The subtlety of the dharma of mind is, as it is written in the chapter on “The Practice of Peace” [in the Lotus Sūtra], “to cultivate and collect one’s thoughts . . . while contemplating all dharmas … without moving nor retreating.”¹²⁰ It also means “finding joy in one thought. …”¹²¹ The Sut̄ra on the Contemplation of Samantabhadra¹²² says, “The mind is in itself empty: there is no subject [which commits] sin or [does] virtuous deeds . . . in contemplating the mind [one sees that] there is no mind and that dharmas do not abide as [substantial] dharmas.”¹²³ Also, “the mind [will devote itself] purely to these dharmas.”¹²⁴ The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra says, “[As in] contemplating the true marks of the body [one sees that they are all empty], so it is with contemplating the Buddha.”¹²⁵ [The Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra also says] “The liberation of all Buddhas should be sought within the mental activity of sentient beings.”¹²⁶ The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says, “There is no distinction between the mind, Buddha, and sentient beings,”¹²⁷ and “by destroying the minute dust-like obstructions of the mind, the thousands of scrolls of Sūtras are revealed.”¹²⁸ This is called the subtlety of the dharma of mind.

120

An abridged form of verses from the Lotus Sūtra. See Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, who translates the entire context as follows:

If in a quiet place
One perfects and collects one’s thoughts,
Dwelling securely and unmoving
As if one were Mount Sumeru itself,
Observing that all dharmas
Have nothing whatsoever,
Being quite like empty space;
That they have nothing firm or solid,
Being unborn, unemerging,
Unmoving, unreceding,
Ever dwelling in one mark,
This is called the place of approach.
 return

121

A quote from the chapter on “The Preachers of Dharma” in the Lotus Sūtra. Hurvitz, Lotus Sūtra, 174, translates: “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

122

Samantabhadra-bodhisattva-dhyānacaryādharma Sūtra. This Sūtra is considered by the T’ien-t’ai tradition to be the “closing” Sūtra of the threefold Lotus Sūtra. It contains instructions on the contemplation of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra. return

123

Katō, et al. 1975, 363, has “As one’s own mind is void of itself, sin and blessedness have no existence. In like manner all the laws are neither fixed nor going toward destruction. If one repents like this, meditating on his mind, there is no mind he can seize. The law also does not dwell in the law.” return

124

I am not sure what Chih-i intends by quoting this phrase. The context is speaking of purifying the six senses, after which the practitioner “will have joy of body and mind and freedom from evil ideas, and will devote himself to this law so that he can conform to it.” Katō, 354. return

125

From the opening section of a discourse on the non-substantial existence of the Tathāgata in the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra. Boin, 238, translates the context as follows: “Then the Blessed One said to the Licchavi Vimalakirti, Son of good family, now that you have come here to see the Tathāgata, how do you see him? This having been said, Vimalakirti replied to the Blessed One: Blessed One, now that I see the Tathāgata, I see him as if there were nothing to see.” return

126

This quote is found among the questions of Mañjuśrī for Vimalakirti in the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra. Boin translates, “Where is the deliverance of the Tathāgatas found? (Vimalakirti answers) It is found in the first thought activity (cittapūrvacarita) of all beings.” This translation is based on the Tibetan. Boin notes that the Chinese translations of Kumarajiva and Hsüan-tsang have “in the activity of the mind of all beings.” return

127

See note 106. return

128

Compared to the previous phrase from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra which is quoted verbatim, Chih-i takes liberties in paraphrasing this quote. The original reads, “These scrolls of Sūtras in the great trichiliocosm exist within one minute particle of dust. All of the minute particles of dust are also likewise. At one time there was a person who appeared in the world who achieved penetrating wisdom, completed and perfected the pure divine eyesight, and perceived these scrolls of Sūtras in a minute particle of dust. He then had the following thought, ‘How can these vast and great scrolls of Sūtras exist in a minute particle of dust, yet not benefit sentient beings? I should diligently use expedient means to destroy these minute particles of dust and benefit sentient beings.’ At that time this person used expedient means to destroy the particle of dust and extracted these scrolls of Sūtras to benefit sentient beings.” In the original sūtra the word “mind” is not used, and seems to be making quite a different point than that proposed by Chih-i. Chih-i was quoting this phrase to support his contention that the mind is subtle, and this phrase supports this concept only insofar as the Avataṃsaka Sūtra in general teaches the identity of mind and objects. In that sense the mind and the particle of dust are one, and “destroying a particle of dust” or “destroying the dust-like obstructions of the mind” to reveal the (meaning of) scrolls of Sūtras can be interpreted as meaning the same thing. A translation of Chih-i’s paraphrase which would be more consistent with the original Avataṃsaka Sūtra passage would read, “Destroying the mind and minute particles of dust, the Sūtra scrolls of the trichiliocosm appear.” return

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