妙法蓮華經玄贊 5.316

5.316

The Commentary says: Praising the supreme virtues of the vehicles. First, he clarifies how they differ from saṃsāra; second, he clarifies the supreme virtues of the vehicles. This is the first. Saṃsāra is rebuked by the noble ones, while the three vehicles are praised by the noble ones. Saṃsāra is fettered and multiplied by afflictions, so it lacks self-mastery; the three vehicles are undefiled (anāsrava), so they are not fettered and are therefore called self-mastery. Defiled (sāsrava) dharmas are called "possessing dependence": the fruition of retribution depends on causes for its existence, and the causes of retribution depend on fruitions for their fulfillment. Among defiled saṃsāra, the superior states are humans and devas, in which there is that which may be sought—namely, the three kinds of seeking. The three vehicles are not like this: they are not grasped by seeking; one seeks without fault, and it is not that they are faultless yet unsought. The three kinds of seeking are: first, the seeking of sensual desire (kāmaiṣaṇā); second, the seeking of existence (bhavaiṣaṇā); third, the seeking of improper religious practice (brahmacaryaiṣaṇā). The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra states that all those who fall into the seeking of sensual desire are born into the three kinds of desire, with no more and no less. The three births of desire are: first, birth into currently abiding sensual objects, meaning humans and those below the Tuṣita heaven; second, birth into sensual objects created by oneself, the fifth desire heaven; third, birth into sensual objects created by others, the sixth desire heaven. All those who fall into the seeking of existence are born into three kinds of bliss: first, joy and bliss born of detachment sprinkling and soaking their bodies; second, joy and bliss born of samādhi sprinkling and soaking their bodies; third, bliss detached from joy sprinkling and soaking their bodies—matching the first, second, and third dhyānas respectively. Those who give rise to a degenerated seeking for the tranquil birthplaces that are neither-painful-nor-pleasant are extremely few, so the fourth dhyāna is not established as a [separate] birth. The seeking of improper religious practice refers to the various non-Buddhists seeking the four formless realms, taking them to be the abode of nirvāṇa and liberation. Now, [the three vehicles] are free of these three kinds of seeking, hence they are called "without seeking." Although there is the seeking of pure conduct (brahmacarya), because it is undefiled, it is the supreme, correct seeking of pure conduct, not the seeking of improper religious practice.