The ten subtleties of “traces” are: Subtlety of Objects; Subtlety of Wisdom; Subtlety of Practice; Subtlety of Stages; Subtlety of Threefold Dharmas; Subtlety of Empathy and Response; Subtlety of Supranormal Powers; Subtlety of Preaching the Dharma; Subtlety of Attendants; and Subtlety of Merit and Benefit….

For scriptural proof I will quote only passages from the first half of the Lotus Sūtra and not even passages from the second half of the Lotus Sūtra. Why should I quote other Sūtras?

The Lotus Sūtra says concerning the such-like appearances and so forth of all dharmas that “the true aspects of reality are exhaustively understood only by the Buddhas.”³⁴¹ The “true aspects of reality” is the gate by which to enter the wisdom of the Buddha. This gate is objective reality. It also says, “This exceedingly profound and minutely subtle dharma is difficult to perceive and hard to understand. Only I and the Buddhas of the ten directions can know these aspects.”³⁴² This refers to subtle objects.

“The wisdom which I have attained is minutely subtle and most supreme.”³⁴³ Also, “With this subtle wisdom I seek the supreme path.”³⁴⁴ and “The dharma which is undefiled, beyond conceptualization, exceedingly profound, and minutely subtle is known in its [true] aspect only by me.”³⁴⁵ This refers to subtle wisdom.

“Originally, by following incalculable Buddhas he [the Buddha Śākyamuni] practiced all paths. … After practicing all of these paths, he attained his fruit [of Buddhahood] at the seat of enlightenment.”³⁴⁶ Also, “They pressed their palms together and with a respectful mind desired to hear of the completed path.”³⁴⁷ Also, “All dharmas from the beginning are characterized as eternally quiescent in themselves. Sons of the Buddha attain Buddhahood in the future by completing the practices of the path.”³⁴⁸ This refers to subtle practice.

Four kinds of flowers fell from heaven,³⁴⁹ manifesting the four [bodhisattva] stages of Abodes, Practice, Merit Transference, and bhūmi. The exposing, revealing, awakening, and entering [the Buddha’s knowledge and insight]³⁵⁰ also refers to the meaning of the levels [of attainment]. “To ride on the jeweled vehicle and course in the four directions;”³⁵¹ The four directions are the four causal stages [leading to Buddhahood]. The “direct attainment of the seat of enlightenment” refers to the level of resultant [Buddhahood]. This refers to subtle stages.

“The Buddha himself dwells in the Great Vehicle; it is adorned with the power of wisdom and concentration which he has attained.”³⁵² The “Great Vehicle” [Mahāyāna] refers to the true nature of [reality];³⁵³ “concentration” refers to the perfection of one’s potential;³⁵⁴ “wisdom” refers to enlightened concentration³⁵⁵ This refers to the subtle threefold dharmas.

“In the span of three weeks I considered these matters.”³⁵⁶ Also, “I, with the Buddha-eye, have penetrating insight into the six destinies of sentient beings.”³⁵⁷ Also, “All sentient beings are my sons.”³⁵⁸ Also, “He saw in the distance his father sitting on the Lion’s Throne.”³⁵⁹ This refers to subtle empathy and response.

“Now, the Buddha-Bhagavan entered samādhi and manifested strange and inconceivable signs.”³⁶⁰ This refers to subtle supranormal powers.

“The Tathagata can skillfully discriminate and preach the dharma; with gentle words he makes joyful the minds of sentient beings.”³⁶¹ Śāriputra said, “On hearing the Buddha’s gentle words which are profound, far removed [from ordinary understanding], and minutely subtle…”³⁶² Also, “All of the dharmas which he expounds without exception reach the ground of omniscience.”³⁶³ Also, “He expounds only the supreme path.”³⁶⁴ Also, “[Among Sūtras] already, now, or to be preached, [this Lotus Sūtra] is the most difficult to believe and understand.³⁶⁵ This refers to subtle preaching of the Dharma. “He teaches only bodhisattvas, and has no śrāvaka as disciples.”³⁶⁶ This refers to the subtle attendants [of the Buddha].

“In the present or future, anyone who hears one stanza or one verse will attain perfect awakening.”³⁶⁷ Also, “Anyone who hears [the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra] can attain ultimate perfect awakening.”³⁶⁸ Also, “If I try to save [sentient beings] through the small vehicle, I would have fallen victim to greed. This cannot be excused.”³⁶⁹ Also, “Finally, there is no one who is allowed to attain salvation for himself alone; all attain salvation through the salvation of the Tathāgata.”³⁷⁰ This refers to subtle benefits.

