首楞嚴義疏注經 1.11

1.11

Third, regarding the scope and limits of the teaching and its principles: according to Master Xianshou, they are distinguished by two meanings. First, demonstrating the scope and limits in terms of the teaching explaining phenomena comprehensively or partially. Classifying the teachings according to their meaning, there are five categories of teachings: 1. The teaching of the small vehicle. It speaks only of the emptiness of self, and even if it speaks a little of the emptiness of dharmas, it is not clear. It establishes the roots of defilement and purity based merely on the six consciousnesses and the three poisons, failing to fathom the source of dharmas; hence there are many disputes. 2. The initial teaching of the Great Vehicle, also called the differentiated teaching. It only speaks of all dharmas being empty, yet does not exhaust the principles and dharmas of the Great Vehicle; thus it is named 'initial'. It only explains the characteristics of all dharmas, and posits that there are [beings who] do not attain Buddhahood; thus it is named 'differentiated'. 3. The final teaching of the Great Vehicle, also called the real teaching. It teaches that the tathāgatagarbha accords with conditions to become the ālaya-consciousness; dependent origination lacks intrinsic nature, and everything is suchness. The two vehicles of determined nature and icchantikas lacking nature will all become Buddhas. Only this exhausts the ultimate teaching of the Great Vehicle; hence it is named 'final'. Because it accords with real principle, it is named 'real'. 4. The sudden teaching of the Great Vehicle. It does not speak of the characteristics of dharmas at all, but exclusively distinguishes the true nature, and there are no differentiated characteristics of the eight consciousnesses. It rebukes teachings and urges leaving them behind, abolishing marks and annihilating the mind; when not a single thought arises, that is precisely named 'Buddha'. It does not rely on stages or sequences; therefore it is called 'sudden'. 5. The perfect teaching of the one vehicle. What it teaches is exclusively the dharmadhātu: the ocean of nature is harmoniously fused, dependent origination is unobstructed, mutually identical and mutually interpenetrating, like the multi-layered net of Indra, host and companion being infinite. If among these five one shows the scope of this sūtra: principally it is purely the final teaching, yet concurrently it encompasses the sudden and the perfect. If this sūtra and the five teachings are mutually subsumed: among the five, only the latter three subsume this sūtra, while this sūtra totally subsumes those various teachings.