英語訳
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All sentient beings of the three vehicles are covered by the vehicles. What further reason is there to sometimes permit the determined nature of the Mahāyāna but not permit the determined nature of the two vehicles? These doctrinal principles are all like solid rock. Who can move them? If one uses the universal attainment teachings of the Lotus Sutra and others as proof, I use the five-nature teachings of the Saṃdhinirmocana and others as sincere proof. If one uses the Lotus Sutra's "opening the three and revealing the one" as the reason, I use the Saṃdhinirmocana's "reconciling the one and establishing the five" as the reason. If one considers the Lotus Sutra's solemn exposition as a virtue surpassing other teachings, the Saṃdhinirmocana was taught in the Lotus Treasury World, its teaching master was precisely Vairocana Buddha, and its proper audience was precisely bodhisattvas of the eighth stage and above such as Avalokiteśvara and Maitreya. One text in five fascicles, seven main chapters, with every passage exhaustively expressing the treasury of characteristics and nature, each chapter calling itself ultimate definitive meaning. In the eighteen perfect reward-lands, what purpose is there in teaching incomplete doctrines? What use is there in expounding shallow approaches to bodhisattvas of the most profound levels? Moreover, though the Lotus Sutra reconciles the three vehicles, it has not yet reconciled the five natures. The Saṃdhinirmocana clearly harmonizes the one vehicle. The Lotus Sutra has not yet explained the characteristics and nature of the Mahāyāna. The Saṃdhinirmocana explains in detail the buddhahood of śrāvakas who dedicate merit toward bodhi. The hidden and manifest aspects of both teachings can be understood through reflection. Though the textual principles are complex, this is generally the case. Question: Ordinary minds cannot know their own nature-lineage by themselves. How do we know that I am not of determined nature or without nature? If there is no buddha-nature, cultivating the buddha-path is useless. If so, people who study the five-nature teaching always have this doubt. Is this not a great difficulty? It would be better to simply study the universal buddha-attainment school and form decisive conviction. This too is what the Buddha taught and what great sages transmitted. It is especially worthy of study and reliance. Answer: What we are now discussing is the provisional and ultimate aspects of the school. What is now being asked are the thoughts of ignorant people. How can one rely on the doubts of the ignorant to decide the provisional and ultimate aspects of dharma gates? To have compassion for their delusion and conceal the truth is precisely the gate of skillful
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attraction and guidance. To reveal the truth and exhaust principle is precisely the true definitive teaching. How appropriate that the wonderful principle of five natures becomes the secret teaching of the Lotus Treasury! Regarding one's own nature-lineage, if we speak of true awakening knowledge, this is solely the realm of all buddhas. If we speak of partial faith and understanding, one can entrust oneself to the establishment of doctrinal characteristics. In the fundamental treatises like the Yogācāra and others, the characteristics of naturally abiding nature-lineage are extensively explained. Examine this and reflect quietly—does my body-mind conduct have these characteristics? They also extensively explain the characteristics of those without nature-lineage. Face this and assess yourself, also as explained before. In the ālaya teaching, "I do not expound this to the foolish and ignorant" is what the original sutra states. In the Vijñāpti-mātra treatise, explaining "foolish and ignorant," it says: "The foolish are precisely those without nature; the ignorant are precisely those seeking tranquility." People who now study this teaching and rely on it to deeply seek great bodhi—how could they be of the type seeking tranquility or without nature? Though one may believe their minds are not deeply firm, this is the habit of being completely bound. Because of this, those who have laziness, and scholars of other schools are also thus. Who, at the initial stage of beginning study, generates vast and firm faith? Generally, the provisional and ultimate aspects of schools are difficult for ordinary wisdom to fathom. All are teachings of dharma-realm equal flow. What is definitively shallow and near? What is definitively deep and distant? Their founding patriarchs were all great sage emanations. What they relied upon were the Tathāgata's golden words. How much more so regarding the regent Maitreya! How much more so regarding Vairocana's ultimate teachings! To say that the great sage Maitreya promoted provisional gate teachings is foolish talk that has lost proper understanding. To say that the Lotus Treasury World expounded incomplete teachings is deluded talk that reveals one's own errors. Generally, great sage teachings necessarily await proper conditions and respond accordingly. Within the thousand years of true dharma, during times when learning and wisdom flourished abundantly, the regent specifically descended to the human realm to destroy both existence and emptiness views, addressing great bodhisattvas of profound levels like Asaṅga, expounding the extremely profound ultimate principle of the middle way. For what reason would this be provisional teaching? If one forcibly considers this as provisional
