The Conjured City

Commentary on the Words of the Sūtra of the Lotus Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma, Fascicle Seven, Upper Part

Expounded by the Great Master Zhiyi of Tiantai

Explaining the "Medicinal Herbs" Chapter

This chapter is furnished throughout with mountains and rivers, clouds and rain, and yet it is named solely for "the medicinal herbs." Why is this? The earth is what does the producing; the cloud and the rain are what do the moistening; the grasses and trees are what is produced and what is moistened — and all of what is produced and moistened has its use, yet among these the medicinal herbs are of the strongest use. Every contaminated form of wholesome deed is able to remove some evil, but the uncontaminated is the finest of all, and among the assembly of the uncontaminated, the four great disciples, by their parable, took hold of the Buddha's own parable and deeply met the sage's mind. The Buddha praised them, saying, "Excellent, most rare indeed," and recounted their attainment of understanding so as to illustrate this very kind of person — and hence it is called the "Medicinal Herbs" chapter.

Now, medicinal herbs, having been cultivated in their clump over many days, no sooner meet with cloud and rain than they spread and flourish, radiant and bright — their sprouts and stems grow rich and lush without, while their strength and function are filled and moistened within. This is a parable for the uncontaminated ones who dwell in their final body, in nirvāṇa-with-remainder, no longer wishing to seek the unsurpassed path of buddhahood — and yet, now hearing this sūtra, they themselves ride the buddha-vehicle and, moreover, carry others upon it as well. The text says, "we, today, are truly śrāvakas," causing the sound of the buddha-path to be heard by all; within and without, for self and for others, they now possess this excellent strength and function — and hence it is called the "Medicinal Herbs" chapter.

Now, a medicinal herb is able to remove the wind and cold of the four great elements, to nourish and restore the five viscera, and to renew one's years and preserve one's color — and here, once it meets with the cloud and the rain, it suddenly becomes the very king of medicines, which, taken, cures every illness at once and transforms the body into that of an immortal. This is a parable for the uncontaminated ones who, hearing this sūtra, break through the affliction of ignorance and open the Buddha's own knowledge and vision. The text says, "we, today, are truly children of the Buddha; the unsurpassed treasure, sought by us not at all, is nonetheless attained" — everything that a child of the Buddha ought to attain, they have now already attained, and, in the Buddha's own presence, receive the conferral of the prediction. This is fine and excellent, yet is spoken of as something subtle and modest — and hence it is said, "the 'Medicinal Herbs' chapter."

The first of these three explanations is the teacher and disciples taking hold of and recounting one another's meaning — the sense of the mundane siddhānta. The second gives rise to wholesome roots — the sense of the individual siddhānta. The third carries the sense of both the therapeutic siddhānta and the siddhānta of ultimate meaning together.

This is called "explaining the chapter title by causes and conditions." The remaining three — in terms of the teachings, trace and origin, and the contemplation of mind — may be known by analogy with the preceding cases, and are not separately recorded here (and so on, as before).

This chapter is the third section of confirmation within the parable-teaching. The ancients said that this confirms the thirteen verses giving thanks for the depth of the Buddha's kindness, and also confirms that the parable of the man taught to work is delicately and skillfully phrased. Our teacher says: this should not be read so one-sidedly. The sūtra speaks of "well expounding the Tathāgata's true and real merits," and this fully confirms their taking hold of both the provisional and the real — the plain text is right here. The thirteen verses are only the two lesser vehicles bearing the kindness common to the teaching, while the parable of the man taught to work is the Buddha's own provisional merit. What is meant here instead is that this confirms their taking hold of the whole, all-pervading understanding — beginning with the bond formed by natural affinity, continuing through the pursuit and enticement, and ending with the bestowal of the wealth — every kindness and virtue, subtle and manifest alike, without measure and without bound. The text falls into two: first, the brief confirmation; second, the extended confirmation. The brief confirmation again falls into two: first, the twofold "excellent," and second, taking hold of what has not yet been reached. As for the twofold "excellent": one "excellent" confirms their taking hold of the real in two places, and one "excellent" confirms their taking hold of the provisional in two places. As for "well expounding the Tathāgata's true and real merits": "true and real" confirms the real, and "merits" confirms the provisional. Moreover, the *Avataṃsaka*'s conjectural fitness took hold of the real; the Tripiṭaka teaching's enticement took hold of the provisional; the Vaipulya teaching's mutual trust of heart, and the *Prajñāpāramitā*'s taking hold of the teaching, both took hold of the provisional and the real together; and the *Lotus*'s bestowal of the wealth speaks solely of the real. Because its phrasing is delicate and skillful, it is called "well expounded"; because it is entirely the Buddha-dharma, it is called "true and real."

As for "truly, it is just as you have said": this is the sense of the Buddha's own seal of confirmation. Again, from "the Tathāgata has, further," onward, this confirms their taking hold of what they have not yet reached. In what respect have they not reached it? It is said that they have not reached it with respect to the lesser and the greater, the horizontal and the vertical, both horizontal and vertical together, and neither horizontal nor vertical. Why is this so? The great cloud covers everything universally, bearing coolness to all alike; the great rain moistens everything together, and there is nothing that does not receive its favor — causing the entire world, without exception, to attain the knowledge and vision of a dharma never before known. How, then, could the confirmation, common only to the teaching, take hold of nothing but the two lesser vehicles' own benefit? It says nothing of humans and devas, the lesser herb — this is what is not reached with respect to the lesser. The bodhisattva is named the superior herb, and is also named the small tree and the great tree, spreading forth in bloom, rich and luxuriant, benefiting self and others alike — and yet this, too, is left untaken-hold-of; this is what is not reached with respect to the greater. Again, the ten dharma-realms all alike become the buddha-dharma-realm — how, then, could the confirmation come to a stop, taking hold only of the two lesser vehicles, with the remaining eight dharma-realms never once mentioned? This is what is not reached with respect to the horizontal. Again, the seven skillful means, from the shallow to the deep, all alike enter into the true and real, and yet the remaining five skillful means go entirely unmentioned; this is what is not reached with respect to the vertical. Again, the benefit spanning the three periods of time has never once ceased; this is what is not reached with respect to both the horizontal and the vertical together.

Now, mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys (and so on, as before) — taken all together, these are called a single ground; and a single ground, in its capacity to produce, has never once made a choice, rejecting this and accepting that. The seeds of grasses and trees all rely upon the ground, with no other reliance besides; a single cloud, dense and unbroken, leaves no place unfilled; a single rain, of a single flavor, does not withhold itself from the withered or the flourishing. Since the universal moistening is one and the same, the universal growth attained is likewise one and the same — the Tathāgata's own equality is beyond conceivable thought. In truth, it is not that the sudden comes first and the gradual comes after, nor that the three come at the start and the one comes at the end — it is like the dragon raising up an auspicious cloud, its rain falling universally upon every body and mind, without there being any body or mind upon which the rain does not fall, removing the heat and bringing coolness. This is the equality, vastness, extreme profundity, breadth, and remoteness, beyond conceivable thought and without any differentiation at all, of the five vehicles, the seven skillful means, the ten directions, and the three periods of time — this is what is not reached with respect to neither the horizontal nor the vertical. The purport of "not yet reached" is not that everything is snatched away all at once — it is only that, measuring the beginner's mind against the mind of one further along, the beginner has not yet exhausted the ultimate ground, and hence it is said that the confirmation is not exhaustive. Moreover, the very first awakening, the very first letter A, already possesses the merit of the very last letter, Cha — it is only that the confirmation common to the teaching has not yet had the leisure to go further and take hold of the horizontal and vertical dimensions in their entirety. And it is fitting, too, that the great beings who practice by way of the provisional should be exactly like this.

The extended confirmation again falls into two: the prose section and the verse section. The prose section again falls into two: first, confirming the opening of the three to reveal the one; and second, from "you, Kāśyapa," onward, the concluding praise. The first has the dharma-teaching, the parable, and the matching correlation. Within the dharma-teaching there are, again, two: first, raising up the Dharma-king, so as to urge faith without falsehood; and second, from "with respect to every dharma" onward, directly confirming the opening of the three to reveal the one. Now, a king among men has, outwardly, nothing to fear, and, inwardly, speaks with no two words; the Dharma-king is exactly the same — every evil already exhausted, he utters only words that are sincere and true. The ancients said that this confirms the middling capacity's freedom from falsehood, and encourages the lesser capacity to receive it with faith. What is meant here instead is that, although the Buddha-dharma is manifold, it does not go beyond the provisional and the real, and beyond the provisional and the real there is no further, separate dharma — and yet, when it is spoken of as "immeasurable," this sense is difficult to believe, and so the Dharma-king is raised up to urge faith, and this, moreover, forms the basis for the parable of the great cloud that follows below. From "with respect to every dharma" onward, this makes clear, in terms of the teachings, the opening of the provisional to reveal the real. From "the Tathāgata observes and knows" onward, this makes clear, in terms of wisdom, the opening of the provisional to reveal the real. By means of the two teachings, the two wisdoms are made manifest; by means of the two wisdoms, the two teachings are expounded — wisdom and teaching bring one another to completion. As for "every dharma": this means the seven skillful means, and is the horizontal dimension; set against the one real, it becomes the vertical dimension. Were this not so, why else would it be that, in the presence of twenty thousand koṭis of buddhas, the great mind was first brought forth, and yet, in the interval, the lesser was taken up instead, and one flowed on through the five destinies as well? Even a single person among the ten dharma-realms already possesses all of this in full — how much more so the seven skillful means! Though this dharma is manifold, the perfection of skillful means illumines it entirely, leaving nothing unexhausted, and, according to each kind's own tongue, expounds it so that nothing fails to meet its mark: for humans and devas it teaches the precepts and wholesome deeds; for the two lesser vehicles it teaches the truths and the causal conditions; for the Tripiṭaka teaching it teaches the practices and the perfections; for the shared teaching it teaches non-arising; and for the distinct teaching it teaches the gradual opening of the tathāgatagarbha. This is called confirming their taking hold of the opening of the three.

From "the dharma that this expounds" onward, this confirms, in terms of the teachings, its revealing of the real. "The ground" is true reality itself. Being, in the end, not two, it is named "one"; its nature being vast and broad, it is named "all"; being still and yet ever illuminating, it is named "wisdom"; and being the root of non-abiding upon which every dharma is established, it is named "ground" — this is the real teaching spoken of by the perfect teaching. Whatever is expounded is, in every case, so as to bring sentient beings to this very ground of wisdom; the text that reveals the real is as bright and evident as the sun — how, then, could one, as though talking in one's sleep, produce some other reading of it? Compare the *Larger Sūtra*'s broad passage through every dharma, all of it the Mahāyāna — "yāna" is precisely the Great Vehicle, "vehicle" is precisely true reality, and true reality is precisely the ground of the wisdom of all modes. The passage above, "only this one matter is real," points to this very ground; "the other two are not true" points to the seven skillful means. This, in terms of the gradual and sudden teachings, confirms the opening of the provisional to reveal the real. From "the Tathāgata observes and knows every dharma" onward, this confirms, in terms of wisdom, the opening of the provisional to reveal the real.

"Observing where everything tends" is the wisdom able to illumine the provisional; "knowing it to the very end" is the wisdom able to illumine the real. What the twin wisdoms illumine — the partial and the perfect, these two objects — is penetrated without any obstruction, and hence the Buddha is able to expound the two teachings, the provisional and the real; this raises up wisdom so as to explain the teaching. "Knowing where things tend" is knowing the medicine; "what the deep mind engages in" is knowing the illness. Both illness and medicine belong to the provisional dharma, and the provisional dharma each has its own tendency: the precepts and wholesome deeds and the like tend, in the near term, toward humans and devas, yet, taken in the sense of a causal condition, even a single bowed head or raised hand tends, in the distant term, toward the fruit of buddhahood; the foundations of mindfulness and the factors of the path and the like tend, in the near term, toward nirvāṇa, yet, taken as the adornment of merit, "what you yourselves practice is the bodhisattva path" tends, in the distant term, toward the place of treasure; and so on, up through the six perfections and the shared and distinct teachings and the rest — the near and distant tendencies follow different courses, and this may be understood by analogy. Again, the precepts and wholesome deeds are the medicine for humans and devas; the truths, causal conditions, and perfections are the medicine for the three vehicles of people; and so on for the shared and distinct teachings and the rest, which may likewise be understood. "What the deep mind engages in" has two kinds: the deep mind's attachment to its retributive body and its surrounding world, and the deep mind's attachment to the dharmas it grasps at. Attachment to the retributive body and its world gives rise to the ten evils in their deep and heavy form, obstructing the vehicles of humans and devas; attachment to the dharmas grasped at gives rise to the four inversions, the three paths, the six coverings, the four abodes of delusion, the five abodes of delusion, and the rest, obstructing every one of the noble vehicles. One should know that the marks of the deep mind's illness are not all the same, and that the wisdom of the provisional illumines them without any obstruction. As for "and, with respect to every dharma, knows it to the very end and understands it clearly": this is what the wisdom of the real illumines.

There is no provisional dharma at all that does not enter into the real, and hence it is called "to the very end"; it is known by the wisdom of the real, and hence it is called "clearly understood"; it is seen by the buddha-eye, and hence it is called "understood." If a given wisdom illumines only this medicine and this illness, and does not illumine that medicine and that illness, and that wisdom illumines that but is unable to illumine this — such a difference of kind belongs to the illumination of the wisdom of the provisional; but a single wisdom that universally illumines every medicine and every illness belongs to the illumination of the wisdom of the real. Being able to show sentient beings this very perfect object of wisdom is why it is called "every wisdom." Again, as for "every dharma": this means the ten dharma-realms, whose ten dharmas each have their own different aspirations, and each obtain a different fruit of retribution and a different tendency. Knowing every dharma to the very end is called knowing the illness; knowing everything to which the deep mind is attached is called knowing the medicine. The medicine has both the deep and the shallow. The *Larger Sūtra* says, "by the wisdom of things as they are, one knows the mind of greed and desire, the mind of anger and delusion" — knowing by means of the wisdom of things as they are is called knowing the deep mind, penetrating in accordance with principle, without any obstruction. If, with respect to the precepts and wholesome deeds, the truths, the causal conditions, the perfections, and every other dharma-medicine, one comes to know all of them by means of the wisdom of things as they are, this is called "penetrating without obstruction." Moreover, in the passage on the wisdom of the provisional, "penetrating without obstruction" speaks of the real in terms of the provisional; and in the passage on the wisdom of the real, "and with respect to every dharma" speaks of the provisional in terms of the real. The two passages, appearing alongside one another, make clear that the real is the provisional-within-the-real, and the provisional is the real-within-the-provisional — one should know that, ultimately, it is neither the provisional nor the real, neither differentiated nor undifferentiated. By means of the skillful means of wisdom, the provisional has its differentiations, yet, once all of it reaches the ground of wisdom, there is no differentiation at all — just as the ground, without differentiation, yet gives rise to however many kinds of grass and tree, and however many kinds there are, are yet without "however many," and being without "however many," are yet however many. It is, again, as with speaking of dharmas in terms of mind and speaking of mind in terms of dharmas: mind has its many categories, while dharma is without categories; mind is not apart from dharma, and dharma is not apart from mind — being without number, and yet numbered; being numbered, and yet without number. The provisional and the real are exactly the same (and so on, as before).

From "it is like" onward, second, the parable-teaching. The text falls into two: first, the parable-teaching, and after it, the further sectarian confirmation and praise. The parable has its opening and its matching correlation. The opening falls into two: first, the differentiated parable, which parallels the provisional teaching and the provisional wisdom confirmed above; and second, the undifferentiated parable, which parallels the real teaching and the real wisdom confirmed above. The three kinds of herbs and the two kinds of trees, delicate or dense, are not equal — hence they are called "differentiated"; a single ground and a single rain support and moisten universally — hence they are "undifferentiated." Observed at the level of their branching outcomes, each seems different from every other; traced back to their root and flourishing, none is other than the ground and the rain. Matched inwardly, the wisdom of skillful means illumines the seven and the five each differently, while the wisdom of the real, going forth to illumine them, comes in the end to a single reality — the one reality is the seven and the five, and the seven and the five are the one reality; the differentiated is the undifferentiated, and the undifferentiated is the differentiated (and so on, as before). The differentiated parable has six points: first, the earth; second, the grasses and trees; third, the dense cloud; fourth, the pouring rain; fifth, the receiving of moisture; and sixth, growth. As for the first, the parable of the earth: the ancients, taken as a whole, raised up the earth of the three-thousandfold world and, particularly, brought forth the mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys as the causal factor of habituation for the five vehicles — the valley, receiving much water, is a parable for the bodhisattva; the stream is a parable for the pratyekabuddha, and the river for the śrāvaka; and the mountain, being high and receiving little moisture, is a parable for the vehicle of humans and devas. What is meant here instead is that the causal factor of habituation ought properly to be likened to the seed's receiving of moisture and its growth, and yet, while the earth and the mountains and rivers do receive moisture, they lack the two senses of the seed and of growth; moreover, the matching text below says, "throughout the world, devas, humans, and asuras," and the verse says, "among every assembly of devas and humans" — neither takes the earth and the rest as a parable for the causal factor of habituation, and hence this reading is not used here. Here, instead, "the great-thousandfold world" is taken as a parable for the world of sentient beings, and "the mountains, rivers, streams, valleys, and earth" as a parable for the world of the five aggregates. The world has no separate dharma of its own — it is formed by the mountains, rivers, streams, valleys, and earth; sentient beings have no separate dharma of their own — they are formed by the five aggregates. The earth, taken as a whole, is a parable for the aggregate of consciousness, and the mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys are a parable for the remaining four aggregates. The grasses and trees that depend upon them, though they depend upon the earth and the rest, are not themselves identical with the earth and the rest — the substantial trunk of the grass or tree is called simply "grass" or "tree," while the seed of the grass or tree has no further separate name of its own; only what has the function of producing is called "seed," and what is produced, the substantial trunk, is called "grass" or "tree" — both alike are rooted in the earth, and the earth is thus their very root. Matched inwardly with the causal factor of habituation and its habituated fruit: though these depend upon the five aggregates, the five aggregates are not themselves identical with the cause and the fruit — it is only that, relying upon the aggregates, one comes to have the causal factor of habituation, and growth brought to completion is called the habituated fruit. Since fruit and cause arise in dependence upon the aggregates, the parable of the mountains, rivers, and earth is thereby established; and the seed of the grass or tree, receiving moisture and growing, is thereby wholly established as a parable as well. To bring out the distinct parable still further: though a mountain is lofty and steep, it, too, has the five marks of the low and the raised, and even the earth, though level, likewise has the five marks of the hillock and the pool — these are parables for the five aggregates of the five vehicles: the towering mountain is a parable for the bodhisattva's five aggregates; the river is a parable for the pratyekabuddha, and the stream for the śrāvaka; the earth is a parable for the deva; and the low valley is a parable for the human. Each and every one of these five aggregates has its own reliance for the causal factor of habituation and the habituated fruit, just as the mountains, rivers, streams, valleys, and earth are all a reliance for the seed and the substantial trunk and the rest. Again, taking "the great-thousandfold world" as a parable for the principle of the correct cause, which serves universally as the reliance for everything; "the mountains, rivers, streams, valleys, and earth" as a parable for the form and mind of sentient beings' aggregates, elements, and sense-fields as fruits of retribution; and "the grasses, trees, and thickets" as a parable for sentient beings' causal factor of habituation — these three dharmas are not separate from one another: the habituated depends upon the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, and the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields do not go beyond the dharma-nature, just as the grasses and trees depend upon the mountains and rivers, and the mountains and rivers depend upon the world (and so on, as before). The six passages stand out plainly as they are — why, then, force some other reading upon them? And, their order being just as it is, why interweave the sūtra's own text, copying pieces out of their proper sequence?