341

This phrase has already been quoted numerous times by Chih-i. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 22, has “only a Buddha and a Buddha can exhaust their reality. return

342

This phrase also has been quoted often. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 23, has “Those dharmas profound and subtle/ Hard to see and hard to understand … / I and the Buddhas of the ten directions/ Are the only ones who can know these things.” The Lotus Sūtra has “things” for the last word in this quote where Chih-i has “aspects” return

343

Hurvitz, Lotus Sütra, 43, has “The wisdom I have gained is the first among subtle things.” return

344

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 10, translates, “With this subtle knowledge/ Seeking the Unexcelled Path.” return

345

The original passage in the Lotus Sūtra is slightly different, which Hurvitz Lotus Sūtra, 25, translates, “That which is without outflows, beyond reckoning and discussion/ The extremely profound and subtle Dharma/ I have already gained completely./ (and) only I know its marks.” return

346

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 23, translates, “Formerly, following numberless Buddhas/ He fully trod the various paths … /He trod these various paths; (then)/ On the platform of the Path he was able to achieve the Fruit.” return

347

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 27, has “With palms joined and with thoughts deferential/ Wishing to hear of the Perfect Path.” return

348

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 37, translates “The dharmas from their very origin/ Are themselves eternally characterized by the marks of quiet extinction./ The Buddha’s son, having trodden the Path/ In an age to come shall be able to become a Buddha.” return

349

This refers to one of the miraculous signs which signaled the beginning of the Buddha’s exposition of the Lotus Sūtra. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 3, translates the context as follows: “At this time Heaven rained down mandārava [coral tree] flowers, mahāmandārava [mahā, “great”] flowers, mañjūṣaka flowers [a kind of celestial flower], and mahāmañjūṣaka flowers, scattering them over the Buddha and his band of followers.” return

350

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, translates: “The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to hear of the Buddha’s knowledge and insight and thus enable them to gain purity. They appear in the world because they wish to demonstrate the Buddha’s knowledge and insight to the beings. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to understand. They appear in the world because they wish to cause the beings to enter into the path of the Buddha’s knowledge and insight.” return

351

From the parable of the burning house. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 71, has, “And mounting these jeweled carriages/ [The children] cavorted in all four directions.” return

352

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 34, has, “The Buddha himself dwells in the Greater Vehicle;/ Whatever dharmas he acquires/ Adorned with the strength of concentration and wisdom/ Through them does he rescue sentient beings.” return

353

The first of the three “tracks.” return

354

The second of the three “tracks.” return

355

The third of the three “tracks.” return

 returnHurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 43, has, “Throughout three weeks/ I thought such thoughts as these: “The wisdom I have gained/ is the first among subtle things.”

356

357

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 42, has “I, with the eye of a Buddha/ See the beings on the six courses/ Reduced to poverty’s extreme, having neither merit nor wisdom… return

358

From the parable of the burning house. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, has, “All the living beings are my children.” return

359

From the parable of the poor son. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 85, has “At that time, the poor son, hiring himself out as a laborer in his wanderings, by chance reached his father’s house, where, stopping by the side of the gate, he saw in the distance his father seated on a lion throne, his feet resting on a jeweled footstool …” return

360

This phrase is from the introduction to the Lotus Sūtra, describing the wonderful and miraculous signs which preceded the Buddha’s exposition of the Sutra, and the Buddha’s entering into samādhi. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 4, has “now the Buddha, the World-Honored One, has entered into samādhi, whom shall I question about these rare apparitions, beyond reckoning and discussion?” return

361

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 22, has “by making a variety of distinctions, the Thus Come One can skillfully preach the dharmas. His words are gentle, gladdening many hearts.” return

362

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, has “When I hear the Buddha’s gentle voice/ Profound, far removed from the ordinary understanding, and extremely subtle/ Setting forth the pure Dharma/ my heart is overjoyed…” return

363

This phrase is part of the introductory comments to the parable of the plants which are all rooted in the one ground of the earth. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 101, translates: “Without exception, the dharmas he preaches all reach to the ground of All-Knowledge.” return

