起信論疏筆削記 1.48

1.48

From "Furthermore..." onward is the second: delusion regarding the teaching. The word "furthermore" is used because, after the Tathāgata's parinirvāṇa, although they could not directly receive [instruction from] the golden mouth, there were nevertheless the compiled texts of the teachings, by which one could trace the words to see the images, and trace the images to grasp the meaning. Although sentient beings' faculties were inferior and they frequently gave rise to heterodox views, if they were able to hear the Great Dharma, they would naturally correct themselves. Now, however, they were incapable of tracing and unraveling [the meaning], abandoning and shelving its propagation; since the perfect principle was no longer heard, deviant views were thus difficult to reform. With the sage already entered into extinction, their faculties and practice remaining weak, and the teaching of the perfect and real furthermore unpracticed, it says "furthermore." In the text there are four lines: the first two lines explain the collapse of the guiding principles of the great teaching, and the last two lines explain that the deluded were hard to reform. The teaching is not a minor path, but conveys beings to the unexcelled; hence it is called the "Mahāyāna." It is the ultimate, perfect, and real, distinguished from the provisional and shallow; hence it is called the "profound purport." "Palm leaves" are the leaves of the tāla tree, akin to the bamboo strips and silk scrolls of this land. Carrying the text that serves as the expresser, they can be opened and examined to see the principle that is expressed, allowing one to practice according to what is taught and turn from delusion back to enlightenment. Now that they are hidden, set aside, and not practiced, it says "submerged."