妙法蓮華經玄贊 7.564

7.564

Eulogy: This explains the reason. It is because through the Single Buddha Vehicle there is ultimate extinction, since there is no distinct, ultimate entity of the two vehicles. In the teachings spoken by expedient means, there can be three vehicles, or based on the single ultimate entity of the fruit, three causes are spoken of by expedient means. Through words regarding causes, the principle is extended. In the 'Noble and Virtuous King Chapter' of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, [it says]: 'What is nirvāṇa? What is mahāparinirvāṇa? That in which śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas abide for eighty thousand kalpas, sixty thousand kalpas, forty thousand kalpas, twenty thousand kalpas, and ten thousand kalpas is called nirvāṇa. The dwelling place of the Unsurpassed Dharma King, the Holy Master, is called mahāparinirvāṇa.' Ancient masters interpreted this as meaning: across those various spans of time, the fruition-attainers of the two vehicles enter that nirvāṇa without remainder, and later, having a turn of mind, they arise [from it]. They then cited the passage from the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra where bodhisattvas, buddhas, and others make transformations: having spent such spans of time intoxicated by the wine of samādhi, they then arise from it and turn toward the Great Vehicle. Now I explain that this is not so. When practitioners in those stages of the two vehicles spend such spans of time practicing toward the Great Vehicle, what they were supposed to realize before turning their minds, namely nirvāṇa with remainder, is called nirvāṇa; what is attained by the Dharma King is called mahāparinirvāṇa, not that of the two vehicles. Those in the stages of training have already spent eighty thousand kalpas down to forty thousand entering nirvāṇa; nor is it that non-trainees enter [nirvāṇa] without residue where both body and consciousness are absent, and after entering nirvāṇa, they then give rise to body and consciousness, spending twenty thousand kalpas and so on practicing the great practice. The 'Faith and Understanding Chapter' states: 'For the long night we practiced the dharma of emptiness... until, abiding in our final bodies in nirvāṇa with remainder, we considered ourselves to have already repaid the Buddha\'s kindness.' The Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra says: 'The roots of good of other people are exhausted at the time of nirvāṇa; not so for bodhisattvas.' If the roots of good of those of the two vehicles are exhausted upon entering nirvāṇa without remainder, as in the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, how could they spend ten thousand kalpas and so on practicing to just enter the ten faiths, and then after three incalculable kalpas finally attain bodhi? Since the fundamental consciousness no longer exists, and there is no consciousness to hold the seeds, their bodies being completely extinguished, with what would they practice? Who would attain bodhi? If there were still roots of good after entering without remainder, it would not only contradict scripture but also contradict correct reasoning. Since body and consciousness would still exist, how could it be called nirvāṇa without remainder? It is not like the Tathāgata, where because the untainted basis remains, it is called with remainder; and because the tainted basis is exhausted, it is called without remainder. The Śrīmālādevī-sūtra also says: 'That the two vehicles obtain nirvāṇa is the Buddha\'s expedient means.' The Cheng weishi lun says: 'Because they do not obtain non-abiding [nirvāṇa], it is called expedient means; or abiding in remainder, they turn their minds toward the Great Vehicle, not obtaining [extinction] without remainder, which is called obtaining expedient means.' The 'Ailment Practice Chapter' of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: 'A srotaāpanna returns seven times among humans and devas, cuts off the fetters, and enters nirvāṇa; this person, passing eighty thousand kalpas in the future, will attain anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi. A sakṛdāgāmin returns once, cuts off the fetters, and enters nirvāṇa; in the future, passing sixty thousand kalpas, he will attain anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi. An anāgāmin does not return; in the future, passing forty thousand kalpas, he will attain bodhi. An arhat, passing twenty thousand kalpas, will attain bodhi. A pratyekabuddha, passing ten thousand kalpas, will attain bodhi.' That sūtra also says: 'Passing eighty thousand kalpas, he will generate the aspiration for anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi; it is not that he achieves complete awakening, yet it is called obtaining bodhi.' Ancient teachers interpreted this as: an arhat who previously passed through seven births is referred to by the name of srotaāpanna; one who passed through two births is referred to by the name of sakṛdāgāmin; one who passed through births in higher realms is referred to by the name of anāgāmin; one who did not pass through births but relied on teaching is referred to by the name of arhat; one who did not pass through births and attained solitary realization is referred to by the name of pratyekabuddha. The first three persons attain the fruit in an ordinary body and enter nirvāṇa in a noble body; the latter two attain the fruit in an ordinary body and enter nirvāṇa in an ordinary body. Those who pass through many births are dull, which is why their time spent in quiescence is long; those who pass through few births are sharp, which is why their time spent in quiescence is short. Concerning the eighty thousand kalpas traversed, they cited the explanation of Bodhiruci, which still takes eighty thousand kalpas of sorrowful conception as one day and night, accumulating such years to form a mahākalpa. Their lifespan is immeasurable mahākalpas, and only after this do they first generate the aspiration. When examined, this interpretation lacks authoritative basis. The sūtra explains that for a srotaāpanna, cutting off the fetters through seven births and entering nirvāṇa, it is this srotaāpanna who, passing eighty thousand kalpas, first generates the great mind of bodhi. As this is the initial stage of the ten faiths, who said they abide in nirvāṇa for eighty thousand kalpas? Calling this arhat a srotaāpanna, and having him spend eighty thousand kalpas to only then generate the aspiration, is truly laughable! Moreover, if they enter without remainder, the bodily support is extinguished forever; how could they arise later without a cause? If not so, what is the meaning of stating 'without remainder'? If it is like the Buddha entering nirvāṇa without remainder, with the tainted forever exhausted and obtaining the untainted further, since the untainted is already complete, why would they not be called buddhas? If exhausting the severance of bonds is called entering without remainder, but body and consciousness do not perish, where is the 'without remainder'? Since there is an embodied support, what distinction is there between the two kinds, with remainder and without remainder? Inquiring through various analyses, the meaning is difficult to credit. However, regarding 'a srotaāpanna eighty thousand kalpas' and so forth in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, the meaning is as explained before: they are truly those fruitions, not an arhat designated by those names, nor is it that arhats have traversed births. If the meaning of that sūtra were merely to speak generally of arhats, then if actual persons in training generate the aspiration toward the Great Vehicle, how long would they spend? It would imply that in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra there are none among those in training who turn their minds. Therefore, taking sūtras such as the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra to agree with texts such as the Yogācārabhūmi is the best explanation.