大乘義章 1.5

1.5

言異說者，異說非一。晉武都山隱士劉虬說言：如來一化所說，無出頓漸，《華嚴》等經是其頓教，餘名為漸。漸中有其五時七階。言五時者，一佛初成道，為提謂等說五戒十善人天教門；二佛成道已十二年中，宣說三乘差別教門，求聲聞者為說四諦、求緣覺者為說因緣、求大乘者為說六度，及制戒律，未說空理；三佛成道已三十年中，宣說《大品》空宗般若《維摩》、《思益》三乘同觀，未說一乘破三歸一，又未宣說眾生有佛性；四佛成道已四十年後，於八年中說《法華經》，辨明一乘破三歸一，未說眾生同有佛性，但彰如來前過恒沙未來倍數，不明佛常，是不了教；五佛臨滅度，一日一夜說《大涅槃》，明諸眾生悉有佛性、法身常住，是其了義。此是五時。言七階者，第二時中三乘之別，通餘說七（此是一說）又誕公云：佛教有二，一頓、二漸。頓教同前。但就漸中不可彼五時為定，但知昔說悉是不了，雙林一唱是其了教（此是二說）。又菩提流支，宣說如來一音以報萬機，大小並陳，不可以彼頓漸而別（此是三說）。

Regarding divergent accounts: the divergent accounts are not just one. Liu Qiu, a hermit of Mount Wudu under the Jin, said: 'What the Tathāgata preached throughout his entire dispensation did not go beyond the sudden and the gradual. Scriptures such as the Avataṃsaka-sūtra are his sudden teaching, and the rest are termed gradual. Within the gradual there are five periods and seven stages. As for the five periods: first, when the Buddha first attained the Way, he preached for Trapuṣa and others the gateway of teaching for humans and devas consisting of the five precepts and ten virtues. Second, during the twelve years after the Buddha attained the Way, he proclaimed the differentiated teachings of the three vehicles: for those who sought to be śrāvakas he preached the four noble truths, for those who sought to be pratyekabuddhas he preached dependent origination, and for those who sought the Mahāyāna he preached the six pāramitās, as well as instituting the precepts and monastic rules, not yet preaching the principle of emptiness. Third, during the thirty years after the Buddha attained the Way, he proclaimed the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra of the emptiness tradition, prajñā, the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra, and the Viśeṣacintibrahma-paripṛcchā-sūtra, with the three vehicles sharing the same contemplation, not yet preaching the one vehicle that refutes the three to return to the one, nor having proclaimed that sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature. Fourth, after the Buddha had attained the Way for forty years, during an eight-year period he preached the Lotus Sūtra, clearly distinguishing the one vehicle that refutes the three to return to the one, but not having preached that sentient beings equally possess the Buddha-nature, only showing that the Tathāgata's past exceeds the sands of the Ganges and his future is twofold more, not clarifying the Buddha's eternity; this is an incomplete teaching. Fifth, when the Buddha was about to enter extinction, in one day and one night he preached the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, clarifying that all sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature and the dharmakāya is eternally abiding; this is his nītārtha [teaching]. These are the five periods.' As for the seven stages, the distinction among the three vehicles in the second period, combined with the rest, makes seven. (This is the first account.) Furthermore, Venerable Dan said: 'The Buddha's teachings are two: first, sudden, and second, gradual. The sudden teaching is the same as above. But regarding the gradual, one cannot fix it by those five periods; one needs only to know that what was preached in the past was entirely neyārtha, and the single proclamation at the Twin Trees is his nītārtha teaching.' (This is the second account.) Furthermore, Bodhiruci proclaimed that the Tathāgata responds to myriad capacities with a single voice, setting forth the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna together, so that they cannot be distinguished by sudden and gradual. (This is the third account.)