阿彌陀經要解 1.9

1.9

入文為三：初序分、二正宗分、三流通分。此三分者，名為初善、中善、後善，闕一不可。序分如人之首，五官具存。正宗如人之身，臟腑無闕。流通分如人之手足，運行不滯。故智者大師釋《法華經》，初品作序，中十五品半為正，後十一品半皆為流通。又一時迹本二門各分三段，則〈法師〉訖〈安樂行〉五品皆為迹門流通。蓋序必總提一經之綱領，而流通則法施方不壅於來世，其關繫殊非淺小。後人不達，才見經文稍涉義理，便一概判入正宗，致使序及流通不過如八寸三帽子一頂、草鞋一雙而已，安所稱初語亦善、中語亦善、後語亦善也哉？

Entering into the text, there are three sections: first, the preface; second, the main doctrinal section; third, the dissemination section. These three sections are called good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end; not one can be lacking. The preface is like the head of a person, where all five sensory organs are intact. The main doctrinal section is like the trunk of a person, where the internal organs are complete. The dissemination section is like the hands and feet of a person, moving about without obstruction. Thus Great Master Zhiyi, when commenting on the Lotus Sūtra, took the first chapter as the preface, the middle fifteen and a half chapters as the main doctrinal section, and the latter eleven and a half chapters all as the dissemination section. Furthermore, at another time, when dividing both the provisional and fundamental gates each into three sections, the five chapters from 'Dharma Masters' through 'Peaceful Practices' were all taken as the dissemination of the provisional gate. For a preface must grasp the overall guiding principles of an entire sūtra, while dissemination ensures that the gift of Dharma will not be blocked from future ages; their importance is certainly not shallow or slight. Later people failed to understand this, and the moment they saw the sūtra text touch slightly upon doctrinal principles, they indiscriminately classified it into the main doctrinal section, causing the preface and dissemination to become merely like an eight-cun-and-three[-fen] hat and a pair of straw sandals, how could that be called 'the opening words are good, the middle words are good, and the concluding words are good'?