The Distinct Teaching, Fifty-Two Rungs of a Single Ladder
Part 4 turns to the third of the Four Teachings of Content — the teaching Zhixu names, point by point, as distinct from every teaching on either side of it: its own doctrine, its own principle, its own wisdom, its own severing of delusion, its own five practices, its own stages that do not gather one another in, its own cause that stands apart from either extreme, and its own fruit that does not fuse the distinctions among all the stages leading to it. This is the bodhisattva's exclusive path, walked in strict sequence — first emptiness, then the provisional, then the middle — through three incalculable eons and fifty-two named stages: the ten faiths, the ten abidings, the ten practices, the ten dedications, the ten grounds, equal enlightenment, and subtle enlightenment.
Eight Ways the Distinct Teaching Stands Apart
別教謂教理智斷行位因果。別前藏通二教。別後圓教。故名別也(教則獨被菩薩。理則隔歷三諦。智則三智次第。斷則三惑前後。行則五行差別。位則位不相收。因則一因逈出。不即二邊。果則一果。不融諸位差別)此教詮無量四諦(苦有無量相。十法界不同故。集有無量相。五住煩惱不同故。道有無量相。恒沙佛法不同故。滅有無量相。諸波羅蜜不同故)亦詮不思議生滅十二因緣(枝末無明為分段生因根本無明為變易生因)亦詮不思議六度十度(於第六般若中。復開方便願力智四種權智。共成十度。一一度中。攝一切法。生一切法。成一切法。浩若恒沙)亦詮顯中二諦(幻有幻有即空皆名為俗。不有不空為真)亦詮圓入別二諦(幻有幻有即空皆名為俗。不有不空一切法趣不有不空為真)亦詮別三諦(開俗為兩諦對真為中。中理而已)亦詮圓入別三諦(二諦同前。點真中道。具足佛法)開示界外鈍根菩薩。令修次第三觀(先空次假後中)出分段變易二種生死。證中道無住涅槃。亦於當教。自論六即。
The distinct teaching: its teaching, principle, wisdom, severance, practice, stages, cause, and fruit are all distinct from the two preceding teachings, the Tripiṭaka and the shared, and distinct from the perfect teaching that follows — hence it is named "distinct." (As teaching, it is directed exclusively at bodhisattvas. As principle, its three truths stand apart from one another, each at its own remove. As wisdom, its three kinds of wisdom arise in sequence. As severance, its three delusions are severed one after another. As practice, its five practices are each distinct from the others. As stages, its stages do not gather one another in. As cause, its single cause stands apart, not identical with the two extremes. As fruit, its single fruit does not fuse the distinctions among all the stages.) This teaching expounds the Four Noble Truths of the immeasurable (suffering has immeasurable marks, since the ten dharma-realms differ from one another; accumulation has immeasurable marks, since the five categories of dwelling-affliction differ from one another; the path has immeasurable marks, since the buddha-dharmas, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, differ from one another; cessation has immeasurable marks, since the various pāramitās differ from one another). It also expounds the inconceivable twelve links of dependent origination, with generation-and-extinction (branch-and-leaf ignorance is the cause of segmented birth-and-death; root ignorance is the cause of the birth-and-death of change). It also expounds the inconceivable six and ten pāramitās (within the sixth, prajñā, four further provisional forms of wisdom are opened out — skillful means, vow, power, and wisdom as its own distinct tenth — together forming ten pāramitās; within each and every one of these, all dharmas are gathered in, all dharmas are generated, and all dharmas are accomplished — vast as the sands of the Ganges). It also expounds the two truths that reveal the middle (illusory existence, and illusory existence itself being empty, are both together named the conventional; neither existent nor empty is the real). It also expounds the perfect teaching entering into the distinct teaching's two truths (illusory existence, and illusory existence itself being empty, are both together named the conventional; neither existent nor empty, with all dharmas converging in this neither existent nor empty, is the real). It also expounds the distinct teaching's own three truths (opening the conventional into two truths, set against the real as the middle — the middle here being mere principle, nothing more). It also expounds the perfect teaching entering into the distinct teaching's three truths (the two truths are as before; but here the point of the real, the middle way, is taken to be complete with the buddha-dharmas). It is revealed for bodhisattvas of dull faculties beyond the three realms, having them cultivate the three contemplations in sequence (first emptiness, next the provisional, and finally the middle), so as to escape the two kinds of birth-and-death, both segmented and of change, and realize the non-abiding nirvāṇa of the middle way. One may also, within this teaching's own terms, discuss the six identities.
