大乘法苑義林章 1.65

1.65

Fourth, in explaining the establishment and rejection: Why establish one? Because there are those of determinate nature, for the sake of the two vehicles; because there are those without gotra, for the sake of the five vehicles. In this regard, there are ten meanings, as the tenth fascicle of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha says: / 'To guide and attract one class, / and to sustain the rest, / because of the indeterminate gotra, / the Buddhas teach the One Vehicle. / Because Dharma, selflessness, and liberation / are equal, because of differing gotras, / obtaining the two intentions, and transformation, / they ultimately teach the One Vehicle.' / Here there are ten causes: First, to guide and attract a class of indeterminate gotra, so that they will attain parinirvāṇa relying on the Great Vehicle. Second, to sustain the remaining bodhisattvas of indeterminate gotra, fearing that their vigor in the Great Vehicle may temporarily break and regress, and they would attain parinirvāṇa relying on the Hearers. The Lotus Sūtra says: 'Bodhisattvas of initial aspiration, having heard this dharma, have all their nets of doubt removed.' This refers only to those prior to the sixth abhirūpa (dwelling), because their stage is subject to retrogression. Third, because the Dharma is equal: although the vehicles differ, the tathatā to which they proceed is without differentiation. The explanation in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa is also identical to this. Fourth, because selflessness is equal: if there were a real pudgala, there could be differences in vehicles; since there is no difference in [the lack of] self, they teach the One Vehicle. Fifth, because liberation is equal: the three vehicles are alike in being liberated from the hindrance of kleśas, because liberation is without differentiation. Sixth, because of differing gotras: among Hearers, those of indeterminate gotra have differences. This person of a Hearer has both the Hearer and the Buddha gotras; because they have this gotra, the One Vehicle is taught. Seventh and eighth, because of obtaining the two intentions: The first is that the Buddhas obtain the intention that sentient beings are identical to their own essence, saying: 'I am they, they are I; since this one has become a Buddha, they too will become Buddhas.' The second is that the World-Honoured One, in the Lotus assembly, conferred the prophecy of buddhahood upon the Hearers in order to cause them to grasp this intention: 'We are equal and not different from the Buddha.' Furthermore, in this assembly there were bodhisattvas with names identical to them who received prophecies; therefore, the Buddha's single utterance contained two kinds of benefit, namely, that the Hearers obtained the intention of identity with the Buddha's own essence, and that the bodhisattvas received prophecies. Ninth, because of transformation: as the World-Honoured One said, 'O bhikṣus, I recall that in the past, innumerable hundreds of times, I attained parinirvāṇa relying on the Hearer Vehicle. Why, having already become a Buddha, did I again attain parinirvāṇa relying on the Hearers? It was solely to tame the Hearers who were to be transformed.' The Buddhas and bodhisattvas transform their own bodies to manifest parinirvāṇa as their peers, indulging in the wine of cessation for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, and only then arise from it and manifestly receive the prophecy of buddhahood, causing all Hearers of indeterminate gotra to think: 'The elders of the past who entered nirvāṇa have now all arisen again and manifestly received the prophecy of buddhahood; how much more should we not hope to become Buddhas rather than enter nirvāṇa?' It was also to subdue them, [showing that] 'I also attained your nirvāṇa.' Tenth, because it is ultimate: since beyond this there is no other superior vehicle, relying on principle it is ultimate and most supreme. The four kinds of Hearers in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa are given prophecies only for the indeterminate and the transformed. The indeterminate gotra corresponds to the first, second, and a small part of the eighth among the ten; the transformed corresponds to the ninth. The remaining six kinds explain the One Vehicle by differentiating small parts, not because all are indeterminate or transformed, nor does it mean that those without gotra become Buddhas, which would be called 'one'. The twenty-six meanings in the Xianyang shengjiao lun are explained within these ten meanings and need not be stated separately. However, the Lotus Sūtra opens the gate of expedient means to reveal the real mark, taking the two vehicles as expedient means and the One Vehicle as real. According to the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra, when the Tathāgata speaks expedients in accordance with their inclinations, there is only the One Vehicle and no two vehicles. This intention reveals the subsuming of the two vehicles into the Great. That which teaches the One Vehicle is speech in accordance with the intentions of others, because it was appropriate for them to hear. It is also an expedient teaching that there is the One Vehicle, not the ultimate reality. Those of determinate