涅槃玄義發源機要 4.5

4.5

Second, from "In the past, five [hundred]" below, he cites historical incidents to express his sorrow. First, he cites incidents by way of comparison to himself. Fascicle 6 of the *Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish* says: "In the country of Vaiśālī there were five hundred blind men who begged to support themselves. At that time, they heard someone say, 'A Tathāgata has appeared in the world!' Having heard this, the blind men discussed it together, saying, 'If we could meet the Buddha, we would surely be rescued.' Thereupon they asked someone, 'In which country is the Buddha?' The person replied, 'The Buddha is in Śrāvastī.' Each then begged a gold coin and hired a man to guide them there. At that time there was a man who took the gold coins, led the blind men to the country of Magadha, and abandoned them in a marsh. The blind did not know where they were; holding each other's hands, they walked through others' fields, trampling and damaging the sprouts and grain. An elder inspecting the fields saw them trampling the sprouts and became furious. The blind men begged for mercy and fully explained what had happened; the elder then sent someone to guide them to Śrāvastī. No sooner had they arrived in that country than they heard that the Buddha had gone to the country of Magadha. When they arrived in that country, they heard again that the World-Honoured One had already returned to Śrāvastī. Chasing after him in this way, they went back and forth seven times in all. Knowing that their faculties were ripe, the Buddha waited for them in Śrāvastī. When the blind men reached the Buddha's place, they were touched by his light and their eyes opened; the Buddha preached the Dharma for them, and they became arhats." Regarding "Jetavana and so forth": Fascicle 3 of the *Avadāna-sūtra* says: "In the past there was a man who engaged in two occupations and had two wives. When he went to his junior wife, she said to him, 'I am young, and you, my husband, are old; I do not wish to live [with you]. You may go to the senior wife's quarters to dwell.' Her husband plucked out his white hairs. When he went to the senior wife's place, she said to him, 'I am old and my head is already white, while your hair, husband, is black; it is fitting that you leave.' Thereupon she plucked out the black to make it white. Continuing in this manner without stopping, his head eventually became completely bald. Disgusted with him, the two wives each abandoned him, and he sat in grief until he died. In a past life, he had been a dog in a monastery. There was a monastery east of the river and a monastery west of the river. When the dog heard the sounding-block struck, he would go and get food. Later, one day, both monasteries struck their sounding-stones at the same time. The dog swam into the water, wishing to cross over; just as he was about to reach the west, he feared the food at the eastern monastery would be better; heading east, he feared the food at the western monastery would be better. Hesitating in this way, he drowned in the water." In the text, the mention of Jetavana broadly takes the name of a monastery and does not point directly to Jetavana Monastery itself. "Only [other] borders, only drowning; neither seeing nor obtaining" concludes the preceding two incidents. Although the blind men pursued him seven times, they only reached other borders and never saw the Buddha; hence it says "only [other] borders, [with] no seeing." The dog listened to the two bells, yet only died by drowning and never got food; hence it says "only drowning, [with] no obtaining." Next, from "Entering the mountains" below, he compares himself to these incidents. His own numerous hindrances were like the blind men and like the dog. "Entering the mountains and emerging from the valleys" summarizes the previous eight hindrances: "entering the mountains" encompasses the seventh and eighth, and "emerging from the valleys" encompasses the first six. "Floating and falling, sailing up the river" explains the preceding phrase. The characters "floating and falling" are an error and should be "ascending and traversing." It means that in entering the mountains he ascended and traversed, and in emerging from the valleys he sailed up the river, vainly undergoing hardships and difficulties without hearing this scripture. The "Rhapsody on the Northern Expedition" in the *Wenxuan* says: "Mounting and traversing the ridges, I ascended and descended." The commentary says: "'Ridges' and 'mounds' are all hills and mountains." The *Zuozhuan* says: "Wu was about to sail up the river to enter Ying." The *Erya* says: "Going up against the current is called *sùhuí*; going down with the current is called *sùyóu*." The *Zilin* says: "Following the current is called *yán*; going against the current is called *sù*. *Sù* is pronounced with the fanqie *sū-gù*." From "The sun having [set]" below, he adduces a metaphor to lament his master's passing into extinction. The sun is a metaphor for the master's understanding being round and bright; sinking behind the cliff is a metaphor for the master's entering quiescence. "Cliff" means a mountain. The *Huainanzi* says: "The sun sets into Yanzi." The commentary says: "It is also called Mount Luotang." The blind turtle is a metaphor for his lacking the eye of wisdom; the ocean floor is a metaphor for profound delusion. Fascicle 16 of the *Saṃyuktāgama* says: "[The Buddha] addressed the monks: 'Just as in the great ocean there is a blind turtle whose lifespan is immeasurable kalpas, and once every hundred years it pops its head up. There is also a floating piece of wood with only a single hole, drifting on the ocean waves, blown east and west by the wind. The blind turtle emerges once in a hundred years to meet this hole. When the turtle reaches the east of the ocean, the floating wood may reach the west of the ocean; wandering around like this, though they miss each other, they might yet meet. For a worldling drifting in the ocean of the five destinies to regain a human body is far more difficult than this.'" Here, that text is borrowed to illustrate how difficult it is to encounter a sage master. "Relying on the light and longing for the wood": a person in the middle of the night wishes to rely on sunlight to examine things; a turtle dwelling at the bottom of the ocean vainly dreams of floating wood on which to rest its body. These are unobtainable; hence he says, "How could it be obtained?"