From "the grasses and trees it produces" onward, second, the parable of the grasses and trees produced. "Grasses" is the general name for every plant, and "trees" is the collective term for every tree; many grasses form a clump, and many trees form a grove. Whatever has the strongest power to cure illness is called "medicine" — just as, among wholesome dharmas generally, all are able to cure some evil, yet the uncontaminated wholesomeness has by far the finer sense of curing affliction. Within the grasses and trees below, the tree and the grove, their branches and trunks giving broad shade and being of great use as timber, are thus a metaphor for the two kinds of bodhisattva. As for "seeds of every kind": these are the seeds of cause and fruit for the five vehicles and the seven forms of wholesomeness, and hence it is said "every kind" — that is, each kind has its own designation, which is its "name," and each has its own substance and mark, which is its "form." From "dense cloud" onward, third, the parable of the dense cloud. A cloud has both form and color, and shelters and shades — the text below has "thunder resounding from afar" — the sheltering and shading is a parable for the Buddha's loving-kindness and compassion; the form and color are a parable for the Buddha's responsive manifestation in the world; and the thunder is a parable for the Buddha's word and teaching. The dense cloud is precisely the three mysteries: loving-kindness and compassion are the mystery of mind, form and color are the mystery of body, and thunder is the mystery of speech. As for "spreading everywhere": this means pervading — being both dense and pervasive, it is called "spreading everywhere." By means of the Buddha's loving-kindness and compassion suffusing all things, the response-body expounds the Dharma throughout the ten dharma-realms, and hence it is called "spreading everywhere." The *Jinglü Yixiang* [an encyclopedic compilation of Assorted Categories from the Sūtras and Vinaya] says: "Clouds have five colors — those with much wind are blue-green; those with much fire are red; those with much earth are yellow and white; and those with much water are black. There are four lightning-masters — in the east, one of body and taste; in the south, one of a hundred lords; in the west, Akara; and in the north, Azulan — and the four contend with one another in lightning, and this is why there is thunder; moreover, water, fire, wind, and earth contend, and this, too, is why there is thunder. There are five circumstances in which no rain falls: first, when wind rises and blows it away; second, when fire rises and scorches it; third, when the asuras take hold of it with their hands and draw it into the sea; fourth, when the rain-master is licentious and disordered; and fifth, when the king of the country fails to govern well, so that the rain-master, in his anger, withholds the rain" (and so on, as before). From "pouring down all at once, equally" onward, fourth, the parable of the pouring rain.

This is a parable for the use of the mystery of speech, the eight tones and the four modes of eloquence, expounding and pouring down the rain of the Dharma to benefit and moisten sentient beings. From "its bounty universally moistens" onward, fifth, the parable of moistening. The treasure of the Dharma rains universally upon the seed of the causal factor of habituation present in the ground of mind of the seven kinds of sentient beings, at once giving rise to the wisdom born of hearing — this is called "moistening." As for "branches, leaves, roots, and stems": faith is the root, the precepts are the stem, concentration is the branch, and wisdom is the leaf, each in turn sustaining the next — hence these four are used as the parable. The small root and stem and the rest are the faith and precepts of humans and devas; the middling root and stem and the rest are the faith and precepts of the two lesser vehicles; and the great root and stem and the rest are the faith and precepts of the bodhisattva. From "the trees, large and small" onward, sixth, the parable of growth — this, again, briefly recapitulates and makes clear that the grasses and trees receive moisture according to their own portion; the two causal factors of habituation and of retribution, the wholesome dharmas having now met with the rain of the Dharma, and the two fruits of habituation and of retribution, each attain their own growth.

As for "according to its own kind and nature": this makes clear that the bestowal of the provisional matches the capacity — the lesser is not given beyond its portion, and the greater is not given any less. This is precisely the two causal factors, of habituation and of retribution, for the seven kinds. As for "flowers and fruit spreading forth in full": this is the two fruits, of habituation and of retribution. It is also said that growth carries three senses: "according to its own kind and nature" is the reason for the growth; that, by setting forth the teaching matched to the capacity, each attains its own growth, is the direct making-clear of the growth itself; and "flowers and fruit spreading forth in bloom" is the mark of the growth. From "though produced from a single ground" onward, second, in the great section, the undifferentiated parable of a single ground and a single rain, revealing the single reality. This has three parts: first, being produced from a single ground — produced from the ground of mind prior to the path, and, in the end, causing the ground of wisdom after the path; second, being rained upon by a single cloud — a single voice expounding the dharma-gate of the one vehicle, opening and bringing forth the five kinds of wholesome roots within the path, and, in the end, the equal teaching of a single voice; and third, the three kinds of herbs and two kinds of trees receiving benefit without being aware of it themselves — the five kinds of wholesome roots, meeting with the Buddha's rain of the Dharma, grow each according to their own portion without knowing it themselves; the causes of the five kinds all rely upon the one buddha-nature, and yet they do not know themselves that the teaching of the five vehicles is entirely the Great Vehicle, nor do they know themselves that all alike return to the Buddha's own wisdom — only the Tathāgata is able to know this.

From "Kāśyapa, you should know that the Tathāgata" onward, this is the matching correlation. The matching of the differentiated parable falls into two: first, the direct matching; and second, raising up the parable once more and directly matching it. The differentiated parable had six points, but the matching here does not follow their original order. The opening of the parable made clear the capacity, discussing sentient beings first; the matching correlation makes clear the response, matching the Tathāgata first — the Tathāgata is the lord of transformation. Here, the first point directly matches the third point above, the dense cloud, and also, together with it, matches the first point, the world; the second point here matches the fourth point above, the parable of the pouring rain; the third point here matches the first point above, the parable of the world, the mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys; the fourth point here matches the second point above, the grasses and trees; the fifth point here matches the fifth point above, the moistening; and the sixth point here matches the sixth point above, the parable of growth. As for the order of the matching correlation: it makes clear that, once the Tathāgata responds and enters the world, there is the expounding of the Dharma in the eight tones; once the Dharma is expounded, there are sentient beings who receive the transformation; and sentient beings, hearing the Dharma, each are moistened by the path — the moistening received is the same, yet the growth is not without its differentiation (and so on, as before).

First, matching the dense cloud. First, raising up the Buddha's mystery of body, matching the cloud's having form; and after, raising up the Buddha's mystery of speech, matching the cloud's having sound.

"The Tathāgata, likewise, appears in the world" is precisely the direct matching of the response-body's appearance in the world. "Like a great cloud arising" is raising up the parable once more and directly matching it, making clear that the Tathāgata, by his great loving-kindness, manifests his body to shelter and nurture all beings. "With a great voice" is raising up the Buddha's mystery of speech, matching the cloud's having sound. "Devas, humans, and asuras" is particularly raising up the three wholesome destinies, receiving the benefit of the mystery of speech — that is, the thirty children of the three vehicles' capacities, each particularly receiving the benefit of the sound. "Like that great cloud" is raising up the parable once more and directly matching the cloud's having sound. "Universally covering the great-thousandfold world" is, in general, raising up everyone as a child of the Buddha, all alike receiving the benefit of the mystery of speech. At times, only the five parables are matched, and, from "universally throughout the world" onward, the parable of the world and the earth is matched as well. The world is precisely the realm-world; devas, humans, and asuras are precisely the provisionally-named world of the five aggregates — the provisional name matches the world above, and the five aggregates match the mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys above. From "proclaiming, in the midst of the great assembly" onward, this is, second, matching the fourth point above, the parable of the pouring rain. First, setting out the sections of proclamation; second, urging the assembly to listen and receive. The sections of proclamation are six: first, the ten epithets, meaning "Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings," and the rest; second, the four great vows, meaning "those not yet delivered, I shall cause to be delivered," and the rest; third, the three penetrations, meaning "the present world, the world to come," and the rest; fourth, the three wisdoms in a single mind, meaning "one who has knowledge in full"; fifth, the five eyes, meaning "one who sees"; and sixth, the three modes of action together with the practice of wisdom — "knowing the path" means the mind is unguarded, "opening the path" means the body is unguarded, and "expounding the path" means speech is unguarded; this is also called being "the guiding teacher," meaning one who knows the path, and the rest. From "you, devas and humans," onward, urging beings to listen and receive. The Buddha, in his eight tones, expounds and utters the six kinds of dharma-gate, and, taking up the greater part of the matter, urges the three wholesome destinies that they ought indeed to go and listen to the Dharma.

From "at that time, of countless myriads of kinds" up through "and listened to the Dharma," this, third, matches the first point above, the parable of the mountains and rivers.

Taking hold of the fruit of retribution, there come to be sentient beings, just as, depending upon the mountains and rivers, there comes to be the world, and so on. "Hundreds, thousands, myriads, koṭis" means precisely the sentient beings of the ten dharma-realms. What is directly spoken of here is the differentiation among sentient beings of the seven skillful means [the seven classes of practitioners under the provisional teachings], matched just as explained above. Or, taken from "you, devas and humans," onward, all of it alike matches the parable of the mountains and rivers.

From "the Tathāgata, at that time" up through "diligence and indolence," this is, fourth, matching the second point above, the parable of the grasses and trees. The ancients said that this passage runs on at length and does not match what came before. What is made clear here is that, within the parable above, the grasses and trees had their differentiation of large and small, and, here, it is made clear that the faculties have their sharpness and dullness, and practice has its diligence and indolence — this is precisely the depth or shallowness of the causal factor of habituation, and its sense is the same as that of the grasses and trees. How, then, could this not be a matching of the parable, merely because it runs on at length? As for "at that time": if this is discussed as the very start of the gradual teaching, it is precisely the time of the first expounding of the three vehicles in the Deer Park; if discussed as the interval in between, then "at that time" may be spoken of at every point along the way. As for "sharp and dull": taken as a whole, judging that the three lower destinies, by their evil causes and suffering fruits, are unable to receive the path, this is named "dull"; that the seven kinds of skillful means, hearing the teaching, obtain benefit, is named "sharp." Judged particularly, that humans and devas merely receive the fruit of retribution and are unwilling to receive the path is named "dull"; that the capacities of the three vehicles sever affliction and leave the three realms is named "sharp." Again, the śrāvaka contemplates arising and ceasing, and this is named "dull"; the bodhisattva contemplates the non-arising and non-ceasing, and this is named "sharp" — and so likewise for the shared, distinct, and perfect teachings (and so on, as before). Indolence in the three lower destinies is named "idle"; humans and devas upholding the five precepts and the ten wholesome deeds is "diligent," while humans and devas not wearying of suffering is "idle"; the two lesser vehicles dreading impermanence is "diligent," while the two lesser vehicles, craving their own attainment and not seeking to become buddhas, is "idle"; and the bodhisattva, resolved to seek the buddha-path, is "advancing" (and so on, as before). From "according to what each is able to bear" up through "and swiftly obtained excellent benefit," this is, fifth, matching the fifth point above, the parable of receiving moisture. "According to what each is able to bear" is precisely matching and meeting each capacity as is fitting, without the fault of excess or deficiency. "Rejoicing, they obtained excellent benefit" is precisely each receiving the moistening of the path and its benefit.

"These sentient beings, having heard this Dharma," sixth, matches the sixth point above, the parable of growth. "Secure and at ease in this present life, and born afterward in a good place" is precisely the causal factor of retribution calling forth the fruit of retribution, matching the flowering and growth. "Also come to hear the Dharma" up through "entering the path" is precisely the causal factor of habituation drawing forth the habituated fruit, matching the growth of fruit and seed above. "Having heard this Dharma" matches the reason for the growth above; "secure and at ease in this present life" directly matches the growth itself; and "born afterward in a good place" matches the mark of the growth. The Buddha is like the great cloud, universally covering all — even the three lower destinies attain moistening and growth as well, just as the *Prajñāpāramitā* and the Vaipulya teachings make clear that even the hells receive benefit. Moreover, throughout the sūtras, it is also said that dragons, birds, ghosts, and spirits, upon hearing the Dharma, attain the path. If the fire is quenched and the boiling water made cool, this is "secure and at ease in this present life"; being born, afterward, among the devas or among humans is "born afterward in a good place"; and cultivating the path among devas or humans is "receiving joy by means of the path." If humans and devas, hearing the Dharma, uphold the precepts, and the merit and blessing sustain the body, so that ghosts and dragons no longer transgress against them, this is "secure and at ease in this present life"; being born again as a deva if one was a deva, or again as a human if one was a human, or being born as a deva or a human interchangeably, this is "born afterward in a good place"; and being born with the capacity to awaken and understand is "receiving joy by means of the path." The two lesser vehicles, hearing the Dharma, attain nirvāṇa-with-remainder — this is "secure and at ease in this present life," just as the text below says, "this person, with respect to the merit he has attained, forms the thought that it is final extinction," and "I, in another land, become a buddha under yet another name" — this person, in that land, comes to hear this sūtra, and the land of expedient remainder that is pointed to is the "good place"; hearing the sūtra there is "attaining the path and receiving its joy." If a bodhisattva still bound to birth hears Vairocana Buddha expound the Dharma and attains the forbearance of non-arising, this is "secure and at ease in this present life"; being born afterward into the pure and perfect world, becoming a member of the dharma-body's own household, this is the "good place" and "receiving joy by means of the path"; and being freed from every obstruction is "secure and at ease in this present life."

"According to the strength each is able to bear, gradually entering the path" is precisely "receiving joy by means of the path" in the world to come. As for the five vehicles: the vehicle of the five precepts delivers one from the suffering of the three lower destinies; the vehicle of the ten wholesome deeds delivers one from the eight sufferings of the human destiny; the vehicle of the śrāvaka delivers one from the suffering of impermanence within the three realms; the vehicle of the pratyekabuddha delivers one from the suffering of hearing the Dharma only from another; and the vehicle of the bodhisattva delivers one from the suffering of lacking, inwardly, sharp wisdom, and, outwardly, the excellent marks — these together are the five vehicles. Question: surely humans and devas alone ought to be the mundane vehicle, and the rest the transmundane vehicles; again, the Buddha ought to be the real vehicle, and the rest the provisional vehicles; again, the Buddha ought to be the vehicle of fruit, and the rest the vehicles of cause; again, there ought to be three vehicles, with humans and devas as the lowest, the two lesser vehicles as the middle, and the Buddha as the highest; again, humans and devas may be named the vehicle that does not sever affliction, the two lesser vehicles the vehicle that severs affliction, and the Buddha the vehicle neither severing nor not severing; again, humans and devas may be named "not severing," the Buddha "severing," and the two lesser vehicles both "severing and not severing"; and again, there is the ordinary being, the worthy and the sage, and neither ordinary being nor sage; being, emptiness, and neither being nor emptiness — and so on for these other vehicles as well (and so on, as before). The *Treatise* [the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra*] makes clear the five wholesome roots, and the *Śrīmālā Sūtra* distinguishes the four repositories — how do these compare with the three herbs and two trees? Humans and devas together form the two lesser forms of wholesomeness; the two lesser vehicles form one; and the Buddha and the bodhisattva together form five — opening the greater and gathering together the lesser. The five vehicles open the lesser and gather together the greater; the four repositories gather together the ordinary and open up the sage; the five vehicles, then, open up both the ordinary and the sage together — it is simply that they follow different conditions.

From "like that great cloud" onward, second, raising up the parable once more and directly matching its six senses: "the great cloud" directly matches the first point, the two benefits of form and sound; "raining upon all things" directly matches the second point, the six sections of the dharma-gate; "the grasses, trees, and thickets" directly matches the fourth point, the sharpness or dullness, indolence or diligence, and depth or shallowness of the causal factor of habituation among the sentient beings who receive the transformation; "according to their own kind and nature, fully receiving the moisture" directly matches the fifth point, receiving moisture and obtaining the benefit of the Dharma; and "each attaining growth" directly matches the sixth point, being secure and at ease in this present life, and growth.

From "the Tathāgata expounds the Dharma of a single mark" onward, second, matching the undifferentiated parable. The opening above had three parts, and the matching here likewise has three, though not in the same order. From "a single mark, a single flavor" onward, matching the single ground and the single rain together. From "that is to say" onward, explaining the single ground and the single rain together. From "those sentient beings who" onward, matching the passage above that the various grasses and trees each have their own differentiation. From "why is this" onward, explaining the differentiation, and how the Tathāgata is able to know both the differentiated and the undifferentiated. "A single mark" means that the minds of sentient beings share one and the same mark of true suchness — this is the single ground. "A single flavor" means that the dharma of the one vehicle expounds, in common, a single principle — this is the single rain.

Formerly, from the one true reality, it was, by skillful means, opened out into seven marks, and, with respect to the dharma of the one vehicle, distinguished and expounded as seven teachings — yet the Buddha knows that, in the end, all alike return to a single mark, a single flavor. From "that is to say" onward, explaining the single mark and the single flavor together. The mind-nature of sentient beings is precisely the virtue of their own nature, and the three marks of liberation, of departing, and of quiescent cessation — the Tathāgata's single voice, expounding these three dharmas, is precisely the three flavors, and these three marks then become the very object and condition from which the practice of the middle way arises; in the end, this is attained as the fruit of the wisdom of all modes, and hence it is said, "to the very end, arriving at the wisdom of all modes." The matching of the grasses' and trees' differentiated parable is explained further below, and is not recorded again here. At times, this is made as a threefold matching: first, the undifferentiated sense, matching the single ground and single rain above; second, the differentiated sense, matching the grasses' and trees' differentiation above; and third, the Tathāgata's own ability to know, explaining and completing the first two senses. As for the undifferentiated: this means the single mark, the single flavor — the single mark matches the single ground above. "The mark of liberation" means the mark of birth-and-death is absent; "the mark of departing" means the mark of nirvāṇa is absent; and "the mark of cessation" means that mark itself is absent as well — there being only true reality, it is called the single mark; the single mark is precisely the root of non-abiding upon which every dharma is established, and non-abiding, being without mark, is precisely the absence of differentiation. To establish every dharma is to have differentiation. The differentiated is like the grasses and trees; the undifferentiated is like the single ground. Though the ground is without differentiation, it is nonetheless able to produce the differing kinds — peach, plum, grass, and tree; and though peach, plum, grass, and tree differ from one another, they are alike a single, solid mark.