Zhixu glosses the eightfold parenthetical directly, term by term. On the five practices distinguished under "practice": precepts, concentration, and wisdom together are the noble practice, cultivated at the ten abidings' own contemplation of entering emptiness; loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity together are the divine practice, cultivated at the ten practices and ten dedications' own contemplation of entering the provisional; practice accomplished in direct dependence on principle is the heavenly practice, proper to the middle-way practice from the first ground onward; and from the very substance of that heavenly practice arise two further functions turned toward converting others — manifesting accord with a lesser wholesomeness, named the practice of the infant (the function of loving-kindness), and manifesting accord with affliction, named the practice of illness (the function of compassion). The Tripiṭaka and shared teachings possess only the noble practice and a small portion of the divine practice; the distinct teaching, having all five, differs from what precedes it, while the perfect teaching has a single practice that is every practice simultaneously — the distinct teaching, still cultivating them in sequence, differs from what follows it as well. On "cause" standing apart from the two extremes: the correct cause, buddha-nature, points precisely to the substance of the middle-way principle itself — neither birth-and-death nor nirvāṇa, something the Tripiṭaka and shared teachings do not expound at all — yet it does not yet contain the conditioning cause and the complete cause together within it the way the perfect teaching's own buddha-nature does, and so differs from the perfect teaching as well. On "fruit" not fusing the distinctions among the stages: only at the ultimate fruit of subtle enlightenment is the Dharma-body finally realized — this teaching never says that, at the very moment the resolve is first aroused, one already attains correct enlightenment, the way the perfect teaching does.
On the inconceivable twelve links, Zhixu distinguishes root ignorance sharply from the branch-and-leaf ignorance already explained under the Tripiṭaka teaching. Not understanding that there is no dharma outside the mind, one wearies of suffering, severs accumulation, realizes cessation, and cultivates the path — this is itself already a delusion about the true meaning of the middle way, and it gives rise to the one-sided, real, uncontaminated practice beyond the three realms; from this is drawn the consciousness-seed of the expedient land's own birth-and-death of change, further nourished into a sprout by a deep attachment to nirvāṇa itself as a Dharma to be grasped. Likewise, rejecting true emptiness to separately cultivate the myriad practices is itself a delusion about that same middle way, giving rise to the practice of entering the provisional with spiritual powers beyond the three realms; from this is drawn the consciousness-seed of the real reward land's own birth-and-death of change, nourished in turn by a deep attachment to spiritual powers themselves as a Dharma to be grasped. Only upon reaching the fruit of buddhahood are all twelve categories of ignorance extinguished completely, and only then are both kinds of birth-and-death forever ended.
On the four two-and-three-truths schemes, Zhixu shows how each is built directly from the one before it. "Revealing the middle" bundles the shared teaching's own two truths together as a single conventional truth (so that all ten dharma-realms count as conventional), and sets "neither existent nor empty" against it as the real — since the middle way is here explicitly what all ten dharma-realms, whether deluded or awakened, depend on, this is called "revealing" the middle as real. "The perfect teaching entering into the distinct teaching" takes that same middle and clarifies that its dharma-nature already contains all dharmas complete, all of them converging into it, so that nothing further can be found outside it — here the conventional of the ten dharma-realms still belongs to the distinct teaching's own sense, but the real of neither existence nor emptiness has already become the perfect teaching's own sense. The three-truths versions simply reopen the same ground differently: "the distinct teaching's own three truths" divides what "revealing the middle" had bundled as one conventional truth back into two — existence itself as the conventional, emptiness itself as the real — and then takes the real truth's own "neither existent nor empty" as a third, the truth of the middle; the two-truths and three-truths readings thus differ only in being gathered together or opened apart, with nothing added to or subtracted from the underlying meaning. "The perfect teaching entering into the distinct teaching's three truths" keeps this same threefold division but takes the truth of the middle to already contain all dharmas complete — at which point it has become the perfect middle rather than the mere middle.
