涅槃玄義發源機要 3.2.8

3.2.8

The first comes from the "Chapter on Bodhisattvas," the second comes from the "Chapter on Pure Practices," the third comes from fascicle twenty-five, and the fourth comes from fascicle twenty-six. Their general intent is identical, but their applications to conditions differ. The first explains distinction and non-distinction for bodhisattvas; the second explains attainment and non-attainment; the third explains that existence is not definitively existent, and non-existence is not definitively non-existent; the fourth speaks of having no fixed nature in order to refute fixed natures. Hence it says that it illuminates non-differentiation, differentiation, and so forth. That "by analogy to this, speaking of it involves no error" means: by analogy to those four appearances, milk is spoken of in multiple forms. "Heterodox milk is named milk-milk" because birth-and-death is compared to milk, while nirvāṇa is compared to non-milk. Because both causes and effects for ordinary beings are worldly birth, it is called milk-milk. "Why should you, child, be deluded?" is a concluding rebuke to the questioner. "Child" (zi) is an honorific term for a man. "Going to a master to learn writing": in this land anciently, when a boy reached six years of age, he was taught numbers and the names of the directions; at ten years of age, he entered elementary school to learn the calendar, calligraphy, and calculation—this refers to literacy and literature. "Treatise on Transcendence from Desire" clarifies that the Brahmā Heaven has transcended the desire realm. "Lord Śakra" is Trāyastriṃśa. "The category of the Cang and the Ya": yet there are multiple kinds of the Cang and Ya. As for the Cang, there are the Cang Jie Pian, the Pi Cang, and the San Cang. As for the Ya, there are the Guang Ya, the Bo Ya, and the Xiao Ya. "Cang" is a personal name. The Diwang Shiji states: "The Yellow Emperor let fall his robes and attire, and Cang Jie created the written characters." "Ya" is not a personal name. "Er" means "near"; being broad in hearing and knowledge, one can draw near to it to obtain correctness, hence it is called Er Ya. Mr. Xie specifically cites Cang Jie to prove that Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭhī are personal names, while the Ya is mentioned in association. "It is still two mundane characters": just like the two works Cang and Ya in this land, both explain the meanings of characters and glosses, and are called "two characters." Thus Brahmā was one person, and Kharoṣṭha was one person. "Po-he" is the sound of an infant practicing speech, used as an analogy for the expedient lesser teaching. As for the so-called "conditioned and unconditioned": suffering and origination are conditioned, while the path and cessation are unconditioned; these are called the two truths of arising and ceasing as the "two characters." "Half and full as two characters": the previous conditioned and unconditioned are combined as the half letter, set in contrast to the Great [Vehicle] as the full. "The six practices are both illuminated": the superior and inferior each having their three cultivations. "It is Mahāyāna but not full": this means that since the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] speaks of both the superior and the inferior, it fulfills both the Great and the Small, hence it is termed "full"; because the Lotus Sutra discarded the Small, it is Great but not full. "From this it is impermanent": "from" (you) should be "still" (you), meaning that speaking of permanence was held to belong to nirvāṇa. From "This completely" below: the Lotus Sutra opened the provisional and revealed the real, surpassing all teachings; what has been preached, is now preached, and will be preached is paramount—yet they instead claimed it was not full; "the worldly marks are permanently abiding" and knowing that phenomena are eternally devoid of intrinsic nature explicitly speak of permanent abidance—yet they instead called it impermanent. Rejecting the sages and going against the sūtras, their confusion was extreme; one cannot even speak with them, hence it says "no need to debate or object." Xinghuang's five fulls are briefly described in the Commentary and Notes. "Rebuking the Small and praising the Great" means rebuking the tripiṭaka [teaching] and praising the three teachings. "Harboring the half" means harboring the two vehicles. "Abolishing the half to illuminate the full": if explained in terms of the four teachings, the latter three teachings all obtain the designation of "full." If in the Lotus and Nirvāṇa, the former three are all half letters, and only the perfect [teaching] is called full. "Opening the half to illuminate the full": abolishing applies to the relative, while opening applies to the absolute. Thus we know that regarding the two characters "half" and "full," the terms are shared, but their meanings differ. Subhadra is translated here as Shanxian (Good-Virtuous). The "Chapter on Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya" states: "Outside the Śāla forest was a brāhmaṇa named Subhadra. He was one hundred and twenty years old, had attained the concentration of neither perception nor non-perception, and conceived the thought of nirvāṇa. The Buddha ordered Ānanda to summon him, preached the truth of the supreme meaning for him, and he attained the fruit of an arhat." That he heard the perfect permanence and verified the lesser fruit was because the lesser half is precisely the great full. Clarifying the two characters "permanently abiding" is as in the "Chapter on Lamentation." From "Furthermore, concluding" below, it concludes with four propositions regarding the five periods. The first proposition is the Deer Park; the next proposition is the Lotus and Nirvāṇa; the third proposition is the two flavors; the fourth proposition is the teaching for gods prior to the Deer Park. From "Heterodox three" below, it first explains regarding heterodox wisdom, and next explains regarding heterodox dhyāna. Just as clinging to lightning as quickly extinguishing serves as an analogy for false permanence not enduring long, a flying moth rushing into fire is an analogy for false pleasure being solely suffering, and a silkworm cocoon binding itself is an analogy for the false self not being autonomous. From "Pursuing" below, it clarifies that because of giving rise to heterodox attachments, one pursues the five sense objects. From "It is also" below, it explains regarding heterodox dhyāna. This is precisely the contemplation of the six practices. In the initial dhyāna's limbs of vitarka and vicāra, non-Buddhists loathe and abandon vitarka and vicāra, considering the first dhyāna as suffering, coarse, and an obstacle. Because these two dharmas agitate and disturb the concentrated mind, it is suffering; because joy and pleasure arise from these two dharmas, it is coarse; because these two dharmas obscure the higher concentration, it is an obstacle. The second dhyāna differs from this and is called superior, subtle, and an exit. Cultivating the upper three dhyānas and the four formless absorptions is likewise. This loathing three and delighting in three can also be called the heterodox three cultivations. From "Able to break the defilement of desire" below, it clarifies that the three cultivations have the efficacy to break delusion. Defilement is precisely greed. "Roaming among the flowers of awakening": the seven factors of awakening are like flowers, hence they are called "flowers of awakening." From "Furthermore, heterodox cultivation" below: the text of the "Chapter on Lamentation" has only the new and old i-graphs, but here based on the principle, mundane i and neither-new-nor-old i are added, by analogy with the previous multiple distinctions of a single milk. The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom clarifies that the four reliances bodhisattvas establish names based on the principle, which is called the donation of Dharma. This is an instance of it. However, the sūtra uses the old i to symbolize non-Buddhists; now that mundane i has been established in principle, the name of old i is used to designate the two vehicles. "A separate commentary text": the preliminary profound [meaning] before the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa is divided into three sections: four fascicles on the four siddhāntas, four fascicles on the four teachings, and two fascicles on the three contemplations; here it refers to the four teachings. As for the so-called pitaka of precepts, concentration, and wisdom: the vinaya-pitaka explains precepts, the sūtra-pitaka explains concentration, and the abhidharma-pitaka explains wisdom. Because the pitakas have three distinctions, they are called the "three pitakas"; this is explaining the meaning by combining the characters. In the four applications of mindfulness, it refers to śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, hence saying "three"; and sūtra, vinaya, and abhidharma, hence saying "piṭaka": this is explaining the meaning by separating the characters. "For the sake of those infants," etc.: the three vehicles are all called infants; successively cultivating the three trainings is like climbing a flight of stairs. "Dreading the great distance" means being unable to traverse the five hundred yojanas. "Resting in the conjured city" is spoken particularly in reference to the two vehicles; as for bodhisattvas, they do not enter it during the causal stage, but enter it only upon reaching the fruit. From "Bodhisattvas" below: this refers to bodhisattvas of the perfect and sudden [teaching], who cultivate the lesser three trainings as auxiliary paths, and are also practitioners of gradual calming and contemplation. The clarification of the shared and separate teachings below is also like this. The floating life-buoy is the lesser precepts; the white skeleton is the lesser concentration; the eight sufferings are the lesser wisdom.