If one knows that the ground contains the peach and the plum, one thereby recognizes that, within the real, there is the provisional — understanding the undifferentiated to be precisely the differentiated; if one knows that the peach and the plum share a single, solid mark, one thereby recognizes that, within the provisional, there is the real — understanding the differentiated to be precisely the undifferentiated. For this reason, the single mark is matched with the parable of the single ground above. "The single flavor" is precisely the real teaching, pure, single, and unmixed — this may be understood by analogy with the single mark. As for "liberation": it is free of the karmic bonds of the two extremes, of the segmented and the transformational, and hence it is named "the mark of liberation." As for "departing": it attains the wisdom of the middle way, and this wisdom is able to depart far from the two extremes, with nothing to which it clings, and hence it is named "the mark of departing." As for "cessation": the cause of the two extremes ceasing, one attains nirvāṇa-with-remainder; the fruit of the two extremes ceasing, one attains nirvāṇa-without-remainder — hence it is named "the mark of cessation." Each phrase, in turn, may be understood, by analogy with the single mark, as carrying this same sense of the differentiated and the undifferentiated. As for "to the very end, arriving at the wisdom of all modes": if one attains the mark of the two extremes' cessation, this is precisely the exhaustion of the two kinds of affliction, of the shared and the distinct teachings, and one enters the Buddha's own knowledge and vision; practicing the perfection of wisdom within a mind possessed of the wisdom of all modes, the first arousing of the mind and the final attainment are not two apart — hence it is called "to the very end"; and this is precisely the Buddha's own wisdom, hence it is called "the wisdom of all modes."

From "those sentient beings who, hearing the Tathāgata's Dharma" onward, this makes clear the sense of differentiation. From this point on, what is made clear as differentiation is this: sentient beings are the differentiation of what is provisional and what is real among the mountains and rivers, and also the differentiation among the seeds; the Tathāgata is precisely the cloud; hearing the Dharma is precisely the rain; reading, reciting, and practicing is precisely the moistening; and merit is precisely the growth — and all such differentiation, these beings are entirely unable to know. With respect to the text, this falls into five: first, sentient beings' not knowing; second, the Tathāgata's being able to know; third, raising up the parable once more and directly matching sentient beings' not knowing; fourth, citing what came before and concluding by explaining the Tathāgata's being able to know; and fifth, resolving a point of doubt. "Those sentient beings who" raises up the people who do not know. "The Dharma" means the dharma heard as a single voice; "uphold and expound" directly makes clear their not knowing. What is upheld and expounded differs, and practice differs as well: humans and devas form an understanding of the precepts and wholesome deeds, while the three vehicles form an understanding of the truths, causal conditions, and perfections — the understanding already differing, this is precisely differentiation. As for "the merit they attain, they are themselves unaware of": this makes clear that, though the five kinds of people each receive the teaching, they do not know that the Buddha's is a single-flavored, undifferentiated teaching, nor do they know of the seven kinds of skillful means; each forms his own understanding and each holds fast to his own understanding as real — this is precisely not knowing the provisional, and also not recognizing the real; this is precisely differentiation of which one is oneself unaware. Second, the Tathāgata's being able to know. Reducing the number somewhat, ten objects are raised, gathered together into four senses: first, knowing in terms of four dharmas; second, knowing in terms of three dharmas; third, knowing in terms of two dharmas; and fourth, being able to know in terms of a single dharma. In terms of four dharmas: this means the seed, the mark, the substance, and the nature. As for the seed: the three paths are the seed of the three virtues. The *Vimalakīrti [Sūtra]* says, "the whole company of every affliction is the Tathāgata's own seed" — this makes clear that, by way of the path of affliction itself, there is already prajñā. It also says, "the five acts of unmediated retribution all give rise to the mark of liberation" — this is because, by way of what is unwholesome itself, there is already the liberation of what is wholesome.

Every sentient being is already, in mark, nirvāṇa itself, and can never again be extinguished — this is precisely birth-and-death being the dharma-body. This discusses the seed in terms of correlation; discussed in terms of category, every bowed head and every raised hand is entirely the seed of liberation; every mundane wisdom and every mind of understanding of the three vehicles is precisely the seed of prajñā; and every being that has a mind whatsoever shall, in the end, become a buddha — this is precisely the seed of the dharma-body. The Tathāgata is able to know every one of these differing seeds; and every seed is, after all, but a single seed — this is precisely the undifferentiated, and the Tathāgata is able to know this as well; the differentiated is precisely the undifferentiated, and the undifferentiated is precisely the differentiated, and the Tathāgata is able to know this as well. The mark, the substance, and the nature are explained in terms of the ten suchnesses of the ten dharma-realms. Discussed as differentiated, these are the marks of the ten dharma-realms; discussed as undifferentiated, this is the single mark of the buddha-realm. The Tathāgata is able to know both the differentiated and the undifferentiated; and that the differentiated is precisely the undifferentiated, and the undifferentiated precisely the differentiated, the Tathāgata is able to know this as well. The substance and the nature may be understood by the same analogy. From "what matter does one recall" onward, this makes clear, in terms of three dharmas, the Tathāgata's being able to know. The three dharmas are precisely the three kinds of wisdom, and these, again, have three layers: first, the object of the three wisdoms; second, the substance of the three wisdoms; and third, the causal conditions of the three wisdoms. "What matter does one recall" makes clear the function of the three wisdoms. Recalling and taking hold of the matter recalled is precisely the object of the three wisdoms. From "how does one recall" onward: recalling is recording the dharma one has heard, and this is precisely the substance of the wisdom of recollection. From "by what dharma does one recall" onward, this is precisely the three wisdoms' taking hold of their object — hearing the Dharma is their causal condition. Again, with respect to the object of the three wisdoms, it is because the object, the wisdom, and the causal condition come together that the dharma of the three wisdoms is obtained, and this, too, is called the causal condition. Now, as for these three wisdoms of the three vehicles: formerly it was said that their object, substance, and causal condition differed — this is precisely differentiation; but once one enters the perfect and wondrous three wisdoms, there is no differentiation at all. The Tathāgata is able to know both this differentiation and this lack of differentiation; and that the differentiated is precisely the undifferentiated, and the undifferentiated precisely the differentiated, the Tathāgata is able to know this as well. From "by what dharma" onward, this makes clear, in terms of two dharmas, the Tathāgata's being able to know. "By what dharma" is precisely the cause; "what dharma is attained" is precisely the fruit.

The causes of the five vehicles each obtain their own fruit — this is precisely differentiation; but sentient beings' suchness and the Buddha's suchness are one and the same suchness, without a second suchness, being but a single cause and a single fruit — this is precisely the undifferentiated. The Tathāgata is able to know both this differentiation and this lack of differentiation; and that the differentiated is precisely the undifferentiated, and the undifferentiated precisely the differentiated, the Tathāgata is able to know this as well. From "sentient beings abide in every kind of ground" onward, this is, in terms of a single dharma, the Tathāgata's being able to know.

The seven skillful means abide within their seven stations, and hence it is said "every kind of ground" — this is precisely differentiation. But when the Tathāgata sees this with his own buddha-eye, which knows things as they truly are, it is like the many streams entering the sea and losing their own original flavor — this is precisely the undifferentiated. Speaking in accordance with what others wish to hear, expounding by means of wisdom's skillful means — this is the Tathāgata's being able to know the differentiated; and every dharma that is expounded arrives, in every case, at the ground of the wisdom of all modes — this is the Tathāgata's being able to know the undifferentiated (and so on, as before).

From "like those grasses and trees" onward, third, raising up the parable once more and directly matching sentient beings' not knowing.

From "the Tathāgata knows this" onward, fourth, citing what came before, this concludes and summarizes his ability to know. "A single mark, a single flavor" and the rest are as explained before. That the single mark, single flavor, liberation, departing, cessation, and the rest are distinguished for the sake of the conditions being taught is precisely the immeasurable within the one; that "ultimate nirvāṇa, in the end returning to emptiness" is precisely the one within the immeasurable. This, citing what came before, once more explains the undifferentiated.

Why is this? If the single mark, the single flavor, liberation, departing, and cessation were the very substance of the two lesser vehicles' own dharma, this would still be differentiated speech; but here it is made the Great Vehicle's own ultimate nirvāṇa, in the end returning to emptiness — and this is entirely undifferentiated. "Ultimate nirvāṇa" concludes every phrase before it as being, in no case, the two lesser vehicles' nirvāṇa-with-remainder or nirvāṇa-without-remainder, but rather this very ultimate nirvāṇa. "The mark of constant, quiescent cessation" concludes every phrase as being not the cessation of the Lesser Vehicle, but rather constant and abiding cessation. The text above says, "every dharma, from its very origin, is constantly, of itself, the mark of quiescent cessation" — this is exactly this same sense. "In the end returning to emptiness" is not the emptiness of ashen extinction, but rather the emptiness of the middle way, the ultimate meaning — spoken solemnly, striking the palm together, to distinguish the real from what merely differs as the provisional. The ancients said that "in the end returning to emptiness" means that, though one's spiritual powers extend one's lifespan immeasurably, manifesting oneself again and again, redoubling the number beyond what came before, once the lifespan is exhausted, one returns, in the end, to ashen extinction — hence it is said, "in the end returning to emptiness." But this is the suffering of a suffering buddha, the suffering of a suffering sūtra — how could this possibly be said? Guangzhai [Fayun] says: "returning, in the end, to entering [nirvāṇa]-with-remainder, relinquishing the impermanent body and its wisdom." Someone has raised a difficulty with this reading: if this were so, how would it differ at all from the two lesser vehicles? The sūtra text raises two instances of "ultimate": the first, "ultimate, arriving at the wisdom of all modes," raises up the fruit of wisdom, set against the two lesser vehicles' wisdom, which is not ultimate; the second, raising up "ultimate nirvāṇa, the mark of constant, quiescent cessation, in the end returning to emptiness," raises up severance, set against the two lesser vehicles' severance, which is not ultimate. From the very text of "ultimate," one knows that this is not the emptiness of the Lesser Vehicle. Master Longyin says: "the emptiness of great nirvāṇa is called emptiness because it is without the mark of any dharma and without any affliction, and, in the end, returns to constant, abiding, ultimate-meaning emptiness." Master Zhong says: "in the end, it returns to the wisdom of ultimate-meaning emptiness." Someone says: "because the fruit of buddhahood is without any entanglement, it is called emptiness." A certain annotator says: "that both being and emptiness are utterly swept away is what is called emptiness." Every one of the ancient masters, without exception, refrained from any lesser-vehicle reading of this — why, then, should Guangzhai alone have read it so?

From "the Buddha, knowing this, observes sentient beings" onward, fifth, resolving a doubt held by others. If the Buddha, from the very start, already knew that beginning and end were entirely one, why did he not, already in the Deer Park, expound the real straightaway? The explanation says: observing the aspirations of sentient beings' minds, he shielded and protected them in accordance with the three siddhāntas, fearing they would slander the teaching, and hence did not expound it straightaway.

From "you, Kāśyapa" onward, second, the further sectarian confirmation and recounting, so as to resolve a doubt. The doubt is this: hearing of the Buddha's immeasurable merit, one might suppose that the four disciples' understanding, common only to the teaching, need not necessarily be real. Hence the Buddha confirms and recounts that, although it does not yet reach the very ground of buddhahood, what is common to the teaching is nonetheless not false.

This, too, is drawing forth the lesser capacity, so as to bring them likewise to awakening. The text falls into two: first, the recounting; second, the explanation. First, praising them as "most rare": an ordinary being who reflects and turns back, upon hearing, is able to obtain benefit; the bodhisattva, this being already his own affair, understands it without much wonder; but for one in the station of the unconditioned proper to be able to relinquish his own attainment and enter the real is most rare indeed — being able to know the expounding of the Dharma as fitting recounts their taking hold of the opening of the three. Next, saying they are able to receive it with faith directly recounts their taking hold of the revealing of the one. "Why is this" explains the sense of the recounting, making clear that the Buddha, upon the single path, taught three — profound, mysterious, and difficult to understand — and yet you were able to have faith in it. In my own view, the earlier text says, "the Tathāgata has, further, immeasurable merit, which you could never finish recounting," and the later text says, "you are most rare indeed" — the Buddha's kindness spreads universally, like cloud and rain that leave nothing unmoistened; the Buddha's kindness bears universally, like the great earth that leaves nothing ungrown — how could it possibly be for a single capacity, a single quarter, and nothing more? Hence it is said, "you could never finish recounting it." Though the Buddha's kindness is universal, sentient beings, in their daily use of it, are themselves unaware of it — just as the three herbs and two trees, rooted in the earth and receiving the moisture of the rain, are unable to know it. That you are able to know these ten kindnesses, beginning to end, is most rare indeed. "Those not yet delivered, I shall cause to be delivered," and the rest, recounts their knowing the kindness of the Buddha's four great vows — most rare indeed. Sentient beings being secure and at ease in this present life, born afterward in a good place, and receiving joy by means of the path, recounts their knowing the kindness of great loving-kindness that bestows joy — most rare indeed. Having heard the Dharma and being freed of every obstruction, and, according to the strength each is able to bear, gradually entering the path, recounts their knowing the kindness of great compassion that removes suffering — most rare indeed. The wheel-turning king, Śakra, and Brahmā being the lesser medicinal herb recounts their knowing the kindness of urging what is wholesome and removing the heat of affliction — most rare indeed. Knowing the uncontaminated dharma able to attain nirvāṇa, and the pratyekabuddha's own realization, being the middling medicinal herb, recounts their knowing the kindness of removing every heat of view and craving — most rare indeed. The superior herb and the small tree — this is being ashamed of the lesser and longing for the greater — recounts their knowing the kindness of sheltering them from shame — most rare indeed. The great tree recounts their knowing the kindness of adornment — most rare indeed. The single ground and single rain, the very matter of the real itself, recounts their knowing the kindness of the bestowal of wealth, the taking of the seat, and being at ease and free in body, mind, wealth, and dharma — most rare indeed. When the Buddha recounts these as differentiated praise, the text of the ten kindnesses is thereby exhausted; but when he recounts them as undifferentiated praise, it is precisely a single, great kindness.

The verse has fifty-four-and-a-half lines, versifying the opening and revealing above. The opening and revealing has the dharma-teaching and the parable, and both are now versified. The first four lines versify the dharma-teaching; the remaining fifty-and-a-half lines versify the parable-teaching. The dharma-teaching, again, falls into two: first, raising up the Dharma-king; second, the opening and revealing. Here, first, half a verse versifies the Dharma-king's freedom from falsehood; the following three-and-a-half lines versify the opening and revealing. The two teachings and two wisdoms of the text above are here likewise fully versified: the first line-and-a-half versifies the two teachings, and the following two lines versify the two wisdoms. First, from "according to sentient beings" onward, half a line versifies the provisional teaching; next, from "the Tathāgata, honored and revered" onward, second, one line versifies the real teaching. Next, from "the wise, upon hearing" onward, one line versifies the explanation of the wisdom of the provisional; and after, from "hence, Kāśyapa" onward, one line versifies the explanation of the wisdom of the real. According to every kind of condition, every kind of teaching is expounded, all so as to cause beings to attain the Great Vehicle's own right view — everything prior to this is named wrong view. This verse carries the sense of the Tathāgata's four siddhāntas: "the Dharma-king who breaks through existence" is precisely the sense of the therapeutic siddhānta; "according to what sentient beings desire" is precisely the sense of the mundane siddhānta; "the wise who hear, believe, and understand, while those who doubt and regret are forever lost" is the sense of the individual siddhānta; and "causing them to attain right view" is the sense of the siddhānta of ultimate meaning. The three siddhāntas versify "expounding by means of wisdom's skillful means" above, and "causing them to attain right view" versifies "arriving at the ground of the wisdom of all modes" above (and so on, as before). From "Kāśyapa, you should know, it is like" onward, fifty-and-a-half lines versify the parable-teaching above. The first ten-and-a-half lines versify the opening of the parable; the next forty lines versify the matching correlation. The opening above had two parables, and here, first, nine-and-a-half verses versify the differentiated parable, and the next line versifies the undifferentiated parable. The differentiated above had six points, and here, too, six are versified, though not following the same order as the prose section's opening of the parable, nor as its matching correlation. First, three lines versify the third point, the cloud parable; from "its rain, universally the same" onward, second, one line versifies the fourth point, the parable of the pouring rain; next, from "the mountains, rivers, and steep valleys" onward, third, one phrase versifies the first point, the parable of the earth, mountains, and rivers; next, from "hidden and secluded" onward, fourth, two phrases versify the second point, the parable of the grasses and trees; next, from "trees, great and small" onward, fifth, two lines and three phrases versify the fifth point, the parable of receiving moisture; and, from "every tree" onward, sixth, two lines versify the sixth point, the parable of growth. The cloud is a parable for the response-body; the response-body follows the practice of wisdom, and hence it is called "the cloud of wisdom." Being able to possess the twelvefold division of the teachings in full, it is called "holding moisture." If a response-body does not expound the Dharma — as with the buddhas Suśānta and Prabhūtaratna, who remain silent in this sūtra — such a cloud does not hold moisture. The body emitting great light is like "flashing lightning"; the mouth resounding with the four modes of eloquence is like "the sound of thunder." The ninety-five kinds of deviant light do not appear, and hence it is called "veiled and hidden"; the ninety-eight kinds of vexing heat are removed, and it is like "coolness upon the ground."

As for "as if it could be grasped and held": the response-body's descent into the world resembles, outwardly, the three states of existence, and yet, though one seeks to take hold of it with the mind, it cannot in truth be grasped. The eight tones and four modes of eloquence expound and pour down the rain of the Dharma; "from the four directions, all at once" means it is heard by all at the same moment, and this, too, is called "the four equalities." Whoever has any mind at all receives its benefit and moistening, and hence it is said, "the whole realm is filled and steeped." This both completes what came before and also serves as the basis for the parable of the mountains and rivers below. The phrase "mountains, rivers, and steep valleys" versifies the first point, the earth — that is, the five aggregates of the sentient beings of the seven skillful means, who, now meeting with the rain of the Dharma, have body and speech made soft and pliant, just as the earth attains its own moisture. As for "produced from the hidden and secluded": this versifies the second point above, the differentiation of sentient beings' causal factor of habituation — a parable for the causal factor of habituation planted by sentient beings long ago, hidden within their aggregates, elements, and sense-fields, and hence it is called "hidden and secluded"; now, meeting with the rain of the Dharma, it is entirely opened and brought forth, and hence it is called "produced." The word "the hundred grains" broadly takes in the five grains, a parable for the five vehicles' ability to produce a hundred wholesome things. "Sugarcane and grapes" are a parable for concentration and wisdom. "The dry earth universally moistened" is a parable for causing those without faith to have faith. The remaining parables are as the text has them. From "according to their own substance, mark, nature, and portion, whether great or small" onward, one line versifies the second parable, the undifferentiated. The text above had three parts, and here it is abbreviated, not versifying the single ground, but including it together with what is produced. The first two phrases versify what is produced and what is moistened; the next phrase versifies what does the moistening — this, then, versifies the undifferentiated. "And each flourishes and grows lush" versifies the differentiated, of which they are themselves unaware.

