The Parable of the Phantom City
化城喻品第七（下）
A guide leading travelers along a five-hundred-yojana road through wilderness watches them grow too exhausted to continue, and conjures a walled city out of nothing so they can rest — then lets it vanish once they are ready to go on. The Buddha closes this chapter's ancient story with a disclosure he has not made before: he himself was one of the sixteen princes who once taught this same Dharma to this very assembly, in a lifetime beyond any of their memories.
- This part covers
- The parable of a guide who conjures a walled city partway along a perilous, exhausting road, so that travelers ready to give up can rest before continuing to the treasure they actually set out for; the Buddha's own application of the parable to the "two nirvāṇas" taught to weary beings as a resting place, not a final destination; a verse recap of the entire ancient story of Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū and the sixteen princes; and Śākyamuni's direct disclosure that he was one of those sixteen, and that everyone in this present assembly who once heard him teach in that ancient lifetime is the very reason he teaches this sūtra now.
- Why it matters
- This chapter names, for the first time in plain terms, what the "extinction" taught to the śrāvakas throughout this sūtra actually is: a real place to rest, deliberately built, honestly identified as provisional the moment it has served its purpose. And it closes the ancient story begun in Part 8 with the reason it was told at all — not as background, but as this assembly's own forgotten history.
1. The Parable of the Phantom City
「譬如五百由旬險難惡道，曠絕無人、怖畏之處。若有多眾，欲過此道至珍寶處。有一導師，聰慧明達，善知險道通塞之相，將導眾人欲過此難。所將人眾中路懈退，白導師言：『我等疲極，而復怖畏，不能復進；前路猶遠，今欲退還。』導師多諸方便而作是念：『此等可愍，云何捨大珍寶而欲退還？』作是念已，以方便力，於險道中過三百由旬，化作一城，告眾人言：『汝等勿怖，莫得退還。今此大城，可於中止，隨意所作。若入是城，快得安隱。若能前至寶所，亦可得去。』是時疲極之眾，心大歡喜，歎未曾有：『我等今者免斯惡道，快得安隱。』於是眾人前入化城，生已度想、生安隱想。爾時導師，知此人眾既得止息，無復疲惓。即滅化城，語眾人言：『汝等去來，寶處在近。向者大城，我所化作，為止息耳。』 「諸比丘！如來亦復如是，今為汝等作大導師，知諸生死煩惱惡道險難長遠，應去應度。若眾生但聞一佛乘者，則不欲見佛，不欲親近，便作是念：『佛道長遠，久受懃苦乃可得成。』佛知是心怯弱下劣，以方便力，而於中道為止息故，說二涅槃。若眾生住於二地，如來爾時即便為說：『汝等所作未辦，汝所住地，近於佛慧，當觀察籌量所得涅槃非真實也。但是如來方便之力，於一佛乘分別說三。』如彼導師，為止息故，化作大城。既知息已，而告之言：『寶處在近，此城非實，我化作耳。』」
"Suppose there was a perilous, evil road, five hundred yojanas long, a wild and empty place, without a single person, a place of terror. If a great many people wished to pass along this road to reach a place of treasure, there would need to be a guide, wise and discerning, well versed in the dangers of the road and where it could and could not be passed, to lead the people through this difficulty. Suppose that those he led grew weary and wished to turn back partway, and said to the guide: 'We are utterly exhausted, and besides afraid; we can go no further. The road ahead is still far, and we now wish to turn back.' The guide, resourceful in every skillful means, thought to himself: 'How pitiable these people are — why would they abandon so great a treasure and wish to turn back?' Having had this thought, by the power of skillful means, at a point three hundred yojanas into the perilous road, he conjured a city, and said to the people: 'Do not be afraid, and do not turn back. Here is a great city, where you may rest, and do as you wish. If you enter this city, you will find peace and ease at once; and if you are later able to go on to the place of treasure, you may do that too.' At this the exhausted people were filled with great joy, marveling at what they had never had before: 'We have now escaped this evil road, and found peace and ease at last.' The people then went forward into the conjured city, and formed the thought that they had already been delivered, and the thought that they were now at peace. At that time the guide, knowing that these