大乘入道次第開決 1.56

1.56

"Bodhisattvas on the seventh bhūmi only cultivate the signless without giving rise to effort": observing what is stated here, it must be a clerical error. If not, how would it differ from the eighth bhūmi? Furthermore, it contradicts the Cheng weishi lun and the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, and so on. The Cheng weishi lun states: "On the preceding five bhūmis, contemplation with signs is frequent and signless contemplation is infrequent; on the sixth bhūmi, contemplation with signs is infrequent and signless contemplation is frequent; arriving at the seventh bhūmi, contemplation is purely signless; although it is constantly continuous, there is still preparatory effort." The Mahāyānasaṃgraha states: "That is, on this bhūmi, one attains culmination regarding effortful practice; although no signs can shake one, regarding the signless it is still called having practice." Based on these texts, we know that effortful practice has not yet ceased.