妙法蓮華經玄贊 9.80

9.80

The Eulogy says: This explains [the doubt]. There are three points: first, it cannot be attained with a defiled body, because the supreme Dharma depends upon a supreme person; second, it cannot be attained in a brief time, because the fruit is wondrous and vast; third, it cannot be attained due to obstacles, because only when one is free from obstacles and unobstructed can there be complete and perfect awakening. The Sūtra of the Samādhi of Transcending the Sun's Radiance (*Sūryaprabhāsamādhi-sūtra*) states: "An elder monk said to Huishe: 'One cannot attain the Buddha Path in a female body, because of three separations and five obstructions. What are the three? In the household, she complies with the governance of her parents; when married off, she complies with the governance of her husband; and when her husband dies, she complies with the governance of her son.'" This also accords with the meaning of the "three submissions" in conventional books. The five obstructions are the same as here; that sūtra states: "As for being unable to become a Brahmā King, [a Brahmā King] undertakes pure conduct free of defiled conduct, cultivates the four immeasurable minds, and is well-versed in the four dhyānas, while when rising to Brahmā Heaven [women] are wanton and licentious without limit, for they are women; thus she cannot become a Brahmā King. As for being unable to become Śakra, one becomes Śakra by being valiant and having few desires, whereas a woman has mixed evils and manifold guiles. As for being unable to become a Māra King, one becomes a Māra King by being fully endowed with the ten good deeds, revering the Three Jewels, serving one's parents, and being humble and yielding to the elderly; whereas a woman is disrespectful, noncompliant, and destroys and abandons the correct teaching. As for being unable to become a wheel-turning king, one becomes a wheel-turning king by practicing the bodhisattva path, taking pity on sentient beings, and making offerings to the Three Honored Ones, former sages, masters, and fathers. A wheel-turning king governs the four continents, transforms [beings] by practicing the ten virtues, and honors virtue; whereas a woman lacks pure conduct. As for being unable to become a buddha, one attains buddhahood by practicing the bodhisattva mind, being mindful of and pitying all beings, donning the armor of the Great Vehicle with great loving-kindness and great compassion, extinguishing the five skandhas and transforming the six decays, practicing the three samādhis, understanding the two kinds of selflessness, realizing the tolerance of non-arising, and thoroughly comprehending all things; a woman lacks these matters, so she cannot attain it." The *Bodhisattvabhūmi* states: "All women are characterized by defilements and all kinds of tainted cognition; buddhas do not realize unsurpassed great bodhi with an evil body, hence it is said that a woman cannot become a buddha."