From "the Buddha, too, thus appears" onward, forty lines versify the second, the matching correlation. The first thirty-five verses versify the matching of the differentiated; next, from "thus, Kāśyapa" onward, five lines versify the matching of the undifferentiated. The matching of the differentiated parable above had first the direct matching, then the raising up of the parable once more; here, too, the verse first matches, and then raises up the parable once more. The first line versifies matching the cloud parable — the first two phrases match the body to the cloud, and the last two phrases raise up the parable once more and directly match it. Next, from "having gone forth" onward, second, eight-and-a-half lines versify, second, matching the rain parable. The prose above first set out the sections of proclamation, then urged the assembly to listen and receive. From "having gone forth" onward, three lines briefly versify the ten epithets; next, one-and-a-half lines versify the four great vows — among the six sections, only two are versified here. From "filling and moistening all things" onward, one-and-a-half lines versify the four great vows. From "you devas and humans" onward, second, four lines versify urging the assembly to listen and receive. From "I observe all beings" onward, third, four lines versify, third, matching the mountains and rivers above. The mountains and rivers are a parable for the seven kinds of sentient beings' five aggregates: just as the falling rain does not choose between stream and valley, the Buddha, expounding with equality, makes no distinction between this one and that — capacity is "this," the absence of capacity is "that"; planting what is wholesome is "love," turning against it in hatred is "hatred"; the Buddha's own work is "self," the work of Māra is "other"; the first response is "coming," the later response is "going"; entering the real is "sitting," going forth into the provisional is "standing." That the Buddha observes sentient beings in just this way is precisely the sense of the rain falling equally upon mountain and river alike, versifying the passage above where countless myriads of kinds of sentient beings come to the Buddha's own place and listen to the Dharma. From "noble and lowly, high and low" onward, fourth, two lines versify the fourth point above, the Tathāgata observing these sentient beings at that time, matching the second point, the grasses, trees, and thickets that are produced. Noble and lowly, on down to sharp and dull, are set out one after another in terms of the seven skillful means.

From "every sentient being who hears my Dharma" onward, fifth, eleven lines versify the passage above, "every kind, without measure, all are made to rejoice," matching the parable of receiving moisture. The text falls into three: first, one line, generally making clear the receiving of moisture; next, from "whether among humans and devas" onward, second, seven lines, particularly making clear the receiving of moisture; and next, three lines, concluding with what is moistened and what does the moistening. Some explain humans and devas as the small herb, the two lesser vehicles as the middling herb, the outer stage of the ordinary being as the superior herb, the inner stage of the ordinary being as the small tree, and the first ground up through the seventh ground as the great tree. Others take the inner stage of the ordinary being as the superior herb, the first ground up through the seventh ground as the small tree, and the eighth ground as the great tree. Others take the thirty minds as the superior herb, the first ground up through the sixth ground as the small tree, and the seventh ground onward as the great tree. Yet the three herbs and two trees are matched by the Buddha's own parable, and the plain text is perfectly clear — how, then, can one, following one's own private judgment, turn against the Buddha and contradict the sūtra? Within the particular passage on receiving moisture, the text falls into five: first, one line — humans and devas, neither having yet severed affliction, are matched to the small herb; next, from "knowing the uncontaminated dharma" onward, second, two lines make clear that the two lesser vehicles both possess severance and realization, matched to the middling herb; next, from "seeking the World-Honored One's own station" onward, third, one line makes clear the six perfections, resolved to seek buddhahood and to transform others, surpassing the two lesser vehicles taken alone, and matched to the superior herb; next, from "and, moreover, the children of the Buddha" onward, fourth, one-and-a-half lines make clear the shared teaching — having already severed the shared afflictions, vowing to sustain the remaining habitual tendencies, engaging with existence so as to transform others, superior when measured against what is below and inferior when compared against what is above — and hence named the small tree; and next, from "abiding securely in spiritual powers" onward, fifth, one-and-a-half lines make clear the distinct teaching — practicing for oneself and transforming others, lofty and broad, and superior — and hence named the great tree. In terms of the three kinds of bodhisattva, each in turn forms its own three trees: the six perfections in terms of the three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, the shared teaching in terms of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grounds, and the distinct teaching in terms of the thirty minds. From "the Buddha, expounding with equality" onward, third, three lines conclude with what is moistened and what does the moistening. This, again, falls into two: first, one-and-a-half lines raise up the parable once more and directly explain it. Though what is received in moisture is made clear as seven kinds, these seven kinds are as slight as a single drop in the ocean. "The Buddha, by means of this parable" — one-and-a-half lines make clear that what does the moistening, the Buddha's own wisdom, is as vast as the ocean.

From "I rain down the rain of the Dharma" onward, eight-and-a-half lines versify the sixth point, "these sentient beings, having heard this Dharma," matching the parable of rejoicing and growth. This, again, falls into two: the first two lines generally versify growth, and this, again, falls into two — the first line generally versifies growth, and the next line raises up the parable once more and directly explains it. Next, from "the dharma of every buddha" onward, six-and-a-half lines particularly make clear growth, falling into four parts: first, one-and-a-half lines make clear the growth of humans and devas. "Universally attaining fullness" versifies being secure and at ease in this present life; "gradually cultivating practice" versifies receiving joy by means of the path in the world to come. Next, from "the śrāvakas" onward, second, one-and-a-half lines versify the growth of the two lesser vehicles. "Abiding in the final body" admits of two readings: one says that, for the two lesser vehicles, if this body does not meet with a buddha, the body need not necessarily be without a further body after it, but, by meeting the Buddha, it becomes the final body — this is precisely the sense of growth; the other says that the two lesser vehicles attain nirvāṇa-with-remainder, abiding in the final body, and, ripened and matured by the Buddha's five flavors, come to enter the Lotus, and, hearing the Great Vehicle, attain understanding — this, too, is growth. From "if the various bodhisattvas, their wisdom firm and unshakable" onward, third, one-and-a-half lines are the growth of the shared teaching. "Firm and unshakable" is the wisdom that penetrates dharmas in their own substance; "thoroughly understanding the three realms" is the exhaustion of severed affliction. From "there are, further, those abiding in meditative absorption" onward, fourth, two lines are the growth of the distinct teaching (and so on, as before).

Question: are the single cloud and single rain the same as, or different from, the single voice?

Answer: on the lower stages, a single voice causes another to hear a single dharma; the Buddha, by a single voice, causes each kind to understand differently — and here, the single cloud and single rain are precisely this single voice that accords with each kind. Some explain that the dharma-body, being not two, is called "one," and that, since the voice issues from the dharma-body, it is called "the one voice."

Some say that, all at once, every sound is uttered together, and hence it is called "the one voice." Some say that, among the five tones, one tone is used according to the occasion.

The *Treatise* [the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra*] makes clear that a single voice gives rise, in retribution, to every sound, but does not say that they are uttered all at once, nor does it say that the voice issues from the dharma-body. The *Vibhāṣā* says that the Buddha, by a single voice, expounds the four noble truths: the five ascetics hear it as human speech, the eighty thousand devas hear it as the speech of devas, and the hell-beings and yakṣas each hear it as their own respective speech; when it is proclaimed and reaches as far as the Brahmā heaven, this is called "the Brahmā voice" — this, too, is the Buddha's own retribution-attained voice, pure and most subtle, and named "the Brahmā voice." But if it were, in retribution, merely the Brahmā voice, then it would be a voice that ordinary people could not hear at all, and, even if heard, could not be understood.

From "thus, Kāśyapa" onward, second, five lines versify the undifferentiated parable above. This, again, falls into two: the first line-and-a-half versifies the differentiated within the undifferentiated, and the last three-and-a-half lines versify the undifferentiated within the differentiated. "Like a great cloud, like a rain of a single flavor" versifies matching the single-flavored rain above, the undifferentiated. "Moistening human flowers, each attaining its own fruit" versifies the differentiated above. Next, from "Kāśyapa, you should know, by every kind of causal condition" onward, this makes clear that the provisional, as the provisional, is precisely the differentiated, matching what is produced above. "Now I shall, for your sake" is precisely revealing the real — the real being precisely the undifferentiated, matching the single ground above.

As for "not yet extinction": this means not yet delivered from the transformation-birth. That this is spoken of solely with respect to the two lesser vehicles is because their own clinging to their attainment is especially strong. Humans and devas do not reckon their own fruit to be nirvāṇa at all, and the bodhisattva does not take any attainment along the way, in the interval. As for "this is the bodhisattva path": the bodhisattva, practicing the path, must likewise sever the shared afflictions — since you have already severed them entirely, this is precisely the bodhisattva path. The *Lotus Sūtra Treatise* holds that, once the mind is aroused, even if it later retreats and is aroused once more, the wholesome deeds cultivated earlier are not thereby destroyed, and are the same as what is later attained as the fruit. As for the two lesser vehicles' own wisdom and severance being called "the bodhisattva path": the two lesser vehicles cling to their own fruit, and hence are rebuked, being told that this is the bodhisattva path — "path" here being precisely "cause."

Question: the bodhisattva, too, has a fruit — the "Faith and Understanding" chapter says, "attained the path, attained the fruit," and the *Larger Sūtra* says, "there being a dharma is the bodhisattva path; there being no dharma is the bodhisattva fruit" — why, then, does the text not say that this is the bodhisattva fruit?

Answer: this sense, too, may certainly be allowed. What is meant here is that, whether path or fruit, both alike are the cause of buddhahood — and cause is precisely path.

Explaining the "Prediction" Chapter

In Sanskrit this is called Vyākaraṇa, which here means "prediction." Various sūtras break through the notion of receiving a prediction. The *Vimalakīrti [Sūtra]* says, "if one receives the prediction by way of arising from suchness, or receives the prediction by way of ceasing from suchness — since suchness is without arising or ceasing, one thereby knows there is no prediction at all." The *Viśeṣacintin Sūtra* says, "I wish never to hear the very name of a prediction."

The *Larger Sūtra* says, "receiving a prediction is mere idle talk." What, then, of the present sūtra? Answer: if one holds the view that there is a prediction and a person predicted, this view must be broken through; but the bodhisattva's own vow and its prediction — this prediction must be granted. By the worldly truth, there is a prediction; by the truth of ultimate meaning, there is none. As for the four siddhāntas, applied as fitting, this is as explained below. There is the general prediction, as at the start of the "Dharma Teacher" chapter; there is the particular bestowal of prediction, as expounded after the three cycles of teaching; there is the prediction by way of the correct cause, as with Sadāparibhūta ("Never Disparaging"); there is the prediction by way of the conditioning cause, as with the ten kinds of offering in the "Dharma Teacher" chapter; there is the prediction by way of the revealing cause, as with the conferral upon persons of the three faculties; the prediction by way of the correct cause is broad, while that by way of the conditioning and revealing causes is narrow; some predictions are slow to come, others swift; some are the Buddha's own prediction, as in this text, others a bodhisattva's own prediction, as with Sadāparibhūta — and though such a one lacks the fixed determination of kalpa and land, this, too, counts as a prediction; and there is, further, the prediction given in advance, as with the future disciples in the "Phantom City" chapter. Other sūtras predict only bodhisattvas, and not the two lesser vehicles; predict only the good, and not the evil; predict only men, and not women; predict only humans and devas, and not animals — but the present sūtra predicts all of these alike.

As the *Śūraṃgama[-samādhi] Sūtra* has four kinds of prediction, the present sūtra possesses all of them in full: the prediction given before the mind is even aroused, as in the "Sadāparibhūta" chapter; the prediction of non-arising manifest before one, once the mind is aroused, as with the prediction of the three cycles [of teaching]. The *Yingluo Sūtra* [the *Sūtra of the Bodhisattva's Adornments*], in its ninth fascicle, sets out eight kinds of conferring the prediction: oneself knowing it while others do not; the many all knowing it while oneself does not; oneself and the many both knowing it; oneself and the many both not knowing it; the near being aware while the distant is unaware; the distant being aware while the near is unaware; both being aware; and both being unaware. As for oneself knowing it while others do not: one has, by one's own vow, aroused the mind, but this has not yet broadly reached others, one not yet having attained the four fearlessnesses nor the skillful means. As for the many all knowing it while oneself does not: one has aroused the mind broadly and vastly, and attained fearlessness and skillful means. As for both knowing: one's own station lies in the seventh ground, having attained fearlessness, skillful means, and the contemplation of emptiness. As for both not knowing: one has not yet entered the seventh ground, and has not yet attained the practice free of attachment (and so on, as before). As for the distant being unaware: this is Maitreya, whose every faculty is complete, yet who has not relinquished the Tathāgata's own practice free of attachment. As for the near being unaware: this person is not yet able to expound the practice of the worthy and the sage — this is the bodhisattva named "Lion's Breast." As for the near and distant both being aware: every faculty complete, and the practice free of attachment not relinquished — this is the bodhisattva named "Gentle and Compliant." As for the near and distant both being unaware: not yet having attained skillful means, and unable to know the tathāgatagarbha in its entirety — this is the bodhisattva named "Equal Practice."

Other sūtras, again, say that near knowledge is receiving the prediction from a buddha now present, as with Maitreya and the rest; distant knowledge is receiving the prediction not from the present buddha but from a buddha yet to come, as when the Buddha spoke to the evil Māra, "Maitreya shall in time confer the prediction upon you"; near and distant both knowing is the present buddha and the buddha to come both conferring the prediction; and near and distant both not knowing is the present buddha and the buddha to come both withholding the prediction. Originally, every buddha, for the sake of the one great cause and condition, appears in the world, causing sentient beings to open, show, awaken to, and enter the Buddha's own knowledge and vision. Now that this great cause is already made manifest, the Buddha having already finished expounding it, and sentient beings having already entered it, the Buddha's own original intent is thereby conveyed, and the wish of sentient beings fulfilled — by rights, the prediction ought to be granted, for how could a father, meeting his own son, fail to bestow the wealth upon him? Again, the practitioner's vows and practice through immeasurable ages have their aim fixed upon the present buddha — the text says, "because their original vow was thus, they thereby obtain this very prediction" — these two conditions are why the prediction is granted by the mundane siddhānta. Again, the two lesser vehicles, hearing the sūtra, change from the lesser and enter the greater, their perfect cause now being complete, and a cause must inevitably call forth its fruit — hence the Tathāgata grants the prediction. The assembly of that time, all alike aware, arouse the vow, vowing to become, in body of birth and dharma-body alike, inward and outward members of the household, or else vowing merely to be born in that land so as to benefit sentient beings — these two are why the prediction is granted by the individual siddhānta. Again, the granting of the prediction to the two lesser vehicles breaks through the bodhisattva who wishes to retreat from the great and enter the lesser. Why is this? If it were fixed and certain that the two lesser vehicles could retreat and become lesser, then, there now being no [true] two lesser vehicles, what would there be left to retreat into? Again, it breaks through the one who wishes to arouse the mind of the two lesser vehicles: since even they attain realization and yet relinquish it, why should I myself take hold of it? Again, it breaks through the one who has not yet changed from the lesser, causing him thereupon to change from the lesser, while the one about to attain the realization of the lesser does not, after all, take hold of that realization. These four are why the prediction is granted by the therapeutic siddhānta. Again, non-arising being manifest before one, this must come by way of real understanding opening, without error, the Buddha's own knowledge and vision, and, moreover, by way of clearly understanding buddha-nature — and hence the prediction is granted. The Lesser Vehicle, entering the real, is fixed and certain to become buddha; if this is so, then, since every sentient being likewise possesses buddha-nature, why is the prediction not granted to all? Yet sentient beings, though possessing the correct cause, lack the [necessary] condition; now, hearing the sūtra, faith and understanding, condition and correct cause, are together complete, opening the Buddha's own knowledge and vision — knowing buddha-nature, seeing the Buddha's own dharma, and seeing buddha-nature — these two are why the prediction is granted by the siddhānta of ultimate meaning. These four kinds of prediction take in and exhaust every kind of receiving prediction discussed above (and so on, as before). "Conferring the prediction" is also called "receiving the prediction," "receiving the decisive verdict," and "receiving the elucidation" — "conferring" carries the sense of granting; "receiving" carries the sense of obtaining; "prediction" is the recording of the matter; "decisive verdict" is its being fixed and determined; and "elucidation" is its being made fully clear. The person of middling capacity, hearing the Dharma — the parable of the two cycles opening the three to reveal the one — fully takes hold of the understanding and the Tathāgata's own confirmation, and, though he himself already knows he shall become a buddha, the particulars of time and circumstance are not yet made certain; but, once he receives the Buddha's own sincere word, conferring upon him his future fruit, the kalpa and the land fixed and determined, and the near and the distant made fully clear, he then rejoices greatly. Since this is named from the Buddha's own conferring and granting, it is called the "Prediction" chapter.

This text is the fourth section of the parable-teaching; the three sections above all expounded by way of parable, and here, too, the conferral of prediction likewise makes use of parable in discussing the prediction. Why is there no fifth section? One explanation says: pointing both backward and forward, it is simply left undiscussed. Another says: the "Medicinal Herbs" chapter already makes clear that all who receive moisture, each in turn, attain growth, and it is thereby ascertained that the fourfold assembly all alike obtain benefit — the compilers of the sūtra therefore simply did not set out a further section. The text falls into two: first, directly granting the prediction to those of middling capacity; and second, permitting, for the sake of those of lesser capacity, an account of past lives yet to come. The first, again, falls into two: first, granting the prediction to Kāśyapa; and second, granting it to the three disciples — both having a prose section and a verse section. Within Kāśyapa's prose section there are six parts: first, his practice as cause; second, his attainment of the fruit; third, the kalpa, the land, its name, and its adornment; fourth, his lifespan; fifth, the duration of the true and semblance dharma, just as the text has it; and sixth, the purity of his land. Within the three disciples' section there are, again, two: first, their request for the prediction; and second, the granting of the prediction. Within the request for the prediction there are seven verses: the first line is the direct request; the next two-and-a-half lines open the parable; the next two-and-a-half lines match the parable; and the next line concludes the prediction for the three disciples, each having his own practice as cause, attainment of fruit, kalpa, land, lifespan, and the duration and measure of the abiding Dharma, entirely as the text has it. From "my disciples" onward, two-and-a-half lines permit, for the sake of those of lesser capacity, a further account of past lives — these persons, having already heard the dharma-teaching and the parable, and having, moreover, witnessed the prediction granted to those above and in the middle, yet still remain in doubt, not fully understanding, and, feeling deep shame, wish to advance further in the path; the Buddha therefore first permits a general prediction, and thereafter recounts their past karmic conditions in full (and so on, as before).

Explaining the chapter "The Conjured City." "Conjured" names what spiritual power brings about: because of spiritual power, something that was not comes to be all at once, and this is called "conjured." "Guarding against wrongdoing and warding off the enemy" is what is meant by "city." Correlated within, to the nirvāṇa of the two lesser vehicles, this is what provisional wisdom brings about. By the power of provisional wisdom, what is not is spoken of as though it were; the teaching is used as the "conjuring," guarding against wrong thought and warding off wrong views, and this is named "nirvāṇa"; it revives and leads beings toward the real, yet is not itself the ultimate, and so it is called "cessation and deliverance" [parinirvāṇa]. Because it is a provisional, borrowed device, it is called the "conjured city." The illustration is as explained before. This is the causal-condition reading. In terms of the teachings: within the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching, one forms toward nirvāṇa the thought of peace and ease, and the thought of cessation and deliverance; within the shared teaching, the two lesser vehicles are the same as in the Tripiṭaka teaching, but the bodhisattva is not so — the Treatise [on the Great Perfection of Wisdom] says it is like a father crossing a dangerous place, one foot inside the city and one foot still outside the gate: remembering his wife and children, he goes back out from the city into the danger, vowing to sustain his remaining habitual tendencies and enter birth-and-death, never taking emptiness itself as his realization. Within the distinct teaching, the city is not spoken of as conjured: the city is used to guard against danger, and one passes directly through the city gate, taking the city as a skillful means for severing the delusions of views and thought, yet it is not said that this is the ultimate. Within the perfect teaching, knowing that there is no thief and no sickness, no city is even needed — and this is why it is called the "conjured city." The present passage carries the sense of the perfect teaching, and this is why it is titled "The Chapter of the Conjured City." The trace-and-origin reading and the contemplation of mind are not recorded.