gotra are not given prophecies, because there is not only one, and sentient beings without gotra do not become Buddhas. The single assembly of the Lotus addressed faculties of indeterminate [gotra], taking the two as expedient means and the One Vehicle as real. In the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra, because the principle is complete and faculties have indeterminacy, the four vehicles are real. Therefore, teaching the One Vehicle is an expedient teaching, speech in accordance with the intentions of others, and they do not contradict each other. Furthermore, the One Vehicle of the Lotus relies solely on subsumption, and because its essence and functioning are narrow, it is an expedient teaching. The One Vehicle of the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra is complete in both generation and subsumption, and therefore is real. Furthermore, the One Vehicle of the Lotus discusses only those with gotra as the support, and therefore is an expedient. The One Vehicle of the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra also discusses those without gotra as the support, and therefore is real. Furthermore, the Lotus discusses only the indeterminate nature, and therefore is an expedient. The Śrīmālādevī Sūtra also discusses the determinate gotra, and therefore is real, because within that single assembly it was appropriate to be heard. The Lotus clearly takes wisdom as the One Vehicle and speaks of tathatā implicitly. Although it says the conjured city is not true cessation and that the great nirvāṇa is together the treasure house, it does not clearly speak of true nirvāṇa. Because the nirvāṇa attained by those of the two vehicles is all called an apparition, and bodhi is not attained at all. It explicitly takes wisdom as the One Vehicle to make them admire and seek it. The Śrīmālādevī Sūtra, on the other hand, takes the true principle as the One Vehicle and does not speak of wisdom; therefore, both subsumption and generation are fully exhausted. Although the Buddha-fruit, nirvāṇa, and bodhi are all the One Vehicle, the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra is a nītārtha lion's roar teaching, whereas the Lotus speaks of the One Vehicle implicitly. Generally speaking, although there are four kinds of Hearers, at the beginning of the Lotus there were three Hearers, excluding only those heading for quiescent cessation. Those with excessive pride later arose and only then were given the two prophecies. By such principle, although teaching the One Vehicle, it does not contradict other teachings. In teaching the two vehicles, it does not speak of Solitary Buddhas, but only of the inferior and the superior, just as among the ten powers, the power of knowing superior and inferior faculties does not exceed two, because both the faculties and the teachings fall into two classes. Furthermore, Hearers and Solitary Buddhas both have determinate and indeterminate ones; at their initial resolve they both rely on sound, and in their ultimate realization of the fruit, a small part also relies on sound. As for those of indeterminate gotra, they cause all to hear the sound of the Buddha path, and thus can all be named Hearers. Furthermore, those Solitary Buddhas have no manifold distinct teachings, and are generically named the 'inferior vehicle' and the 'Hearer Vehicle', so they are not stated separately. Moreover, the reason they are called the two vehicles, Great and Small, is that those two vehicles are of the same type and combined. Why are the determinate and indeterminate gotras combined into three among the three? Because within the indeterminate gotra two or three are possessed, and the distinctions of gotra ultimately attaining the fruit do not exceed three. Humans and devas are shallow and proximate, not ultimate conveyors, so they are not mentioned either. Among the four in the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra, the indeterminate is not mentioned, because ultimately it is completely subsumed by only the three vehicles, so it is omitted. Combining humans and devas is because both belong to the class without gotra, sharing the same shallow and proximate nature. In the Prajñāpāramitā-sūtras, those without gotra are not mentioned, because they are not ultimate conveyors. Opening the indeterminate is because hearing the supreme virtues of the sūtra leads to differing cultivations of expedient means, demonstrating the ultimate attainment of nirvāṇa. Why does the Laṅkāvatāra praise and separately speak of five vehicles? Because determinate and indeterminate gotras have four distinctions, and humans and devas are together of one shallow and proximate class. Where other places speak of humans and devas as five, it is because their reception of fruits differs, their destinies and classes being distinct. Combining the indeterminate gotras does not exceed three. As for why one does not open those with gotra into four and those without gotra into two to make six: the various teachings speak only of the distinctions of five gotras, the classes being only five. If one were to establish six, there would be no contradiction in principle, but there is no textual evidence. Seven and so forth are not mentioned, because there are no further classes.