梵網經菩薩戒本疏 1.6

1.6

Third, regarding the scope of the teaching subsumed: the holy teachings are as numerous as dust and sand, but according to conditions they are briefly two: first, the teaching of transformation; second, the teaching of disciplinary regulation. Explaining the distinction between these two, four gates are briefly formulated: First, regarding difference in Dharma: as for the teaching of transformation, it means that when the Tathāgata appears in the world, he expounds for all universally the teachings of causes, effects, principles, phenomena, and so on; as for the teaching of disciplinary regulation, it means pointing out faults and revealing wrongs, establishing the correct rules of the Dharma, adjudicating and indicating the names of offenses when principle is violated and Dharma is breached, and distinguishing their upholding, transgressing, gravity, lightness, categories, and clusters. Second, regarding difference in capacity: the teaching of transformation is expounded generally and commonly for both internal and external assemblies, addressed to all without distinction between those within the Buddha's Dharma and those outside the Buddha's teaching; the teaching of disciplinary regulation is expounded privately and confidentially, addressed exclusively to the Buddha's own internal assembly. Third, regarding difference in benefit: the teaching of transformation merely causes one to abandon intrinsic evil and give rise to practices such as faith; the teaching of disciplinary regulation causes one to abandon both conventional prohibitions and intrinsic evils in order to protect against censure and contempt, so that one's deportment can serve as a model, thereby generating faith in beings, glorifying the true Dharma, practicing for oneself, and transforming others. Fourth, regarding difference in the speaker: the teaching of transformation is expounded commonly by five kinds of persons, as stated in the Dazhidulun: 1. the Buddha, 2. bodhisattvas, 3. disciples, 4. immortals, 5. apparitional beings; the teaching of disciplinary regulation is expounded exclusively by the Buddha himself, because regarding the institution of the gravity or lightness of precepts, no one else is capable. Due to these four differences, the two teachings are distinct. Between these two, it is subsumed under the teaching of disciplinary regulation. However, while regulation extends to both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, it is still subsumed under the Mahāyāna.