宗鏡錄 88.15

88.15

答。若論其道。必有其果。若無行位。即是天魔外道。經論所說。微細難知。台教有六即之文。仁王具五忍之位。恐墮上慢。執解不修。皆是古聖所詮。不敢不錄。非是叨濫。自立異端。唯望後賢願遵先製。

Answer: If one discusses the Path, it must have its fruit. If there were no stages of practice, it would be [the way of] heavenly Māras and non-Buddhists. What is explained in the sūtras and treatises is subtle and difficult to know. The Tiantai teaching contains the text on the 'six degrees of identity'; the Benevolent King [Sūtra] provides the stages of the 'five kṣāntis'. For fear that people might fall into excessive conceit and grasp at understanding without practicing, all these were expounded by ancient sages, and I do not dare omit them. It is not out of presumption that I establish divergent tenets on my own; I only hope that later worthies will wish to comply with former models.