364

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, translates the context as follows: “Now I, joyfully and fearlessly/ In the midst of the bodhisattvas/ Frankly casting aside my expedient devices/ Merely preach the Unexcelled Path.” return

365

This is a paraphrase of a section Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 178, translates as follows: “The scriptural canons I preach are in the incalculable thousands of myriads of millions, whether already preached, now being preached, or still to be preached. Yet among them this Scripture of the Dharma Blossom is the hardest to believe, the hardest to understand.” return

366

This abbreviated quote is a bit misleading. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 46, translates the entire context as follows: “I, being King of the Dharma/ Universally address the great multitudes/ Having recourse only to the Path of the One Vehicle/ Teaching and converting bodhisattvas/ and having no voice-hearing disciples.” However, the word “only” in the original Lotus Sūtra modifies the “path of the One Vehicle,” and not “only bodhisattvas.” Thus this section more likely means that the Buddha has recourse to the doctrine of ekayāna to teach bodhisattvas, not to teach śrāvaka, and that he has recourse to other methods of teaching in dealing with śrāvakas. It does not mean that the Buddha has no disciples which are śrāvakas. The context makes clear that the Buddha is preaching the subtle dharma to all beings, śrāvakas and bodhisattvas alike (as the next line says), and that śrāvakas are included in the group of the Buddha’s disciples. I fear that Chih-i was overzealous in his attempt to illustrate the “subtlety” of the Buddha’s attendants. (See this blog post.) return

367

Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 174, translates the context as follows: “If any like these in the Buddha’s presence hears a single gāthā or a single phrase of the Scripture of the Blossom of the Fine Dharma, or devotes to it a single moment of rejoicing, I hereby confer on him a prophecy that he shall attain Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.” return

Question: What is the meaning of interpreting subtlety in terms of the absolute?

Answer: Certainly “subtle” can also be called “absolute”; “subtle” and “absolute” are merely different names (for the same thing]. Is it not like a person saying that he is the absolute best?³⁰³

Also, “subtle” refers to the absolutizer and “crude” refers to the absolutized. This “subtle” [reality] has the effect of absolutizing the crude. Therefore the absolute is brought forward and called “subtle.”³⁰⁴

It is like in the first half of the Lotus Sūtra.³⁰⁵ First the teaching of expedient means is presented where the great teachings [of Mahāyāna] are not explicit. Now, when the great teachings are made explicit, the teachings of expedient means are absolutized.³⁰⁶ That which is absolutized is then called “subtle.” Also, if the great teachings are already explicit in the first half of the Lotus Sūtra, then one cannot realize the explication of the great teachings in the second half.³⁰⁷

Now, when the teachings are made explicit in the second half, the great teachings in the first half [are seen to be] identical with the absolute. The power to absolutize the great [teachings] in the first half comes from the great [teachings] in the second half. The great teachings which absolutize the first half are called the great [teachings] of the second half, therefore it is called absolute. Also, even if the great teachings of the second half are made explicit, one is not able to arouse the subtlety of the mind of contemplation.³⁰⁸

Now, if one enters the contemplation of subtle quiescence, the way of verbalization is severed and the teachings of the second half of the Lotus Sūtra are identified with the absolute. [Realizing] the absolute depends on [the practice of] contemplation. By calling this “absolute,” one can speak of the subtlety of contemplation. I have called the absolute “subtle” in order to manifest this meaning.

The above dharma of sentient beings is subtle because of the absolute subtlety of the “traces” [of the historical manifestation of the Buddha and this world in which he is manifested]. The above dharma of the Buddha is subtle because of the absolute subtlety of the original basis [of the eternal Buddha]. The above dharma of the mind is subtle because of the absolute subtlety of the mind of contemplation [or, “the contemplation of the mind”].³⁰⁹ The first four subtleties³¹⁰ are horizontally absolute with regard to the four teachings.³¹¹ These three [subtleties of sentient beings, the Buddha, and mind] are vertically absolute312 with regard to the perfect teachings.

