釋氏稽古略 2.281

2.281

In this year of the Chen, the emperor decreed that Chan Master Zhiyi move to the capital to reside at Guangzhai Monastery. In the eleventh year of the Kaihuang reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui, when Yang Guang, King of Jin (who later became Emperor Yang), was in overall command of the Jiang and Huai regions, on the twenty-third day of the eleventh month, he invited the Master to Jincheng, the headquarters of the Yang prefecture governor-general, to hold a monastic assembly and administer the bodhisattva precepts. The Master gave the King the Dharma name Zongchi (Dhāraṇī). The King presented the Master with the title Zhizhe (Wise One). The title Great Master Zhizhe began from this. The Master customarily classified and explained the entire sacred teaching of the [Buddha's] lifetime that had flowed east through the five periods and eight teachings, leaving nothing unexhausted. As for the five periods: first, the Avataṃsaka period; second, the Deer Park period, in which the four Āgamas were preached; third, the Vaipulya period, in which such sūtras as the Vimalakīrti, Viśeṣacintā, Laṅkāvatāra, Suvarṇaprabhāsa, and Śrīmālādevī were preached; fourth, the Prajñā period, in which the Mahāprajñā, Guangzan banruo, Vajracchedikā-prajñā, and various Prajñā sūtras were preached; fifth, the Lotus and Nirvāṇa period. As for the eight teachings: sudden, gradual, secret, indeterminate, Tripiṭaka, common, distinct, and complete. The four teachings from 'sudden' onward are the methods of conversion, like medical prescriptions in the mundane world; the four teachings from 'Tripiṭaka' onward are the doctrines of conversion, like discerning the flavors of medicines. The first, the sudden teaching: the Avataṃsaka Sūtra says that, just as when the sun rises it first illuminates the high mountains, [this is] the first period. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says that, just as milk is extracted from a cow, this [period represents] the twelve divisions of scriptures coming forth from the Buddha. The second, the gradual teaching: the three periods and three flavors below this are collectively called gradual. Initially, in the Deer Park, teachings such as the four truths, the twelve links of dependent origination, and the phenomenal six perfections were preached. In terms of time, it is the sun illuminating the deep valleys, the second period; in terms of flavor, it is turning milk into curds, which is producing the nine divisions of sūtras from the twelve divisions. Next, the Vaipulya division, sūtras such as the Vimalakīrti, was expounded, censuring the biased and breaking the Hinayāna, praising the great and extolling the complete. All four teachings were spoken: the Tripiṭaka is the half-letter teaching, while the common, distinct, and complete are the full-letter teachings. In terms of time, it is the mealtime, the third period; in terms of flavor, it is turning curds into butter, which is producing the Vaipulya from the nine divisions. Next, Prajñā was preached. In terms of time, it is late morning, the fourth period; in terms of flavor, it is turning butter into clarified butter, which is producing Mahāprajñā after the Vaipulya. The third, the secret teaching: because the Tathāgata's three wheels are inconceivable, he may preach the sudden for this person or the gradual for that person, and neither knows of the other, enabling them to gain benefit; thus it is called secret. The fourth, the indeterminate teaching: throughout the previous four flavors, the Buddha expounded the Dharma with a single voice, and sentient beings each gained understanding according to their capacity; by inconceivable power, he could enable sentient beings to gain sudden benefit from a gradual teaching, and gradual benefit from a sudden teaching; because their gains of benefit were not identical, it is called the indeterminate teaching. Next, the Lotus was preached. Opening the previous sudden and gradual, it converged them into what is neither sudden nor gradual; thus it is said to 'open the provisional to reveal the real'. It is also said to 'discard the provisional to establish the real', and 'converge the three to return to the one'. The sūtra says: 'In the Buddha lands of the ten directions, there is only the Dharma of the One Vehicle, neither two nor three'; 'Honestly discarding expedients, I only preach the unsurpassed Way.' In terms of time, it is when the sun's wheel is at high noon, utterly without side shadows, the fifth period; in terms of flavor, it is turning clarified butter into ghee, which is producing the Lotus from Mahāprajñā, opening, displaying, awakening to, and entering the knowledge and vision of the Buddha, and bestowing prophecies of attaining Buddhahood upon practitioners of the three vehicles and all sentient beings. Next, the preaching of the Great Nirvāṇa has two meanings: first, for those not yet mature, it re-expounds the four teachings and fully speaks of the Buddha-nature, enabling them to be endowed with the true and eternal and to enter great nirvāṇa, hence it is called the 'gleaning teaching'; second, for dull-rooted beings of the degenerate age who would give rise to views of annihilation within the Buddha's Dharma, cutting short the life of wisdom and forfeiting the Dharma