止觀輔行傳弘決 1.92

1.92

From "having distinguished" onward, next is clarifying the characteristics of arousing the aspiration [for awakening] according to various sūtras. Previously, the four noble truths were explained; the four noble truths are the principle, and all arousals of aspiration are based on the principle, so among the ten kinds cited, the principle is placed first. Since conditional phenomena are so numerous that they cannot be cited exhaustively, these ten are temporarily cited as representative cases. First they are listed, and next explained. Regarding the listing, one should know that sūtras and treatises differ in number: for instance, the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā has only seven kinds of arousing the aspiration. First it mentions three kinds: first, arousing it because the Buddhas cause one to arouse it; second, arousing it for the sake of protecting the Dharma; third, arousing it out of great compassion. It also has four kinds: first, arousing it on account of bodhisattvas' teaching; second, arousing it upon seeing the practice of bodhisattva conduct; third, arousing it upon seeing the emission of light; fourth, arousing it upon seeing the marks of a Buddha. The Buddhas' teaching corresponds in meaning to "hearing the Dharma" in the present text; protecting the Dharma corresponds in meaning to "seeing the destruction of the Dharma" in the present text; great compassion corresponds in meaning to "seeing [beings] undergo suffering" in the present text; and seeing the practice of conduct, the emission of light, and the marks and characteristics are entirely identical in name to the present text. Other texts are still incomplete. Sūtras such as the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life and the Repaying Kindness also have many [kinds of] arousal, yet compared to the present text they are also incomplete, and cannot be recorded in full. The Upāsaka-śīla-sūtra has ten kinds of arousal: first, arousing it due to having no pleasure in approaching the teachings of non-Buddhists; second, due to inner good causes and conditions; third, contemplating the faults of birth-and-death; fourth, due to seeing and hearing evil; fifth, scolding one's own afflictions; sixth, witnessing the five supernormal knowledges; seventh, desiring to understand the world; eighth, hearing of the wondrous matters of the Buddhas; ninth, out of compassionate thought; tenth, out of loving sentient beings. Compared to the present text, this is also incomplete, as can be seen by comparison. Fascicle six of the Avataṃsaka explains differences in the arousal of aspiration by bodhisattvas of the first dwelling: either seeing the marks and characteristics of a Buddha, or witnessing a Buddha's spiritual transformations, or hearing a Buddha preach the Dharma, or listening to a Buddha's admonitions and instructions, or seeing sentient beings undergo suffering, or hearing the extensive preaching of the Dharma, they arouse the mind of bodhi and seek all-knowledge. Although the first dwelling and the present [case] differ in level, the latter necessarily depends on the initial, and the initial exemplifies the latter; hence the ten meanings here are broadly similar to those. Question: What is the sequence among these ten passages? Answer: Because the principle is investigated to completion, next one attains the marks and characteristics; because one attains the marks and characteristics, one is able to give rise to spiritual transformations. Having manifested transformations with the bodily wheel, next one guides with the oral wheel. The two benefits of body and mouth are merely direct recompense; direct recompense necessarily requires dependent recompense—the land. Since there are the direct and dependent [recompenses] of body and mouth that are able to influence [others], there must be different disciples who are transformed. The assembly necessarily receives the teaching and practices the correct Dharma; when the correct Dharma is on the verge of falling, it encounters the semblance and final [ages]. As the Dharma gradually becomes degenerate and corrupt, sentient beings give rise to faults; giving rise to faults acts as the cause that inevitably incurs many sufferings. Although the sequence is thus, those who arouse [the aspiration] each generate four understandings according to what they encounter.