The Six Identities, I: The Mere Middle, and the Ten Faiths
理即者。但中也。真如法性。隨緣不變。在生死而不染。證涅槃而非淨。逈超二邊。不即諸法。故依圓教。判曰但中。
名字即者。解義也。仰信真如法性。凡不能減。聖不能增。但由客塵覆蔽。而不證得。須先藉緣修助發真修。方可剋證。
觀行即者。外凡十信位也。一信心．二念心．三精進心．四慧心．五定心．六不退心．七迴向心．八護法心．九戒心．十願心．既先仰信中道。且用生滅因緣觀。伏三界見思煩惱。故名伏忍。與通乾慧性地齊。
Identity in principle: this is the mere middle. Suchness, the dharma-nature, follows conditions yet does not change; it dwells within birth-and-death yet is not defiled by it, and realizes nirvāṇa yet is not, on that account, purified — standing utterly apart from the two extremes, not identical with the dharmas themselves. Hence, judged from the standpoint of the perfect teaching, it is called the "mere" middle.
Identity in name: this is understanding the meaning. One reveres and believes that suchness, the dharma-nature, is not diminished in the ordinary person nor increased in the sage — it is merely, through the covering of adventitious dust, not yet realized. One must first rely on conditioned cultivation to help bring forth true cultivation before one can actually attain realization.
Identity in contemplative practice: this is the outer-ordinary stage of the ten faiths. First, the mind of faith; second, the mind of mindfulness; third, the mind of diligence; fourth, the mind of wisdom; fifth, the mind of concentration; sixth, the mind of non-regression; seventh, the mind of dedication; eighth, the mind of protecting the Dharma; ninth, the mind of precepts; tenth, the mind of vow. Having already revered and believed in the middle way, one nonetheless still uses the contemplation of causes and conditions in terms of generation-and-extinction to subdue the afflictions of view and habituated thought throughout the three realms — hence this is named the patience of subduing, equal to the shared teaching's ground of dry wisdom and ground of nature.
The Six Identities, II: Three Tiers of Thirty Minds
相似即者。內凡三十心三賢位也。初十住者。一發心住。斷三界見惑。與通見地齊。二治地住。三修行住。四生貴住。五方便具足住。六正心住。七不退住。斷三界思惑盡。與通已辦地齊。八童真住。九法王子住。十灌頂住。斷界內塵沙。與通佛地齊。此十住名習種性(研習空觀)用從假入空觀見真諦。開慧眼成一切智。行三百由旬。證位不退。次十行者。一歡喜行。二饒益行．三無瞋恨行．四無盡行．五離癡亂行．六善現行．七無著行．八尊重行．九善法行．十真實行。此十行名性種性(分別假性)用從空入假觀。遍學四教四門。斷界外塵沙。見俗諦開法眼。成道種智。次十迴向者。一救護眾生離眾生相迴向。二不壞迴向。三等一切佛迴向。四至一切處迴向。五無盡功德藏迴向。六隨順平等善根迴向。七隨順等觀一切眾生迴向。八真如相迴向。九無縛解脫迴向。十法界無量迴向。此十向名道種性(中道能通)習中觀伏無明。行四百由旬。居方便有餘土。證行不退。
Identity in resemblance: this is the inner-ordinary stage of the thirty minds, the three worthy stages. First, the ten abidings: first, the abiding of arousing the resolve, severing the afflictions of view throughout the three realms, equal to the shared teaching's ground of vision. Second, the abiding of cultivating the ground. Third, the abiding of practice. Fourth, the abiding of noble birth. Fifth, the abiding complete with skillful means. Sixth, the abiding of the correct mind. Seventh, the abiding of non-regression, severing the afflictions of habituated thought throughout the three realms completely, equal to the shared teaching's ground of the task accomplished. Eighth, the abiding of a child's purity. Ninth, the abiding of a Dharma-prince. Tenth, the abiding of consecration, severing the dust-and-sand afflictions within the three realms, equal to the shared teaching's buddha ground. These ten abidings are named the nature attained through habituated practice (cultivating the contemplation of emptiness through study), using the contemplation of entering emptiness from the provisional to see the truth of the real, opening the wisdom-eye, and accomplishing the wisdom that knows all things generally. One travels three hundred yojanas, and realizes non-regression in one's stage.
