摩訶止觀 4.55

4.55

Third, as for the precepts being urgent while the vehicle is slack: the literal precepts are strict and urgent, without violating even a fine hair; yet the three kinds of contemplative mind are not understood at all. Because the precepts are urgent, one is reborn among humans and gods, or follows [one's attainment] of the dhyāna-brahma worlds, indulging in the bliss of concentration. Although there is a Buddha in the world expounding the Dharma to deliver people, there is no benefit whatsoever to them; even if they happen to encounter him, they cannot awaken to understanding. Throughout the single kingdom of Cīnasthāna, they do not notice or know; among the three hundred million of Śrāvastī, they neither hear nor see. The gods who cling to pleasure and those born in places of difficulty do not come to listen and receive—this is the meaning here. For example, it is like a prisoner who uses wealth to seek [the help of] powerful people, extending the days and months in hope of receiving a pardon. It is just the same among humans and gods: one hopes for good spiritual friends to transform and guide one into cultivating the vehicle, so that one can then attain liberation. If one does not cultivate the vehicle among humans and gods, when the karmic retribution is exhausted, one falls back into the three wretched paths, and even if hundreds of thousands of Buddhas appear, one will never attain the path.