華嚴一乘教義分齊章 1.63

1.63

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.