Next, the ten practices: first, the practice of joy; second, the practice of benefiting; third, the practice of no anger or resentment; fourth, the practice of inexhaustibility; fifth, the practice of freedom from confused delusion; sixth, the practice of wholesome manifestation; seventh, the practice of non-attachment; eighth, the practice of veneration; ninth, the practice of good dharmas; tenth, the practice of the real. These ten practices are named the nature attained through distinguishing (distinguishing the nature of the provisional), using the contemplation of entering the provisional from emptiness, studying all four gates of the Four Teachings comprehensively, severing the dust-and-sand afflictions beyond the three realms, seeing the conventional truth, opening the Dharma-eye, and accomplishing the wisdom of the paths.
Next, the ten dedications: first, the dedication of rescuing sentient beings while apart from the mark of sentient beings; second, the dedication of indestructibility; third, the dedication equal to all buddhas; fourth, the dedication reaching every place; fifth, the dedication of the inexhaustible treasury of merit; sixth, the dedication of according with the wholesome roots of equality; seventh, the dedication of according with the equal contemplation of all sentient beings; eighth, the dedication of the mark of suchness; ninth, the dedication of unbound liberation; tenth, the dedication of the immeasurable dharma-realm. These ten dedications are named the nature attained through the path (the middle way able to pass through), cultivating the contemplation of the middle to subdue ignorance. One travels four hundred yojanas, dwells in the expedient land with residue, and realizes non-regression in practice.
The Six Identities, III: Ten Grounds to Subtle Enlightenment
分證即佛者。十地聖種性(證入聖地)及等覺性(去佛一等)也。初歡喜地。名見道位。以中道觀。見第一義諦。開佛眼成一切種智。行五百由旬。初入實報無障礙土。初到寶所。證念不退。得無功用道。隨可化機緣。能百界作佛。八相成道。利益眾生。二離垢地。三發光地。四焰慧地。五難勝地。六現前地。七遠行地。八不動地。九善慧地。十法雲地。各斷一品無明。證一分中道。更破一品無明。入等覺位。亦名金剛心。亦名一生補處。亦名有上士。
究竟即佛者。妙覺性也(妙極覺滿)從金剛後心。更破一品無明。入妙覺位。坐蓮華藏世界。七寶菩提樹下。大寶華王座。現圓滿報身(量同塵剎。相好剎塵)為鈍根菩薩。轉無量四諦法輪。
Identity in a portion of the truth for a buddha: this is the nature attained through the ten grounds, the noble nature (realizing entry into the noble grounds), and the nature of equal enlightenment (one degree removed from buddhahood). First, the ground of joy, named the stage of the path of vision: through the contemplation of the middle way, one sees the truth of the ultimate meaning, opens the buddha-eye, and accomplishes the wisdom that knows all things in every one of their modes. One travels five hundred yojanas, entering for the first time the reward-land free of obstruction, arriving for the first time at the treasure-place, realizing non-regression in mindfulness, and attaining the effortless path. According to whatever conditions are fit to be converted, one is able to become a buddha across a hundred worlds, accomplishing the path through the eight aspects, and benefiting sentient beings. Second, the ground free of defilement. Third, the ground of radiant light. Fourth, the ground of blazing wisdom. Fifth, the ground difficult to conquer. Sixth, the ground of manifestation. Seventh, the far-reaching ground. Eighth, the immovable ground. Ninth, the ground of excellent wisdom. Tenth, the ground of the Dharma-cloud. At each, one severs a further portion of ignorance and realizes a further portion of the middle way. Severing yet one more portion of ignorance, one enters the stage of equal enlightenment — also named the vajra mind, also named "one more birth to buddhahood," also named "the one with something still above."
