大方廣佛華嚴經疏 1.37

1.37

Second, concerning the conflict and conformity between ancients and moderns, it is subdivided into two: first, narrating [the views of] this region [China], and afterwards clarifying [those of] the Western Regions [India]. First, the former. Although the various explanations are numerous, we briefly narrate several masters, organizing them into five categories: First, the establishment of the teaching of a single sound, which means that the Tathāgata's lifelong teaching does not depart from a single sound. However, there are two masters [of this view]: First, Bodhiruci of the Later Wei said, "With a single sound, the Tathāgata simultaneously responds to the myriad [beings], setting forth the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna together." Second, Dharma Master Kumārajīva of the Yao Qin said, "The Buddha's single complete sound is equal and without duality; responding universally without deliberate thought, the faculties hear it differently of themselves; it does not mean that the words and sounds originally set forth the great and the small. Therefore the Vimalakīrti Sūtra states, 'The Buddha preaches the Dharma with a single sound, / and sentient beings each understand according to their capacity.'" Between the two masters above, the former holds that the Buddha's sound itself contains distinctions, while the latter holds that the distinctions reside in the capacities of beings. Each attained one aspect of the complete sound, yet both share the intention that the teaching originally has no divisions.

Second, the establishment of two teachings, which itself has four masters: First, Tripiṭaka Master Dharmakṣema of the Northern Liang established the half-letter and full-letter teachings, that is, the Śrāvaka Piṭaka is the half-letter teaching, and the Bodhisattva Piṭaka is the full-letter teaching. Dharma Master Huiyuan of the Sui also concurred in establishing this. This is textually based on the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, being an expression of a general meaning in contrasting the Hīnayāna to reveal the Mahāyāna, without yet revealing expedient and ultimate within the Mahāyāna or that it also subsumes the half and the full. Second, Dharma Master Huiyuan of the Sui established the two teachings of gradual and sudden, meaning that with respect to capacities of gradual awakening, where the great arises from the small, what is established fully possesses the three vehicles, and thus it is named gradual; if with respect to sudden capacities, going directly to the great without passing through the small, it is named sudden. Although this speaks of gradual and sudden with respect to capacity, the Dharma expounded does not go beyond the half and the full. Third, Dharma Master Yinjie of the early Tang also established two teachings: 1. The roundabout teaching, referring to the sūtras of Śākyamuni, because they follow the dispositions of capacities and break attachments according to their preconceptions, like the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and others; 2. The level-path teaching, referring to the sūtras of Rocana, because they are expounded with sovereignty according with dharmatā, like the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Furthermore, these two teachings briefly have four differences: (1) difference in lord, meaning the transformation body of Śākyamuni differs from the ten bodies of Rocana; (2) difference in place, meaning the wood trees and grass seat of the Sahā world differ from the precious trees and precious seats in the Padmagarbha world; (3) difference in audience, meaning expounding for śrāvakas and bodhisattvas differs from expounding exclusively for bodhisattvas and those of the ultimate stages together; (4) difference in exposition, meaning localized exposition differs from exposition pervasive through the ten directions. This is classified according to the manner of conversion. However, although the Avataṃsaka includes distinct subjugations according with various sentient beings, these are all skillful expedients matching the nature, simultaneously and suddenly expounded; although the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra and others speak of the single ultimate, they either contrast the expedient to reveal the real, or unite differences into identity, which all Tathāgatas either expound or do not expound, and thus it is called roundabout. Taking Śākyamuni as lord does not yet reveal the ten bodies; taking the ten bodies as lord necessarily includes Śākyamuni. The location of Sahā does not blend with Padmagarbha, but the location of Padmagarbha necessarily blends with Sahā. Briefly stating four differences, the differences are truly many, and it is genuinely as classified, yet within the roundabout it does not reveal the expedient and real of the Dharma. Fourth, the hermit Liu Qiu of the Qi dynasty also established the two teachings of gradual and sudden, meaning that the Avataṃsaka Sūtra is called the sudden teaching, while all the rest are called gradual, beginning from the Deer Park and ending at the Twin Trees, because they progress from the small to the great. Now, this sūtra is like the sun newly rising, first illuminating the high mountains, which is the meaning of sudden; the compassionate dragon bringing down rain testifies to the meaning of gradual: in principle this is plausible. The gradual is classified into five periods, which will be analyzed immediately below.

