維摩經略疏 2.4

2.4

Question: How can one attain the Way in the three evil destinies? Answer: One is merely said not to attain it; it is not that none at all attain it. The Dàzhìdù lùn says, "Just as when there is a dark mole on the body, though one is not a dark person, it is not that there is no dark [mark]." Third, lax in the vehicle and strict with the precepts. Being strict with the precepts, one obtains a human or heavenly body; being lax in the vehicle, one cannot encounter a buddha, and even if one encounters a buddha, one does not hear the sūtras and enter the Way. Just as in the kingdom of Śrāvastī, three hundred million did not see the Buddha, and three hundred million saw him but did not hear him; furthermore, the devas of the higher realms cling to pleasure and do not come to hear the Dharma—these are all cases of this. When the Buddha arose during the Zhou dynasty, stars fell like rain, yet in this land nothing was seen or heard; this also bears that meaning. Fourth, lax in both the precepts and the vehicle. Being lax with the precepts, one falls into the three evil paths; being lax in the vehicle, one does not see a buddha, transmigrating through birth and death without end. Second, "the differences between the two practices" refers to faith and Dharma. First, the practitioners of faith are formed by the perfuming of wisdom arisen from hearing; they are all people who in the past extensively heard, accepted, retained, recited, and listened to the Dharma. Second, the practitioners of Dharma are formed by the perfuming of wisdom arisen from cultivation; they are precisely the people who practiced meditation and contemplation in the past. Each of the two practices contains the four propositions on precepts and vehicle; consider them by analogy with the preceding. However, within these two practices there is a distinction between sharp and dull: those of sharp faculties can contemplate and penetrate with just a little hearing. The two kinds of practitioners must surely reflect well on this. Third, regarding the difference between Great and Small [Vehicles], this is again based on faith and Dharma, each having Great and Small. First, practitioners of faith in the Mahāyāna in the past heard the Mahāyāna and were strict in both precepts and vehicle; being strict with the precepts, they were born in the human and heavenly realms, and being strict in the vehicle, they again heard the Great; the remaining three propositions are analogous to the preceding. Next, practitioners of faith in the Hīnayāna in the past heard the Hīnayāna and were strict in both precepts and vehicle; being strict with the precepts, they were born in the human and heavenly realms, and being strict in the vehicle, they again heard the Small. The [other] three propositions can be understood accordingly. The four propositions on precepts and vehicle for the two practitioners of Dharma, Great and Small, can be understood by analogy with the preceding; they differ only in being sharp or dull. Fourth, the faculties of sudden and gradual: there are two, sudden Great and gradual Great. The sudden Great has two: first, faith; second, Dharma. First, those of the sudden faculty who are Mahāyāna practitioners of faith, having long ago heard the Great, accepted, retained, recited, explained, and copied it—if they were strict in both vehicle and precepts, they were born in the human or heavenly realms, encountering [Vairocana] in the seven places and nine assemblies with the body of a Śakra or Brahmā, just as the rising sun first illuminates the high mountains; if they were lax with the precepts and strict in the vehicle, they fell into the three evil paths, seeing Vairocana and hearing the Dharma to enter the Way as dragons, ghosts, asuras, or spirits of wind and rain; if they were strict with the precepts and lax in the vehicle, though in the good destinies, they did not hear the sudden teaching; if they were lax in both vehicle and precepts, they fell into the three evil paths, neither seeing nor hearing. Next, to clarify those of the sudden faculty who are Mahāyāna practitioners of Dharma: having studied the Mahāyāna in the past and cultivated the one mind and threefold contemplation, the four propositions on laxity and strictness regarding precepts and vehicle can be understood by analogy with the practitioners of faith, differing only slightly in being sharp or dull. Second, to clarify those of gradual faculties of faith and Dharma. First, gradual-faculty practitioners of faith: having no sudden capacity, they did not participate in the assemblies and locations of the Avataṃsaka teaching; yet having gradual capacity, they get to hear the four flavours such as the Tripiṭaka. The four propositions on precepts and vehicle can be understood by analogy with the preceding. This is just as in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, where hearing the sound of the poisoned drum causes death whether near or far: those near are like those who, hearing the Avataṃsaka, immediately believe, accept, and enter the Tathāgata's wisdom; those far are like those whose faculties and conditions lead to gradual awakening—initially taking up the two vehicles and far removed from the Buddha's Way, then next hearing the vaipulya and prajñā, until in the Lotus Sūtra and Nirvāṇa Sūtra all are led to extinction by means of the Tathāgata's extinction; this is precisely the meaning of the successive generation of the five flavours. Now, that there are the eight classes as co-listeners in this Dharma assembly is precisely due to the conditions of faculties that are strict in both precepts and vehicle, lax with the precepts and strict in the vehicle, of faith or Dharma, Great or Small, gradual or sudden.