開元釋教錄 18.8.7

18.8.7

…[śramaṇa] Mingquan and others in the Catalogue of Various Canonical Scriptures. The Zhou Catalogue states: 'Tradition has handed down from ancient times that these are all spurious and erroneous. Observing their phrasing, it is redundant and chaotic, and their doctrine is shallow and frivolous. Although they usurp the name of the Buddha's preachings, they ultimately betray the mark of human contrivance. That the multitudes are led astray and fall into error is entirely due to this. Therefore, they are set forth and listed in full as above.' (The compiler remarks: These eighty sūtras were never recorded in any of the ancient catalogues of spurious works. Only the Zhou Catalogue included them. Although it says that tradition from ancient times holds them all to be spurious and erroneous, it does not specifically indicate from which catalogue they were drawn. For now, following the Zhou Catalogue, they are set forth as above.)
San jie fo fa (Buddhist Teachings of the Three Levels), four fascicles (The Neidian Catalogue calls this San jie bie ji in four fascicles, which is the same as this).
Shi da duan ming yi (Clarifying the Meaning in Ten Great Sections), three fascicles (The Changfang Catalogue calls this San jie bie ji in three fascicles, which is the same as this).
Genji pu yao fa (Universal Medicine for Capacities and Dispositions), two fascicles (The Great Zhou Catalogue besides this has a San jie ji lu in two fascicles, which is an error).
Sanshiliu zhong duimian bu shi cuo fa (Thirty-six Kinds of Overlooked Errors Right Before One's Face), one fascicle (Clarifies all thirty-six kinds of overlooked errors right before one's face).
The above four works are the teachings of the Three Levels. The first is the four-fascicle Three Levels, the next is the three-fascicle Three Levels, the third is the two-fascicle Three Levels, and the last is the one-fascicle Three Levels. The latter three texts are counted among the compiled records.
Dasheng yan ren tongxing fa (Mahāyāna Method of Testing People for Common Practice), one fascicle.
Dui gen qianshen fa putixin fa (Method of Arousing the Bodhicitta According to the Depth of Capacities), one fascicle (with the four characters 'Clarifying in Various Sūtras' added above).
Dui gen qianshen tongyi fa (Method of the Similarities and Differences According to the Depth of Capacities), one fascicle (with the same four characters added above as before).
Mofa zhongsheng yu fofa nei feixing suoyou fa (Method of the Causes of the Decline and Rise of Sentient Beings Within the Buddha-Dharma in the Final Dharma Age), one fascicle (with the eight characters 'Clarifying in Various Sūtras According to the Depth of Capacities' added above).
Xue qiu shanzhishi fa putixin fa (Method of Learning to Seek Good Friends and Arousing the Bodhicitta), one fascicle (One fascicle: Clarifying how among people who possess all four conditions in the worldly five-turbidities evil world, in the evil time of the Final Dharma, sentient beings of the ten evils whose merit is of the lowest practice, meaning people who are vessels for the three vehicles, should rely on various Mahāyāna sūtras and śāstras to learn to seek good friends and learn to arouse the bodhicitta).
Guang ming fajie zhongsheng genji fa (Extensive Exposition of the Method of the Capacities of Sentient Beings in the Dharmadhātu), one fascicle (Extensive exposition of the method of the higher and lower capacities of sentient beings in the Dharmadhātu and the depth of their practice).
Lüe ming fajie zhongsheng genji fa (Brief Exposition of the Method of the Capacities of Sentient Beings in the Dharmadhātu), one fascicle (Brief exposition of the method of the higher and lower capacities of sentient beings in the Dharmadhātu and the depth of their practice).
Shijian chushijian liang jie ren fa putixin fa (Method of Arousing the Bodhicitta for the Two Levels of People, Wordly and World-transcending), one fascicle (Clarifying the method of the similarities and differences in arousing the bodhicitta between the two levels of worldly and world-transcending people in various Mahāyāna sūtras).
Shijian shi zhong e juzu ren huixin ru dao fa (Method for Worldly People Fully Endowed with the Ten Evils to Turn Their Minds and Enter the Way), one fascicle (Clarifying the method of cutting off evil and cultivating goodness by which the most evil people among those fully endowed with the ten evils turn their minds and enter the Way).
Xing xing tongyi fa (Method of the Similarities and Differences in Practices), one fascicle (Clarifying the method of the similarities and differences between the practices of worldly and world-transcending people).
Dang genqi suo xing fa (Method to be Practiced According to Capacities and Receptivity), one fascicle (Clarifying the method to be practiced according to capacities and receptivity by all the most inverted, most heterodox, and most evil sentient beings after the second five hundred years following the Buddha's parinirvāṇa).
Ming shanren eren duoshao fa (Method of Clarifying the Number of Good and Evil People), one fascicle (Clarifying the number of good and evil people after one thousand five hundred years following the Buddha's parinirvāṇa).
Jiu fofa nei ming yiqie fofa yiqie liushi waidao fa (Method of Clarifying All the Buddha-Dharma and All the Doctrines of the Six Heterodox Teachers from Within the Buddha-Dharma), two fascicles (Clarifying the similarities and differences between all the Buddha-Dharma and the doctrines of the six heterodox teachers from within all the Buddha-Dharma).
Ming dasheng wujinzang fa (Method of Clarifying the Mahāyāna Inexhaustible Treasury), one fascicle.
Ming zhu jing zhong fayuan fa (Method of Clarifying the Making of Vows in Various Sūtras), one fascicle.
