天台八教大意 1.12

1.12

Third, explaining the bodhisattva vehicle: from the initial generation of the aspiration, taking the four truths of arising and ceasing as object, they generate the four universal vows: first, 'those not yet delivered I shall cause to be delivered'—that is, beings are limitless, I vow to deliver them—meaning to deliver heavenly māras, non-Buddhists, and beings of the six paths of the two kinds, attachment and views; this is generating the aspiration by taking the realm of the truth of suffering as object. Second, 'those not yet liberated I shall cause to be liberated'—that is, afflictions are inexhaustible, I vow to sever them—vowing to sever the bonds of views and deliberations of the twenty-five realms of existence for beings of the six paths of attachment and views, causing them to attain liberation; this is generating the aspiration by taking the realm of the truth of origin as object. Third, 'those not yet at ease I shall cause to be at ease'—meaning the Dharma gates are measureless, I vow to know them—that is, causing beings of the six paths of attachment and views to know the truth of the path with its thirty-seven factors, setting themselves at ease; this is generating the aspiration by taking the truth of the path as object. Fourth, 'those who have not yet attained nirvāṇa I shall cause to attain nirvāṇa'—that is, the buddha path is unsurpassed, I vow to accomplish it—this causes beings of the six paths of attachment and views to extinguish the causes and effects of the twenty-five realms of existence and realize the principle of the truth of cessation; this is generating the aspiration by relying on the realm of the truth of cessation as object. Having generated the aspiration, one must practice to fulfill the vows; the practice is the six perfections cultivated over three asaṃkhyeyas and one hundred kalpas. From first encountering Śākyamuni up to Ratnaśikhin is called the first asaṃkhyeya; from then on, one is constantly free from a female body and still does not know that one will become a buddha; this is the stage of the external worldlings' fivefold mind-stopping and general and specific mindfulnesses. From Śikhin to Dīpaṃkara Buddha, offering seven-stalked lotuses and spreading hair to cover the mud, one receives Dīpaṃkara's prediction that one will become a buddha named Śākyamuni; at that time one knows it oneself, but has not yet spoken it aloud; this is the second asaṃkhyeya, which is the stage of warmth practicing the phenomenal six perfections. Next, from Dīpaṃkara to Vipaśyin Buddha is the third asaṃkhyeya; one both knows it and speaks it; this is the stage of summits practicing the six perfections. If one surpasses the three asaṃkhyeyas, in one hundred kalpas one plants the blessings for the thirty-two marks, one hundred blessings producing one mark. 'Blessing' refers to the cause of a mark; the meanings of 'blessing' are manifold and difficult to definitively determine. At a time when a buddha appears in the world in a male body in the southern continent, by taking the marks of the buddha's body as object, one is able to plant them. One says: 'A wheel-turning king having sovereignty over the four continents is one blessing.' Some say: 'Like Śakra having sovereignty over two continents is one blessing.' Some say: 'Curing the blindness of people in the great trichiliocosm is one blessing.' Some say: 'When all people break the precepts, being able to preach the Dharma for them to make them abandon breaking the prohibitions is one blessing.' Some say: 'Beyond comparison, only a buddha can know; having entered the third asaṃkhyeya to cultivate great practice, the blessings are hard to measure.'