The ten characteristics of each of the Four Siddhāntas

1. The Worldly Siddhānta is characterized as (i) speaking about phenomenon and noumenon to comply with conditions that are suitable to, and are pleasurable to be heard by audiences; (ii) explaining both the Provisional (Unreal) and the Real; (iii) combinations of causes and conditions that result in differences between good and evil beings; (iv) a separate view of the five aggregates (i.e., form, sensation, conception, volitional activity, and consciousness) that are taken as real; (v) differentiating wholesomeness from evil; (vi) viewing the three periods (past, present, and future) of time separately; (vii) separating the Four Wholesome Factors (Ssu-shan-ken) that belong to the Ordinary Ranks of a Higher Level (Nei-fan) from the Ordinary Ranks of a Lower Level (Wai-fan); (viii) to differentiate between “the Path of Vision” and “the Path of Cultivation (ix) neither “learning” nor “no-learning 47 and (x) the Siddhānta for Each Person that is contained within.
2. The Siddhānta for Each Person is characterized as (i) to arouse the wholesome mind that existed previously; (ii) to only talk about the Provisional (Unreal) of living beings; (iii) if wholesome conditions are combined, a wholesome person comes into being; (iv) from the wholesome five aggregates, the wholesome five aggregates can be reproduced; (v) to explain that the present wholesomeness can reproduce the future wholesomeness; (vi) concerning future period of time; (vii) concerning stages of “heat” and “summit”; (viii) concerning “the path of vision;” (ix) realizing the “learning and (x) the Siddhānta of Counteraction that is contained within.
3. The Siddhānta of Counteraction is characterized as (i) to get rid of new evil; (ii) to only talk about the Real (i.e., evil is real because it causes the real effect of generating more evil); (iii) when evil conditions are combined, an evil person comes into being; (iv) to destroy the evil five aggregates with the wholesome five aggregates; (v) to destroy the present evil with the present wholesomeness; (vi) concerning the present period oftime; (vii) concerning the Four Types of Mindfulness (Ch., Ssu-nien-ch’u; Skt., catvāri smṛtyupasthānāni) that are practiced together and individually$ l (viii) concerning “the path of cultivation”; (ix) cultivating the “learning”; and (x) the Siddhānta of the Supreme Truth that is contained within.
4. The Siddhānta of the Supreme Truth is characterized as (i) enabling a person to realize the path of a sage; (ii) not Unreal and not Real; (iii) not good and not evil; (iv) attaining the five aggregates with “non-defilement (v) neither good nor evil; (vi) attaining the negation of the three periods of time; (vii) attaining the Highest Mundane Dharma that is closest to “real non-defilement (viii) attaining “the path of no-learning”; (ix) attaining the arhatship of “no-learning”; and (x) the Supreme Truth that does not include the three other siddhāntas. (Vol. 2, Page 35-36)

The correspondence between the Four Siddhāntas and the Five Sections are: The Worldly Siddhānta corresponds with the Name; the Siddhānta of the Supreme Truth with the Substance; the Siddhānta for Each Person with the Gist; the Siddhānta of Counteraction with the Function; and to distinguish these Siddhānta is to correspond with the Characteristics of the Teachings. (Vol. 2, Page 33)

The description of the Worldly Siddhānta (Shih-chieh Hsi-t’an) is that the world is like a vehicle that comes into existence because of the combination of wheels, spokes, axle and rim. Human beings are likewise created because of the combination of five aggregates. The Buddha proclaims the worldly dharma of the correct causality to comply with living beings, with what they desire and with what they are pleased to hear, so that they can obtain the proper view of the world.

With regard to the Siddhānta for Each Person (Ko-ko Wei-jen Hsit’an), because of different capacities of people, certain doctrines the Buddha expounds are designed specifically for certain beings according to their degree of understanding.

The description of the Siddhānta of Counteraction (Tui-chih Hsit’an) is that for counteracting particular vices of living beings the Buddha offers different treatments.

The description of the Siddhānta of the Supreme Truth (Ti-i-i-ti Hsit’an) is that by knowing that his disciples are ready to receive the true teaching, the Buddha expounds the supreme truth in terms of “unexplainable” (Pu-k’o-shuo) and “explainable” (K’o-shuo). The true dharma, namely the truth of neither origination nor extinction (that transcends language, and is attained by the Buddha) is unexplainable. Although truth itself is unexplainable, i.e., it cannot be conceptualized and is beyond words, it is indeed necessary to be revealed for an educational and soteriological purpose. In this sense, Chih-i talks about truth that is explainable. The method of realizing the truth is provided by the formula of the Four Alternatives (Ch., S,su-chü; Skt., catusko/i), i.e., everything is real (I-ch ‘ieh-shih), everything is unreal (I-ch ‘ieh Pu-shih), everything is both real and unreal (I-ch ‘ieh I-shih I-pu-shih), and everything is neither real nor unreal (I-ch ‘ien Fei-shih Fei-pu-shih). (Vol. 2, Page 34)