止觀輔行傳弘決 4.31

4.31

From "The disease characteristics of the five hindrances" below, [the text] clarifies the method for discarding hindrances. This summarizes what precedes and introduces what follows, also dealing first with phenomena and next with principle. From "a practitioner" below, it clarifies that the method of providing remedies follows what is strongest. From "if greed..." below, it directly clarifies the application of remedies. Curing greed with impurity is temporarily explained in terms of substantial contemplation, fully as in Fascicle Seven. In curing anger, "two times" refers to past and present, also as in Fascicles Seven and Nine. In curing sleepiness, "like approaching a treasure mountain" and so forth: the *Dazhidulun* states in explaining faith: "Taking faith as the hand: just as a person without hands enters a treasure mountain and gains nothing, an unbelieving person enters the treasure mountain of the Buddha-Dharma and gains nothing at all; because of non-belief, they give rise to doubt. If one has faith, entering the Buddha-Dharma they do not shave their head in vain, and are able to question and able to answer." One should know that when ordained persons all reach the treasure mountain, how could they return empty-handed? "Staff, ball, conch shell" and so forth: "staff" refers to walking in the meditation hall. The *Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya* states: "Make a staff of bamboo, eight cubits long, with both ends wrapped in cloth, and have a junior seat carry it. One must not prod the ribs, but prod in front of them. If after three shakes they do not awaken, prod them on the left side." As for "ball", a woollen ball is placed upon their head; if they sleep, it falls to the ground, and upon waking they spur themselves on. A Vinaya states: "If someone sleeps, throw a ball at them." "Conch shell" means blowing it to make a sound so as to alert the sleeper. "Stars": the Buddha-Dharma only permits gazing at stars to dispel sleepiness; at all other times it is prohibited. Or again, one washes their feet and face with water. The *Vibhāṣā* states: "From sunset to sunrise, sit cross-legged and diligently practice energetic vigor. Place a meditation pillow on the crown of the head, and employ the meditation ball and the disciplinary staff." There are also other remedial methods of the sages; as the *Aśokarājasūtra* says: "A certain monk was fond of sleep. The preceptor [Upa]gupta manifested a ghost with seven heads, holding a wooden staff suspended in midair. Seeing it, he returned to his original dwelling. The preceptor said to him: 'You may sit in meditation. If sleep returns, be vigorous and you will attain the path.' Again, a certain monk who slept much saw the ghost of Gupta. Gupta told him: 'A ghost is not worth fearing. Being killed by a ghost, you do not enter saṃsāra. Being killed by sleep, saṃsāra is endless.' The monk returned to his room, sat in meditation, and attained samādhi." Also as the *Dṛṣṭāntasūtra* states: "A certain monk ate his fill, entered his room, and slept. The Buddha knew that after seven days he would die; the Buddha went to his room, snapped his fingers to awaken him, and spoke a verse to alert him. Having awakened, he bowed to the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'In the time of Vipaśyin Buddha, you were a śramaṇa. Coveting offerings, you did not study the sūtras and teachings; eating your fill and then sleeping, you did not contemplate impermanence. When life ended, you fell among worms, clams, and snails, residing in darkness for five million years without delighting in light. Once asleep, a hundred years passed before you awakened, never seeking to go forth from the household. Now that you are a śramaṇa, why do you sleep again without knowing satisfaction?' Hearing this, the monk felt regret and reproached himself; the five hindrances were immediately eliminated, and he attained the fourth fruit." These are the ways the sages alerted sleepiness knowing the faculties [of disciples]. In curing doubt, "begging for a verse from a ghost in the Snowy Mountains" is fully explained in the section on the Youth of the Snowy Mountains in the *Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra*. "The Lord of the Devas prostrating to an animal as teacher": in the first fascicle of the *Adbhuta-dharma-paryāya-sūtra*, "The Buddha said: 'Remembering in the past, incalculable kalpas ago, in Mount Śītā in the great kingdom of Bhīma, there was a jackal who was pursued by a lion wanting to eat it; fleeing, it fell into a well and could not get out. After