people had now rested and were no longer weary, at once caused the conjured city to vanish, and said to the people: 'Come, let us go on — the place of treasure is near. That great city just now was conjured by me, only so that you might rest.' "Monks! The Tathāgata is likewise so. He is now, for your sake, a great guide, who knows the evil road of birth, death, and affliction to be perilous and long, and knows that it must be traveled and must be crossed. If beings were to hear only of the one buddha vehicle, they would not wish to see the Buddha, nor draw near to him, but would think to himself: 'The buddha-path is long and far, and only after long, arduous suffering could it ever be accomplished.' The Buddha, knowing that such a mind is timid, weak, and of little resolve, by the power of skillful means, teaches two nirvāṇas partway along the road, so that they might rest. If beings settle at either of these two stages, the Tathāgata then says to them: 'What you have accomplished is not yet complete. The stage at which you now abide is close to the Buddha's own wisdom; you should consider and reflect that the nirvāṇa you have attained is not the true one. It is only by the Tathāgata's own power of skillful means that, within the one buddha vehicle, three are distinguished and taught.' Just as that guide, in order to give rest, conjured a great city, and, once he knew they were rested, told them: 'The place of treasure is near; this city was not real — I only conjured it.'"
Zhiyi glosses the chapter's title in two halves. "Conjured" (化) names something brought about entirely by spiritual power — arising where nothing was before, and just as capable of vanishing again. "City" (城) names a place built specifically to guard against danger. Put together, the phantom city stands for the two lesser nirvāṇas — those of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha — understood as something a buddha's own power of skillful means genuinely produces, real enough to rest in and to be protected by, but never intended as a permanent residence.
What is worth being precise about is what kind of dishonesty this parable does and does not involve, since Part 4's parable of the burning house already established that a promise measured by what it accomplishes, not by its literal terms, is not a false one. The guide never tells the travelers the city is their final destination — he says only that they "may rest" there, and that they may go on to the treasure afterward if they are able. The travelers' own mistake, forming the belief that they had "already been delivered," is theirs, born of exhaustion and relief, not something the guide asserts to them. His later disclosure that the city was conjured is not a correction of a lie but the fulfillment of what the city was always for: to be left, once its purpose is served. The parable's honesty, in other words, was built into the city from the moment it appeared — the guide's only withheld information was timing, not truth.
2. Verse: The Ancient Story Retold, and the Promise Renewed
爾時世尊欲重宣此義，而說偈言： 「大通智勝佛， 十劫坐道場， 佛法不現前， 不得成佛道。 諸天神龍王、 阿修羅眾等， 常雨於天華， 以供養彼佛。 諸天擊天鼓， 并作眾伎樂， 香風吹萎華， 更雨新好者。 過十小劫已， 乃得成佛道， 諸天及世人， 心皆懷踊躍。 彼佛十六子， 皆與其眷屬， 千萬億圍繞， 俱行至佛所， 頭面禮佛足， 而請轉法輪： 『聖師子法雨， 充我及一切。』 世尊甚難值， 久遠時一現， 為覺悟群生， 震動於一切。 東方諸世界， 五百萬億國， 梵宮殿光曜， 昔所未曾有。 諸梵見此相， 尋來至佛所， 散花以供養， 并奉上宮殿， 請佛轉法輪， 以偈而讚歎。 佛知時未至， 受請默然坐。 三方及四維、 上下亦復爾， 散花奉宮殿， 請佛轉法輪： 『世尊甚難值， 願以大慈悲， 廣開甘露門， 轉無上法輪。』 無量慧世尊， 受彼眾人請， 為宣種種法： 『四諦十二緣， 無明至老死， 皆從生緣有。 如是眾過患， 汝等應當知。』 宣暢是法時， 六百萬億姟， 得盡諸苦際， 皆成阿羅漢。 第二說法時， 千萬恒沙眾， 於諸法不受， 亦得阿羅漢。 從是後得道， 其數無有量， 萬億劫算數， 不能得其邊。 時十六王子， 出家作沙彌， 皆共請彼佛， 演說大乘法： 『我等及營從， 皆當成佛道， 願得如世尊， 慧眼第一淨。』 佛知童子心， 宿世之所行， 以無量因緣、 種種諸譬喻， 說六波羅蜜， 及諸神通事。 分別真實法， 菩薩所行道， 說是法華經， 如恒河沙偈。 彼佛說經已， 靜室入禪定， 一心一處坐， 八萬四千劫。 是諸沙彌等， 知佛禪未出， 為無量億眾， 說佛無上慧。 各各坐法座， 說是大乘經， 於佛宴寂後， 宣揚助法化。 一一沙彌等， 所度諸眾生， 有六百萬億， 恒河沙等眾。 彼佛滅度後， 是諸聞法者， 在在諸佛土， 常與師俱生。 是十六沙彌， 具足行佛道， 今現在十方， 各得成正覺。 爾時聞法者， 各在諸佛所， 其有住聲聞， 漸教以佛道。 我在十六數， 曾亦為汝說， 是故以方便， 引汝趣佛慧。 以是本因緣， 今說法華經， 令汝入佛道， 慎勿懷驚懼。」