303

In other words, the word “absolute” means here not that he “transcends” the world, but that his ability is incomparably the best in the world. Thus “subtle” also means incomparable, the absolute highest. return

304

This is a play on the Chinese character for “absolute” which also means to “cut off” or “make unnecessary.” return

305

The first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra, which discuss the activity of the historical Buddha, which is the “traces” of the fundamental, eternal Buddha. return

306

That is, the real meaning is brought forth so the temporary expedient devices have served their purpose and are no longer needed. return

307

The last fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra which discuss the fundamental, eternal Buddha. return

308

One must actually practice and cultivate the insightful mind which can transcend conceptualization and verbalization. return

309

In this rather difficult section Chih-i is setting up another threefold classification of the “traces,” which refers to the content of the first fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra and corresponds to the dharma of sentient beings; the original basis, which refers to the content of the last fourteen chapters of the Lotus Sūtra and corresponds to the dharma of the Buddha; and contemplating the mind (or “the contemplative mind”: ), which corresponds to the dharma of mind. The bulk of the remainder of the Fa hua hsüan i [Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra] deals with these three categories in the form of the “ten subtleties of traces,” the “ten subtleties of the basis,” and the “ten subtleties of contemplating the mind.” Actually, most of the discussion concerns the first ten subtleties of “traces” in this realm of our experience, which covers T. 33, 697c-765a. The ten subtleties of the original eternal Buddha are covered briefly in T. 33, 765a-77, and the ten subtleties of contemplating the mind are not discussed at all (perhaps because this was the subject of the Mo ho chih kuan [The Great Calming And Contemplation]).  return

310

The four kinds of “absolute subtlety” discussed above. return

311

They are on a graded scale from inferior to superior. return

312

They are identical to each other, or of an integrated nature. return

Verbalization is repetitive and continues endlessly. The reason is that words arise in accordance with [ordinary deluded] conceptions and perceptions.²⁹⁶ If mental conceptualization does not stop, how can one transcend verbalization? It is like a foolish dog which chases a lump [of earth?]; its efforts are in vain because in the end he does not go beyond the lump?²⁹⁷ If one can have a subtle awakening concerning that “within the palace walls”²⁹⁸ the wind of conceptual thinking will cease and the mind, like water, will become clear and pure, and words and thoughts are transcended. It is like a crafty lion which releases the lump and chases people.²⁹⁹ When the lump is left behind, the lump is transcended.³⁰⁰

When one is awakened concerning subtle [reality], one has the penetrating knowledge that outside the dharmadhātu there are no dharmas and that to discuss the absolute [verbally] means that one must clarify the absolute in terms of doctrine of existence. To experience the absolute in terms of the absolute is to clarify the absolute in terms of doctrine of emptiness. This is like a delightful horse which only sees the shadow of the whip and enters [his stable].³⁰¹ This is called “absolute subtlety.”

notes

296. In this case refers to vitarka, the ordinary conceptual working of the mind, and refers to vicāra, the more subtle perceptions or working of the mind, which obstruct the attainment of true insight. This vitarka- vicāra commonsensical perception of the world is corrected by attaining higher levels of insight.

297. I must confess that I do not understand the point of this analogy. The analogy is taken from a Prajn͂āpāramitā text, the Shêng t’ien-wang pan-jo po-lo-mi ching [The Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā] T. 8, 703a25.

298. Chih-i uses this phrase also in the Mo ho chih kuan [The Great Calming And Contemplation]. Chan-jan, in his Chih kuan fu hsing ch’uan hung chüeh [Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight], explains this phrase as follows: ” ‘Within the palace walls’ means that the dharmadhātu is compared to a palace. It is the capital where the King of the Dharma (resides). The King of the Dharma has no (mistaken) one-sided views. The nature of reality is not outside of this (dharmadhātu). To experi ence a transformation and have insight into reality is called ‘awakening to that within the palace’.” Chan-jan then makes a reference to Chuang Tzu which I was unable to decipher.

299. This analogy is taken from the same section as the above analogy of the dog: see T. 8, 703a25.

300. At this point the Fa hua hsüan i shih ch’ien [Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sūtra] explains that “words are analogous to the lump, and the truth is analogous to people. The ignorant foolish dog never goes beyond the lump of verbalization. The lion, which has a type of wisdom, attains [insight into] reality by abandoning names [i.e. by abandoning the lump to chase people]. Therefore one should know that conceptions and [mistaken] perceptions arise from verbalization. If conceptions and [mistaken] perceptions are stopped, then one transcends verbalization. If one transcends [severs] words and conceptions, one transcends and puts an end to relativities.”

301. The horse which does not need to be whipped, but enters his stable merely by seeing the shadow of the whip, is analogous to the person who has insight into the truth without recourse to words.