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teaching, did the regent Maitreya ultimately not explain true meaning and stop there? If one says the faculties and conditions were not yet fully matured, when could those conditions become mature? If one says that people studying the universal buddha-path are those fully matured faculties and conditions, then Maitreya should have descended at that time to address them and teach true dharma teachings. Why was this not so? Moreover, our school does not accept the Lotus Sutra's teaching of four carts. Other schools accept the Saṃdhinirmocana's teaching of five natures. Which are the universally established teachings? Which are the unestablished schools? Comparing these, one can know their superiority and inferiority. Such repeated detailed comparisons—even people of other schools who have no attachments, have faith, and possess pure right view would definitely engage in such consideration. Based on this, Bodhisattva Bhāvaviveka still looked forward to decisive wisdom at the dawn of Ajita (Maitreya). How much more so for those below! Therefore, doubts about the existence or non-existence of nature-lineage are extremely useless. It is better to simply stop useless laborious doubts and faithfully study definitive ultimate teachings. Question: The principle of five natures is still not clear. Please explain the establishment again in detail. Next, true-thusness principle is what all dharmas depend upon. There is no dharma that does not arise from this. If so, this is precisely the seeds of all dharmas. Why troublesomely establish conditioned seeds separately? Among these, the tainted eighth [consciousness] has the nature of karmic maturation and is morally neutral. Untainted seeds are originally of wholesome nature. How could tainted morally neutral natured dharmas laterally use untainted pure seeds as the capacity for producing fruits? Moreover, all seeds are what the eighth [consciousness] cognizes. We do not yet know whether untainted seeds are also what it cognizes. If so, how does tainted mind transform untainted pure object-aspects? If not, what category do the five types of consciousness-only including untainted seed consciousness self-aspects belong to? If establishing consciousness-only of untainted seeds outside the five types is difficult. Next, there are still doubts about the existence or non-existence of nature-lineage. By what
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skillful means do ordinary scholar-practitioners achieve decisive determination? The fundamental treatise explains that the characteristics of fundamental nature-lineage are for the nature to possess the mind-characteristics of the six perfections. If one lacks even one characteristic in my body, should one immediately become a person without nature? If so, this is hard to believe. Stinginess, greed, and jealousy are constant habits of the ordinary realm; laziness and distraction are definite characteristics of the foolish. People who accord with the teachings are extremely rare. Do all people lack buddha-nature? Answer: The two natures of having and lacking are covered by either one, and are what the vehicles cover, so this is ultimate principle. One should deeply contemplate this. How can one judge something as true teaching because it accords with one's preferences, and judge something as provisional teaching because it does not accord with one's preferences? The true principle of dharma originally goes against deluded emotions. One should simply rely faithfully on clear principle and absolutely not be swayed by likes and dislikes. However, now investigating the source: dharmas produced by conditions necessarily have multiple substantial aspects. Dharmas with multiple substantial aspects are necessarily produced by conditions. Dharmas of uniform substantial nature are definitely not produced by conditions. Dharmas not produced by conditions definitely have uniform substantial nature. These are the respective characteristics of differentiation. When those differential characteristics depend on proximate causes, they are naturally not uniform. If uniform dharma substantial nature is permanent, because there is no meaning of before-and-after transformation, it is not the proximate cause of all dharmas. Therefore, just as dharmas' various differentiations are beginninglessly natural, the various differentiations possessed among people should also be beginninglessly natural in this way. Both are alike in being conditioned phenomenal aspects, all being the characteristics and functions of production by conditions. Their differential proximate causes are precisely the original and newly produced conditioned seeds. If they were not conditioned seeds, the meaning of proximate causation could not be obtained. Since true principle is precisely characteristic-less, permanent, uniform dharma-nature, how could it, in relation to dharmas of characterized transformation and multiple phenomenal aspects, proximately distinguish and produce its own fruits and self-essence as proximate causes? Therefore, without establishing conditioned seeds and using true-thusness principle,