāṇasī and turned the wheel of the Four Noble Truths," and the Anantanirdeśa-sūtra, this sūtra, and others saying "since I achieved awakening, more than forty years," and so forth. Although there are such statements, they were made provisionally according to what sentient beings in a given region and transformation land heard, saw, and compiled, yet they are still not the overall initial heading for the time of preaching the Dharma; therefore all should comprehensively state "at one time."