body, it speaks of three provisional teachings to support the one complete and real [teaching], hence it is called the 'teaching of supporting the vinaya and speaking of the eternal'. In terms of both time and flavor, it is identical to the Lotus. The four doctrines of conversion: first, the Tripiṭaka teaching, consisting of 1. the Sūtra Piṭaka, such scriptures as the four Āgamas; 2. the Abhidharma Piṭaka, such treatises as the Kośa and Vibhāṣā; 3. the Vinaya Piṭaka, the vinayas of the five divisions. These three piṭakas apply in name to both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna; here it takes the Hīnayāna Tripiṭaka, referring to suffering, origination, cessation, the path, and so forth. Next is explained the common teaching: it shares common ground with the preceding Tripiṭaka teaching and communicates with the subsequent distinct and complete teachings, hence it is called the common teaching. The third, the distinct teaching, explains the doctrines, principles, wisdom, severance, practices, stages, causes, and effects solely of the bodhisattvas beyond the realms [of samsara]; distinct from the previous three teachings and distinct from the subsequent complete teaching, it is therefore called distinct. The fourth, the complete teaching: 'complete' means subtly complete, fulfilled, sufficient, and complete and sudden; hence it is called the complete teaching. That is to say, complete subduing, complete faith, complete severance, complete practice, complete stages, complete unhindered adornment, and complete establishment of sentient beings. What all Mahāyāna sūtras and treatises describe as the Buddha's realm, not shared by the stages of the three vehicles, all belongs to this teaching. This refers to how the marvelous scripture of the Lotus sweeps away attachment to the teaching of the transformed city, releases lingering sentiments for the thatched hut, opens the provisional gate of expedients, reveals the marvelous principle of reality, and converges the minor practices of myriad virtues to return to the vast One Vehicle. Thereupon [the Master] produced the Profound Meaning, saying: 'Explaining the title, discerning the substance, clarifying the principle, discussing the function, and classifying the characteristics of the teaching make up the fivefold [profound meaning].' As for the title, it raises both doctrine and metaphor together: the marvelous Dharma of the One Vehicle refers to the original nature of sentient beings, which, even within ignorance and defilements, is not tainted by them, just as a lotus flower remains in the mud yet its substance is ever pure; hence it is taken as the title. This sūtra opens the provisional to reveal the real, discards the provisional to establish the real, and converges the provisional to return to the real; just as the blossom of the lotus contains, opens, and falls, and the fruit of the lotus is concealed, revealed, formed, and actualized, it also means descending traces from the fundamental and revealing the fundamental by means of the traces. Sūtra titles do not exceed doctrine, metaphor, and person—whether single, compound, or complete—making seven kinds in all: three single, three compound, and one complete that encompasses all. The title Myōhō-renge-kyō (The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma) is one of the compound types, combining doctrine and metaphor. The title is used to summon the substance, and the substance is the true mark, for all marks have no substance apart from the true mark. The principle is the cause and effect of the One Vehicle, opening, displaying, awakening to, and entering the Buddha's knowledge and vision, which is venerable and supreme. The function is dynamic capability, for the principles of opening, discarding, and converging possess such efficacy. Thereafter, classifying the characteristics of the teaching evaluates the Buddha's lifetime of discourse, classifying it into five periods and eight teachings. Once the teachings and principles were clarified, without contemplative practice there was no way to recover the nature. Thus, relying on the principle of the three truths—emptiness, conventionality, and the middle—as well as the three cessations and three contemplations, one contemplates the mind in each and every thought, seeing every thought as ungraspable; first emptiness, next conventionality, and then the middle, leaving both extremes behind to contemplate the single mind, like the moon beyond the clouds: this is the mode of practice of the distinct teaching. Furthermore, it is said: in breaking through all delusions, nothing surpasses emptiness; in establishing all dharmas, nothing surpasses conventionality; in realizing the ultimate of all natures, nothing is greater than the middle. Therefore, when one is middle, all are middle—there is no conventionality and no emptiness that is not middle; the same holds for emptiness and conventionality. This is the mode of practice of the complete teaching. Like the three eyes of Maheśvara, they are neither vertical nor horizontal, neither parallel nor separate; thus the three contemplations are completely fulfilled, and the Dharma body is not bare. Still concerned that learners might be dark regarding practice and nature, or fall into one-sided attachment, [the