大乘法苑義林章 1.7

1.7

Determining the Mahāyāna: Fascicle 6 of the *Nirvāṇa-sūtra* says, "The Śrāvakayāna teachings are like seeds newly planted that have not yet yielded fruit; therefore, one should not rely on the Śrāvakayāna—this is called neyārtha. One should rely upon the teachings of the Mahāyāna—this is called nītārtha." If one follows this reasoning, all Mahāyāna sūtras are called nītārtha, while the Śrāvakayāna and so forth are called neyārtha. However, fascicle 45 of the *Yogācārabhūmi* says: "How does a bodhisattva cultivate the four correct reliances? Namely, a bodhisattva implants deep, correct faith and deep purity in the Tathāgata, thoroughly clarified, relying solely upon the Tathāgata's nītārtha classical scriptures, not on the neyārtha ones. Because nītārtha scriptures serve as the reliance, in the Dharma and Vinaya spoken by the Buddha, one cannot be led astray," as explained at length there. Therefore, in the Mahāyāna, one should say that among the teachings of the three piṭakas spoken by the Buddha, there are those of neyārtha, because of the exhortation that one should rely on the nītārtha sūtras. If so, why does the *Nirvāṇa-sūtra* say that the Mahāyāna scriptures are named nītārtha? This reasoning does not hold. Can it be that all Mahāyāna scriptures are nītārtha? For example, sūtras say that sensual lust is itself the path, or perceiving the impermanent as permanent. They also speak of sūtras with intentional import stating that all dharmas are without arising and without ceasing. Furthermore, the *Yogācārabhūmi* says: "Neyārtha teachings are sūtras, geyas, vyākaraṇas, and such sūtras." Could it be that within Mahāyāna sūtras there are no sūtras and so forth? It also says that a bodhisattva who acts greedily like an *upātta* possesses the vinaya, and so forth; therefore, Mahāyāna sūtras are not all nītārtha. Because of such reasoning, although there is no explicit text, we now explain nītārtha and neyārtha through their meaning, which briefly has four layers: 1. The gate of being sealed versus not sealed by Dharma seals; 2. The gate of expressing the permanent versus the impermanent; 3. The gate of explicit versus hidden and esoteric; 4. The gate of brief words versus expansive speech.