法界圖記叢髓錄 1.159

1.159

The Ancient Record says: How are the ten stages of the One Vehicle to be viewed? Answer: At the forty-day assembly on Mount Buseok, the Upādhyāya said: "The ten stages of the One Vehicle are both horizontal and vertical." Sangwon, Jitong, and others thought they had grasped the Upādhyāya's meaning; when the assembly concluded, each presented what he had understood. The Upādhyāya said: "None of you have grasped it. The ten stages of the One Vehicle are viewed in reliance on the Buddha-mind of initial complete enlightenment at the bodhimaṇḍa of calm extinction." Later, Linde explained: "The ten stages of the first assembly are viewed like a person blind from birth seeing color. The ten stages from the 'Enlightenment through Radiant Light Chapter' onward are viewed like a person deaf from birth hearing sound." This means that in reliance on the original emergence in the first assembly, there are subsequently the ten stages of the 'Enlightenment through Radiant Light Chapter', the ten stages produced by cultivation, the ten stages of the Buddha fruition, the ten stages originally possessed, the ten stages of leaving the mundane world, and the ten stages of entering the dharmadhātu. Question: If the One Vehicle is inexhaustible, how are the ten stages to be viewed? Answer: In the Three Vehicles, they are explained in reliance on the phenomenon of the trichiliocosm; in the accommodative approach of the One Vehicle, they are also explained in reliance on the phenomenon of realms; and in the distinct teaching itself, they are explained in reliance on the phenomenon of seed [systems]. As for the ten stages of the Three Vehicles: the first stage is explained in reliance on a hundred-petaled lotus flower, meaning that which Zhongmi realized as the basis of the true other-enjoyment body pervading everywhere, which is also a transformation body. Entirely integrating one petal among those hundred petals is the transformation of the pure land. Furthermore, within each petal there are one hundred million Śākyamunis, which are the transformations of the defiled lands. The second stage is explained in reliance on a thousand-petaled lotus flower, which can be understood following the preceding. Up to the tenth stage, it is explained in reliance on an innumerably-petaled lotus flower, which is also understood following the preceding. These lotus flowers in the Three Vehicles are the dwelling places on which the bodhisattvas of the ten stages rely; the lotus flower of the One Vehicle, on the other hand, is the very substance of the ten stages. In the accommodative approach of the One Vehicle, distinguishing them in reliance on the phenomenon of realms is identical to the Three Vehicles, differing only because they are established through the six characteristics. As for distinguishing them in reliance on seeds: within the first assembly, there are altogether fifty-six tiers of the ten stages, namely, one tier of the teaching aspect and fifty-five tiers of the realization aspect. As for the one tier of the teaching aspect: in the ocean of worlds, there are fragrant water oceans numbering as many as the dust motes of ten ineffable Buddha-lands; the central-most ocean produces a great lotus flower, and upon this lotus flower is a world seed. Within this single seed there are twenty tiers of worlds, and these twenty tiers are precisely the ten stages; since each of the ten stages has its own self-share and superior progress, there are twenty tiers. Since one such seed already has ten stages, every other single seed likewise has ten stages; hence there are ten stages numbering as many as the dust motes of ten ineffable worlds, which is why they are called the inexhaustible ten stages. This is merely one tier. If one views further, there are tier upon tier of inexhaustible ten stages, which should be contemplated. As for the ten stages of the realization aspect: they are viewed in terms of the five oceans and ten wisdoms. That is, through oceans entering wisdom, there are fifty oceans, which are five tiers of the ten stages; through wisdom entering oceans, there are five hundred wisdoms, which are fifty tiers of the ten stages; therefore, within the realization aspect, there are altogether fifty-five tiers of the ten stages. This is in terms of one practice approach. If one views further, there are tier upon tier of inexhaustible ten stages, which should be contemplated. Question: The Three Vehicles take 'Joyful', 'Stainless', and so forth as the ten stages; by what are they named in the One Vehicle? Answer: In the shared teaching's accommodative approach, they are identical to the Three Vehicles. If in the distinct teaching, world names, ocean names, wisdom names, and so forth are all names of the ten stages. In the approach of the Perfect Teaching, names such as 'Joyful' and names of worlds and so forth are all names of the ten stages; this means that in the Three Vehicles there are only names without the real essential substance of phenomena. In the Perfect Teaching, taking the possession of the essential substance of phenomena constitutes the ten stages. Furthermore, the ten stages of the initial teaching of the Three Vehicles are vertical positions, meaning that one proceeds gradually from the ten faiths and ten abodes to the Buddha fruition. The ten stages of the mature teaching are horizontal positions, meaning that they are separately established within the single substance of the tathāgatagarbha. In the One Vehicle, both horizontal and vertical are complete, meaning that horizontally they encompass space and the dharmadhātu, and vertically they penetrate the nine times and ten times; the ten faiths, ten abodes, and so forth all arise from the ten stages. Therefore Master Zang said: "The ten stages gather in what is prior to the stages in front, and gather in the Buddha fruition above." Every assembly's fundamental division is said to have an ocean; from this we know that they all take the ten stages as their root. The Upādhyāya's meaning should be understood as just this.