The subtlety of the dharma of the Buddha means, as the Lotus Sūtra says, “Cease, cease, do not try to explain. My dharma is subtle and difficult to conceptualize.”¹¹⁴ The dharma of the Buddha does not go beyond the conventional and the real.¹¹⁵ [The Lotus Sūtra says,] “This dharma is exceedingly profound, subtle, difficult to see and difficult to perfect,”¹¹⁶ and “Of all types of sentient beings, none are able to know the Buddha.”¹¹⁷ This is the subtle real wisdom. [The Lotus Sūtra says,] “Also, there are none who can calculate the dharma of the Buddha.”¹¹⁸ This is the Buddha’s subtle conventional wisdom. In this way these two dharmas [of the conventional and real can be understood] “only by Buddhas who can completely exhaust all true aspects of reality.”¹¹⁹ This is called the subtle dharma of the Buddha.

113

This ambiguous compound refers, as the following statements make clear, both to the Buddha-dharma as the teaching of the Buddha, and the Buddha himself and what it means to be a Buddha, such as his good qualities and activity in the world. return

114

This well-known phrase from the chapter on “Expedient Means” in the Lotus Sūtra is quoted often by Chih-i to express the subtlety and ultimate inexpressibility of the Buddha-dharma. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 28, has “Cease, cease! No need to speak. My dharma is subtle and hard to imagine.” return

115

Another twofold categorization by Chih-i of teachings, wisdom, and reality, the details of which would involve another complete analysis of T’ien-t’ai philosophy. See Fukushima 1978/5, 10-22. In many ways the first corresponds to the conventional truth (saṃvṛtisatya) and the “real” corresponds to the supreme truth (paramārthasatya). Chih-i discusses the content of these terms in more detail in the next section. return

116

This phrase is also from the chapter on “Expedient Means.” Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 23, has “Those dharmas profound and subtle, hard to see and hard to understand…” return

117

This quote precedes the above quote in the Lotus Sūtra by a few lines. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 23, has “(Among) all varieties of living beings, none can know the Buddha.” return

118

This phrase occurs between the above two quotes in the Lotus Sūtra, T.9, 5c18. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 23, translates the context as “As to the Buddha’s strengths (bala), his sorts of fearlessness (vaiśāradya), his deliverances (vimsokṣa), and his samādhi, as well as the other dharmas of a Buddha, none can fathom them.” return

119

This quote appears immediately preceding the above quotes from the Lotus Sūtra, and is another favorite of Chih-i. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 22, has “Concerning the prime, rare, hard-to-understand dharmas, which the Buddha has perfected, only a Buddha and a Buddha can exhaust their reality.” return