Third, the establishment of three teachings, which also has three masters: First, the various masters of the southern region together established three teachings, meaning that to the previous gradual and sudden they added the indeterminate teaching. Because within the gradual, the small comes first and the great comes later, yet the Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra was spoken within the first six years; to ward off this difficulty they established the indeterminate, meaning that there are distinct sūtras which, although not subsumed under the sudden, clarify that the Buddha-nature is eternally abiding, such as the Śrīmālādevī and Suvarṇaprabhāsa sūtras, which are the regional indeterminate teachings. The divisions and combinations within the gradual differed among the various masters. Some only divided it into two, which is the half and full. Some divided it into three, namely Dharma Master Jifa of Mount Wuqiu, who held that before twelve years, seeing the attainment of the path through existence is called the teaching of characteristics; after twelve years up to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, seeing the attainment of the path through emptiness is called the teaching of signlessness; and finally, illuminating both the Buddha-nature of all sentient beings and icchantikas attaining Buddhahood is called the teaching of eternal abiding. This largely agrees with the Tripiṭaka Master of the Tang's [Xuanzang] teaching of the three periods, as will be explained in narrating the Western Regions. Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha, relying on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa, established the teachings of the three wheels of turning, illuminating, and holding, which also largely agrees with this, with minor differences in the time periods: he said that before seven years, expounding the four truths is called turning the wheel of the Dharma; after seven years, expounding Prajñā possesses the two wheels of turning and illuminating, because it illuminates existence through emptiness; after thirty years, it fully possesses turning, illuminating, and holding, because it illuminates both emptiness and existence and holds the previous two. Some divided it into four, namely Dharma Master Ji of the Song dynasty, who held that after the signless of the previous three periods and before the eternally abiding, he pointed to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra as the teaching of identical return, because it unites the three and returns to the one, and myriad goods all head towards bodhi. Some opened it into five, of which there are two masters: 1. Daochang Huiguan and others pointed to the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Viśeṣacintābrahmaparipṛcchā, and others as the teaching of reprimand and praise, between the signless and identical return. 2. The aforementioned Liu [Qiu], who did not open the reprimand and praise, but at the beginning of the teaching of existence took the Tiwei Boli Jing as the teaching of humans and devas. All the masters above opened differences according to time within the gradual; if one does not add the indeterminate teaching, it incurs especially many objections, because the Mahāyāna exists at the very beginning; even if adding the indeterminate, there are still impediments and objections. To briefly show the impediments of the five periods, the rest can be known by analogy: First, clarifying that before twelve years is the teaching of characteristics contradicts the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra itself. The Tattvasiddhi states: 'I now rightly clarify the real meaning in the Tripiṭaka; the real meaning is emptiness.' Moreover, the Āgamas state, 'There is no this old age and death,' which is the emptiness of dharmas; 'There is no who of old age and death,' which is the emptiness of persons. Furthermore, the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: 'In the Tripiṭaka, clarifying the emptiness of dharmas is the great emptiness; in the Mahāyāna, clarifying the emptiness of the ten directions is the great emptiness.' All show that Hīnayāna already has the two emptinesses. If one says that in the second period emptiness is expounded, the broad precepts were only formulated after twelve years; how could it be that only emptiness was expounded? Furthermore, the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: 'From the night of attaining the path up to nirvāṇa, Prajñā was constantly expounded.' How could emptiness not have been expounded earlier? If one says that in the second period eternal abiding was not yet revealed, could the Prajñā of the true mark be impermanent? The Mahāparinirvāṇa also states, 'Buddha-nature is also named Prajñā'; thus we know that