華嚴經內章門等雜孔目章 4.63

4.63

As for worthies and āryas: conforming to principle is called worthy; attaining principle is ārya. Having foreknowledge among beings and also being recognized by the masses of sentient beings, they are therefore called spiritual friends (kalyāṇamitra). Concerning the meaning of worthies and āryas, the teachings have three positions: First, the twenty-seven worthies and āryas: namely, 1. practitioners following faith, 2. practitioners following dharma, 3. practitioners of signlessness, 4. srotāpanna, 5. practitioner [advancing toward] sakṛdāgāmin, 6. sakṛdāgāmin, 7. practitioner [advancing toward] anāgāmin, 8. anāgāmin attaining extinction in the intermediate state, 9. anāgāmin attaining extinction upon rebirth, 10. attaining extinction without effort, 11. attaining extinction with effort, 12. ascending practitioner delighting in wisdom, 13. ascending practitioner delighting in samādhi, 14. traversing births, 15. attaining extinction in the present [life], 16. faith-liberated, 17. attained by vision, 18. bodily witness, 19. arhat of retrogressive character, 20. of guarded character, 21. of suicidal character, 22. of improvable character, 23. of abiding character, 24. of indestructible character, 25. of wisdom-liberated character, 26. of doubly-liberated character, 27. of non-retrogressive character. The first eighteen persons are learners (śaikṣa). The next nine persons are non-learners (aśaikṣa). Among the learners, the first three persons are in the practice of the srotāpanna; the next one person is the fruit of the srotāpanna; the next one person is in the practice of the sakṛdāgāmin; the next one person is the fruit of the sakṛdāgāmin; the next one person is in the practice of the anāgāmin; the next eleven persons are the fruits of the anāgāmin. These eleven persons are also in the practice of the arhat. This is the Hīnayāna, and is also identical to the initial teaching. Second, there are the forty-two worthies and āryas: namely, the ten understandings, the ten practices, the ten dedications, the ten grounds, equal enlightenment, and sublime enlightenment. Forty-one are the cause, and one is the fruit. This meaning lies in the Triyāna, restricted to the direct-advancing and the final teachings. If the above two positions of worthies, āryas, and spiritual friends are designated by the Ekayāna teaching, they belong to the Ekayāna. Third, according to the separate teaching, there are forty-five spiritual friends, which broadly have three aspects: 1. In each stage, as well as principle and practice, there are forty-five spiritual friends, as detailed in the 'Chapter on Entering the Dharmadhātu.' 2. Lord and companion mutually assisting, there are one hundred and thirteen; regarding the demarcation of giving rise to transformation in the realm of real practice, there are spiritual friends as numerous as dust motes in a trichiliocosm. Question: As in the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Sadāprarudita seeks a spiritual friend; what kind of spiritual friend is Bodhisattva Dharmodgata? Answer: In meaning, Dharmodgata corresponds to the final mind of the stage of faith in the mature teaching, and the ten dedications in the direct-advancing teaching; where prajñā accomplishes faith to ultimate irreversibility in the two teachings, serving as a standard for beings. This is a Triyāna meaning, not an Ekayāna stage. Within the Triyāna, prior to the stage of understanding and practice at the final mind of the ten faiths, spiritual friends have ten meanings, as expounded in the 'Chapter on Leaving the World,' called the ten kinds of spiritual friends. Why ten are spoken of is because of the desire to reveal the immeasurable; therefore ten kinds are taken as the meaning of spiritual friends. The answer for why the teaching of spiritual friends arose is because its intention lies in gathering beings. The remaining points are as in the separate chapter.