佛祖統紀 6.22

6.22

The appraisal says: Those who abandon the learning of Tiantai and yet wish to understand the intent of the Buddha's teaching are not worthy to be conversed with. Therefore, ever since the sacred teachings crossed to the east, sūtras and treatises were propagated everywhere, yet people merely indulged their own minds, none knowing the correct meaning. In the Qi and Liang periods, various worthy masters stood out, extensively expounding the Lotus Sūtra and establishing theories to classify the teachings. With theories of the one voice and four aspects, and discussions of the four periods and six tenets, their diverse formulations were tangled, competing with and supplanting one another. The three southern and seven northern schools vied to convert that era, just like scattered petty kings of millet grains arrogantly puffing themselves up—(Supplementary note: Putting millet in a dish, each occupying a place, is a metaphor for the petty kings)—not knowing the flying progress of the golden wheel and the abundant majestic virtue that governs the four seas! Only our Great Dhyāna Master Zhiyi, a sage endowed by Heaven, was equipped with all merits. Considering that the succession of the three contemplations of the ancestors had not yet achieved magnificence, he thereupon took the Lotus Sūtra's gate of awakening to preach the great path of calming and contemplation, establishing the scriptures and displaying the principles as a model for ten thousand generations. When he decisively refuted Guangzhai, the others scattered like wind before him; when he thoroughly challenged the four schools, the rest lost their ground. He proclaimed the ultimate transformation and effortlessly brought about great peace. Had he not been a sage born for the times, who could have accomplished this great enterprise? Thus, if one wishes to understand the intent of the Buddha's teaching, is it not found solely in the learning of Tiantai?