阿彌陀經要解 1.9

1.9

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'?