The Prose & Verse of The Lotus Sutra

Chapter 2 - Ways & Means

Text - Page 10

 

A Northern Master of The Discourse on the Ten Stages1 said:
"The Three Vehicles have an appearance, a nature, an effect and a retribution from beginning to end."

Master Fa-Yao2 said:
"The appearance as-it-is and the nature as-it-is; This is is the illuminated use of wisdom and insight."

  1. The appearance is the different sproutings of the Three Vehicles3.
  2. The nature is the direct attainment of the three.
  3. The embodiment is the inspiration of the mind.
  4. The power is the stamina that is built up in the mind.
  5. With the spiritual power there is the creation of spiritual influence.
  6. In making actions that render results there are causes
  7. Having spoken of the causes, their interdependence creates conditions.
  8. The centrifugal power of these conditions produces results, which are the effects.
  9. The reward for all causes made is the retribution.
  10. The appearance is the beginning whereas the retribution is the end.4
    With them being identical in the end they are ultimately consistent.

With them all being as-they-are, the phenomena are without difference.

The Master Ch'ang interpreted the aspects only in terms of enlightenment.5

  1. The appearance: The ten powers5 each have their own appearance.
  2. The nature: Each of the spiritual roots has a continuity and this unchanging continuity is its nature7. This is the power of character in the sphere of enlightenment.
  3. The embodiment: The various spiritual roots and the character of living beings are not the same and their desires are different as well. The applications, the needs and the attachments of the mind are called its embodiment. This is the power of desire in the sphere of enlightenment.
  4. The power: This is a different name for concentration. There is no spiritual penetration or transformation without concentration. The vigilent mind will still all disorder and without concentration there will be no serenity. Therefore this is the power of meditative concentration in the sphere of enlightenment.
  5. The influence: This refers to karmic deeds8. This is the power of karmic deeds in the sphere of enlightenment.
  6. The cause: The spiritual path is the cause that enables one to reach Nirvana8. This is the power by which one is able to reach and abide on the spiritual path in the sphere of enlightenment.
  7. Conditioning: This is the power of past lives10 in the sphere of enightenment.
  8. Effect: In taking on a cause now so that it will summon an effect in the future, there is the power of the divine eye11 in the sphere of enlightenment.
  9. The Retribution: The current retribution is based upon the causes that were wished for long ago. This is the power of exhausting all afflictions in the sphere of enlightenment12. Therefore we speak of the retribution being the exhausting of all afflictions.
  10. The beginning is the appearance whereas the end is the retribution.4 Upon looking at all the previous aspects, there is the power over right and wrong in all situations in the sphere of enlightenment.
     

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Footnotes:

1. A Northern Master of The Discourse on the Sutra of the Ten Stages: The Discourse on the Sutra of the Ten Stages (Dasa Bhumika Sutra Sastra, written by Nagarjuna and translated by Kumarajiva) was about the Ten Bhumis or final Stages of the Bodhisattva path. This treatise was popular in in the late fifth and early sixth centuries in the Northern Wei and Chi dynasties, and led to the later creation of The Flower Garland (S. Avatamsaka, C. Hua-Yen) school which also clearly delineates the different stages of the Bodhisattva path. The master being referred to here may have been Fa-Sheng (c. 495-581 CE), a well known scholar of this Discourse from northern China.

2. Fa-Yao (c. 397-473 CE): Master of The Nirvana Sutra and lecturer on The Lotus Sutra and the Prajna Sutras.

3. Three Vehicles: This explanation only explains the ten aspects in terms of the Three Vehicles as something separate from the real wisdom of spiritual enlightenment:
a. Sravakas (spiritual disciples) learning the Four Truths and attaining spiritual knowledge
b. Pratyekabuddhas (the spiritually self-awakened) mastering the Twelvefold Wheel of Causality and Conditioning and mastering their own liberation from attachment to karma and retribution
c. Bodhisattvas perfecting the Six Paramitas, inspiring the mind and practicing the path of the Great Vehicles 

4. The beginning is the appearance of enlightenment: This may be likened to first seeing the Buddha, hearing the Dharma, etc. The end is the retribution of enlightenment: This is attaining the ultimate enlightenment, the Body of Reward (S. Sambhogakaya), the life of virtue and wisdom.

5. This explanation only explains the ten aspects in terms of the spiritual realm of enlightenment as something separate from the provisional wisdom.

6. The ten spiritual powers of the Buddha: Among the forty unique qaulities of the Buddha

#1 Knowledge of what is right & wrong in every situation

consistency

#2 Knowledge of the karma of every living being in the past, present & future

influence

#3 Knowledge of all stages of meditation & samadhi

power

#4 Knowledge of the spiritual powers and capacities of all living beings

appearance

#5 Knowledge of the desires and moral natures of all living beings

natures

#6 Knowledge of the spiritual conditions of all living beings

conditions

#7 Knowledge of the consequences of all teachings & practices

effect

#8 Knowledge of the causes of mortality & the reality of good & evil in all living beings

cause

#9 Knowledge of the end of all living beings & nirvana

embodiment

#10 Knowledge of the destruction of all afflictions

retribution

7. The spiritual roots: Spiritual qualities, usually described as; Faith (Sraddha), Diligence (Virya), Presence of Mind (Smriti), Mental Concentration (Samadhi) and Spiritual Insight (Prajna) The nature: Character

8. Karmic deeds: Acts of will from the body (deeds), the mouth (words) or the mind (thoughts or intentions) that will have spiritual consequences

9. The spiritual path is the cause that enables one to reach Nirvana: Expressing the last two of the Four Truths, The Spiritual Path and Spiritual Enlightenment (Nirvana)

10. The power of past lives: The causes from the past create the spiritual conditions of the present which continue to have have spiritual influence on the causes being made today.

11. The power of the divine eye: The divine eye, or heavenly eye, has mastered the self and its desires, and can see the spiritual consequences of all actions.

12. Retribution, which can also be translated as reward or recompense, is the final reward of all the causes, conditioning, effects, etc., that have been made and attained. In terms of being the final reward of the spiritual path and spiritual enlightenment, it is the Body of Reward (S. Sambhogakaya), which are the the virtues and wisdom that have been earned, and the overcoming of all afflictions.

 

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