觀音義疏 1.36

1.36

Now as for the sequence: first entering a country and following its customs, responding to the oral capacity comes first, while taking the mental to be hidden and the physical to be manifest comes next. If one examines the intention of the sūtra, by viewing their sounds at one time all obtain liberation; the sūtra does not speak of contemplating capacities in sequence, so how could one explain it sequentially? Since others have already made a sequence of the seven disasters, we now merely formulate a counterpart to it. Entering fire immediately brings the peril of scorching the body and ending life, which is most sudden and severe, hence it is placed first. Floating and sinking in water is slightly less urgent than fire. Although rākṣasas are violent, as a sūtra says: "There were five hundred rākṣasīs who took five hundred castaway men as husbands, bore children, and enjoyed pleasure; the span of time was still long, and only afterward did they devour them all at once." This is again less urgent than water. The disaster of kings does not mean that one is executed immediately upon capture; they investigate the truth or falsity of the crime: if true, one is punished; if false, one is pardoned; this differs from ghosts who consume everything indiscriminately, hence it comes next after rākṣasas. As for ghosts coming to seize one, they have no specific target; one meets harm only when in decline, and can escape by fleeing; this differs from royal law which definitively determines life or death, hence it comes next after the disaster of kings. Fetters and chains merely confine the body without the peril of losing one's life; there is only the suffering of imprisonment, which is slightly less urgent than ghosts. Hostile bandits seek wealth: once the wealth is surrendered, it is over; if one can use humble words and skillful means, one can escape. This is merely a preliminary sequence; as for fierce bandits suddenly attacking, how does that differ from burning fire?