佛祖統紀 3.44

3.44

宿世根熟天龍八部者。諸經列眾有龍畜等者。當用涅槃四句料簡。一乘急戒緩。四趣聞法悟道者。二戒急乘緩。著樂人天不聞法者。三乘戒俱急。天人聞法得道者。四乘戒俱緩。四趣不聞法者。今此眾皆是宿世曾聞華嚴。或種或熟。今當得脫之眾。止觀云以三塗身值彌勒佛聞華嚴經。正此義也。八部如常論。

Regarding 'the devas, nāgas, and eight classes whose capacities had matured in past lives': when various sūtras list the assembly including nāgas, beasts, and so on, one should apply the fourfold analysis of the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*: First, those urgent in the vehicle but lax in the precepts, who hear the Dharma in the four destinies and awaken to the Way. Second, those urgent in the precepts but lax in the vehicle, who attach to pleasure in the human and deva realms and do not hear the Dharma. Third, those urgent in both the vehicle and the precepts, who hear the Dharma as devas or humans and attain the Way. Fourth, those lax in both the vehicle and the precepts, who do not hear the Dharma in the four destinies. The present assembly consists entirely of those who in past lives had heard the *Huayan*, either planting or ripening [their roots], and who now are to attain liberation. The *Zhiguan* says that with bodies in the three evil paths, encountering Maitreya Buddha and hearing the *Huayan Sūtra*, precisely refers to this meaning. The eight classes are as commonly discussed.