three days, accepting its imminent death, it spoke a verse, saying: "How disastrous! Today, pressed by suffering, / I shall perish in this hill well. / All ten thousand things are impermanent; / I only regret not feeding my body to the lion. / Homage, refuge to the Buddhas of the ten directions; / make known that my mind is pure and boundless!" At that time, Lord Śakra of the devas heard the Buddha's name, his hair stood on end in awe, and remembering the ancient Buddhas, he reflected that he was solitary and exposed without a guiding master, indulging in the five desires and sinking of his own accord. He immediately flew down to the well with an assembly of eighty thousand devas intending to inquire, and then saw the jackal at the bottom of the well, pawing the earth with both front feet unable to get out. The Lord of the Devas again thought to himself: "The response of a sage requires no fixed method. Although I now see the form of a jackal, this must be a bodhisattva and no ordinary vessel. The words just spoken by the benevolent one were no ordinary words; I pray you speak the essentials of the Dharma for the devas." Thereupon the jackal looked up and answered, saying: "As the Lord of the Devas, you lack manners. The Dharma master is below while you dwell above; you show no respect at all yet ask for the essentials of the Dharma. The water of the Dharma is pure and can save people; why do you wish to be conceited?" Hearing this, the Lord of the Devas felt great shame. The attendant devas laughed in astonishment: "The Heavenly King's descent brings great disadvantage." The Lord of the Devas immediately told the devas: "Be careful not to harbor fear over this; it is my stubborn ignorance whose virtue is unfitting. We will surely hear the essentials of the Dharma through this." He immediately lowered a heavenly precious robe for it, caught and pulled the jackal up, and the devas served it ambrosial food. Having obtained food, the jackal gained hope of life; incurring this blessing unexpectedly amidst disaster, its mind leaped with boundless joy. At that time, the jackal thought to itself: "I have obtained past lives and know the past (and so on). Have the devas arrange a seat (and so on). The Lord of the Devas said: escaping the distress of the well (and so on)." The jackal extensively explained that some people delight in life and hate death, while some delight in death and hate life (and so on). The Lord of the Devas asked: "Saving life has no merit; what merit is there in bestowing the Dharma?" The jackal extensively explained the merit of bestowing the Dharma (and so on). It then said: "In the past there was a king named Ajita who initially upheld the ten good deeds. Later, a neighboring country presented women and gifted treasures, and consequently becoming luxurious, he fell into hell. Leaving hell, he fell into ghosthood; from ghosthood, he again remembered the ten good deeds of his past life, and from ghosthood fell into animalhood, taking the body of a jackal. I fell [into the well] resigning myself to death, hoping to be born in heaven; because of you my original vow was thwarted, and therefore I say that saving life has little merit." The Lord of the Devas objected, saying: "The World-Honoured One said that good people seek death; this is not so. If you wished to seek death, why did you enter the robe?" It answered, saying: "Because of three intentions. First, to comply with the intention of the Lord of the Devas; second, so that the devas could hear the Dharma; third, to propagate and broadcast the Dharma for universal conversion." Again it extensively explained the Dharma-gates for the Lord of the Devas (and so on).'" "The *Dazhidulun* says not to discard the treasure because the bag stinks" and so forth: in the story of Sadāprarudita in Fascicle Ninety-Six of the *Dazhidulun*, if a disciple sees a teacher's faults, whether real or not real, their own mind is ruined, and they lose the superior benefit of the Dharma. Therefore a voice in space told him: "Do not look at the teacher's faults. You should think to yourself: 'Having meagre merit, I did not meet the Buddha; now meeting a bad teacher, I should not think of faults and thereby obstruct prajñā myself. If the teacher has faults, they do not concern me; I seek prajñā from the teacher.' Just like a dog-skin bag containing fine jewels, one does not discard the jewels because the bag stinks." As for "a guilty person holding a torch" and so forth, this is fully cited in the four samādhis. "Ten thousand streams": waters meet and become a stream; when a stream is large, it