法苑珠林 99.7

99.7

Now, when faculties are dull and the times are corrupt, firm faith is difficult to possess fully; when practice is shallow and virtue inferior, correct wisdom is easily lost. It is necessary that capacity and teaching correspond, and that text and principle be thoroughly provided. Thus a sūtra says: 'Though one recites a thousand passages, if one does not practise them, what benefit is there?' Now, in establishing the correct doctrine, one must rely on the central import. Teachings have the provisional and the real; practices have the obscured and the bright. Thus, when the moon is seen, the finger is forgotten of itself; when the meaning is grasped, words cease of themselves. How could one think that upon gaining entry to the Way, one would still remain attached and blocked? Therefore, sūtras explain that the four reliances are divided into three categories. The first is reliance on persons: namely, the great beings of the four reliances, referring to those from the initial worthy up to the ultimate sage; the person is aided by the outflow-free, and the nature of the Dharma-substance is empty. Based on relying upon them, the sages are free from perversion. The second is reliance on practices: namely, begging for food, wearing rag-robes, dhūta, araṇya, and sitting beneath trees. The third is reliance on the Dharma: as fully explained below. Establishing these three dharmas forms a mirror for the final age, truly serving as the ancestral master of all practices. When the Great Sage spoke words, none were ever uttered in vain; acting according to the teaching is wholly correct and not deviant. The first two [kinds of] four reliances are not for common application today; they are appended to a separate chapter, and here I shall explain the reliance on the Dharma. Testing to know the deviant and the correct relies solely on formlessness; even for the Buddha of wondrous marks, forms of Māra can still cause delusion—how much more so for sentient ordinary beings: can they be free from confusion? Therefore, the reliance on the Dharma is established to serve as a definitive standard.