華嚴一乘教義分齊章 1.63

1.63

初門者，聖教萬差，要唯有五：一小乘教、二大乘始教、三終教、四頓教、五圓教。初一即愚法二乘教，後一即別教一乘。以經本中下文內為善伏太子所說，名為圓滿修多羅，故立此名也。中間三者有其三義：一、或總為一，謂一三乘教也，以此皆為三人所得故，如上所引說。二、或分為二，所謂漸頓，以始終二教，所有解行並在言說，階位次第，因果相承，從微至著，通名為漸，故《楞伽》云「漸者，如菴摩勒果，漸熟非頓。」此之謂也。頓者，言說頓絕理性、頓顯解行、頓成一念不生，即是佛等，故《楞伽》云「頓者如鏡中像，頓現非漸。」此之謂也。以一切法本來自正，不待言說，不待觀智，如《淨名》以默顯不二等。又《寶積經》中，亦有說頓教修多羅，故依此立名。三、或開為三，謂於漸中開出始終二教，即如上說《深密經》等三法輪中後二是也。依是義故，《法鼓經》中以空門為始，以不空門為終，故彼經云「迦葉白佛言：『諸摩訶衍經多說空義。』佛告迦葉：『一切空經是有餘說，唯有此經是無上說，非有餘說。復次迦葉！如波斯匿王常十一月設大施會，先飯餓鬼孤貧乞者，次施沙門及婆羅門，甘饍眾味，隨其所欲。諸佛世尊亦復如是，隨諸眾生種種欲樂，而為演說種種經法。若有眾生懈怠犯戒，不勤隨順，捨如來藏常住妙典，好樂修學種種空經。』」乃至廣說。解云：此則約空理有餘，名為始教；約如來藏常住妙典，名為終教。又《起信論》中，約頓教門顯絕言真如，約漸教門說依言真如。就依言中，約始終二教，說空、不空二真如也。此約法以分教耳。若就法義，如下別辨。

Regarding the first gate, though the holy teachings have myriad differences, essentially there are only five: first, the teaching of the Hīnayāna; second, the initial teaching of the Mahāyāna; third, the final teaching; fourth, the sudden teaching; fifth, the perfect teaching. The first is precisely the teaching of the two vehicles of those ignorant of the Dharma; the last is precisely the distinct teaching of the One Vehicle. Because in the later text of the sūtra it was spoken for Crown Prince Śāntamati (Shanfu) and titled the Perfect Sūtra, this name has been established. The three in the middle have three meanings: First, they may be combined into one, namely as the teaching of the Three Vehicles, because these are all attained by the three persons, as cited above. Second, they may be divided into two, namely the gradual and the sudden. Because in both the initial and final teachings all understanding and practice lie in verbal explanation, the stages are sequential, causes and effects succeed one another, and they proceed from the subtle to the manifest, they are generally named 'gradual'; hence the Laṅkāvatāra says, 'The gradual is like the āmalaka fruit, gradually ripening, not sudden'—this is what it means. The sudden is where verbal explanation suddenly ceases, the principle-nature suddenly manifests, understanding and practice are suddenly accomplished, and with not a single thought arising, one is instantly a buddha, and so forth; hence the Laṅkāvatāra says, 'The sudden is like a reflection in a mirror, suddenly appearing, not gradual'—this is what it means. This is because all phenomena are originally and inherently correct and do not depend on verbal explanation, nor on contemplative gnosis, just as the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa demonstrates non-duality through silence, and so forth. Furthermore, in the Ratnakūṭa-sūtra there is also the mention of sūtras of the sudden teaching; hence this name is established based on this. Third, they may be opened into three, namely opening the initial and final teachings from within the gradual; these are precisely the latter two among the three turnings of the Dharma-wheel in the Sandhinirmocana-sūtra and others mentioned above. Based on this meaning, the Mahābherīhāraka-sūtra takes the gate of emptiness as initial and the gate of non-emptiness as final; hence that sūtra says: 'Kāśyapa addressed the Buddha: "The various Mahāyāna sūtras mostly teach the meaning of emptiness." The Buddha told Kāśyapa: "All sūtras on emptiness are expositions with a remainder (neyārtha); only this sūtra is the unsurpassed exposition, not an exposition with a remainder. Furthermore, Kāśyapa! Just as King Prasenajit always sets up a great feast of giving in the eleventh month, first feeding hungry ghosts, the destitute, the lonely, and beggars, and next giving to śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas sweet and delicious dishes of manifold flavours according to their desires, the Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones are also like this: according with the various desires and pleasures of all sentient beings, they expound various sūtras and teachings for them. If there are sentient beings who are indolent and violate the precepts, do not diligently conform, abandon the wondrous scripture of the permanent tathāgatagarbha, and delight in cultivating and studying various sūtras on emptiness..."' and so on, extensively expounded. The explanation says: this designates the initial teaching in terms of the principle of emptiness being with a remainder, and designates the final teaching in terms of the wondrous scripture of the permanent tathāgatagarbha. Moreover, in the Awakening of Faith, it reveals verbal-transcending Suchness in terms of the gate of the sudden teaching, and teaches verbally-dependent Suchness in terms of the gate of the gradual teaching. Within the verbally-dependent, it speaks of the two kinds of Suchness—empty and non-empty—in terms of the initial and final teachings. This is dividing the teachings according to phenomena. If considered in terms of doctrinal meaning, they will be distinguished separately below.