止觀輔行傳弘決 8.36

8.36

Next, in [the section on] the aids to the path, the words "not the four great elements" and so forth also share the same meaning as before. The words "not pure" and so forth are spoken in terms of refuting inversions. "Possessing the real" and so forth are spoken in terms of the realm of the truths, which is what the previous text meant by saying: "My illness and sentient beings' illness are both neither real nor existent." It also means contemplating illness as the middle way, which is jointly explained herein. Emptiness, provisionality, and so forth are spoken in terms of contemplative wisdom. Withered and flourishing and so forth are spoken in terms of what is symbolized. As fully stated in the previous text regarding the meaning embracing both the great and small, the simultaneous establishment of the withered and flourishing, and so forth, it is simply the perfect four stations of mindfulness in a single thought. Under the auxiliary paths, the words "if one cultivates correct contemplation" refer to the correct practice, and the correct practice consists of the six such as the aids to the path. But if in contemplating the previous six obstacles they are not eliminated, one should borrow the previous six remedies—calming and contemplation, breath, visualization, and methods—to serve as aids. The joint practice of correct and auxiliary [methods] is fully explained as in the seventh [fascicle]. One will even enter the initial station and attain the patience of non-arising, so how much more will the illness of the four great elements not dissolve and be cured?