The Prose & Verse of The Lotus Sutra

Chapter 2 - Ways & Means

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Not Comprehending It (Fu No Chi):

The purpose of the spiritual life¹ is primarily determined by the provision and reality of the Buddha's own practice. Living beings strayed from this purpose so that were without this spiritual capacity. Therefore it was said that they did not comprehend it.
With the sudden illumination of The Flower Garland Sutra, they were like the deaf, dumb and blind, and so it was said that they did not comprehend it.
In The Sutras of the Universal Way they were scolded about just seeking guarantees of personal liberation and remaining in their grass huts², and so it was said that they did not comprehend it.
In The Prajna Sutras the Buddha turned the wheel of the Bodhisattva doctrine, but they did not have the desire to embrace this idea for even the time it takes to eat a single meal³. Therefore it was said that they did not comprehend it.
Now that living beings had opened up and inspired a great spiritual capacity, the Buddha issued forth the light and shook the earth, and now it was the same as it was long ago. The path of all the Buddhas is the same. However because they still had doubts and confusion it was said that they did not comprehend it.

The Bodhisattvas with keen spiritul roots now and then were able to comprehend it, but those with dull spiritual roots were the same as those of the Two Vehicles. They also did not comprehend it.

The Door (Mon):

At Kuang Chai they held that the ways & means of the Two Vehicles were the door to the wisdom described in this Sutra. This necessitates that it is something that is to be given and then taken away. If this is so, and if it is the door that is to be attained, why does The One That Come refute those of the Two Vehicles and say that they do not comprehend it? If they do not comprehend it, then it follows that the ways & means of the Two Vehicles is not really the door. Those that offer this as the door are of very shallow ability and will forever be unaware of the real door.

Now we understand that the Buddha's wisdom itself is the ways & means. With this wisdom and insight being the door, one attains entry into the Buddha's wisdom.

Like The Necklace Sutra says:
"The two observations⁴ are the path of ways & means for attaining entry into the middle way and the truth of the highest significance."

This is also like having each of the Four Doors of the Three Doctrines⁵ be the ways & means for attaining entry into the middle way.

Kuang Chai's understanding was that the two observations were but a single observation and that the twelve doors⁶ were but a single door. But with the ways & means of wisdom being the door, there would only be attainment of entry into the ways & means of wisdom. It would mean that one would equally enter into realization with any of the four doors of any of the Three Doctrines.

Only with the Buddha's wisdom being the door does one attain entry into the Buddha's wisdom.

As explained before, the Total Cause⁷ is called The Chapter on Ways & Means. This is one's own practice of wisdom being the door and it is what the Sutra now praises as 'the door to this wisdom'. This is the four doors of the Total Doctrine being the one door.

With the real wisdom being the door, one enters into the ways & means of wisdom and illuminates both of the two truths⁸. This is the meaning of this here.

In explaining it like this, the abundant riches are opened up wide. How is like the petty and trifling ideas of Kuang Chai?

If one depends upon The Discourse's explanation of The Agamas being the door, this would necessitate opening up and collecting all the doctrines⁹. Patterned after the above this is possible to understand.

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Footnotes:

1. The Spiritual Life: (S. Dharmakaya) The spiritual body or life of the Buddha

2. Their grass huts: Symbolic of the selfish quest for spiritual emancipation, in which the aspirants each remain in their own grass huts seeking enlightenment only for themselves. From numerous Vaipulya Sutras.

3. Embrace the idea for even the time it takes to eat a single meal: Listening to and accepting the Bodhisattva teaching was likened to taking a meal (there are parallels here with the idea of taking of mass or communion). It is necessary to build up endurance and diligence in order to stay the course and attain the non-retreating stage (S. Avaivatarka)

4. The Two Observations: The absolute and the mundane, the observation of duality

5. The Four Doors of the Three Doctrines: The Four Doors are a reference to the tetralemma and the limits of cognitive understanding in the Three Provisional Doctrines

6. The twelve doors: The four doors of the Three Provisional Doctrines

7. The Total Cause: The cause of the total doctrine; the wonderful original cause, the cause of enlightenment

8. The Two Truths: The absolute and the mundane, the observation of duality

9. With the Agamas being the door, this would necessitate opening up and collecting all the doctrines: With the most simple and basic teaching be explained as the door to the Buddha's wisdom, all of the other doctrines must be opened up in the dialectic of understanding the total depth and breadth of the wisdom.

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