摩訶止觀 3.240

3.240

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.