Question: this chapter expounds a matter of causes and conditions, by which those of the lowest capacity attain awakening — should it not be named "the chapter of past lives"?

Answer: the opening of the chapter expounds the causes and conditions at length, while its close draws the parable of the conjured city to a conclusion — if it were named from its opening, it ought to be called "past lives," but the sūtra names it from its close, and so it is called "the conjured city." Moreover, for those of the highest capacity, whose doubt is slight, it takes up only the three-times-seven days of contemplation beneath the awakening tree to make clear the occasion of their capacity; for those of middling capacity, whose doubt is heavier, a parable is added, drawing on the unsurpassed path taught at the assemblies of twenty thousand koṭis of buddhas, as the occasion of their capacity; and for those of the lowest capacity, whose doubt is heavier still, the occasion of their capacity is made clear through the vastly distant past lives. If one takes the very beginning of those past lives, this makes clear the causes and conditions of the distant past; speaking of the interval between, one calls it "the conjured city"; and making clear its final point, one calls it "the place of treasure." Those who compiled the sūtra, standing at the mean, named the chapter so as to gather in both the beginning and the end — and it is for the convenience of this meaning that it is called "the chapter of the conjured city."

Question: the conjured city is the provisional, and the place of treasure is the real — for what reason, then, is the real set aside in favor of the provisional in the chapter's title?

Answer: it is by knowing that the city is conjured that one knows the place of treasure is real — and so, naming it by "the conjured," nothing of the real is lost.

This section's three chapters of sūtra text ought, on the pattern of what came before, have four parts, but here "receiving and understanding" and "confirming and completing" are both folded into the section on the bestowal of predictions. Why is this? Without receiving and understanding, how could there be a bestowal of prediction and a confirming and completing? — and so both senses are gathered in together. Moreover, receiving and understanding, confirming and completing, and receiving the prediction do not always come in a fixed order, and receiving and understanding may take the form of silent thought or of spoken words, differing from case to case; since the text for each is short, it does not warrant a chapter of its own, and is simply folded into another section. This chapter expounds directly the matter of causes and conditions; the two chapters that follow bestow the predictions. The first again has two parts: first, making clear the Tathāgata's knowledge and vision reaching into the distant past; second, making clear the bond formed in past lives. The Tathāgata's threefold penetrating knowledge sees the distant past as clearly as though it were today, and what he cites of bygone events is certainly not false — only afterward does he speak of these past lives. Each of these two has both a prose section and a verse section. The first prose section has three parts: first, setting forth what was seen — namely, the buddha of excellent accomplishment, of the great appearance, Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū Buddha; second, offering a parable to make clear its vast distance in time; third, concluding that seeing the past is just like seeing the present (and so on). The verse has seven lines, versifying the three meanings above, just as the text has it. From "that buddha's lifespan was five hundred and forty [myriad koṭis of nayutas of kalpas]" onward, the forming of the bond is directly made clear. This, again, falls into two: first, the reasons for forming the bond; second, the direct forming of the bond. Within the reasons, again, there are two: the distant reason and the near reason. The distant reason, again, has two: first, Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū Buddha's accomplishing of the path; second, the Brahmā kings of the ten directions requesting the Dharma. The accomplishing of the path has five parts: first, the buddha's vastly long lifespan. From "that buddha originally sat" onward is, second, the events before the accomplishing of the path. Though every buddha's path is the same, the circumstances that occasion it differ — Śākyamuni practiced austerities for six years, and grass grew up, gathering at his thighs and reaching to his elbows, without his noticing; the gods wept and cried out, shaking the earth, yet he did not hear them; only when he shifted his seat did he attain the path. Maitreya attains the path on the very day he leaves the household. That buddha, by contrast, sat ten kalpas before the Dharma of the buddhas even appeared before him. This is not because their faculties differ in sharpness or dullness, or because the path is harder or easier for one than another — it is only that, as circumstances call for expansiveness or urgency, a longer or shorter span is shown accordingly. Third, from "monks, Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū, after ten small kalpas had passed" onward makes clear his direct accomplishing of the path. Fourth, from "before that buddha left the household" onward makes clear the offerings of his kinsfolk after his accomplishing of the path.

Fifth, from "at that time the sixteen princes, in verse, praised him" onward makes clear the request that he turn the Dharma wheel. The first section of text is easy to understand. The second, the events before he became a buddha, has two parts: first, the length of time the buddha sat at the seat of enlightenment; second, the offerings of the gods. From "the Buddha told" through "at the time he attained the complete, perfect awakening" onward is, second, the request of the various Brahmā kings. This text has two parts: first, the shining and stirring of his majestic light; second, the request of the Brahmā kings of the ten directions. As for the majestic light: the Sūtra on Past and Present Causes and Effects says, "when the Bodhisattva Sarvārthasiddha dwelt in the womb, the three-thousandfold world shone with a brilliant, great light, and even the places the sun and moon do not illuminate were made bright, so that the beings within them were each able to see one another." At the very moment of his first accomplishing of the path it was likewise so: in the morning he taught the gods of the form realm, at midday the gods of the desire realm, in the evening the spirits and ghosts, and by night it was likewise so.

As for the contemplation of mind: "beings that suddenly appeared" — the nature of mind is originally pure, and it is only the aggregates, sense-fields, and elements covering it over that make it dark; if one cultivates the wisdom of contemplation, its original nature and principle become manifest. Again, the two mountains between the sun's rising and setting are the two truths, and the space between them is the middle way. The light of sun and moon is the twin wisdoms of the provisional and the real, and the buddha's own light is the middle way. It is the light of non-discriminating wisdom, illuminating the three truths that were there all along, making them thoroughly clear. From "at that time, in the east" onward is, second, the Brahmā kings of the ten directions. This text has two parts: first, the nine directions; second, the direction above. The nine directions fall into four: first, the east; second, the southeast; third, the south; fourth, a general account covering the remaining six directions together. For each of the first three directions, the Brahmā kings' text has seven parts: first, witnessing the auspicious sign; second, being startled and alarmed; third, questioning one another and coming to a decision; fourth, following the light and seeing the buddha; fifth, making offerings with body, speech, and mind; sixth, requesting the Dharma; and seventh, the buddha's silent assent — all just as the text has it. For the direction above, the Brahmā king's account has only six parts, since the World-Honored One at once began to teach, and so there is no silent assent. The old reading holds that the east and southeast request the lesser teaching, the seven directions that follow request the greater, and the direction above requests both the lesser and the greater. If one follows the Treatise's account, the Brahmā kings originally request the greater; though the buddha in fact teaches the lesser, he has not yet fulfilled what was requested — it is only when he later teaches the Perfection of Wisdom that the Brahmā kings' request is at last answered. But if one follows the text of the "Skillful Means" chapter, the Brahmā king requests the greater, and yet the buddhas' path and Dharma are everywhere the same, and ought not to answer one request while ignoring the rest.

It is only that the sūtras and treatises preserve this in abbreviated form, and the various masters each rely on one part of it alone. Moreover, just as the present buddha, from beginning to end, fully turns the Dharma wheel of the five flavors, answering every single Brahmā request one by one, so too must it have been with that ancient buddha. The sixteen sons' first request, to turn the complete teaching, corresponds to the present buddha's teaching of the Flower Garland Sūtra; the east and southeast directions' request, to turn the partial teaching, corresponds to the present buddha's teaching of the Tripiṭaka; the seven directions that follow, requesting a teaching that opposes the partial and makes plain the complete, correspond to the present buddha's teaching of the Vaipulya sūtras; the Brahmā king above, requesting a teaching that carries the partial while making plain the complete, corresponds to the present buddha's teaching of the Prajñāpāramitā; and the sixteen sons' later request, to set aside the partial and make plain the complete, corresponds to the present buddha's teaching of the ghee-teaching of the Lotus Sūtra. The chapter-headings of past and present thus correspond to one another in their text and meaning (and so on). From "at that time, Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū accepted the ten directions'" onward — that is, accepted their request — is the near reason for forming the bond. Because the buddha accepted the request and taught the Dharma, only afterward could there be the relay-teaching that directly forms the bond. This text has two parts: first, first turning the partial-letter Dharma wheel; second, the sons requesting that he turn the Dharma wheel that sets aside the partial and makes plain the complete letter. The first has three parts: first, accepting the request; second, the direct turning; third, hearing the Dharma and attaining the path. Within this, the three vehicles ought to be spoken of, as in the text of the Introduction chapter, and the reason they are not spoken of here is that this passage speaks precisely of forming the bond and opening the provisional to reveal the real for the sake of those of the lowest capacity, and so it simply omits mention of the six perfections. The three turnings are called: showing, urging, and verifying (and so on). One may also correlate the three turnings with "showing, instructing, benefiting, and delighting": showing is the turning of showing; instructing is the turning of urging; and benefiting and delighting is the turning of verifying. One may also correlate them with seeing the truth, cultivating contemplation, and being beyond further training: for the śrāvaka, there are three full turnings; for the pratyekabuddha, two turnings; and for the bodhisattva, a single turning. Why is this so? Because of the sharpness or dullness of their faculties. This, however, is only one way of speaking of it — as a general rule, throughout, there are always three turnings. Why three turnings? Because, in the way the buddhas speak the Dharma, the teaching reaches completion at three, since sentient beings have three kinds of faculties — the Great Treatise and the Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā both say as much. Question: at first there were only the five men — how could there be three kinds of faculties among them? And there were, besides, eighty thousand gods present — why is there no mention of three kinds of faculties for them? It is in order to give rise to the three kinds of wisdom, the three kinds of faculties, and the three paths. As for "the twelve aspects": one may take this in terms of the teaching of the four noble truths, or in terms of the sixteen minds. The twelve aspects of the teaching are precisely showing, urging, and verifying; the twelve aspects of practice are that each of the three turnings gives rise to the eye, the wisdom, the clarity, and the realization. Again, the twelve aspects of the teaching are what does the turning, while the twelve aspects of practice are what is turned.

The twelve aspects of practice are the wheel; the twelve aspects of the teaching are not the wheel. If one takes this as two wheels: as for "the eye, the wisdom, the clarity, and the realization" — in terms of the forty-eight dharmas, these four minds are opened out into sixteen minds. That is: the patience regarding the dharma of suffering is the "eye"; the knowledge of the dharma of suffering is the "wisdom"; the subsequent patience is the "clarity"; and the subsequent knowledge is the "realization" — and the remaining three truths (origin, cessation, and the path) are likewise, and so sixteen minds are formed. Each of the three kinds of person attains all sixteen minds, and so forty-eight aspects are formed. The twelve aspects of the truths are the Dharma wheel of the teaching; the twelve aspects are the Dharma wheel of practice. In the wheel of the teaching, what does the turning is only the single provisional wisdom, while what is turned consists of the twelve aspects of the teaching. In the wheel of practice, the teaching that does the turning has twelve aspects, and the practice that is turned likewise has twelve aspects. This may apply generally to all three kinds of person, or specifically to one kind alone. Here, with regard to the three kinds of person on the path of seeing the truth, those of sharp faculties, upon hearing the turning of showing, at once give rise to the eye, the wisdom, the clarity, and the realization — and since all three kinds of person are raised together, this is called "the twelve aspects." As for those unable to turn it: even the śramaṇa, not having heard it, cannot yet know it — how much less turn it? The pratyekabuddha, though awakened, cannot express it in words; the brāhmaṇa, though he may have heard its name, does not understand its principle; and it is likewise so for Māra and Brahmā. "Turning," properly speaking, means conveying this Dharma so that it enters another's mind, bringing that person to awakening and breaking the sixty-two views — only this is called "turning the Dharma wheel"; since Māra, Brahmā, and the rest lack this capacity, they cannot turn it. There is a reading that holds that, within the Great Vehicle's four noble truths, one next turns the two truths, next the one truth, and next the truth beyond all truths — all of which express the sense of folding in and unfolding. The four noble truths of the Lesser Vehicle take arising-and-ceasing as their essence; those of the Great Vehicle take non-arising as their essence (and so on).

As for "the twelve links of dependent origination": this, too, is simply a detailed contemplation of the four noble truths under its particular aspects. In terms of suffering and its origin, there is ignorance and old-age-and-death arising in sequence; in terms of the path and cessation, there is the cessation of ignorance and so on up through the cessation of old-age-and-death. Again, all three kinds of person may contemplate the twelve links in common, but for the two lesser vehicles the twelve links are of arising-and-ceasing, while for the bodhisattva the twelve links are of non-arising. In the twelve links of non-arising, what was originally unborn is now unceasing; where there is mutual arising there is mutual ceasing, and what arises passes on, in turn, to what ceases (and so on). Again, the three vehicles hold the four noble truths in common as well: for the two lesser vehicles the four noble truths are finite in measure, while for the bodhisattva the four noble truths are immeasurable. Again, the six perfections, too, are shared among the three kinds of person: the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra, in its chapter on "Setting Forth," says, "the arhat and the pratyekabuddha reach the far shore by means of the six pāramitās." The Compendium of the Great Vehicle says, "the ordinary worldling and the two lesser vehicles all possess the six perfections, only they are not the same." If this is so, then all should equally be called "pāramitā" — and indeed, the two lesser vehicles' practice, reaching the far shore of nirvāṇa, is likewise called "pāramitā," only it is unable to reach the far shore of buddhahood, and this is where it differs from the bodhisattva's. The Abhidharma [Jñānaprasthāna] speaks of "the six feet," and these six feet are precisely the six perfections; the Ratnamegha Sūtra makes clear the vinaya of the three vehicles (and so on). Third, as for those who hear the Dharma and attain awakening: at first few, and later many. As for "do not accept": this means not accepting the four mistaken views, and awakening to the first fruit of stream-entry. As for "attains liberation": this means being freed from the two fetters of rebirth and of attachment to the fruit already attained, and attaining the state beyond further training. As for "the profound and wondrous concentration": this is precisely the liberation that is both of mind and of wisdom (and so on).

From "at that time the sixteen princes, all of them, left the household" onward is, second, the renewed request for the complete-letter Dharma wheel. This text has seven parts: first, leaving the household; second, requesting the Dharma; third, those they led likewise leaving the household; fourth, the buddha accepting the request; fifth, the assembly at that time, some understanding and some not; sixth, the passage of time; and seventh, having finished teaching, entering samādhi. As for "faculties": this means the six sense faculties — because the six faculties were pure, it is said they were "thoroughly sharp." Again, because the six faculties can be used interchangeably, it is called "thorough"; and because they enter the buddha's own domain, it is called "sharp." As for "wisdom, clear and understanding": this is opening, showing, awakening, and entering. That ancient buddha had at first taught the perfect and sudden teaching, and the sons were already fully endowed with every merit of the Great Vehicle; taking pity on beings needing the various skillful means, they made a renewed request that the buddha open the provisional to reveal the real. As for "the śrāvakas have all already accomplished what they sought": this makes clear that their hindrances were removed and their capacity had stirred, and this is why the request was made. As for "our resolve and wish is set on the Tathāgata's own knowledge and vision": this Lotus Sūtra makes clear only the Buddha's own knowledge and vision, and their resolve is set on this alone — this is precisely the text of the direct request for the complete letter that sets aside the partial, made plain just as it appears. As for "after twenty thousand kalpas had passed": since the opening of the three vehicles above already took so long, there could hardly have been nothing happening in the interval; looking to the sense of the text below, within these twenty thousand kalpas the Vaipulya teachings and the Prajñāpāramitā must surely have been taught — the text says, "expounding the six pāramitās and the matters of the various spiritual powers"; the Prajñāpāramitā is the teaching of practice, and the spiritual powers are the teaching of events, and the Vaipulya sūtras for the most part make clear inconceivable events and practices. The verse, further, says "distinguishing the true and real Dharma," and this is precisely the sense of the Prajñāpāramitā of true reality made clear in the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra. The sixteen novices who received it with faith, together with those of the two lesser vehicles, are those who believed and attained understanding; the remaining thousands and myriads all gave rise to doubt and confusion, and these form the assembly that did not understand. This assembly that did not understand is precisely the one that, together with the sixteen sons, formed the bond that leads to the Lotus. Seventh, making clear that, having finished teaching the Dharma, he entered samādhi — this is precisely the near reason for the forming of the bond. Because the buddha entered samādhi and did not emerge, the assembly caught in doubt and confusion had no one to consult, and it was the sixteen who, afterward, gave the relay-teaching of the sūtra for the sake of those who did not understand. The text makes clear the place where he entered samādhi — namely, a quiet chamber; his directly entering samādhi — namely, abiding in meditative concentration; and the length of time he remained in samādhi — namely, eighty-four thousand kalpas (and so on).

From "at that time, the sixteen bodhisattvas, knowing that the buddha had entered his chamber" onward is, second, the direct forming of the bond. Within this there are two: first, forming the bond as spoken in the dharma-teaching; second, forming the bond as spoken in the parable-teaching. Within the dharma-teaching there are three: first, making clear the common forming of the bond in past ages; second, making clear their meeting one another again in the interval; third, making clear the return, in the present, to teaching the Lotus. The first has four parts: first, knowing that the buddha had entered samādhi; second, the princes' relay-teaching; third, the assembly's gaining of benefit; and fourth, the buddha rising from samādhi to praise the bodhisattvas. It was precisely because the buddha entered samādhi that this teaching could take place — the buddha, knowing that his single transformative work was about to be complete, and that those in this group were not yet ripe, made the princes form the bond together with them; and, knowing besides that these beings must, in the end, be delivered by means of the princes, he for this reason remained long in samādhi and did not emerge (and so on). From "these sixteen novices" onward is, first, their knowing that the buddha had entered samādhi. From "each ascending the dharma-seat" onward is, second, the relay-teaching of the Lotus.

From "each and every one he delivered" onward is, third, the benefit of the teaching. Because they all gave rise to the resolve for awakening, it is called "delivered" — for as soon as one first gives rise to this resolve, vowing to become a buddha, one has already passed beyond the world, and this is precisely the sense of crossing to the far shore of the seven expedient means. From "Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū, after eighty thousand kalpas" onward is, fourth, the buddha rising from samādhi to praise them and to urge faith. This, again, has two parts: first, directly praising the bodhisattvas; second, from "you should all" onward, urging beings to draw near to them. Urging beings to draw near to them, again, has two parts: first, urging them to draw near; second, from "why is this" onward, explaining the intent behind this urging. From "the Buddha told the monks: these sixteen" onward is, second, making clear that in the interval they constantly met one another again. There are three kinds of such meeting: if they met and constantly received the Great Vehicle, then these beings had already reached completion within that same interval, and had not to wait until now; if they met, and the one who had retreated from the great was still received with the lesser, then these beings had not yet exhausted that interval, and only now come to hear again the teaching of the Great Vehicle; and third, if only their meeting with the lesser is spoken of, and not their meeting with the great at all, then they were not yet delivered within that interval, nor are they exhausted even now — these are the ones who only now, for the first time, receive the great, up to and including those who attain the path only after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa.

