華嚴五十要問答 1.12

1.12

問：依諸教中，有情眾生作佛云何？答：小乘教，於一時中但菩薩，一人慈悲愛行，依三十三心次第作佛。餘見行者竝不作佛，但得二種涅槃住無餘也。若依三乘始教，則半成佛半不成佛。若直進及回心二人，修行滿十千劫，住堪任地者，竝皆成佛。若未至此位，則與一闡底迦位同，如此人等竝皆不成佛。此據位語。若依此判，四句分別，準亦可知。此如《瑜伽．菩薩地》說。若依三乘終教，則一切有情眾生皆悉成佛。由他聖智顯本有佛性及行性，故除其草木等，如《涅槃經》說。依一乘義，一切眾生通依及正竝皆成佛，如《華嚴經》說。以此義準上四句義，即是一乘共教，非別教也。

Question: According to the various teachings, how do sentient beings become buddhas?

Answer: In the Hīnayāna teaching, at any one time there is only the Bodhisattva alone who, through the practice of loving-kindness and compassion, becomes a buddha in succession based on the thirty-three minds. Other practitioners of views do not become buddhas; they only attain the two kinds of nirvāṇa and abide in the [nirvāṇa] without remainder. According to the initial teaching of the triyāna, half become buddhas and half do not become buddhas. If those of direct advancement and those of diverted mind practice for ten thousand kalpas and abide on the stage of capability, they all become buddhas. If they have not reached this stage, they are identical in status to icchantikas; such persons do not become buddhas at all. This is spoken with respect to stage. If judged according to this, the fourfold categorization can also be understood accordingly. This is as explained in the Bodhisattvabhūmi of the Yogācārabhūmi. According to the final teaching of the triyāna, all sentient beings without exception become buddhas. Because the holy wisdom of others reveals the fundamentally existent buddhadhātu and the nature of practice, grasses, trees, and the like are excluded, as spoken in the Nirvāṇa-sūtra. According to the meaning of the Ekayāna, all sentient beings, encompassing both the environment and the individual, all become buddhas, as spoken in the Avataṃsaka-sūtra. Applying this meaning to the fourfold categorization above, this is the common teaching of the Ekayāna, not the distinct teaching.