the Prajñā of the true mark is none other than the Buddha-nature as direct cause, and contemplative illumination is the revealing cause. Furthermore, Prajñā is free from the four propositions; when did it ever preserve emptiness? Prajñā does not destroy the four propositions; how could it lack wondrous existence? Thus we know that Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna each have four gates, and merely calling the first existence and the next emptiness captures only the intention of a single gate each. If one says that the third period is only named reprimand and praise and is also not the eternal, the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa states: 'The Buddha's body is unconditioned, not falling into any numbers. Contemplating the real mark of the body, contemplating the Buddha is also like this'—how could this not be eternal? The Prajñāpāramitā also states: 'The wisdom of the two vehicles is like the light of a firefly, while a bodhisattva learning wisdom for a single day is like the illumination of the sun'—how is this not reprimand and praise? If one says that the fourth period only reveals identical return and does not yet clarify the eternal, the 'Lifespan' chapter states 'eternally abiding and unperishing,' and furthermore the 'Skillful Means' chapter states 'the worldly marks are eternally abiding' and so forth—how could this not be eternal? Fifth, taking the Mahāparinirvāṇa as eternally abiding is acceptable for that teaching, yet at the time of the Mahāparinirvāṇa there was also the perspective of the Hīnayāna, as shown in the Āgamas' account of the marks of the Tathāgata's nirvāṇa. If one takes the human and deva as the beginning, although the Tiwei speaks of precepts and virtues, the attainment of the path pervades the three vehicles; hence that sūtra states that Tiwei attained the forbearance of non-arising of dharmas; moreover, it contradicts the Guhyakādhipatinirdeśa-sūtra's exposition of the three vehicles on the second seventh day. However, in all the above five periods, if strictly determined according to time, there will be discrepancies; but if one excludes the indeterminate and speaks according to the majority, there is also principle in it. Second, Vinaya Master Guangtong [Huiguang] of the Later Wei, carrying on the teaching of Tripiṭaka Master Buddhabhadra, also established three teachings, namely gradual, sudden, and complete: 1. For those whose faculties are not yet mature, first expounding impermanence and only afterwards expounding permanence, first emptiness and afterwards non-emptiness, and so on; thus proceeding by degrees, it is named gradual. 2. For those whose faculties are mature, completely expounding permanence and impermanence, emptiness and non-emptiness, expounding all completely in a single dharma-gate without any gradual progression, and thus it is named sudden. 3. For those who have reached the upper levels and partially attained the Buddha-stage, expounding the complete, secret, and sovereign dharma-gate of the Tathāgata's unobstructed liberation and ultimate fruition virtues, and thus it is named complete. This is also classified according to the manner of conversion, speaking of an earlier and later. The intention clarifies that those in the present time who are capable of receiving the sudden must have received conversion in the past. The words 'faculties mature' and 'reached the upper levels' implicitly encompass the stages prior to the bhūmis; 'partially attained the Buddha-stage' refers to the bhūmis. In principle, this also makes sense. Third, Dharma Master Jizang of the late Sui and early Tang, relying on the fifth [scroll] of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, established three Dharma wheels: 1. 'When they first saw my body and heard what I expounded, they all believed, accepted, and entered the Tathāgata's wisdom,' which is the fundamental Dharma wheel; 2. 'Excepting those who previously practiced and studied the small vehicle,' which is the branch Dharma wheel; 3. 'I now also cause them to hear this sūtra and enter the Buddha's wisdom,' which is the Dharma wheel that subsumes the branches into the root. This classification is entirely based on the manner of conversion; according to the Dharma, there is only great and small. However, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka opened and revealed the root and branches for one group of beings; if one takes it to definitively classify the lifelong sacred teaching, it does not fully encompass the meaning, because prior to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka the Mahāyāna also existed; how could the Prajñā and others all be branch teachings? Moreover, the Anantanirdeśa-sūtra states: 'The Buddha at all times expounds the great and the small.'