Question: given such an inconceivable, dust-like number of ages as described above, only now do they attain arhatship — one should then know how difficult it truly is to ascend to the patient acceptance of non-arising.

Answer: one reading holds that the great sage, skillful in his means, speaks in this way in accordance with the four siddhāntas: sometimes he speaks of the buddha-path as long and distant, and sometimes he speaks of it as easily attained. To counter those who, wearied of the long path, regard it as too great a burden, he speaks of it as short; to those who form the thought that the path is something to be taken lightly, he speaks of it as long. Sometimes this is done to bring forth wholesome roots from past lives; sometimes it accords with what beings in the world themselves desire; and sometimes it is simply so that, upon hearing the path spoken of as long or as short, they might at once enter the siddhānta of ultimate meaning. One should understand, then, that speaking of attaining arhatship only after so many kalpas is the provisional practice of the four siddhāntas, drawing beings of genuine practice onward so that they may enter the path.

From "monks, I now tell you: that buddha" onward is, third, making clear today's return to teaching the Lotus. This text, again, has two parts: first, correlating past and present; second, making clear the return to teaching the Lotus. Correlating past and present, again, has two parts: first, correlating the teacher's own past and present; second, correlating the disciples' past and present. The sixteen novices are the past; buddhahood attained in the eight directions is the present. From "monks, when we were novices, each of us" onward, next, correlates the disciples, and, again, has two parts: first, correlating those in the present; second, correlating those in the future. Those in the present, again, has four parts: first, those who do not retrogress, dwelling in the unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening; second, those beings who retrogressed, now dwelling as śrāvakas; third, from "why is this" onward, explaining the sense of their retrogressing and dwelling as śrāvakas; and fourth, from "at that time, those transformed, without measure" onward, directly concluding the correlation of past and present. From "and, after my own parinirvāṇa, in the future" onward is, second, correlating the disciples of the future, and, again, has two parts: first, the direct correlation; second, from "after my parinirvāṇa there will be, again" onward, resolving a doubt. The doubt runs as follows: those in the present, having had the chance to hear the Buddha teach the Lotus, are able to enter the one path, and so may be counted among those with whom the bond was formed; but those in the future, not hearing the Lotus, enter parinirvāṇa without it — how, then, could they possibly relinquish the lesser and enter the one vehicle? The explanation runs: though they enter parinirvāṇa, they shall in the end come to hear it, for I shall become a buddha in another land, and there they shall come to hear this sūtra. As for "another land": this means a land where the shared teaching of the three vehicles still remains.

As for "setting aside what the Tathāgatas speak by skillful means": this resolves the doubt. The three vehicles are spoken only as a skillful means — in reality there are no three.

From "monks, when the Tathāgata" onward is, second, directly making clear today's return to teaching the Lotus. Within this there are, again, three: first, the assembly's purity at that time; second, the direct teaching of the Lotus; third, explaining the intent behind the earlier opening of the three vehicles. As for "the time for nirvāṇa has arrived": whenever a buddha appears in the world, at the time his teaching and guidance are about to be complete, he teaches this sūtra — as with Kāśyapa Buddha, Candrasūryapradīpa Buddha, and the rest, who taught this sūtra and then entered nirvāṇa; and Śākyamuni, having taught the Lotus, likewise proclaims that he shall soon pass away. As for "the assembly, moreover, is pure": this is precisely the virtue of severance. As for "their faith and understanding are firm": faith is the fourfold unshakable faith, and understanding is the correct, undefiled understanding. Fully penetrating the truth of ultimate reality, and complete with every meditative concentration — this is the establishing of wisdom and severance. At that time they were fit to be taught the great path, and, hearing it, would certainly receive it with faith. Again, "the assembly, moreover, is pure" may also mean that they had attained the benefit of the Tripiṭaka teaching, and were spared its dangers. "Their faith and understanding are firm" means that, with regard to the Vaipulya teaching, their hearts came to trust one another mutually. "Fully penetrating the dharma of emptiness" means that, having heard the Prajñāpāramitā teaching expounded, their minds came to full penetration within the dharma of emptiness — this is precisely the sense of the relay-teaching. From "and so he gathered together the bodhisattvas" onward is the direct teaching of the Lotus. Gathering the bodhisattvas is the gathering together of the kinsfolk and the rest, and it is at this gathering that this sūtra is taught. What was explained earlier — that the kinsfolk are the great beings of the dharma-body who appear as an answering assembly — is here confirmed, and its meaning made plain by this very text. "Gathering the bodhisattvas" is the gathering of the kinsfolk; "and the assembly of śrāvakas" is the summoning of the son. From "monks, you should know the Tathāgata's skillful means" onward explains the intent behind opening the three vehicles. If there is, in the world, no one of the two lesser vehicles who truly attains parinirvāṇa, why did the Tathāgata earlier teach the provisional teaching at all? The explanation runs: monks, you should know that the Tathāgata's skillful means come from a deep knowledge that sentient beings have a lesser nature and desire, clinging to the five sense-objects and worn down by the five turbidities — and it is for this reason that he first taught the three, so as to break through their obstructions and spare them from danger, and only afterward taught the one.

From "suppose there was a perilous road of five hundred yojanas" onward is the second parable, which has both an opening and a matching correlation. The opening of the parable has two parts: first, the parable of the guide, which parallels the relay-teaching above that together formed the great bond, corresponding to the general parable in the "Burning House" chapter and the brief verse-recap in the "Skillful Means" chapter; second, the parable of leading the travelers, which parallels their meeting one another again in the interval, and the return, now, to teaching the Lotus — if those who met one another again in the interval, from the moment they first heard the Dharma from me, had all attained the unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening, this parable would not have been devised for them; it is precisely for those who, having met one another again in the interval, still dwell even now at the stage of the śrāvaka, that this second parable was devised, corresponding to the specific parable in the "Burning House" chapter and the extended verse-recap in the "Skillful Means" chapter.

Within the first parable of the guide, its text has five parts, corresponding to the six senses found within the general parable of the "Burning House" and the brief verse-recap of "Skillful Means." First, the parable of the five hundred yojanas: this parallels the beings above, not yet delivered, who delight in and cling to the places of the three realms of existence, round and round in transmigration — corresponding to the sense, in the "Burning House," of the house being vast, and the three realms being without safety, and, in "Skillful Means," of peace and ease set against the absence of peace and ease. Second, the parable of the perilous, evil road: this parallels the beings above, not yet delivered, whose afflictions are heavy with defilement, and who find the Tathāgata's wisdom hard to believe and hard to understand — corresponding to the sense, in the "Burning House," of the fire breaking out, and, in "Skillful Means," of the dharma of peace and ease set against that of no peace and ease. Third, the parable of there being a great many people: this directly parallels the beings above, in the hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis, who all give rise to doubt and confusion, unable to understand — corresponding to the sense, in the "Burning House," of the thirty sons and the five hundred people, and, in "Skillful Means," of knowing the natures and desires of sentient beings. Fourth, the parable of wishing to cross this road to reach the place of treasure: earlier commentators did not adopt this parable in this correspondence, but here it is taken to parallel the relay-teaching of the Lotus above — corresponding to the one-flavored rain in the "Parable of the Medicinal Herbs," the single door in the "Burning House," and the sense, in "Skillful Means," of proclaiming and revealing the buddha-path. Fifth, the parable of the one guide: this parallels the sixteenth prince above — corresponding to the dense cloud in the "Medicinal Herbs" chapter, the elder in the "Burning House," and the sense, in "Skillful Means," of "I too am likewise so."

Question: in the parable given here, why is it not made in the form of father and son losing one another, the elder rushing in alarm into the burning house, and "not false," and the rest of such names?

Answer: whenever a parable is given a name, each follows whatever is most fitting to its own meaning. Above, the parable was taken from the presence or absence of a capacity able to respond, and so it speaks of father and son losing one another, and of father and son seeing one another again; where it is taken from the response first hastening to meet the capacity, it speaks of rushing in alarm into the burning house. Here, what is made clear is the guide leading the multitude of people, meeting them life after life, generation after generation — how, then, could this be called "losing one another"? Having long ago formed the bond, how could this be called "a response only now beginning"? For this reason, the names "losing one another" and "rushing in alarm" are not used here, though their underlying sense carries through all the same.

Question: why is no parable of "not false" made here?

Answer: above, there have already been twenty-two instances of opening the provisional to reveal the real, and their meaning has already made plain that this is "not false." The original purpose of that parable was to encourage faith, and since those of the lowest capacity will, before long, come to have faith, it is not needed here.

As for "five hundred yojanas": Master Ji holds that the afflictions bound up with the three realms make the three hundred, the habitual tendencies severed on the seventh ground make the four hundred, and the ignorance severed from the eighth ground onward makes the five hundred. This, it seems to me, is neither the correct meaning of the distinct teaching nor the shared meaning of the three vehicles. There is also a school that speaks of birth-and-death as flowing on, birth-and-death of transformation, birth-and-death of the intervening state, and birth-and-death by allotted portion — taking only three of these to open into the five hundred, and not taking "flowing-on" birth-and-death; "flowing-on" is the very beginning of consciousness, the starting point from which one turns back to the source, and this is why it is not spoken of here. Someone objects to this, saying: the Śrīmālā Sūtra speaks of "five causes and two effects" — the two effects being birth-and-death by allotted portion and birth-and-death of transformation, and the five causes being the five abodes of affliction. Since, in speaking of the effect, it already opens "flowing-on" apart from the "intervening" state, then, in speaking of the cause, it ought likewise to further expand the five abodes of affliction. This has no basis, and cannot be used.

The Great Treatise makes clear that the physical-bodied bodhisattva undergoes birth-and-death by allotted portion, while the dharma-bodied bodhisattva undergoes birth-and-death of transformation. It also says that the arhat relinquishes the retribution-body of the three realms and receives instead a body of the dharma-nature — from which one knows that birth-and-death is of these two kinds only. Some say: the three hundred stands for the three realms, the four hundred stands for the seventh ground, the difficulty of passing between these two realms is what lies between, and the five hundred stands for the eighth ground and beyond. Those who object to this say: if the four hundred stands for the seventh ground, then the three hundred ought to stand for the sixth ground — yet the sixth ground is equal in accomplishment to the two lesser vehicles, and the two lesser vehicles, at the very longest, take only sixty or a hundred kalpas, while the bodhisattva, upon reaching the sixth ground, has already passed through twenty-two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas — the two lesser vehicles' own circuitous path to buddhahood ought not, then, to be counted as equal to it. It seems to me that this is neither the meaning of the distinct teaching nor the shared meaning of the three vehicles.

Some say: the three realms make the three hundred, the seventh abiding together with the two lesser vehicles make the four hundred, and everything from the seventh abiding onward makes the five hundred — as the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says, "the first fruit of stream-entry reaches the place of the resolve for awakening after eighty thousand kalpas." Just as persons of the three kinds of faculties, on reaching this place, at once receive and understand it, so the five kinds of person, on reaching this place, are said to have "crossed the five hundred." This is taken with regard to the very dullest of faculties, and this is why it speaks of "reaching it after eighty thousand kalpas" — for those of sharper faculties it need not be so; just as those who attained the fourth fruit of arhatship in the buddha's own lifetime, on hearing the Lotus, all at once gave rise to the resolve — how could this require eighty thousand kalpas? Those who object to this say: the sūtra makes clear that crossing the three hundred yojanas establishes the two grounds of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha — how, then, could this mean the crossing of three kinds of person? If it is instead the five kinds of person together giving rise to the resolve for awakening that is called "crossing the five hundred," this is indeed one sense found in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, making clear that the five kinds of person give rise to the resolve and depart from the five stages, but this is not the sense intended here. What is made clear here is that the three hundred is the provisional deliverance found within the conjured city, while the five hundred, reaching the place of treasure, is called the real deliverance — the conjured city is set aside and one advances to the place of treasure. If the five kinds of person are all delivered and all advance equally, this loses the very sense of the parable of the conjured city.

Some say: the three realms make the three hundred, the śrāvaka stage makes the four hundred, and the pratyekabuddha stage makes the five hundred — the ordinary worldling's obstruction is the three realms, and the two lesser vehicles' obstruction is nirvāṇa itself, which is likewise the two views of existence and of emptiness. In the Flower Garland Sūtra, the medicinal tree does not grow in deep water or in a pit of fire — the pit of fire is precisely the three realms, and the deep water is precisely the two lesser vehicles; the three realms are the prison of the two lesser vehicles, and the two lesser vehicles are the prison of the bodhisattva — these are, again, the two extremes of merit and of wisdom, unable either to cultivate themselves or to transform others. The Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra makes clear the four hundred yojanas, combining the two lesser vehicles into a single hundred, while the Lotus opens this out into the five hundred. The Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra makes clear the bodhisattva's crossing of the two grounds of the ordinary worldling and of the noble one, but does not yet make clear that the two lesser vehicles are themselves the provisional, and so it lacks the sense of the conjured city — since it does not yet discuss the conjured city, neither does it make plain the place of treasure.

Answer: the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra has already revealed the real, and so it discusses the place of treasure, but it has not yet opened the provisional, and so it does not make clear the conjured city. The text below says, "in order to give them rest, he taught two nirvāṇas" — this makes them cross the three hundred yojanas. "The stage at which you now abide is close to the Buddha's own wisdom" — this makes them go beyond the second hundred yojanas. Since the text is already so clear, there is no need to labor over any confusion. Again, in making clear the two lesser vehicles: there are six senses in which they are the same, and ten senses in which they differ. They are the same in that both go forth from the three realms, both exhaust non-arising, both sever the direct outflows, both attain the nirvāṇa with and without remainder, both attain the wisdom of all things, and both are named the Lesser Vehicle — and this is why they are gathered together as a single conjured city. Their ten distinct senses are opened separately: the length of time in which their causal practice is completed, whether sixty kalpas or a hundred kalpas; the sharpness or dullness of their faculties; whether they awaken alone from a teacher or without compassion, like the deer and the goat; whether with marks or without marks; whether their contemplation is brief or extensive; whether they are able to teach and attain the fourth fruit, or unable to teach yet attain the stage of heat; whether they live in the buddha's own age or not; whether their realization is sudden or gradual; and whether they manifest many spiritual powers and teach little, the śrāvaka being unfixed in this regard. The three carts of the burning house now correspond to the two hundred yojanas: all three kinds of faculty are alike burned by the burning house, and all three kinds of faculty, seeking to escape it, are given three carts; the buddha-path is long and distant, and the two lesser vehicles are themselves an evil path, and this is why the two hundred must be left behind. The buddha vehicle is no obstruction — why, then, does the text speak of opening three for the ordinary worldling and two for the noble one? This is simply a form of speech meant to draw them onward. Those delivered are still few, and those not yet delivered still many — were it otherwise, this would not yet be the teaching of ultimate meaning. Though the buddha-path is long, like a journey of ten thousand miles, it is only the five hundred that is difficult, and the rest is easy. Question: the two hundred is difficult for the two lesser vehicles, and the three realms are difficult for the ordinary worldling — does the bodhisattva have any difficulty of his own? The bodhisattva does not take the burning house itself as his difficulty, and so ought not to need to seek a cart in order to escape it — yet since he does seek a cart to escape, why should he not likewise be hindered by the two hundred (and so on)? The Great Treatise, in its sixty-sixth fascicle, says: "the perilous road is the world; the first hundred yojanas is the desire realm, the second hundred the form realm, the third hundred the formless realm, and the fourth hundred the two lesser vehicles." Elsewhere the numbering is reversed: the first hundred is the path of the two lesser vehicles, the second hundred the formless realm, the third hundred the form realm, and the fourth hundred the desire realm. This sūtra makes clear that the five hundred yojanas is precisely the bodhisattva path, and that once one passes beyond the five hundred, one enters the buddha-path (and so on). The various masters, and the sūtras and treatises, give differing accounts, as above — here, the matter is judged according to this present sūtra alone. The realm of karmic retribution within the three realms makes the three hundred; the realm with remainder makes the four hundred; and the realm of actual reward makes the five hundred. The text below, in the matching correlation, speaks of "knowing every kind of birth-and-death" — and birth-and-death is precisely what is meant by "place," as this makes plain. But the Buddha's own intent is hard to know, and this calls for still further explanation. The view-delusions make the first hundred; the five lower fetters make the second hundred; the five higher fetters make the third hundred; the dust-and-sand delusions make the fourth hundred; and fundamental ignorance makes the fifth hundred — the text below, in the matching correlation, speaks of "the perilous, evil road of affliction," and this sense supports it. Entering the contemplation of emptiness, one can cross the three hundred; entering the contemplation of the provisional, one can cross the four hundred; entering the contemplation of the middle, one can cross the five hundred — the text below, in the matching correlation, speaks of "well knowing where the perilous road is passable and where it is not," and this is precisely the sense that supports knowing, in both ways at once, cause and effect as the two kinds of "five hundred."

Second, as for "the perilous, evil road": this is a parable for the cause and effect of birth-and-death. Birth-and-death by allotted portion and birth-and-death of transformation are precisely the peril within the effect; views and thought and the five abodes of affliction are precisely the peril within the cause — and it is by reason of this cause and effect that it is called "the evil road." As for "without a single person": there are two kinds of road — one, vast and empty, yet with someone there to rely on; the other, with no one at all to rely on. This is a parable for there being nirvāṇa within birth-and-death, and awakening within affliction — though vast and empty, there is still someone to rely on. But if there were, within birth-and-death and affliction, no nirvāṇa and no awakening at all — medicine containing no cure for sickness, and sickness admitting of no medicine — this indeed would be vast and empty with no one at all to rely on. Third, as for "if there were a great many people": this is a parable for the assembly, not yet delivered, that the princes transformed. Fourth, "wishing to cross this perilous road," seeking to reach the awakening of a buddha's seed — this is why it says "to reach the place of treasure." Fifth, as for "there was a guide": this is precisely the sixteenth prince. Purity of eye and ear is called "keen"; purity of mind is called "sharp" — taken together, this means the purity of the six sense faculties. "Wisdom" means the three kinds of wisdom within a single mind; "clarity" means being fully endowed with the five eyes. Again, the three insights are "clarity," and the ten powers are "mastery."