Identity in the ultimate for a buddha: this is the nature of subtle enlightenment (subtle in the extreme, enlightenment complete). From the mind that follows the vajra mind, one severs yet one more portion of ignorance and enters the stage of subtle enlightenment, seated in the Lotus-Treasury World, beneath the seven-jeweled bodhi tree, upon the throne of the great jeweled king of flowers, manifesting the perfect and complete reward-body (its measure equal to as many worlds as there are motes of dust, its marks of excellence as many as the motes of dust in a world). For bodhisattvas of dull faculties, one turns the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths of the immeasurable.
The Bodhisattva's Exclusive Dharma, and the Ten Modes of Contemplation
此教名為獨菩薩法。以界外道諦為初門(藏通道諦。即界外集。藏通滅諦。即界外苦。故以界外道諦治之)無復二乘而能接通。通教三乘。既被接後皆名菩薩。不復名二乘也。十法成乘者。一緣於登地中道之境。而為所觀。逈出空有之表。二真正發心普為法界。三安心止觀定愛慧策。四次第遍破三惑。五識次第三觀為通。見思塵沙無明為塞。傳傳檢校。是塞令通。六調適三十七道品。是菩薩寶炬陀羅尼。入三解脫門。證中無漏。七用前藏通法門。助開實相。八善知信住行向地等妙七位差別。終不謂我叨極上聖。九離違順強軟二賊。策十信位入於十住。十離相似法愛。策三十心。令入十地。
This teaching is named the bodhisattva's exclusive dharma, taking the truth of the path beyond the three realms as its initial gate (the Tripiṭaka and shared teachings' own truth of the path becomes, beyond the three realms, accumulation; the Tripiṭaka and shared teachings' own truth of cessation becomes, beyond the three realms, suffering — hence it is treated by the truth of the path beyond the three realms). There is no longer any of the two vehicles able to be grafted in through the shared teaching; for the shared teaching's three vehicles, once grafted on, are all alike named bodhisattvas, no longer named the two vehicles.
As for the ten modes of contemplation that form the vehicle: first, taking as the object of contemplation the middle way of one who has ascended to the grounds, standing utterly apart from the surface of emptiness and existence. Second, truly and correctly arousing the resolve, universally for the sake of the entire dharma-realm. Third, settling the mind through calming-and-contemplation, fixed on love and spurred by wisdom. Fourth, breaking through the three delusions comprehensively, in sequence. Fifth, distinguishing that the three contemplations in sequence are passage, while views, habituated thought, dust-and-sand, and ignorance are blockage, checking and examining again and again, turning blockage into passage. Sixth, harmonizing the thirty-seven factors of the path — this is the bodhisattva's own jeweled-torch dhāraṇī — entering the three gates of liberation, and realizing the uncontaminated within the middle. Seventh, using the dharma-gates of the preceding Tripiṭaka and shared teachings to help open up the true mark of reality. Eighth, knowing well the distinctions among the seven stages — faith, abiding, practice, dedication, ground, equal, and subtle enlightenment — never claiming for oneself the very summit of sagehood. Ninth, departing from the two thieves of adverse and favorable conditions, whether harsh or gentle, spurring the stage of the ten faiths onward into the ten abidings. Tenth, departing from attachment to the Dharma that merely resembles the truth, spurring the thirty minds onward so as to enter the ten grounds.
Part 4 Complete
This closes Part 4: the eight ways the distinct teaching stands apart from every teaching around it, its own Four Noble Truths of the immeasurable and two kinds of birth-and-death, its four two-and-three-truths schemes each built from the one before it, and its own fifty-two sequential stages — the ten faiths, the ten abidings, the ten practices, the ten dedications, the ten grounds, equal enlightenment, and subtle enlightenment — together with its ten modes of contemplation. Part 5 closes the treatise with the perfect teaching itself, the scheme by which all Four Teachings interlock through transfer, grafting, convergence, gathering, and borrowing, and the closing dialogue on why none of this is, in the end, "real."
Continue to Part 5 — The Perfect Teaching →