大般涅槃經集解 15.107

15.107

案僧宗曰：今初依人具十六分解者，此是分野說耳。文意似不論登住。何者？惡世流通，在人為難。而凡夫具惑，遂能傳化，此事可奇。若是登住，不足為難，亦不假問。且具縛之人雖欲宣通，不必惡世。今言宣通之德，惡世彌盛也。所以初一至八而後復四，如此增減者，亦有意也。夫造次求理，其功則難，故得一分。及其得理，則先𨅊易乘，故進八分。既入幽微，神功難故，損之至四也。損四之二，其義亦爾。最後應一而復二者，合束前因之力將滿以企厲，故復至二也。經文既無正顯處，是故師說往往不同也。寶亮曰：就初人上品三十心滿，懷抱所解，分為十六分也。所以參差不調者，凡夫習惑用有麁細，既中間遇惡友，起一段重惑，心用不均，解何容等。執相難除，故初解一分。習虛不已，藉前解為資，所以頓悟七分。然微相難治、勝解難生，是則交固之執難遣，瞥爾有存則易忘，故勝解難得。

Sengzong comments: Now, when it is said that the person of the first reliance possesses an understanding of sixteen parts, this is merely an exposition of dividing into parts. The intent of the text does not seem to discuss ascending to the stages (bhūmi). Why is this? In an evil age, dissemination is difficult for human beings. Yet an ordinary person possessing defilements is nonetheless able to transmit and transform; this matter is indeed extraordinary! If one had ascended to the stages, it would not be considered difficult, nor would it require asking. Moreover, even if a person bound by all fetters desires to propagate, it is not necessarily an evil age. Now, when speaking of the virtue of propagating, it is ever more magnificent in an evil age. The reason why it starts from one, goes up to eight, and afterward is four again—such increases and decreases also have a reason. When one begins in haste to seek the principle, the effort is arduous, hence one attains one part. Once one attains the principle, it is easy to ride upon what was previously set in motion, hence one advances eight parts. Having entered what is profound and subtle, spiritual effort is difficult, so it is reduced to four. Reducing the four to two also has the same meaning. Finally, where it ought to be one but is instead two, it is because the combined force of the preceding causes is about to be fulfilled and strives eagerly, hence it again reaches two. Since the text of the sūtra has no explicit definitive passage, the masters' explanations often differ. Baoliang says: Regarding the highest grade of the first person, when the thirty minds are fulfilled, what is harbored in one's understanding is divided into sixteen parts. The reason they are uneven and unaligned is that the ordinary person's habituation to defilements functions both coarsely and subtly; then, encountering evil friends along the way, a bout of heavy defilement arises, the function of the mind is not uniform, so how could their understanding be equal? Grasping at marks is difficult to eliminate, hence initially one understands one part. Practicing emptiness unceasingly, one relies on previous understanding as support, which is why one suddenly awakens to seven parts. However, subtle marks are difficult to cure and superior understanding is difficult to produce; thus firmly intertwined attachments are hard to dispel, and fleeting thoughts, once existing, are easily forgotten, so superior understanding is difficult to attain.