首楞嚴義疏注經 7.135

7.135

Major Section Four, Showing the Graded Stages: having perfected understanding and completed practice, one's inner virtue is fully rounded; relying further on secret spells, external power aids one's path. When inner and outer assist each other, how could it be in vain! The stages must certainly be set forth in order. However, the stages have causes and fruits, delusions have coarse and subtle levels, wisdom has clarity and obscurity, severing has shallow and deep degrees, realization has partial and complete aspects, and functions have superior and inferior qualities. If one is ignorant of this principle, one is not a true practitioner and falls into pride of exceeding one's level. Because in our teaching, superior and inferior differ according to the advancement in virtue and cultivation of practice, one passes through fifty-seven stages, entering gradually and deepening gradually, unlike non-Buddhists and celestial maras who have no sequence of stages at all. If one does not distinguish them beforehand, progress will deviate from the source; being ignorant of severing and realization, one will mistake a small attainment for being sufficient. Like the monk of little learning in the fourth dhyāna, who mistakenly assumed realization, gave rise to slander, and fell into the Avīci Hell. This is no trivial matter; therefore, it must be clearly shown to avoid incurring great faults.