At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this same meaning once more, spoke in verse: "The Buddha Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū sat ten kalpas at the seat of enlightenment, yet the Dharma of the buddhas did not appear before him, and he could not accomplish the buddha-path. The gods, spirits, dragon kings, and asuras constantly rained down heavenly flowers, making offerings to that buddha. The gods beat heavenly drums, and made every kind of heavenly music; a fragrant wind blew away the withered flowers, and rained down fresh and beautiful ones in their place. After ten small kalpas had passed, he at last accomplished the buddha-path, and the gods and the people of the world, every one of them, rejoiced in their hearts. That buddha's sixteen sons, each together with his own retinue, thousands of myriads of koṭis surrounding them, went together to where the buddha was, bowed their heads to the buddha's feet, and entreated him to turn the wheel of the Dharma: 'May the rain of the Dharma of the holy lion fill us, and all beings.' The World-Honored One is exceedingly hard to encounter, appearing only once in a great while; to awaken every kind of creature, he shook the whole world. In the eastern worlds, five hundred myriad koṭis of lands, the Brahmā palaces shone with a light they had never had before. The Brahmā kings, seeing this sign, sought out and came to where the buddha was, scattered flowers as an offering, and offered up their palaces besides, entreating the buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma, praising him in verse. The buddha, knowing the time had not yet come, accepted their request and sat in silence. In the three other directions, and the four intermediate points, and above and below, it was just the same — they scattered flowers, offered their palaces, and entreated the buddha to turn the wheel of the Dharma: 'The World-Honored One is exceedingly hard to encounter; we beg that, with your great loving-kindness and compassion, you open wide the gate of sweet dew, and turn the unsurpassed wheel of the Dharma.' The World-Honored One of immeasurable wisdom, receiving the entreaty of that whole assembly, proclaimed for them every kind of Dharma: 'The Four Truths, the twelve links — from ignorance to old age and death, all arise from birth as their condition. Such faults and afflictions as these, you should know well.' As he proclaimed this Dharma, six hundred myriad koṭis of beings reached the very limit of every suffering, and all became arhats. At the second teaching of the Dharma, thousands of myriads, as many as the sands of the Ganges, by grasping at no thing at all, likewise became arhats. From that time on, those who attained the path were beyond number — not even myriad koṭis of kalpas of counting could reach their limit. At that time the sixteen princes left their households to become śrāmaṇeras, and together entreated that buddha to expound the Dharma of the Great Vehicle: 'We, and our own retinues, shall all attain the buddha-path; we wish to attain the wisdom-eye, purest and foremost, just as the World-Honored One has.' The buddha, knowing the minds of these boys and the practices of their past lives, through immeasurable causes and conditions and every kind of parable, taught the six pāramitās and the workings of the spiritual powers. Distinguishing the true and real Dharma, the path a bodhisattva practices, he taught this Lotus Sūtra, in verses as many as the sands of the Ganges. That buddha, having taught this sūtra, entered a