起信論疏筆削記 20.25

20.25

Under 'preventing regression,' the treatise states: 'sentient beings' refers to the superior grade at the initial mind of the ten faiths. 'Cowardly and weak,' etc., means that they have newly aroused awakening amidst saṃsāra, while their afflictions and karmas have accumulated from beginningless time, and their wholesome practices are only now to be cultivated and learned. The objects are strong and the mind is weak; the obstacles are heavy and their strength is slight. In contemplating the mind, how could there not be fear and inferiority? 'Sahā' is translated here as 'endurance.' Being fully endowed with the five defilements, it is truly uninhabitable. Thus the sūtra says: 'This defiled and evil world is filled with hells, hungry ghosts, and animals, a gathering of much that is unwholesome; only the Buddha, the Tathāgata, is able to endure abiding here.' One can also cultivate patience here, which surpasses other directions. 'Unable to constantly meet,' etc., means that although Buddhas appear in the defiled land, they do not abide for long before entering parinirvāṇa, and dynamic passages of many eons pass in vain without a Buddha. Practitioners, whether born before a Buddha or born after a Buddha, are unable to meet one. Because they do not meet [a Buddha], they cannot make offerings, draw near, and receive the sacred instructions. 'Fear,' etc., is like an orphan who, before reaching adulthood, loses both father and mother; how could he not be anxious and toil, lest harm befall him? The practitioner is also like this: lacking a Buddha as a superior condition, while their inner mind is also weak, and moreover in this defiled sphere the five defilements are mixed together; aspiring in mind to seek above, it is truly difficult to advance, and they tend to regress from the sacred path.