From "leading the multitude of people" onward is the second, the parable of leading the travelers — this carries the same sense as the specific parable in the "Burning House" and the extended verse-recap in "Skillful Means." Within this text there are three parts: first, the parable of the people led. This parallels those with whom the bond was originally formed but who are not yet delivered — the original bond is not lost, and they are led by the guide, just as, above, the elder in the "Burning House" sees the fire and is struck with terror, and, in "Skillful Means," sees the five turbidities and gives rise to great compassion. Second, the parable of growing weary and wishing to turn back partway. This parallels their meeting one another again in the interval, retreating from the Great Vehicle's resolve and thereupon being received with the lesser — corresponding, in the "Burning House," to not needing to use hand or body to force the sons out, yet praising the rarity of the three carts, and, in "Skillful Means," to setting the Great Vehicle transformation to rest and instead using skillful means. Third, from "at that time the guide, knowing that these people" onward, the parable of dissolving the conjured city and leading them on to the place of treasure. This parallels the return, once more, to teaching the Lotus Sūtra — gathering together the bodhisattvas and the assembly of śrāvakas, and teaching this sūtra to them — corresponding to the sense, in the "Burning House," of the bestowal of the single great cart, and, in "Skillful Means," of speaking only of the unsurpassed path. The division of the text is now complete; next, the text itself is explained. First, as for "the people led": taken generally, this means the whole assembly with whom the bond was formed; taken specifically, those who already received the great benefit in the past and have already been led are one thing, while those who have not yet received the great benefit are precisely those now being led; and, taken with regard to the five hundred among the thirty sons, this means those who have not yet come to awakening. As for "growing weary and wishing to turn back partway": this is precisely the second parable. The text has two parts: first, retreating from the great; second, being received with the lesser. Retreating from the great parallels the resting of the one above; being received with the lesser parallels the bestowing of the three above. Retreating from the great, the text has three parts: first, "growing weary and wishing to turn back partway," which parallels the absence of the capacity for the great, above; second, "said to the guide," which parallels not accepting the exhortation and admonition, above — "we are utterly exhausted" is precisely the gate of not accepting the exhortation, and "and besides afraid" is precisely the gate of not accepting the admonition; and third, "we can go no further," which parallels the resting of the transformation, above. The division of the text is now complete; next, the text is explained. First, as for "partway": this does not mean "partway" in the sense of the halfway point of a journey — rather, taking the arising of the resolve as the beginning and buddhahood as the end, it is between these two pillars that the mind of retreat arises, and this is why it is called "partway."

Second, as for "said to the guide": there is the guide of universal, all-pervading compassion, as in the text's phrase "there was a guide, leading the multitude of people" — this refers to him; there is the guide with whom the bond was formed, as in the text's phrase "the people led said to the guide" — this refers to him; there is the guide of provisional wisdom, as in the text's phrase "the guide, resourceful in every skillful means" — this refers to him; and there is the guide of real wisdom, as in the text's phrase "the guide, knowing these people" — this refers to him. Here, when the text says "said to the guide," this means precisely speaking to the guide with whom the bond was formed — since, when they retreat from the great, the great is thereby extinguished, and, when they are received with the lesser, the lesser is thereby given rise to, and this single arising and single extinguishing moves the dharma-body, this is called "speaking." The prince, knowing of their retreat from the great, is precisely hearing what they have spoken. Their wholesome roots being feeble, and obscured by fundamental ignorance, this is called "utterly exhausted." Dreading birth-and-death is named "afraid." Third, as for "we can go no further, and the road ahead is still far": views and thought, and the dust-and-sand delusions, and fundamental ignorance are difficult to sever all at once — and yet, using the Lesser Vehicle to receive them, without making them return all at once to their original place, there is, even here, a sense of advancing.

From "the guide, resourceful in every skillful means" onward is, second, precisely receiving them with the lesser. Above, in the "Burning House" and "Skillful Means," the opening of the three-vehicle teaching each carried four senses, and here they are all fully present. First, the parable of resourcefulness in skillful means is the parable of gauging what is fitting. From "and thought to himself" onward is, second, the parable of grieving over their losing the treasure, knowing that they possess the lesser but not the great. Next, from "having had this thought" onward is, third, the parable of conjuring a city, directly employing the skillful means. From "at this the exhausted people" onward is, fourth, the parable of entering the city, the awakening and entering of the three vehicles. The two senses above are as the text has it; the parable of conjuring the city itself, again, has two parts: first, the conjuring; second, the proclaiming of the conjured. From "by the power of skillful means" onward is the direct conjuring; from "and said to the people" onward is the direct proclaiming. Above, in the parable of the carts, it says, "I shall make these carts for you" — here, the city already exists, and so it must first be made. The proclaiming of the conjured city parallels the three turnings above — urging, showing, and verifying. "Do not be afraid, and do not turn back" is the turning of urging, making them go forward and enter the city. "Here is a great city... where you may... do as you wish" is the turning of showing, showing that the city may be dwelt in. "If you enter this city, you will find peace and ease at once" is the turning of verifying, praising the city's peace and ease.

As for "and if you are later able to go on to the place of treasure, you may do that too": within the Tripiṭaka teaching, going onward further is not yet discussed. One reading holds that this makes clear the wording used at the time of teaching the three vehicles: if one gives rise to the Great Vehicle's resolve and seeks buddhahood, this too is good; but if one is unable to do so, it is likewise good simply to become one of the two lesser vehicles — as, for instance, the Śrīmālā Sūtra says, "in the three vehicles' first undertaking, one is not ignorant of the Dharma," knowing of oneself that one ought to attain buddhahood, yet, out of weariness and inability to bear it, taking permanent cessation instead. If this is so, then this becomes the distinct teaching. Another reading holds that beings are simply made to enter the conjured city, and only afterward go on further still — the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra and the Vimalakīrti Sūtra both carry this same sense. This, then, is the sense of the distinct teaching received by way of the shared teaching. Yet, before the present buddha has opened and revealed the one vehicle, these words could not have been spoken openly — if one speaks of past lives, however, such words would indeed have been fitting. Why is this? Knowing already their intent to retreat, the princes, in teaching and transforming them, said: "if you dread birth-and-death, then for now take up the news of nirvāṇa, and afterward you may, as you wish, go on to practice the great path as well" — just as, among people today, one who wishes to study the Great Vehicle yet dreads birth-and-death and wishes to give rise to a mind of retreat may be told by another: "for now, sever your afflictions and realize arhatship, and afterward you may still go on to take up the great path as well." In the present age, however, the transformative teaching of this one lifetime is not yet complete, and such words could not suddenly be spoken — only once the provisional is opened to reveal the real can they be spoken, just as with all those in the Nirvāṇa Sūtra who take up arhatship — this is precisely their meaning. "Great joy" is precisely the wisdom of hearing; "what they had never had before" is precisely the stage of heat; "escaped this evil road" is precisely the stage of the summit; "peace and ease at once" is precisely the stage of patient acceptance; "went forward into" the city is precisely the stage of seeing the truth; and "the thought that they had already been delivered" is precisely the stage beyond further training — this is the same as, in the "Burning House," the sons' wish being fulfilled, bold and eager, pushing past one another out of the house.

The thought that they had already been delivered is like attaining the wisdom of exhaustion of outflows; the thought that they were at peace is like attaining the wisdom of non-arising. Again, being complete with the virtue of wisdom is like having already been delivered, and realizing the virtue of severance is like being at peace. Some, in speaking of the place of treasure, say: once the two lesser vehicles pass beyond the three realms, they reach precisely the buddha-path, and the buddha-path is the place of treasure. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra has three passages: first, reaching the resolve for awakening; second, reaching awakening itself; third, reaching the gate of great nirvāṇa. If one reaches the resolve for awakening, one is certain to reach awakening and nirvāṇa as well. In citing these three passages: reaching the resolve for awakening is called reaching the cause; awakening and nirvāṇa are called reaching the effect. Within the effect there are wisdom and severance — awakening is wisdom, and nirvāṇa is severance. Because both beginning and end are fully spoken of, and both wisdom and severance are fully spoken of, three passages are given. Now, passing beyond the five hundred carries three senses: first, escaping the evil road; second, attaining the good path; and third, this being the place of treasure. The resolve for awakening means crossing the evil road; the practice of awakening is like the level, even path; and, third, attaining buddhahood is like reaching the place of treasure. The text below says, "now I tell you the truth: what you have attained is not the real" — this makes clear the crossing of the five hundred as the evil road. "For the Buddha's wisdom of all modes, you should give rise to great diligence" means practicing the good path of awakening. "You shall realize the wisdom of all modes, the ten powers, and the rest of the buddha-dharmas" means attaining the buddha-path. Why must one, of necessity, cross the five hundred? Because the two lesser vehicles cross the three hundred, the bodhisattva crosses the four hundred, and the buddha vehicle crosses the five hundred.

From "at that time, the guide, knowing this" onward is, third, dissolving the conjured city and leading them on to the place of treasure. Within this there are two: first, knowing that they have rested; second, heading toward the place of treasure. As for "having now rested and being no longer weary": this parallels the arrival of the time for nirvāṇa, above — the assembly, moreover, being pure, and spared from danger, with the great capacity now stirred. "And at once caused the conjured city to vanish," leading them toward the place of treasure — this parallels the direct teaching of the Lotus, above, showing the true and real mark of all things. The place of treasure carries two senses: taken as the ultimate, the extreme fruit of buddhahood is the place of treasure — the text above says, "only a buddha, together with a buddha, can fully fathom the true reality of all dharmas." Taken as a partial entering, the abiding of the very first arising of the resolve is the place of treasure — hence the text above says, "the unsurpassed treasure, sought by us not at all, yet attained," and again says, "attained a portion of the Buddha's Dharma" — what a child of the Buddha ought to attain, he has already attained in full. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says, "the stream-enterer reaches it after eighty thousand kalpas" — reaching, that is, the place of the very first arising of the resolve for awakening. This is taken with regard to the dullest of faculties, who, left to their own natural course, reach it only after eighty thousand or ten thousand kalpas and so on; but for one like those of the four fruits within the Tripiṭaka teaching, who enter the great without the passing of any great length of time at all, how could eighty thousand or ten thousand kalpas possibly be required (and so on)?

"The place of treasure is near; that great city just now was conjured by me": this raises the parable of setting aside the provisional so as to attach it, in confirmation, to the parable of revealing the real.

Above it says, "the Tathāgata's wisdom is hard to believe and hard to understand — these people should, by means of this Dharma, gradually enter the Buddha's own wisdom," which parallels the passage in "Skillful Means" that says, "I caused them to be freed from the bonds of suffering and to attain nirvāṇa" — the Buddha, by the power of skillful means, showed them the teaching of the three vehicles.

An old question: the cart and the city both stand as parables for the wisdom of non-arising — why, then, does the cart not exist while the city does exist? And why are there three carts but only one city, the cart in motion while the city is still?

Answer: outside the elder's gate there was a cart, but a partition kept it hidden, so that the sons could not see it — one may thus provisionally posit that there is a cart outside the gate, when in reality there is no cart at all. The city, however, stands out in the open ground and cannot be provisionally posited in this way — and this is why the city does exist. Taken with regard to the teaching and the principle: if one holds fast to the three teachings in order to grasp the principle, then all three teachings alike attain the principle — this is the sense in which there is something, like the city. If one takes hold of the teaching by way of the principle, then, since the principle is but one, this teaching has no fruit belonging to the three separate houses — this is the sense in which the cart is held to be nonexistent. As for there being three carts but one city: since all these people alike come to rest in a single place, the city is one; the cart, however, is taken with respect to the three kinds of person, whose delights are not the same, and so it is three. Taken with regard to the teaching and the principle: the exhaustion of arising, which all three houses alike attain, does not differ — it is like the city. As for the three kinds of person: though they alike exhaust the direct outflows, their habitual tendencies are exhausted in some and not in others; some attain, incidentally, knowledge and vision, and some do not — and this is why this adornment of the exhaustion of arising is used, and why this sense differs, like the three carts. The wisdom of the exhaustion of arising possessed by all three houses makes clear that, the cause exhausted, the effect too is gone — this place is the ultimate, like the city being still; while the wisdom of the exhaustion of arising, conveying one into the nirvāṇa without remainder, is like the cart in motion. This objection stands (and so on). Now it should be made clear: taken with regard to sentient beings' own minds, both cart and city exist; taken with regard to the Buddha's own wisdom made manifest, both exist and do not exist. What provisional wisdom makes manifest is existence, like the city; what real wisdom makes manifest is non-existence, like the cart (and so on). The direct intent of the conjured city is for those who retreat from the great and take up the lesser; incidentally, it is for those first setting out to study the lesser. In the two periods above, the direct intent was for those first setting out to study the lesser, and incidentally for those who retreat from the great. The three carts run through both present and past alike; the conjured city is directly the sense of drawing beings onward through the teaching, and it has not yet been said that this itself is the conjuring.

Question: the conjuring made into the three carts — how does this differ from the conjured city?

Answer: the three carts are a parable made for the wheel of the teaching of the Dharma; the conjured city is a parable made for the wheel of spiritual powers. Again, the cart is a parable made with respect to sound — the sons hear of it but do not see it; the city is a parable made with respect to form. Question: how do the city and the two hindrances of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha compare? The hindrances are able to be pointed out and shown, like the teaching expounding the principle; the city is for the sake of resting from affliction — the teaching is in motion, while the city is still. The teaching, that is, the four noble truths and the twelve links, differs between vehicles; the city, that is, the twin wisdoms entering the nirvāṇa without remainder, does not differ. The teaching runs through both cause and effect; the city and the cart lie only within the effect. The teaching runs through both the conditioned and the unconditioned; the city and the cart lie only within the unconditioned. Provisional wisdom holds that the cart does not exist, since it is a device set up through the teaching's own naming; real wisdom holds that the cart does exist, since liberation is never spoken of apart from the written word. Provisional wisdom illuminates the city as existing, since it draws sentient beings onward; real wisdom illuminates the city as not existing, since it is one-sidedly true but not the real. Provisional wisdom illuminates the cart as three, meeting three different conditions; real wisdom illuminates the cart as one, since all alike are gathered into the one vehicle. Provisional wisdom illuminates the city as one, since it is one-sidedly true; real wisdom illuminates the city as three, since it is the tathāgatagarbha holding all three within it. Provisional wisdom illuminates the city as still, since it is the cessation of ashes and the extinguishing of consciousness; real wisdom illuminates the city as moving, since this very conjuring is itself dissolved. Provisional wisdom illuminates the cart as conveying, since it conveys one into the nirvāṇa without remainder; real wisdom illuminates the cart as still, since it neither moves nor departs. How could an explanation made in this way be the same as the old reading? The old reading remains, after all, confined within the meaning of the Lesser Vehicle alone.

Question: altogether, there are five places where the three are opened to reveal the one — what differences are there among them?

Answer: taken generally, there is no difference; taken specifically, there are distinctions. In "Skillful Means," the three are opened to reveal the one in terms of the teaching — the text says, "the Tathāgata, only by means of the one buddha vehicle, teaches the Dharma to sentient beings; there is no second, and no third." In the "Burning House," the three are opened to reveal the one in terms of practice — the cart carries the sense of conveying, and conveying is a parable for practice; the text says, "each riding in the great cart, they roamed in every direction, at play and full of joy." In "Faith and Understanding," the three are opened to reveal the one in terms of the person — correlating the hired laborer with the elder's own child, "we, from of old, have truly been children of the Buddha." In the "Parable of the Medicinal Herbs," the provisional and the real are made clear in terms of difference and non-difference, without settling definitely on taking one and rejecting the other — it simply makes clear that sentient beings do not know, and that the Buddha causes them to know. If the seven kinds of difference among plants are known, then the provisional is known; if the single principle they share alike, without difference, is known, then the real is known. Difference within non-difference, and non-difference within difference — this is meant only to make this sense known, and it never once says there is no one vehicle and yet there is one, or the reverse — this is spoken in terms of the twin wisdoms of the provisional and the real within one's own practice, spoken according to one's own intent, and this is why the Buddha is able to know it while sentient beings do not. This, too, runs through what came before and what follows, making clear the provisional and the real through knowing and not knowing. Here, in the conjured city, the three are opened to reveal the one directly in terms of principle — the place of treasure and the conjured city are both the two principles of the lesser and the greater, breaking through the provisional principle of the two lesser vehicles so as to reveal the true, single principle of the place of treasure. Further on, in the "Five Hundred's" receiving and understanding, the parable of raising up the pearl is likewise taken in terms of principle.

From "monks, the Tathāgata" onward is, second, the matching correlation — first the direct matching, then raising the parable once more to attach it in confirmation, though not in their original order. From "the Tathāgata is likewise so" onward is, first, matching the fifth, the parable of the guide. From "now, for your sake" onward is, second, matching the third, the parable of there being a great many people. From "knowing every kind of birth-and-death, affliction, and the perilous, evil road" onward is, third, matching the second, the parable of the perilous, evil road. The two characters "long and distant" are, fourth, matching the first, the parable of the five hundred yojanas. As for "must be traveled and must be crossed": this is, fifth, matching "wise, discerning," and is also matching the fourth, wishing to cross the perilous road to reach the place of treasure.

From "if beings were to hear only" onward matches, second, the parable of leading the travelers. The original parable had three parts, and here, too, the matching has three: "if beings" matches the first, the parable of the people led; "were to hear only of the one buddha vehicle" matches, second, the parable of retreating from the great and being received with the lesser; and from "if beings settle at either of these two stages" onward matches, third, the parable of dissolving the conjured city and leading them on to the place of treasure. The second parable originally had both retreating from the great and being received with the lesser, and here both are fully matched. Above, retreating from the great carried three senses: "were to hear only of the one buddha vehicle" matches growing weary and wishing to turn back partway, above — the sense of lacking the capacity for it; "would not wish to see the Buddha, nor draw near to him" matches speaking to the guide, above — not accepting the admonition and exhortation; and "would think to himself" matches being unable to go further, above — the sense of resting the transformation. From "the Buddha, knowing that such a mind" onward matches receiving them with the lesser, above. The original parable had four senses, and here only three are matched: "the Buddha, knowing that such a mind" matches the guide's resourcefulness in skillful means, above — the sense of gauging what is fitting; "is timid, weak, and of little resolve" matches these people being pitiable, above — knowing that they possess the lesser capacity; from "by the power of skillful means, teaches two nirvāṇas partway along the road, so that they might rest" onward matches, third, the manifest conjuring of the city, and the people's entering the city, above; and "teaches two nirvāṇas partway along the road" means that, the delusions of the three realms exhausted, yet the dust-and-sand delusions and fundamental ignorance not yet broken, between these two pillars is set the distinction of nirvāṇa with and without remainder — which is also the nirvāṇa of the śrāvaka and of the pratyekabuddha. Again, birth-and-death by allotted portion already exhausted, but birth-and-death of transformation not yet removed, between these two kinds of death is set the distinction of with and without remainder — and this is why it is called "partway" (and so on). From "if beings settle at either of these two stages" onward matches, third, leading them on to the place of treasure. The text above had two parts, and here, too, the matching has two: "if beings settle at either of these two stages" matches knowing that they have rested; and from "the Tathāgata then says to them" onward matches leading them toward the place of treasure. From "just as that guide" onward is, second, citing the parable once more to attach it in confirmation — citing the parable of receiving them upon their retreat to match the bestowal of the three, and citing the parable of dissolving the conjured city to match the revealing of the one, just as the text has it (and so on).

Second, the verses: forty-nine-and-a-half lines versify what came before. Above there were two parts, and here, first, twenty-two-and-a-half lines versify the reasons for forming the bond; next, twenty-seven lines versify, second, the direct forming of the bond. Above, the reasons had both the distant and the near, and here, first, twelve lines versify the distant reason above; next, from "the World-Honored One of measureless wisdom" onward, ten-and-a-half lines versify the near reason. Above, the distant reason had two parts, and here, first, six lines versify Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū's accomplishing of the path, and next, six lines versify the Brahmā kings of the ten directions coming to request the turning of the Dharma wheel. Above, within the accomplishing of the path, there were five parts, and here, first, three lines versify, second, the events before the accomplishing of the path; next, from "after ten small kalpas had passed" onward, second, one line versifies, third, the direct accomplishing of the path; next, from "that buddha's sixteen sons" onward, third, two lines versify, fifth, the sixteen sons requesting that he turn the Dharma wheel, together versifying, fourth, the offerings made by his kinsfolk after he accomplished the path — omitting, in brief, the first, the buddha's vastly long lifespan.

