摩訶止觀 3.240

3.240

答：別雖初知，帶方便聞，教猶是權。通雖後知，可接者知，教終是權。其意可見。若言三藏不知，違二經者。《大經》云：「阿羅漢不知三寶常住不變者，所有禁戒亦不具足，不能得聲聞之道。」此義今當通，任羅漢自力，不應知見常住。譬如天眼未開，不見障外；不聞他說，亦不能知。羅漢佛眼未開，又不聞佛說，那得自知常住？故《法華》云：「於自所得功德，生滅度想；若遇餘佛，便得決了。」又云：「聲聞、緣覺、不退菩薩，亦不能知。」當知不聞則不知也。經稱知者，齊知己理。

Answer: Although in the distinctive they know it at the beginning, they hear it accompanied by expedients, so the teaching is still provisional. Although in the shared they know it at the end, only those who can be connected know it, so the teaching is ultimately provisional. The meaning of this is clear. If one says that the Tripiṭaka does not know it, contradicting two sūtras: the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says, 'If arhats do not know that the Three Jewels are eternally abiding and unchanging, all their prohibitive precepts are also incomplete, and they cannot attain the path of the śrāvaka.' This meaning should now be resolved: left to an arhat's own power, they should not know or see the eternally abiding. For example, if the divine eye has not opened, one cannot see outside the obstruction; without hearing another's explanation, one cannot know either. When an arhat's buddha-eye has not opened and they have not heard the Buddha speak of it, how could they know the eternally abiding on their own? Therefore the Lotus Sūtra says, 'Regarding their own attained merits, they produce the thought of extinction; if they encounter another Buddha, they will then attain resolution.' It also says, 'Śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and non-retrogressing bodhisattvas likewise cannot know it.' One should know that if they have not heard it, they do not know it. When the sūtra refers to 'knowing,' it means knowing to the extent of their own principle.