naturally penetrates through. Penetration means opening up. "The *Sūtra of Universal Transcendence* says" and so forth: it is quoted somewhat briefly here. In the lower fascicle of that sūtra: "After the Buddha had conferred the prediction upon King Ajātaśatru, he told Śāriputra: 'When people see one another, they should not evaluate one another. Why should one not evaluate people? A person's faculties are difficult to discern; only the Tathāgata can evaluate people, and one whose practice is like the Tathāgata's may evaluate people.' The worthy Śāriputra and the great assembly, leaping with surprised joy, recorded these words: 'From this day forward until the end of our physical lives, we will not observe other people, nor dare to say that a certain person is heading for hell or a certain person will attain extinction; the actions of sentient beings are inconceivable.'" "The Buddha-Dharma is like an ocean; only by faith can one enter": even in Confucius's words, faith comes first, how much more so with the profound principle of the Buddha-Dharma—without faith, how could one enter? Hence it is said: "Troops and food may still be dispensed with, but trust cannot be dispensed with." The *Avataṃsaka* states: "Faith is the origin of the Way and the mother of merit," and so forth. If the śrāvakas, having attained arhatship, have their four knowledges finalized and their two liberations fully perfected, would they further advance to seek the Mahāyāna path? Thus they stated of themselves: "We will no longer advance to seek anuttarā samyak-saṃbodhi." Regarding the statement that entry is achieved through faith: had they not been rebuked in the Vaipulya [teachings] and given rise to faithful mind, how could they have reached the Lotus [Sūtra] and received their predictions? "Vakkali" [referring to the simple elder]: the first text states: "There was an elderly person who had just gone forth and knew nothing yet. While in the saṅghārāma, a young novice playfully said to him: 'I will give you the first fruit.' Having made him sit down, he placed a woollen ball on his head and said to him: 'This is the first fruit.' Because of his faithful mind, he immediately obtained the first fruit. He then said to the novice: 'I have already attained the first fruit.' The novice teased him again, saying: 'It is so.' Following the previous manner, it was done four times, until he reached the fourth fruit." "Gupta instructing the disciple to climb a tree": the *Account of the Transmission of the Dharmapiṭaka* states: "In South India there was a son of good family who went forth to study the Way; he was attached to his own body, bathing, applying incense, and eating fine, delicious food. His body was plump and strong, and he could not attain the path. He went to [Upa]gupta's place seeking to receive the superior Dharma. The Venerable One discerned that because of attachment to the body he could not exhaust the outflows, and said to him: 'If you can accept it, I will impart the Dharma to you.' He answered: 'I accept your instruction.' [Upagupta] immediately manifested a great tree and made him climb it; the four sides turned into deep chasms a thousand fathoms deep, and he told him to let go of his right hand. As told, he let go. In this sequence, he even let go of everything. Resigned to giving up his bodily life, upon reaching the ground he did not see the deep chasm or the tree. [Upagupta] explained the essentials of the Dharma to him, and he attained the fourth fruit." "Fox-like doubt": a fox is an animal, also called a jackal; it is very suspicious and good at listening. When people of the time spoke of 'fox-like doubt', it was because of this. This animal is ridden by ghosts, and people of the time consider it a bewitching spirit. Some say: 'When the Yellow River ice is thick, if it wishes to cross the river, it listens carefully to the sound of the water, and only crosses when the sound has stopped.' "An overturned vessel": because faith is lacking, it is like an overturned vessel. The *Dazhidulun* states: "Rāhula from youth was fond of lying; because of his lying, he caused boundless people to be unable to see the Buddha. The Buddha, wishing to tame him, returned from a distant journey and had him draw water. The Buddha tipped over the washbasin with his foot, and told him to pour water into it. He replied: 'The vessel is overturned; water will not enter.' The Buddha said: 'You are like an overturned vessel; the Dharma water does not enter,' rebuking him in various ways." Here, the metaphor of doubt is borrowed as being also like an overturned vessel.