From "the World-Honored One, so hard to encounter" onward, six lines versify the Brahmā kings' request from the ten directions. Above there were two parts, and here, first, one line versifies the shining and stirring of his majestic light; next, from "the various Brahmā kings of the east" onward, second, five lines versify the Brahmā kings of the ten directions following the light as they come. Within this, the first three lines versify the east, and the next two lines versify the nine directions all together. From "the World-Honored One of measureless wisdom" onward is, second, ten-and-a-half lines versifying the near reason. Above there were two parts, and here, first, five lines versify the first, turning the Dharma wheel for the two lesser vehicles; next, from "at that time the sixteen princes" onward, second, five-and-a-half lines versify the second, their renewed request to turn the Dharma wheel of the Great Vehicle. Above, the first text, again, had three parts: first, from "measureless" onward, half a line versifies the first, accepting the request; next, from "in order to proclaim" onward, second, one-and-a-half lines versify the second, the direct turning of the Dharma wheel for the two lesser vehicles; next, from "proclaiming and expounding" onward, third, three lines versify the third, the assembly at that time hearing the Dharma and attaining the path.

From "at that time the sixteen princes" onward, five-and-a-half lines are, second, the princes' renewed request. Within this there are seven parts: first, two phrases versify the first, the princes leaving the household; next, from "together they all requested that he" onward, second, one-and-a-half lines versify the second, the direct request to turn the Great Vehicle wheel; next, from "the buddha, knowing that the young men" onward, third, two lines versify the Vaipulya teachings and the Prajñāpāramitā taught during the interval of twenty thousand kalpas; next, from "expounding this Lotus" onward, fourth, half a line directly versifies the fourth, accepting the request and teaching the Lotus; next, from "that buddha, having taught the sūtra" onward, fifth, one line versifies the seventh, entering samādhi once the sūtra was taught — omitting, in brief, the third, the eighty thousand who accompanied the father-king and sought to leave the household; the fifth, the assembly hearing the sūtra, some understanding and some not; and the sixth, the great length of time spent teaching the sūtra.

From "these novices" onward, twenty-seven lines versify the direct forming of the bond. The text above had two parts, and here, first, eight lines versify the dharma-teaching, and next, nineteen lines versify the parable-teaching. Above, the dharma-teaching had three parts, and here, first, three lines versify the first, the causes and conditions formed in the past; next, one line versifies the second, their meeting one another again in the interval; next, four lines versify the third, the return, today, to teaching the Lotus. Above, the causes and conditions formed in the past had four parts: first, half a line versifies the buddha's entering samādhi; next, from "for the sake of measureless koṭis" onward, second, one-and-a-half lines versify the direct relay-teaching; next, from "each and every novice" onward, third, one line versifies the gaining of benefit from hearing the Dharma — omitting, in brief, the fourth, the buddha rising from samādhi to offer his praise. Next, from "after that buddha's parinirvāṇa" onward, second, three lines versify their meeting one another again in the interval.

From "these sixteen novices" onward, third, four lines versify today's teaching of the Lotus. The text above had two parts — first, correlating past and present, which had both the present and the future — and here, first, three lines versify correlating the teacher and disciples of the present. From "by reason of this original bond" onward, second, one line versifies the return to teaching the Lotus. The text above had three parts, and here, first, one phrase versifies the first, the assembly's purity at that time — by reason of this original bond, the present assembly is spared from danger and its capacity now stirred; next, from "now teaching the Lotus" onward, second, three phrases versify the second, the teaching of this sūtra — omitting, in brief, the third, the explanation of the intent behind opening the three. From "the perilous, evil road" onward, second, nineteen lines versify the opening and matching of the parable, the first eleven-and-a-half lines versifying the opening of the parable, and the last seven-and-a-half lines versifying the matching correlation. Above, the opening of the parable had two parts, and here, first, three lines versify the parable of the five hundred yojanas, and next, eight-and-a-half lines versify the parable of leading the travelers. Above, the parable of the five hundred had five parts, and here, first, one line versifies the second, the perilous, evil road; next, from "countless thousands and myriads" onward, second, half a line versifies the third, there being a great many people; next, from "its way was" onward, third, half a line versifies the first, the five hundred yojanas; next, from "there was then a guide" onward, fourth, one phrase versifies the fifth, the one guide; and "of strong memory and" onward, three phrases, versifies wisdom, clarity, and mastery — the fourth is not versified.

From "the people, every one exhausted" onward, second, eight-and-a-half lines versify the second, the parable of leading the travelers. The text above had three parts, and here, too, three are versified: the first two characters versify the first above, leading them; from "exhausted" onward, second, five lines, three phrases, and three characters versify, second, the parable of the people growing weary and retreating, and the provisional establishing of the conjured city; next, from "the guide, knowing they were" onward, third, two-and-a-half lines versify, third, the parable of dissolving the conjured city and leading them on to the place of treasure. Above, the second text had two parts — first, growing weary and retreating, and second, receiving those who retreat — and here, first, three phrases and three characters versify growing weary and retreating, and next, five lines versify conjuring the city to receive those who retreat. Above, growing weary and retreating had three parts, and here, in brief, the first, "partway," is not versified. Above, in the text of receiving those who retreat by conjuring the city, here everything is fully versified: first, one line versifies the second, grieving over the loss of the great; next, from "at once he thought" onward, second, two phrases versify the first, forming the thought; next, from "conjured a great walled city" onward, third, two-and-a-half lines versify the third, the conjuring. The text above, again, had two parts, and here, first, one-and-a-half lines versify the direct parable of conjuring. As for "houses": these are every object of the contemplation of emptiness. As for "groves and gardens": these are the forest of the undefiled Dharma held wholly by the two lesser vehicles. The nine successive concentrations are the "flowing streams"; the eight liberations are the "bathing pools"; the "layered gates" are the three gates of emptiness, and also the samādhi of redoubled emptiness, the wisdom of the exhaustion of non-arising; and the "high towers" rise above them all. "Men and women" are concentration and wisdom. Taken as the contemplation of mind: the very substance of wisdom, complete on every side, is like the city and its moat; wholesome dharmas, perfect and full, are like the outer wall surrounding it; ultimate emptiness is the dwelling itself; the wholesome that directly accomplishes one's own practice is like the man attending to the household's affairs; and compassion turned outward to transform others is like the woman married out into another family. Next, from "and, having conjured this" onward, second, one line versifies the proclaiming of the conjured city, above. Next, from "the people, having now entered" onward, fourth, one line versifies, fourth, entering the city. From "the guide, knowing they were now rested" onward is, third, two-and-a-half lines versifying, third, dissolving the conjured city and reaching the place of treasure. The text above had two parts, and here, first, one phrase versifies the first, knowing that they have rested; next, from "gathered the people" onward, second, two lines and one phrase versify dissolving the conjured city and leading them toward the place of treasure.

From "I too am likewise so" onward is, second, seven-and-a-half lines versifying, second, the matching of the two parables — first, half a line versifies matching the first, the parable of the five hundred; next, seven lines versify matching the second, the parable of leading the travelers. Above, matching the five hundred had, again, four parts, and here half a line versifies them all together only. "Seeing those who seek the path," two lines, versifies matching the parable of growing weary and retreating. Above, the versification of the opening of the parable did not versify the "partway," and here one line matches growing weary and retreating partway, and the next line versifies matching the conjuring made to receive those who retreat. From "already knowing that they had reached nirvāṇa" onward, second, five lines versify, second, matching dissolving the conjured city and reaching the place of treasure. The text above matched this in two parts, and here, too, the verse has two: first, half a line versifies the first, knowing that they have rested; from "and then he gathered the great assembly" onward, second, three-and-a-half lines versify the second, matching dissolving the conjured city and leading them toward the place of treasure. Within the verse matching the dissolving of the transformation lies the sense of the secret treasury of the three virtues: "you shall realize the wisdom of all modes" is precisely the perfection of wisdom; "complete with the thirty-two marks" is precisely the dharma-body; and "this alone is true and real cessation" is precisely liberation — these three dharmas, neither collapsed into one nor scattered apart, are precisely the seeing of buddha-nature. From "the buddhas, guides of beings" onward, one line versifies the attaching, in confirmation, of the parable to the teaching.

Explaining the chapter "The Prediction for Five Hundred Disciples." This chapter, in fact, bestows the prediction on twelve hundred — why, then, does it take its title from "five hundred"? It is because the five hundred receive their prediction under a single, shared name, and it is the five hundred who voice aloud their own receiving and understanding, and this is why the chapter is titled from them. This chapter is the second section within the exposition through causes and conditions. Within the bestowal of predictions there are two parts: first, the prediction given to the twelve hundred; second, the prediction given to the two thousand. The twelve hundred, again, has two parts: first, the bestowal on Pūrṇa; second, the bestowal on the twelve hundred. The bestowal on Pūrṇa, again, has two parts: first, narrating his silent receiving and understanding; second, the Tathāgata's own account and prediction. First, it narrates his gaining understanding and his joy; next, it narrates his silently contemplating and receiving and understanding. His joy, again, has two parts: first, narrating the reason for his gaining understanding; second, narrating his joy at gaining understanding. The reason for his gaining understanding has four parts: first, hearing the Dharma parable, the two periods that open the three to reveal the one; second, the bestowal of predictions on the five great disciples such as Śāriputra; third, hearing, further, the matter of the bond formed in past lives; and fourth, hearing, further, of the buddhas', the Tathāgatas', threefold, unobstructed penetrating knowledge. Contemplating that vast distance as though it were today is precisely the power of great, self-mastering spiritual penetration, censuring the two lesser vehicles as different, confined to a mere eighty thousand kalpas. As for "having heard from the Buddha this wisdom": this receives what was revealed as the real within "Skillful Means" and the "Burning House"; "taught by skillful means according to what is fitting" receives the opening of the provisional in both those places. "The great disciples" receives the opening of the provisional; "bestowing the prediction of awakening" receives the revealing of the real; "the karmic connections from past lives" receives the revealing of the real; and "spiritual power" receives the opening of the provisional. From "gained what he had never had before" onward narrates his joy at gaining understanding — first making clear the inward joy of his understanding, and next the outward form of his reverence. Because what he had never before heard — the opening of the provisional to reveal the real — he now, for the first time, has heard, it is said, "gained what he had never had before"; because he had removed his love of nirvāṇa and severed the particular delusions, it is said, "his heart pure"; because the Buddha's own knowledge and vision was opened to him, it is for this reason "leaping with joy"; and because his understanding came by way of the Buddha, reverence arose in him. Taken in terms of the trace and the origin, this is simply rejoicing in every true and real practice.

From "and thought to himself" onward is the direct account of his silent contemplation and receiving and understanding. First, it makes clear his silent contemplation and receiving and understanding; next, it makes clear his silently seeking to have his own trace disclosed and to request a prediction. In the two periods above, where others attained awakening, all voiced their receiving and understanding aloud — why, here, is it silent contemplation instead? Above, it was for the sake of those of the lowest capacity, not yet awakened, that the matter had, of necessity, to be voiced aloud so as to move and encourage them; here, those of the lowest capacity have already awakened, and there is nothing left to encourage, and this is why it is silent contemplation, unspoken. Moreover, in what came before, only receiving and understanding was involved, with no request to have one's trace disclosed, and so speaking it aloud gave no offense; here, both understanding and disclosure are involved together — because there is understanding, he contemplates it silently, and, to avoid the criticism of others, he keeps silent — silent contemplation is precisely what is fitting here. Moreover, silent contemplation and receiving and understanding are themselves the great receiving and understanding — just as, in the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, Vimalakīrti's silence is the true entering of the gate of non-duality.

Again, the provisional and the real are inconceivable — neither spoken nor thought, and yet spoken and thought. Because it is not spoken, and yet is spoken, there was, above, receiving and understanding voiced aloud; because it is not thought, and yet is thought, here there is silent contemplation, receiving and understanding. Why, above, was there no seeking to have one's trace disclosed? Because those of the lowest capacity had not yet awakened, and so no disclosure of trace was sought. Now that those of the lowest capacity have already come to understanding, the work of provisional transformation is complete. If those of the lowest capacity have their trace disclosed, then it will be known that those of the middling and highest capacities are likewise provisional; and if this is taken up with regard to the middling and highest, it would be unfitting for those of the lowest capacity — this is why it comes only now. "The World-Honored One is exceedingly extraordinary, and what he does is rare indeed" receives the real wisdom. "According to the every kind of nature found in the world, he teaches the Dharma" receives the provisional wisdom — this is the nature and capacity of the seven kinds of skillful means. This receives the sense of opening the provisional to reveal the real within the "Skillful Means" chapter. "Drawing beings out from their attachments wherever they cling" is precisely receiving the opening of the provisional to reveal the real within the "Burning House." "We could never express in words the Buddha's own merit" receives, from above, the "Parable of the Medicinal Herbs," where the Tathāgata's measureless merit is something none of you can match. Since it is said that words cannot express it, this too is something thought cannot reach. From "only the Buddha can know" onward is precisely the silent contemplation seeking to have his trace disclosed and requesting a prediction. As for "we": this refers, all together, to the thought of requesting that everyone's own trace be disclosed. "The deep wish" is the origin manifesting, now, as this trace. As for "the root vow": this is the vow of great compassion — because of this great compassion, transforming beings below, there is a vow made on my part; and because of the seeking of buddhahood above, there is a wish held by me. To request what is sought above is precisely to request the prediction; to request the speaking of what is transformed below is precisely to seek the disclosure of the trace. Again, from the deep wish, it becomes clear that, throughout the three periods of time, he has assisted the Buddha in proclaiming and transforming beings; and from the root vow, the prediction is thereupon bestowed.

From "the Buddha told" onward is, second, the Buddha's own account and his bestowal of the prediction, which has both a prose section and a verse section. The prose has two parts: first, the account of the trace and the origin; second, the bestowal of the prediction. The first has three parts: first, with regard to the causal practice and the disclosed trace within Śākyamuni's own present age; second, with regard to the causal practice and the revealed origin within the ages of past buddhas; third, with regard to the causal practice fulfilled across the buddhas of the three periods of time. With regard to the causal practice and disclosed trace within Śākyamuni Buddha's own age, there are, again, three parts: first, pointing out and presenting the person; second, generally establishing the section on trace and origin; third, separately explaining the trace and the origin. The very establishing of it, saying "do you see" carries two senses: first, whether they see his trace as that of the lesser; second, whether they see the merit of his origin.

The assembly saw only the trace, taking him for a śrāvaka, and were unable to know that his origin was that of a bodhisattva — and this is why it says "do you see." From "I have always called him" onward sets forth his trace. As a trace, he is foremost among those who teach the Dharma — yet were it not for the wondrous root that is the dharma-body, there would be no way for so foremost a trace to be manifested. In the past, it was said only that, within his trace, he was foremost in teaching the Dharma; now it is otherwise — within the unsurpassed Dharma, he has long since attained the foremost place. This raises the trace so as to reveal the origin. From "and have likewise always praised" onward sets forth his fundamental ground. The gates of the Dharma, the myriad practices of merit and wisdom, are why it says "of every kind." Since his fundamental ground already holds gates of the Dharma of every kind, how, then, could his trace be merely that of the two lesser vehicles?

This raises the origin so as to make clear the trace. From "diligently upholding and proclaiming" onward is the separate explanation. As for "proclaiming my Dharma": this is, within his trace, proclaiming both the partial and the complete Dharma. His trace, as one of the lowest capacity, a śrāvaka, is precisely his upholding and proclaiming the milk-teaching; his trace, within the Vaipulya period, manifesting as one who receives rebuke and correction, is precisely his upholding and proclaiming the fresh-butter teaching; his trace, receiving the Prajñāpāramitā, is precisely his upholding and proclaiming the refined-butter teaching; and his trace, coming to awakening within the Lotus, is precisely his upholding and proclaiming the ghee-teaching. Above, in speaking of his fundamental origin as a whole, it says, "I have always praised his every kind of merit" — this is precisely this same sense. Fully complete with the merit of both the provisional and the real, and his trace giving rise to the five flavors, assisting the Buddha in ripening beings of true and real practice — how could this not be precisely the sense of diligently upholding and proclaiming? Separately explaining the merit of his trace and origin: "able to teach, instruct" the fourfold assembly means distinguishing the partial-letter teaching; "his complete explanation" means proclaiming and upholding the complete-letter teaching of the Prajñāpāramitā; "great benefit" means assisting the Buddha in benefiting beings of both the partial and the complete; and "his fellow practitioners" are precisely his trace's own disciples, transformed by both the partial and the complete teachings. From "apart from the Tathāgata himself" onward is a separate account of the merit of his fundamental ground. As for "apart from": this means from the time he descended from the wondrous awakening onward. As for "none can match": this refers to the seven kinds of skillful means.

From "you should not suppose that he only assisted in proclaiming my Dharma" onward is, second, revealing his fundamental practice with regard to the ages of past buddhas — not confined only to his assisting in proclaiming my own partial and complete Dharma, but, in ages long past as well, likewise assisting in proclaiming the partial and complete Dharma. Taking today's assisting proclamation as the disclosed trace, and taking his assisting proclamation in the past as the revealed origin. The revealed origin has two parts: the distant origin, and the near origin. The distant origin is dim and remote, truly hard to give faith to, and so it is stated only in brief and not fully narrated; only the near origin of ninety koṭis of buddhas is raised, since it is by the wisdom of past lives that the near origin can be known — and so the near is raised in order to bear witness to the distant. Within the text on the ninety koṭis, it is fully made clear how he assisted the buddhas in proclaiming the teaching of the five flavors, ripening sentient beings. "Upholding and proclaiming" corresponds to assisting in the proclamation of the partial-letter, milk-flavored dharma; "the buddha's true Dharma" corresponds to assisting in the proclamation of the Vaipulya, fresh-butter-flavored dharma; and, further, "clear and penetrating in the emptiness taught" corresponds to assisting in the proclamation of the refined-butter-flavored dharma — just as the present buddha, in his own relay-teaching, expounds the Prajñāpāramitā, making clear how the six pāramitās mutually gather one another in, turning without obstruction; in the presence of the ninety koṭis of buddhas, he likewise assisted in proclaiming it, no different from now, and the people of that buddha's world all alike took him to be truly a śrāvaka, since at that time his trace had not yet been disclosed, and it was said only that he had been charged with relaying the teaching of the Prajñāpāramitā, and it was not said that he was a great bodhisattva. "Transforming measureless sentient beings, causing them to establish the threefold awakening" corresponds to assisting in the proclamation of the ghee-flavored dharma, and can be understood from the text itself (and so on). From "and, under seven buddhas as well" onward is, third, with regard to the causal practice cultivated across the buddhas of the three periods of time, just as the text has it. This, too, follows the pattern of what came before — assisting in the proclamation of both the partial and the complete across the five flavors, benefiting both the lesser and the greater.