梵網經菩薩戒本疏 1.7

1.7

Fourth, to clarify the capacities of beings who are addressed, there are four points: first, in terms of spiritual disposition (gotra); second, in terms of hindrances and obstacles; third, in terms of generating the intention; fourth, in terms of present station. Within the first, there are two: first, in terms of the provisional teaching, among the five spiritual dispositions, those with the fixed disposition of the two vehicles and those without spiritual disposition are not those for whom this is intended, because they are not fit vessels for this. Those of the bodhisattva disposition are precisely those for whom it is intended, and those of indeterminate disposition are also included, as explained in the Yogācāra[-bhūmi] and elsewhere. Second, in terms of the actual teaching, all five spiritual dispositions are those for whom this is intended, because all are affirmed to possess the Buddha-nature. Because in their present body they are destined to enter cessation, they are called 'the two vehicles of fixed disposition'; it does not mean that after cessation they do not turn toward great bodhi, as explained in the Lotus Sūtra, the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, the Ratnagotravibhāga, and elsewhere. Furthermore, it is said that those who slander the Mahāyāna are the cause of icchantikas, and in reliance on an immeasurable time it is said that they have no disposition; this does not mean that they ultimately lack the pure nature, as explained in the Ratnagotravibhāga and the Treatise on the Buddha-Nature (Foxing lun). Moreover, according to the Treatise on the Buddha-Nature's own determination, the statement that there is no Buddha-nature is a teaching of provisional meaning; the rest is as explained previously. Therefore, all sentient beings are indeed those for whom it is intended. Second, in terms of hindrances and obstacles, there are also two: first, although one may wish to generate the mind, if one has the seven hindrances, in one's present body one is not a fit vessel. Second, one must thoroughly repent from the depths of one's heart, eliminate the hindrances and obstacles, correspond with auspicious signs, and generate a mind that is pure and direct; only then is one fit to be a vessel. Third, in terms of generating the intention, there are also two: first, although one possesses the spiritual disposition internally, if one is not yet able to bring the generation of the great bodhicitta into actual manifestation before oneself, one is likewise not yet fit to be a vessel for the bodhisattva precepts; second, one must generate the intention to proceed directly toward correct practice, without faults such as deviously seeking fame and gain; only then is one fit to be a vessel, and is the one for whom this is intended. Fourth, in terms of the present station, there are also two: first, the final; second, the initial. As for the final, this refers to those from the three stages of the worthy on up, up to the Cloud of Dharma [Bhūmi]; although bodhisattvas of the final stations also receive and uphold the pure precepts of a bodhisattva, because these are what have been received through successive births and are not called newly obtained, inherently endowed precepts of original nature, they are not the primary target here. As for the initial, this refers to those from the initial generation of the intention down through the ten faiths; with respect to this collection of precepts, they have reception and subsequent practice, adherence and transgression; thus they are the primary target. For in the Benye jing, at the initial mind of the ten faiths one receives these ten precepts, and from the point of entering the [subsequent] stations onward, there is only the difference of cultivating them increasingly.