傳法正宗記 3.22

3.22

Appraisal: The orthodox lineage values brevity and subtlety, so why did the Great Being Nāgārjuna express it with extensive treatises? The answer is: indeed, brevity and subtlety are always difficult to attain. Since people's faculties and capacities vary in depth, if one does not guide them with expedient means, how could those of shallow faith advance toward it? Therefore, the Great Being composed treatises striving to stimulate each particular capacity. Does not the *Nirvāṇa-sūtra* say: "Take care not to speak Dharma words extensively for people of sharp faculties, nor speak Dharma briefly for people of dull faculties"? Now, what is brief and subtle essentially lies in the mind having reached it; one must not judge its appropriateness by whether words are used or not. Therefore, when one has verified brevity and subtlety, the more one speaks, the more one attains it; when one has not verified brevity and subtlety, the more one speaks, the farther away one gets.