quiet chamber and entered meditative concentration, sitting with one mind, in one place, for eighty-four thousand kalpas. These śrāmaṇeras, knowing that the buddha had not yet arisen from his meditation, taught, for the sake of immeasurable koṭis of beings, the Buddha's own unsurpassed wisdom. Each of them, seated upon his own Dharma-seat, taught this sūtra of the Great Vehicle, and, after the buddha's own tranquil stillness, proclaimed it further, aiding in the transformation his teaching had begun. Each and every one of these śrāmaṇeras delivered across beings numbering six hundred myriad koṭis, as many as the sands of the Ganges. After that buddha's parinirvāṇa, all those who had heard the Dharma, in every buddha-land, were constantly born together with their teacher. These sixteen śrāmaṇeras, complete in their practice of the buddha-path, are now, in the present, in the ten directions, each having accomplished perfect awakening. Those who heard the Dharma at that time are each now in the presence of some buddha, and those among them who dwell as śrāvakas are being taught, by degrees, toward the buddha-path. I myself was among those sixteen, and I too, at that time, taught you this same Dharma. It is for this reason that I now, by skillful means, lead you toward the Buddha's own wisdom. By this original cause and condition, I now teach the Lotus Sūtra, causing you to enter the buddha-path; be careful not to harbor fear or alarm at it."
This verse condenses the entire ancient story Part 8 told at length — the ten kalpas of unmoving meditation, the ten directions of Brahmā kings, the Four Truths and twelve links, the sixteen princes' own teaching career — into roughly a third of the space, and adds, at its close, the one sentence the whole preceding chapter was building toward: "I myself was among those sixteen, and I too, at that time, taught you this same Dharma." This is addressed, in the sūtra's own grammar, directly to the assembly listening in this present chapter — not to beings in general, but to "you" (汝), the same people who have spent the last several chapters confessing doubt, receiving predictions, and asking why a teaching now feels unfamiliar. The instruction that follows immediately — "be careful not to harbor fear or alarm at it" — suggests the sūtra anticipates this claim landing as something unsettling rather than simply reassuring: being told that a stranger's ancient story was, all along, one's own forgotten history is not obviously comforting news, however kindly it is meant.
3. The Phantom City Retold in Verse
「譬如險惡道， 逈絕多毒獸， 又復無水草， 人所怖畏處。 無數千萬眾， 欲過此險道， 其路甚曠遠， 經五百由旬。 時有一導師， 強識有智慧， 明了心決定， 在險濟眾難。 眾人皆疲惓， 而白導師言： 『我等今頓乏， 於此欲退還。』 導師作是念： 『此輩甚可愍， 如何欲退還， 而失大珍寶？』 尋時思方便， 當設神通力， 化作大城郭， 莊嚴諸舍宅， 周匝有園林， 渠流及浴池， 重門高樓閣， 男女皆充滿。 即作是化已， 慰眾言勿懼： 『汝等入此城， 各可隨所樂。』 諸人既入城， 心皆大歡喜， 皆生安隱想， 自謂已得度。 導師知息已， 集眾而告言： 『汝等當前進， 此是化城耳。 我見汝疲極， 中路欲退還， 故以方便力， 權化作此城。 汝等勤精進， 當共至寶所。』 我亦復如是， 為一切導師。 見諸求道者， 中路而懈廢， 不能度生死， 煩惱諸險道。 故以方便力， 為息說涅槃。 言：『汝等苦滅， 所作皆已辦。』 既知到涅槃， 皆得阿羅漢， 爾乃集大眾， 為說真實法。 諸佛方便力， 分別說三乘， 唯有一佛乘， 息處故說二。 『今為汝說實， 汝所得非滅， 為佛一切智， 當發大精進。 汝證一切智， 十力等佛法， 具三十二相， 乃是真實滅。』 諸佛之導師， 為息說涅槃， 既知是息已， 引入於佛慧。」
"It is like a perilous, evil road, remote and cut off, full of venomous beasts, and besides without water or grass, a place that fills people with fear. Countless thousands of myriads of people wished to cross this perilous road; its way was vast and far, five hundred yojanas long. There was then a guide, of strong memory and wisdom, clear-minded and resolute, who saved people from every danger on that perilous road. The people, every one exhausted, said to the guide: 'We are now utterly worn out, and wish to turn back here.' The guide thought to himself: 'How pitiable these people are — why would they wish to turn back, and lose