止觀輔行傳弘決 7.8

7.8

Next, in the questions and answers for critical analysis, it first critically analyzes the Great and Small [Vehicles]; the question and answer are fully present in fascicle 21 of the Dazhidulun. In the answer in the present text, it first uses the intent of the treatise, and next cites Vimalakīrti, the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, and the Mahāsaṃnipāta to aid the intent of the treatise's answer. In Vimalakīrti, it is that through which buddhahood is attained, the place of attaining the path, and Mahāyāna; in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, it is seeing the nature and the metaphor of clarified butter; in the Mahāsaṃnipāta, they are called the bodhisattva's jewel torch—the jewel possesses all dharmas and the torch can destroy darkness—and subsuming all dharmas is named dhāraṇī; therefore it concludes generally by saying that none of them call it Small. From "If the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra" downward, having refuted the restriction of them exclusively to the Small, it next concedes that they pervade both Great and Small, hence saying: "Immeasurable dharmas that aid awakening are the cause of great nirvāṇa." This also resolves a doubt, for fear that someone might doubt, saying: "Only if there are further immeasurable dharmas that aid awakening can they be called the cause of great nirvāṇa; therefore we know the limbs of the path are not the cause of the Great Vehicle." Therefore it immediately explains, saying: "Outside the limbs of the path there are no separate limbs of the path; although called immeasurable, they do not go beyond the limbs of the path; therefore the limbs of the path are the cause of the Great Vehicle." Therefore it further cites the four noble truths of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra as an illustrative explanation: outside the four noble truths there are no separate four noble truths. Since the thirty-seven aids are the truth of the path, outside the limbs of the path there are no separate limbs of the path. Hence the four noble truths clarified in the four Āgamas are said to be for śrāvakas; the four noble truths clarified in texts such as the Aṅgulimālīya-sūtra and various Mahāyāna scriptures are all for bodhisattvas; thus we know they pervade [both]. Hence the Aṅgulimālīya-sūtra says: "What is called four? Namely, the dharma of the four noble truths. This is the doctrine of the śrāvaka; this is not the Mahāyāna, the immeasurable truths of the Great Vehicle." As to "like earth on a fingernail": in fascicle 31 of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, in the "Kāśyapa Chapter", the Buddha took a little earth, placed it on his fingernail, and asked Kāśyapa: "Is this earth more, or is the earth of the worlds in the ten directions more?" Kāśyapa answered: "The earth on the fingernail is no comparison to the ten directions." Now this text is borrowed to appraise the four noble truths: the four noble truths of the Tripiṭaka are like the earth on the fingernail, while those not yet spoken are like the earth of the ten directions—that is, the dharma of the four noble truths of the other three teachings. "If those not yet spoken are like the earth of the ten directions, should there be five truths?" The Buddha said: "There is no fifth truth. It is only said that the four truths have immeasurable marks, which cannot be known by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas." For the present, it points to the four noble truths of the distinctive teaching as immeasurable; hence the Aṅgulimālīya-sūtra says "the immeasurable truths of the Great Vehicle". As for "the sixteen gates": although it borrows the sixteen [gates] from beginning to end of the distinctive teaching, its meaning actually pervades the sixteen of the four teachings. From "Moreover, the tainted" downward, it classifies them in terms of the five flavors. Because the sixteen gates proposed in the challenge above all have the limbs of the path, they are called immeasurable; yet they are not without shallowness and depth, so the five flavors are used to judge their superiority and inferiority. As for the initial mention of "tainted": since they pertain to containment within the realms, according to their greater or lesser number, they are all subsumed under the tainted; that which is employed now has its intent in clarified butter. As for "twenty-two" and so forth: fascicle 19 of the Dazhidulun says, "In the desire realm there are twenty-two, excluding the seven factors of awakening and eightfold right [path]. In the threshold [concentration] there are thirty-six, excluding the factor of joy. In the first dhyāna there are thirty-seven. In the second dhyāna there are thirty-six, excluding right conduct—right conduct is right thought. In the third dhyāna, fourth dhyāna, and intermediate [dhyāna], there are thirty-five, excluding right conduct and joy. In the three formless realms there are thirty-two, excluding the factor of joy, right conduct, and right speech, action, and livelihood. In the summit of existence there are twenty-two, excluding the path of awakening." In the Mahāvibhāṣā, it does not distinguish the desire realm, and in the formless realm there are only thirty-two, without distinguishing the lower three from the stage of neither perception nor non-perception. The Dazhidulun says "right conduct", while the Mahāvibhāṣā says "right awakening"; the rest of the text is completely identical. The Dazhidulun and Mahāvibhāṣā also differentiate how many dharmas are actualized. The question asks: "How many dharmas are actualized in each of the stages?" The answer: "In the threshold [concentration] of thirty-six, thirty-three dharmas are actualized simultaneously. In the first dhyāna of thirty-seven, thirty-four dharmas are actualized simultaneously. In the intermediate [concentration] of thirty-five, thirty-two dharmas are actualized simultaneously. In the third and fourth there are thirty-five, and in the second dhyāna thirty-six. In the formless there are thirty-two, all excluding three stations of mindfulness because their objects differ." The three stations of mindfulness mean that the body and so forth do not occur together. Therefore the text on 'immeasurable' must encompass the five flavors.