Lüe fayuan fa (Method of Briefly Making Vows), one fascicle.
Ming renqing xing fa (Method of Clarifying Practices According to Human Dispositions), one fascicle.
Da zhong zhi fa (Regulations for the Great Assembly), one fascicle.
Jing sanbao fa (Method of Reverencing the Three Jewels), one fascicle (Method of clarifying the depth of initiating practice in reverencing the Three Jewels according to capacities in various sūtras).
Dui gen qi xing fa (Method of Initiating Practice According to Capacities), one fascicle (Method of clarifying how all sentient beings initiate practice according to higher and lower capacities, containing five sections within).
Toutuo qishi fa (Method of Dhūta Begging for Food), one fascicle (Briefly compiled method of dhūta begging for food based on various sūtras and śāstras).
Ming qishi ba men fa (Method of Clarifying the Eight Gates of Begging for Food), one fascicle.
Zhu jing yao ji (Essential Compilation of Various Sūtras), two fascicles.
Shilun yi yi li ming (Establishing Names According to Meaning Based on the Ten Wheels), two fascicles (Studying the Dafangguang shilun jing and establishing names according to meaning).
Shilun lüe chao (Brief Excerpts from the Ten Wheels), one fascicle (Briefly excerpted from the Dafangguang shilun jing for inclusion in the compilation catalogue).
Daji yuezang fen yi yi li ming (Establishing Names According to Meaning Based on the Candragarbha Section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta), one fascicle (Briefly excerpted and establishing names according to meaning for inclusion in the compilation catalogue of essential methods of practice during the Semblance Dharma from the Candragarbha Section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra).
Daji yuezang fen chao (Excerpts from the Candragarbha Section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta), one fascicle (Briefly excerpted for inclusion in the compilation catalogue of essential methods of practice during the Semblance Dharma from the Candragarbha Section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra).
Yuedeng jing yaolüe (Essentials of the Candradīpa Sūtra), one fascicle.
Jiashe fozang chao (Excerpts from the Kāśyapa Buddhapiṭaka), one fascicle (Clarifying the method of cutting off evil and cultivating goodness for the most evil monastics among all monastics, as explained in the Kāśyapa Buddhapiṭaka Sūtra).
Guang qi jie foming (Extensive Names of the Buddhas of the Seven Levels), one fascicle (Names of the Buddhas from the Sūtra on the Contemplation of the Bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata, one fascicle).
Lüe qi jie foming (Brief Names of the Buddhas of the Seven Levels), one fascicle (The above teachings of the Three Levels and so forth often bear the title of 'compiled by man' in them; their extended titles are given fully in the notes).
The above teachings of the Three Levels and miscellaneous compilations total thirty-five works in forty-four fascicles, composed by śramaṇa Xinxing of Zhenji Temple under the Sui. (The Changfang Catalogue states they total thirty-five fascicles; the Neidian Catalogue states they are forty fascicles in all; the Great Zhou spurious catalogue records only twenty-two works in twenty-nine fascicles, none of which are exhaustive. The Stele on the Promotion of the Teachings of the Three Levels states there are over forty fascicles, but does not list the sections, fascicles, or titles separately. Now, after detailed investigation, they are set forth fully as above.)
Although what Xinxing composed cites scriptural texts, they all favor his biased views and give rise to arbitrary interpretations. They both run counter to the holy intent and usurp the true doctrine. In the twentieth year of Kaihuang, an imperial edict banned them and forbade their circulation. However, his followers were already numerous, and the entanglement spread ever wider, with adherents forming factions and providing extensive mutual support. (Namely, taking Xinxing as the sectarian leader, practicing divergent methods independently, resembling Devadatta in establishing a false Three Jewels.)
Although Emperor Wen of the Sui banned their circulation, he could not stop them at their root. In the first year of the Zhengsheng era of our Heavenly Empress of the Tang, an imperial decree ordered the determination of spurious sūtras and miscellaneous talismans and records, to be sent to the Ministry of Rites for compilation. The aforementioned teachings both violate the Buddha's intent and establish a divergent sect, thus falling within the category of spurious and miscellaneous talismans and records. Furthermore, according to an edict of the second year of the Shengli era of the Heavenly Empress: 'Those who study the Three Levels are only permitted to beg for food, observe permanent fasting, abstain from grains, uphold the precepts, and sit in meditation. Anything practiced beyond this is a violation of the law.' Coming down to our Divine and Martial Emperor of Kaiyuan, his sagely virtue brightly covers all and universally enriches the populace; the sagely sun hangs beautifully in the sky, leaving no darkness unilluminated. Recognizing their subversion of the truth and fabrication of falsehoods, he issued an imperial decree to suppress them. On the third day of the sixth month in the thirteenth year of the Kaiyuan era, the year yichou,
an imperial edict ordered all Three Levels cloisters in the various monasteries to remove their dividing partitions, allowing them to connect with the main compound so that the saṃgha would reside intermingled and not live separately. All circulated compilations and records were strictly prohibited and ordered destroyed. If monastic administrators indulged them in preaching and enticing people without investigating and denouncing them, they were ordered to be defrocked. Having the fortune to receive these clear instructions to reform past errors, we do not dare to errantly enter them into the Orthodox Catalogue; they are entirely excised to instruct future generations. (The extensive and brief Seven Levels merely compile excerpts according to sūtras, and although they contain no heterodox doctrines...