法華傳記 2.19

2.19

無量義經者。取其無相一法。廣生眾教含義不貲。故曰無量。夫三界群生。隨義而轉。一極正覺。任機而通。流轉起滅者。必在苦而希樂。此叩聖之感也。順道示現者。亦施悲而用慈。即救世之應也。根異教殊。其階成七。先為彼利等說五戒。所謂人天善根一也。次為拘隣等轉四諦。所謂授聲聞乘二也。次為中根演十二因緣。所謂授緣覺乘三也。次為上根舉六波羅蜜。所謂授以大乘四也。眾教宜融。群疑須導。次說無量義經。既稱得道差品。復云未顯真實。使發求實之冥機。用開一極之由緒五也。故法華接唱顯一除三。順彼求實之心。去此施權之名六也。雖權開而實現。猶掩常住之正義。在雙樹而臨崖。乃暢我淨之玄音七也。過此以往法門雖多。撮其大歸數盡於此。亦由眾聲不出五音之表。百氏並在六家之內。其無量義經。雖法華首載其目。而中夏未覩其說。每臨講肆。未甞不廢。談而歎想。見斯文忽有武當山比丘慧表。生自著冑。偽帝姚略從子國破之日。為晉軍何澹之所得。數歲聰黠。澹之字曰螟蛉。養為假子。俄放出家。便勤若求道。南北遊尋。不擇夷險。以齊建元三年。復訪奇搜祕。遠至嶺南。於廣州朝亭寺。遇中天竺沙門曇摩伽陀耶舍。手能隸書。口解齊言。欲傳此經。未知所授。表便慇懃致請。心形俱至淹歷旬朔。僅得一本。仍還嶠北齎。入武當以今永明三年九月十八日。頂戴出山。見投弘通。奉覿真文。欣敬兼誠。詠歌不足手舞。莫宣輒虔訪宿。解抽刷庸思。謹立序。注云。自極教應世。與俗而差。神道救物。稱感成異。玄圃以東號曰太一。罽賓以西字為正覺。東國明殃慶於百年。西域辨休咎於三世。希無之與修空其揆一也。有欲於無者。既無得無之分。施心於空者。豈有入空之照。而講求釋教者。或謂會理可漸。或謂入空必頓。請試言之以筌幽寄。立漸者以萬事之成。莫不有漸。堅氷基於履霜。九成作於累土。學人之入空也。雖未圓符。譬如斬木去寸無寸。去尺無尺。三空稍登。寧非漸耶。立頓者以希善之功。莫過觀於法性。法性從緣非有非無。忘慮於非有非無。理照斯一者。乃曰解空。存心於非有非無。境智猶二者。未免於有。有中伏結非無。日損之驗。空上論心。未有入理之効。而言。納羅漢於一聽。判無生於終朝。是接誘之言。非稱實之說。妙得非漸。理固必然。既二談分路。兩意爭途。一去一取。莫之或正。尋得旨之匠。起自支安支公之論無生。以七住為道慧。陰是十住。則群方與能在迹。斯異語照則一。安公之辯異。觀三乘者始簣之日。稱定慧者終成之實。錄此謂始。求可隨根。而三入解。則其慧不二。譬喻亦去。大難既夷。乃無有三。險路既息。其化即亡。此則名一為三。非有三悟明矣。生公云。道品可以泥洹。非羅漢之名。六度可以至佛。非樹王之謂。斬木之喻。木存故尺寸可漸。無生之證。生盡故其照必頓。案三乘名教。皆以生盡照息。去有入空。以此為道。不得取象於形器也。今無量義。亦以無相為本。若所證實異。豈曰無相。若入照必同。寧曰有漸。非漸而云漸。密筌之虛教耳。如來亦云。空拳誑小兒。以此度眾生。微文接麁漸說。或允忘象得意。頓義為長。聊舉大較。談者擇焉（出三藏記第九）。

