法界圖記叢髓錄 2.104

2.104

賢首大師花嚴三昧觀門中，問云：眾生修行，為要受持聖教耶？為須捨教耶？答：有十類。一者自有眾生無識、懸捨聖言，師自愚心、復隨邪友，違教修行巧偽誑惑，此為惡人也。二有眾生亦背聖教，以質直心謂為出要，勤苦修行竟無所益。此二人俱捨聖教，不依義理。三者唯誦聖言不解義意，依傍聖教求名求利，違自所誦，亦為惡人。四者唯逐文句不知義理，但以直心讀誦，雖無巧偽亦無所益。此上二人俱不捨教，不得義理。此上四門皆不可依。五者讀誦聖教分知解行，多讀文句少有修行。六者廣尋聖教遍知解行，漸略聖言取意專修。七者受持得意唯在修行，不復尋言。八者尋教得旨，知一切法無不稱性，是故於教亦不持捨，即此言教稱性約教修行。九者常持稱性之言，不捨不著；恒觀絕言之理，不棄不滯。此上五門猶未究竟。十尋教得實理，理教無礙，常觀理而不礙持教、常持教而不礙觀空，此則教理俱融合為一觀，方名究竟。此上十門，前四全不可依，次五從淺轉深隨根悟入，然革凡成聖之方便，猶未究竟，唯第十門方為究竟也。又賢首大師明受持大乘經，須知五法：一明其文，有五：謂善知分段起盡、前後相續、次第連合、詮義圓滿、無增無減。二解其事亦五，謂說處、說主、徒眾、請儀及知圓音所說。三達其義，亦五，謂略標綱要、廣釋除疑、譬喻令解、引事證成、舉益勸學。四得其意，亦五：令發大心、觀真理、伏煩惱、慈悲救物、勤修萬行。五修其行，自有五種：一於所聞法，行在身心未曾暫息；二歷前四門次起勝心，於前文教起難遭想，於前事相起尊重心，嘆佛難逢、傷己薄祐，於前義理起愛樂心，於前意旨悲喜交集；三受持正法，謂於文教繕寫流通圖盡事相，表佛法會攝略義趣曲示行人。四自行增長，為親善友繫念思惟。五成無礙行，謂得旨忘詮故不可守，志詮由教故不可捨，是故於教生無守無捨行。今此雖開為十法行，但是眾緣資成、正助相兼，總曰受持修習。全依此者，可謂圓因，勤修不退皆證滿果。自教至唐，古今有依法修學通感靈瑞，其類實繁，具如《花嚴傳》及《纂靈記》所說。

