止觀輔行傳弘決 5.43.2

5.43.2

'Just as when I was in Vārāṇasī in the past, Śāriputra taught two disciples, directing one to the contemplation of bones and the other to counting breaths. Though many years elapsed, neither attained concentration, and because of this cause, both gave rise to wrong views, saying: "There is no nirvāṇa and no undefiled Dharma. If there were, I ought to have attained it, because I have kept well the precepts I received." Seeing these two persons give rise to wrong views at that time, I called Śāriputra and reproved him: "Why have you taught the Dharma in such an inverted way to these two disciples? Your two disciples are of different natures: one is a washerman, and one is a goldsmith. The son of the goldsmith should have been taught to count breaths, while the son of the washerman should have been taught the contemplation of bones. By teaching them erroneously, you caused them to give rise to wrong views." I then preached the Dharma to them as was appropriate, and upon hearing it, both attained arhatship. Therefore, I am the true good spiritual friend for sentient beings.' The Alaṃkāra-śāstra states: 'A washerman gradually makes [cloth] pure and white like bone; one who can work the bellows well understands breath.' Regarding 'an ordinary person bound by fetters': if discussed generally, the six sense faculties and the five grades all belong to ordinary teachers; not having broken through ignorance, they are all generally bound by fetters. If discussed specifically, it refers to the stage of the five grades, since purification of the six sense faculties is free from the two fetters and thus resembles a holy teacher. Based on the distinctions in the first fascicle, one generally takes the six sense faculties as an ordinary teacher. Previously it was pointed out that the holy teacher resides in the first abidance, so [those at the stage of] the six sense faculties are still called 'diseased guides', to say nothing of the bodhisattva of the Tripiṭaka who has not severed anything at all. Next, the concluding demonstration is as in the text. From 'If others have...' onward, it classifies their practice. From 'The Sarvāstivādins...' onward, it draws broadly upon two treatises to bring out their similarities and differences, not adopting the treatises' intended meaning. Those in the Hinayana schools each rely on one gate, which is not yet an all-encompassing path that universally covers [all]. As the Abhidharma [Treatise], fascicle fifteen, states: 'The dull are called practitioners of faith, and the sharp are called practitioners of the Dharma. Practitioners of faith contemplate and examine little, while practitioners of the Dharma contemplate and examine much.' This agrees with the Sarvāstivādins, who merely classify the stage as being in the path of seeing, where 'contemplating and examining little' precisely corresponds to the causal approach. Here, citing the Dharmaguptakas, both practices are situated prior to the worldly supreme qualities, hence called 'expedient means'. From 'However, the Sarvāstivādins...' onward, it reconciles them with flexibility. The Sarvāstivādins rely on the completion of practice, hence [situate it] in the path of seeing. The [other] treatise relies on root-nature, hence [situates it] in expedient means. If the Sarvāstivāda-śāstra states that the causes relied upon differ, this resembles our school's single-minded root-nature; the Dharmaguptaka school's difference in degree resembles our school's mutually supporting root-nature; therefore, they are harmonized while both are preserved. Furthermore, the Abhidharma, Khandha on Fetters, states: 'A person of firm faith possesses such wisdom, and a person of firm Dharma possesses such faith. Why is one named only "of firm faith" and the other named only "of firm Dharma"? Answer: Each is named prominently according to what they rely on; it is not that they do not mutually possess [both].' This also resembles the meaning of mutual support. The Abhidharma also states: 'Entering via concentration is called faith; entering via wisdom is called Dharma.' If based on the earlier text, both concentration and wisdom take internal contemplation as the Dharma, and hearing concentration and wisdom is named faith. Therefore, the present text establishes both faith and Dharma practices for calming and contemplation respectively. From 'Our master now...' onward, it directly clarifies the characteristics of our master's two practices. That is, it takes long-standing causes as present seeds, clarifying that what exists at present necessarily relies on long-standing causes. The long-standing causes differ from the Dharmaguptaka expedient means, and the present also differs from the Sarvāstivāda completion of practice. Therefore, our school merely argues that due to past seeds, one is presently capable of practicing contemplation and hearing the Dharma; verifying