As for the Amitārtha-sūtra, taking the one markless Dharma, it broadly generates numerous teachings containing unreckonable meanings; hence it is called 'Amitārtha' (Immeasurable Meanings). Now, the multitude of living beings in the three realms turn in accordance with their meanings, while the single, ultimate Perfect Enlightenment penetrates according to capacities. Those who transmigrate, arising and ceasing, are inevitably in suffering and hope for joy: this is the resonance that appeals to the Sage. He who manifests in accord with the Way bestows compassion and applies loving-kindness: this is the response that saves the world. As capacities differ and teachings vary, their gradations form seven [stages]. First, for Bhallika and others, he taught the five precepts, which is the first: the wholesome roots of humans and devas. Next, for Kauṇḍinya and others, he turned [the wheel of] the four truths, which is the second: conferring the śrāvaka-yāna. Next, for those of middling faculties, he expounded the twelvefold dependent origination, which is the third: conferring the pratyekabuddha-yāna. Next, for those of superior faculties, he brought forth the six pāramitās, which is the fourth: conferring the Mahāyāna. The various teachings ought to blend, and the doubts of the multitude must be guided. Next, he preached the Amitārtha-sūtra. Having already stated the graded differences in attaining the Way, he further declared that the true reality had not yet been revealed, causing the subtle capacity of seeking reality to be aroused, thereby opening the beginning of the single ultimate, which is the fifth. Therefore, the Lotus Sūtra continued the proclamation to reveal the One and eliminate the three, complying with their hearts seeking reality and casting off the designation of having set forth expedients here, which is the sixth. Although the expedients were opened and the real manifested, the correct principle of eternal presence was still veiled; between the twin trees and overlooking the cliff, he then voiced the profound sound of purity and self, which is the seventh. Beyond this, though the Dharma doors are many, gathering their overarching convergence, their count is exhausted in these [seven stages]. It is just as myriad sounds do not go beyond the five tones, and the hundred schools are all contained within the six philosophies. As for this Amitārtha-sūtra, although the Lotus Sūtra records its title at the head, in China its text had not yet been seen. Whenever I attended the lecture seats, I never failed to set aside discussions to sigh and wish to see this text. Suddenly there was Bhikṣu Huibiao of Mount Wudang. Born of a prominent clan, he was a nephew of the illegitimate emperor Yao Lue. On the day the state fell, he was captured by He Danzhi of the Jin army. Being several years old, clever and intelligent, Danzhi gave him the style-name Mingling and reared him as an adopted son. Shortly afterward, he allowed him to go forth into the monastic life, and [Huibiao] then diligently sought the Way. Wandering and searching north and south, he did not avoid ease or danger. In the third year of the Jianyuan era of the Qi dynasty, he again sought out unusual texts and searched for esoteric works, going far to the south of the Nanling Mountains. At Chaoting Monastery in Guangzhou, he encountered the monk Dharmagatayaśas from Central India, who could write clerical script with his hand and understood the language of Qi with his mouth. [Dharmagatayaśas] wished to transmit this sūtra, but did not know to whom to bestow it. Biao then earnestly made his request, arriving with utmost devotion in mind and body. After the passing of months and moons, he obtained merely a single copy. He then returned north of the ridges carrying it, and entered Mount Wudang. On the eighteenth day of the ninth month of the current third year of the Yongming era, carrying it on his head, he came out of the mountains and presented it to be propagated. Receiving and viewing the true text, joy and reverence were mingled with sincerity; singing praises was not enough, and dancing with hands could not express it. Thereupon, devoutly inquiring into previous understandings and drawing out to polish away mediocre thoughts, I respectfully composed this preface, which states: Ever since the ultimate teaching responded to the world, it differed from the mundane; the divine way saves beings, forming distinctions according to sympathetic resonances. East of the Xuanpu Garden it is called the Great One; west of Jibin it is named the Perfect Enlightened One. The eastern country clarifies calamity and blessing within a hundred years; the western regions discern misfortune and fortune across the three existences. Aspiring to nonbeing and cultivating emptiness have the same principle. If one has desire for nonbeing, one already lacks the share to attain nonbeing; if one applies the mind to emptiness, how could one have the illumination of entering emptiness? Yet those who lecture on and seek the Buddhist teachings either say that merging with the principle can be gradual, or say that entering emptiness must be sudden. Let me attempt to speak of this to provide a trap [for the hare] for these deep considerations. Those who advocate the gradual hold that in the completion of the myriad things, none lacks a gradual progression: solid ice is based on treading frost; a nine-tiered [terrace] is built from piled earth. When a practitioner enters emptiness, though not yet fully aligned, it is like felling wood: remove an inch, and an inch is gone; remove a foot, and a foot is gone. Gradually climbing the three emptinesses, how is this not gradual? Those who advocate the sudden hold that the efficacy of aspiring to goodness does not surpass contemplating dharmatā. Dharmatā arises from conditions and is neither existent nor non-existent; forgetting deliberation regarding neither existence nor non-existence, when the illumination of principle is this one, then it is called understanding emptiness. If one preserves the mind on neither existence nor non-existence, object and wisdom remain two, and one is not yet freed from existence. Suppressing the fetters within existence is not non-existence, as evidenced by daily diminution; discussing the mind on the basis of emptiness has not yet attained the efficacy of entering the principle. And to say that one admits an arhat upon a single hearing, or determines anutpāda in a single morning—these are words of accommodation and guidance, not statements that fit reality. Sublime attainment is not gradual; the principle is firmly inevitable. Since the two discourses part ways and the two opinions contend for paths, rejecting one and adopting the other, none could correct it. Investigating the masters who attained the import, it began with Zhi Daozhi and Dao'an's discourses on anutpāda, taking the seventh dwelling as the wisdom of the Way and implicitly affirming the tenth dwelling, so that the various realms share the ability in traces. Although their words differ, their illumination is one. Master An's distinction of differences regarded those who contemplate the three vehicles as the day of the first basket of earth, and praised those of samādhi and wisdom as the reality of ultimate accomplishment. Recording this refers to the beginning; seeking may follow capacities, but when the three enter understanding, their wisdom is non-dual. The parables are also removed: once the great hardship is leveled, there are no longer three; once the perilous road is pacified, the conjured city vanishes. This means calling one 'three'; that there are not three awakenings is clear! Master Zhu Daosheng said: 'The aids to the Way can lead to nirvāṇa, but this is not the designation of an arhat; the six perfections can reach buddhahood, but this is not the name of the king of trees.' In the parable of cutting wood, because the wood remains, feet and inches can be gradual; in the realization of anutpāda, because rebirth is exhausted, its illumination must be sudden. Examining the doctrinal teachings of the three vehicles, all take the exhaustion of rebirth and the cessation of illumination, casting off existence and entering emptiness, to be the Way; one must not take metaphors from tangible vessels. Now, the Amitārtha[-sūtra] also takes marklessness as its foundation. If what is realized were truly different, how could it be called markless? If the entering illumination must be identical, how could one say there is the gradual? To speak of the gradual where there is no gradual is merely the empty teaching of an esoteric fish trap. The Tathāgata also said: 'With an empty fist one deceives a small child, and by this means one delivers living beings.' Subtle texts accommodate the coarse, and gradual preachings may allow forgetting the image to grasp the meaning; the doctrine of suddenness is superior. I merely raise the general outline; let those who discuss it choose. (From the Chu Sanzang Jiji, fascicle nine.)