天台四教儀 1.52

1.52

Severing one more grade, one enters the rank of virtual enlightenment, also called the vajra mind, also called the stage of one more birth before buddhahood, and also called the one who has an ultimate [surpassing him]. Breaking yet one more grade of ignorance, one enters the rank of sublime enlightenment; sitting upon the great jewel flower king seat beneath the seven-jeweled Bodhi tree in the Lotus Treasury World, one manifests the complete reward body and turns the Dharma wheel of the immeasurable four truths for the assembly of dull-rooted bodhisattvas; this is precisely this Buddha. Some sūtras and treatises state: "Prior to the seventh ground is called the path of effort; from the eighth ground upward is called the effortless path; the rank of sublime enlightenment only breaks one grade of ignorance"—all such [statements] are spoken according to doctrinal pathway. Some places state: "The first ground severs views; from the second to the sixth grounds, thought is severed, equal to an arhat"—this merely borrows the names of the ranks of the distinct teaching to name the ranks of the shared teaching. Some say: "The three worthies and ten sages dwell in karmic reward, while only the Buddha alone dwells in the Pure Land"—this borrows the names of the distinct teaching to explain the ranks of the perfect teaching. Categories like these are very numerous; one must know in detail the ranks of severing and realization of the teaching in question, knowing at which rank which delusion is severed and which principle is realized; then in assessing the various teachings and various ranks, there will be nothing one does not penetrate. The brief explanation of the distinct teaching is concluded.