摩訶止觀 7.27

7.27

The reason this is required is that, although one has previously deconstructed dharmas ubiquitously and recognized opening and obstruction, if one does not harmonize the path-factors, how could one quickly become consonant with the true Dharma? The true Dharma is called untainted (anāsrava); the path-factors are tainted (sāsrava). The tainted can serve as an expedient for the untainted. If expedients lose their proper place, the true principle is difficult to meet. Just as in the method of brewing wine: when yeast and warmth are appropriate, water is transformed into wine; if the fermenting mash loses its proper measure, the flavor will not be achieved. The Great Treatise says: "The thirty-seven factors are the dharmas for practicing the path; the city of nirvāṇa has three gates." The three gates are the proximate cause; the path-factors are the remote cause. For this reason, one must harmonize the path-factors.