In Great Master Xianshou’s Contemplation Approaches to the Avataṃsaka Samādhi, it asks: 'When sentient beings cultivate practice, must they uphold the sacred teachings, or must they discard the teachings?' The answer states: 'There are ten categories. First, there are sentient beings who lack knowledge and abruptly discard the sacred words, taking their own foolish minds as their teachers and moreover following evil companions; they cultivate practice in contravention of the teachings, being deceitful, hypocritical, and misleading. These are evil people. Second, there are sentient beings who also turn their backs on the sacred teachings, yet with straightforward minds consider [their own way] to be the essential path to liberation; they cultivate practice diligently and bitterly, yet in the end derive no benefit. Both of these two types of people discard the sacred teachings and do not rely on the meaning and principles. Third, there are those who only recite the sacred words without understanding the meaning and import; relying on the sacred teachings to seek fame and profit, they act contrary to what they themselves recite. These too are evil people. Fourth, there are those who merely pursue the text and sentences without knowing the meaning and principles; merely reading and reciting with a straightforward mind, though they are free from deceit and hypocrisy, they also derive no benefit. Both of the two types of people above do not discard the teachings, yet fail to attain the meaning and principles. None of the four approaches above should be relied upon. Fifth are those who read and recite the sacred teachings and partially understand understanding and practice, reading many sentences but engaging in little practice. Sixth are those who broadly search the sacred teachings, comprehensively understanding understanding and practice, gradually abbreviating the sacred words to grasp the intent and cultivate exclusively. Seventh are those who uphold [the teachings] and grasp the intent, focusing solely on practice without further searching into words. Eighth are those who investigate the teachings and attain their purport, knowing that there is not a single dharma that does not accord with the nature; therefore, with respect to the teachings, they neither uphold nor discard them, and using these very spoken teachings that accord with the nature, they cultivate practice in reliance on the teachings. Ninth are those who constantly uphold the words that accord with the nature without abandoning or clinging to them, and eternally contemplate the principle that transcends words without rejecting or stagnating in it. The five approaches above are still not ultimate. Tenth are those who investigate the teachings and attain the true principle, so that principle and teachings are unobstructed; they constantly contemplate the principle without obstructing the upholding of the teachings, and constantly uphold the teachings without obstructing the contemplation of emptiness. In this way, the teachings and principle are interfused into a single contemplation, and only then is it called ultimate.' Among the ten approaches above, the first four are completely unreliable; the next five progress from shallow to deep, allowing entry into awakening in accordance with one's capacity, yet as upāya for transforming an ordinary being into a sage, they are not yet ultimate; only the tenth approach is ultimate. Furthermore, Great Master Xianshou explained that to accept and uphold the Mahāyāna sūtras, one must know five dharmas: First is to clarify its text, which has five [aspects]: namely, having good knowledge of the beginning and ending of sections, the continuity between what precedes and what follows, the consecutive joining together, the completeness of the expressed meaning, and the absence of addition or subtraction. Second is to understand its events, also having five [aspects]: namely, the location of preaching, the master of the preaching, the assembly of disciples, the etiquette of requesting, and knowing that which is preached by the perfect voice. Third is to comprehend its meaning, also having five [aspects]: namely, briefly marking the essential outline, broadly explaining to remove doubts, using similes to bring about understanding, citing events to corroborate and establish it, and pointing out the benefits to encourage study. Fourth is to grasp its intent, also having five [aspects]: bringing about the generation of the great aspiration, contemplating the true principle, subduing defilements, rescuing beings with compassion, and diligently cultivating the myriad practices. Fifth is to cultivate its practice, which itself has five kinds: 1. With respect to the Dharma that has been heard, cultivating it in body and mind without a moment's rest; 2. Proceeding through the previous four approaches, successively generating supreme thoughts: toward the previous text and teachings, generating the thought of how rare they are to encounter; toward the previous events and forms, generating a reverent mind, sighing that the Buddha is difficult to meet and lamenting one's own meager blessings; toward the previous meaning and principles, generating a mind of love and joy; toward the previous intent, experiencing grief and joy mingled together; 3. Receiving and upholding the true Dharma, which means copying and circulating the text and teachings, depicting all the events and forms in diagrams, representing the Buddha's Dharma assembly, summarizing the essential import, and meticulously showing it to practitioners; 4. Increasing one's own practice, binding the mind in mindfulness and contemplation for the sake of [becoming] an intimate good friend; 5. Accomplishing unobstructed practice, which means that because one has grasped the intent and forgotten the expression, [the teachings] cannot be rigidly held, yet because the intention to express arises from the teachings, they cannot be discarded; therefore, toward the teachings, one generates the practice of neither holding nor discarding. Although these are now expanded into ten dharmic practices, they are merely conditions supporting one another, with primary and auxiliary aiding each other, collectively called 'receiving, upholding, and practicing.' Those who fully rely on this can be said to have the complete cause; cultivating diligently without retreating, they will all realize the full fruit. From the time of the teaching down to the Tang dynasty, ancient and modern individuals who cultivated and studied according to the Dharma and had their spiritual efficacy penetrate and evoke wondrous omens have been truly numerous, fully as recounted in the Avataṃsaka Biographies and the Record of Collected Miracles.