the present to know the past yields the names of the two practices. The Great Scripture, fascicle twenty, states: 'Suppose there is an incantation which, if heard once, prevents one from being harmed by poison for twenty years thereafter. If one recites and upholds it, one will be free from all diseases until the end of one's life. The Mahāyāna Dharma is also like this: if a sentient being lets it pass through their ears once, they will not fall into evil paths for seven kalpas thereafter; by contemplating its meaning, they will certainly attain bodhi and purely see the Buddha-nature.' Passing through the ears is the seed of the practice of faith; contemplating it is the seed of the practice of Dharma. The Lotus [Sūtra] says: 'If there are those who hear, understand, contemplate, and cultivate it.' The Great Scripture also says: 'First, listen to the true Dharma; second, contemplate its meaning.' Passages of this kind in the sūtras and treatises are all seeds of faith and Dharma from the distant past. From 'If we discuss...' onward, our school classifies sharpness and dullness. They derive their names interchangeably, not like the definitive classifications of the two treatises. From 'Having already explained...' onward, it concludes what came before and introduces what follows. From 'The teacher should...' onward: wishing to explain the Dharma for them, one first examines their root-nature. Concentration is simply calming, and wisdom is simply contemplation; in regards to these two, is your intention focused on hearing, or is your intention focused on contemplation? From 'That person...' onward, it describes the outward marks of what that root-nature values. From 'Having known...' onward: having known that the symptoms of the illness of their root-nature are fixed, one prepares prescriptions according to their words for that single person. There are four for calming and four for contemplation, so for the time being there are eight. In each passage there are three intentions: first, to show the dharma characteristics; second, to point to their breadth; third, to conclude by forming the siddhāntas. The first passage contains the first intention. From 'Come, good man...' onward, it directly preaches the Dharma for him. The characteristics of preaching the Dharma are cited according to whatever corresponds, whether Confucian or Hinayana, biased or gradual; the words are close at hand while the meaning is far-reaching, temporarily aiding in accomplishing the perfect teaching and the perfect contemplation. The characteristics of calming and contemplation according to the four siddhāntas, faith, and Dharma serve as a model for later people in teaching the Dharma to transform others. Furthermore, based on the concluding passage below, in each text there is both sequential and non-sequential, with the intention temporarily resting on the perfect. As for the words listing the four teachings and what resembles the sequential threefold contemplation in the text, the intention is to bring universal joy upon hearing, to give rise to all good and break through all evil, and to see all principles; thus they are listed comprehensively. Hence we know that only when reaching the concluding passage below is the sequence unpacked: the sequential traverses the three truths, whereas the non-sequential pertains solely to the single mind. In each round, looking back from the later to the earlier, four meanings are formed, namely, three for the sequential threefold contemplation and one for the threefold contemplation in a single mind. Regarding 'making its intent one': Laozi says, 'Heaven attained the One and thereby became clear; Earth attained the One and thereby became tranquil; princes and kings attained the One and thereby made the world upright.' Laozi's intention was merely that uniting the Dao of yin and yang constitutes Heaven and Earth attaining the One, and uniting the Dao of ruler and minister constitutes princes and kings attaining the One. We now discard his principle, merely borrowing his terms to verify our present principle. When suffering and origination attain the One, it is called the truth of cessation; when cause and condition attain the One, it is called 'ignorance ceasing, then karmic formations cease', and so forth; when the six hindrances attain the One, it is called reaching the other shore. All citations of secular texts follow this pattern. The One is the utmost of the three vehicles, hence it says 'only this is pleasant'; being pleasant, it accords with their desires. Regarding 'like heaven in severe drought...': kang also means drought. Ten thousand and one hundred are both the extremes of small numbers, manifested interchangeably as convenient. Hui is the generic name for grass; mentioning that they do not grow is meant to reveal that sending down rain accomplishes their growth, and growth means producing good.