so great a treasure?' He then thought of a skillful means, and resolved to make use of his spiritual power, conjuring a great walled city, adorned with houses, surrounded by groves and gardens, with flowing streams and bathing pools, layered gates and high towers, filled everywhere with men and women. Having conjured this, he comforted the people, saying: 'Do not be afraid — enter this city, and do as each of you pleases.' The people, having entered the city, were every one filled with great joy, and formed the thought that they were now at peace, telling themselves that they had already been delivered. The guide, knowing they were now rested, gathered the people and told them: 'You should now go on further — this was only a conjured city. Seeing you utterly exhausted, and wishing to turn back partway, I made use of skillful means, and provisionally conjured this city. Now apply yourselves diligently, and let us together reach the place of treasure.' I too am likewise so, the guide of all beings. Seeing those who seek the path grow weary and give up partway, unable to cross the perilous road of birth, death, and affliction, I therefore, by the power of skillful means, teach nirvāṇa, that they might rest, saying: 'Your suffering is now extinguished; what you had to accomplish is now complete.' Once I know they have reached this nirvāṇa, and have all become arhats, I then gather the great assembly, and teach for them the true and real Dharma. It is by the buddhas' own power of skillful means that three vehicles are distinguished and taught — there is only the one buddha vehicle; it is only for the sake of a resting place that two are spoken of. 'Now, for your sake, I speak the truth: what you have attained is not true extinction. For the sake of the Buddha's own wisdom of all modes, you should now bring forth great diligence. When you have realized the wisdom of all modes, and the ten powers and every other quality of a buddha, and are complete with the thirty-two marks — only then is this the true extinction.' The buddhas, guides of beings, teach nirvāṇa for the sake of rest; and once they know that this rest has been taken, they lead beings onward into the Buddha's own wisdom."
The phrase "two are spoken of" (說二), naming what the phantom city represents, is worth reading precisely rather than glossing past. The immediately preceding lines name "the two nirvāṇas" as what beings settle into partway along the road — read alongside the parable's own three-vehicle language elsewhere in this sūtra, this refers most naturally to the śrāvaka's and the pratyekabuddha's attainments, the two lesser destinations distinguished from the bodhisattva's path within the three vehicles taught as skillful means. The sūtra does not pause here to define the term further, and this site's commentary will not claim more precision than the text itself provides.
What is stated without any ambiguity is the criterion for what counts as the true extinction, given here for the first time in such exact terms: not the cessation of craving alone, but "the wisdom of all modes, and the ten powers and every other quality of a buddha," together with "the thirty-two marks" — that is, buddhahood itself, complete and entire. Every earlier passage that gestured toward arhatship being incomplete — Śāriputra's confession in Part 4, the four elders' account of their own settled complacency in Part 6, the Buddha's declaration in Part 5 that "this meant only the ending of birth and death, and was not the true extinction" — is here given its positive counterpart: not merely what falls short, but exactly what the destination actually is. The chapter that follows this one turns to naming, one by one, who is now walking the rest of that road.