大般涅槃經集解 7.88

7.88

Sengliang comments: 'Milk medicine' refers to teaching the six truths or twenty-five truths, all using the view of self (ātmadṛṣṭi) as the doctrine to support worldly sentiments; hence it is compared to milk. As for 'the origin where the illness arose': if it arose from the dharmakāya, one should use the self as medicine; if it arose from saṃsāra, then this is not medicine. This illustrates that he did not recognize the source of illness. Furthermore, 'not understanding well' means not knowing the teaching of the true self. Sengzong says: The parable has five distinct parts. The first clarifies the period before the Buddha appeared in the world, when non-Buddhists transformed the world. The second clarifies his initial manifestation of birth in the royal palace. The third clarifies their entering together to see the king, when [the king] gradually wished to receive transformation. The fourth clarifies his manifestation of achieving Buddhahood and expediently expounding the partial teaching. The fifth clarifies his revealing the real and manifesting the permanent. 'Country' broadly symbolizes that which is transformed by a single Buddha. The one who attained awakening first represents the king. The physician represents the non-Buddhists. The wind arising suddenly and violently represents anger. The congealing nature of coldness represents delusion. The turbid and troubled nature of heat represents craving. This illustrates not recognizing illness. Taking milk exclusively illustrates not recognizing medicine. What Huilang relates says: This parable has two senses. First, from the beginning up to 'in treating all illnesses, none failed to be cured', it is called the ancient parable, which refers to the parable before the present assembly. Later, from 'not long thereafter' onwards, it is called the present parable, which serves as a metaphor for the present time. The former clarifies that because there was the illness of clinging to permanence, [permanence] could not be expounded for them; the latter clarifies that once the illness of permanence was eliminated, they conversely took impermanence as an affliction, and therefore permanence was expounded for them.