Master] further initiated the doctrine of the six identities to eradicate this danger. First, the identity in principle: sentient beings of the ten Dharma realms down to midges all equally partake of the marvelous nature; from the beginningless past, the body of pure awakening has been ever-abiding and fulfilled, completely uniform in the one principle. Second, the identity in name: although the nature and principle are level and broad, those who drift with the currents use it daily without knowing it; they must rely on the external perfume of verbal teachings to hear the name, produce faith, and generate understanding. Third, the identity in contemplative practice: having heard the name and developed understanding, one must rely on the previous three contemplations to return to the source. Fourth, the identity in resemblance: as the cultivation of contemplation deepens, an ability resembling [true realization] is manifested. Fifth, the identity in partial truth: as the three minds open and develop, the function of true suchness is attained, advancing with ever-greater excellence at each stage. Sixth, the ultimate identity: ignorance is forever exhausted, the awakened mind is utterly perfected, and one realizes that which is beyond realization. These six stages above are all 'identity with the Buddha', neither debased nor confused; universally endowed with the three bodies of Dharma, reward, and transformation as the direct reward, they dwell accordingly in the four lands as their dependent reward. As for the four lands: 1. the Land of Eternally Quiescent Light and Dharma-Nature, where the Dharma body dwells; 2. the Land of True Reward and Non-obstruction, which encompasses the two types of enjoyment: the reward Buddha himself dwells in the land of self-enjoyment, while bodhisattvas who have ascended the grounds dwell in the land of enjoyment for others; 3. the Land of Expedients with Remainder; and 4. the Land where the Pure and Impure Cohabit: both are transformation lands, where pre-ground bodhisattvas, two-vehicle practitioners, and ordinary beings reside. In reality, there is neither body nor land, neither superior nor inferior; yet in response to capacities and conditions, bodies and lands are provisionally described, and superior and inferior are distinguished. The Master attained the mutual fusion of bodies and lands and the non-obstruction of provisional and real; thus for more than thirty years, day and night, he expounded the Dharma, generating the four kinds of benefit and embodying the four siddhāntas. 'Xi' means universal; 'tan' translates as giving: the Master's Dharma was universally bestowed upon sentient beings, enabling them to gain benefit according to their capacities, as in the worldly siddhānta that produces the benefit of joy, and so forth. (The Master's life circumstances appear under the yiwei year.) The Essential Meaning of the Beginning and End by the Venerable Jingxi, the ninth patriarch of Tiantai, states: 'Now the three truths are natural virtues of the nature. The middle truth unifies all dharmas; the true truth obliterates all dharmas; the conventional truth establishes all dharmas. To bring up one is to bring up all three; they are not sequential. Endowed fundamentally in all living beings, they are not obtained through artificial effort. Alas! The secret store is not manifested because it is covered by the three delusions. Thus ignorance veils the Dharma nature; dust-and-sand impedes transformative guidance; views and thoughts obstruct empty quiescence. Yet these three delusions are merely empty falsities upon the substance. Thereupon the Great Awakened Compassionate Honored One sighed and lamented, saying: Within the realm of true suchness, provisional designations of living beings are cut off; within equal wisdom, there are no forms or characteristics of self and other. It is solely because sentient beings' false thoughts prevent them from realizing this themselves that none can return. From this he established the three contemplations to break through the three delusions, realize the three wisdoms, and accomplish the three virtues. The contemplation of emptiness breaks through the delusion of views and thoughts, realizes the wisdom of all things, and accomplishes the virtue of prajñā. The contemplation of conventionality breaks through the delusion of dust-and-sand, realizes the wisdom of the modes of the path, and accomplishes the virtue of liberation. The contemplation of the middle breaks through the delusion of ignorance, realizes the wisdom of all modes, and accomplishes the virtue of the Dharma body. Yet these three delusions, three contemplations, three wisdoms, and three virtues are not distinct, nor are they at different times, for the natural principle is endowed with all dharmas. These three truths are naturally so by nature; deluded about these three truths, one turns them into the three delusions. The breaking of delusions relies on the three contemplations; when the contemplations are fulfilled, one realizes the three wisdoms; when wisdom is fulfilled, one accomplishes the three virtues. From cause to effect, it is not a gradual cultivation. Although an order is spoken for understanding, the principle has no order. Once this major framework is known, the details can be pursued.'