四信五品抄一 On the Four Stages of Faith and Five Stages of Practice 1

　止観第六に云く「前教に其の位を高うする所以(ゆえん)は方便の説なればなり、円教の位下(ひく)きは真実の説なればなり」

　Volume six of Great Concentration and Insight states: “Persons who are saved by the teachings preached previous to the Lotus Sutra are those who have reached a high level of attainment. The reason is because these teachings are mere expedients.

　円教の位下(ひく)きは真実の説なればなり」

　Those saved by the perfect teaching of the Lotus Sutra belong to a low level of attainment, because this teaching represents the truth.”

　弘決に云く「前教と云うより下は正く権実を判ず、教弥(いよい)よ実なれば位弥(いよい)よ下(ひく)く、

　The Annotations on “Great Concentration and Insight” comments on this as follows: “This passage concerning the teachings preached previous to the Lotus Sutra makes clear the relative worth of the provisional and the true teachings, because it indicates that the truer the teaching, the lower the stage [of those it can bring to enlightenment].

　教弥(いよい)よ権なれば位弥(いよい)よ高き故に」と、

　Conversely, the more provisional the teaching,the higher must be the stage [of those who embrace it in order to attain enlightenment].”

　又記の九に云く「位を判ずることをいわば観境弥(いよい)よ深く、実位弥(いよい)よ下(ひく)きを顕す」と云云、

　And volumenine of On “The Words and Phrases” says, “In determining a person’s stage of attainment, the more profound the object of meditation, the lower will be the level of the practitioner [who can attain enlightenment there by].”

又教(きょう)大師未来を誡(いまし)めて云く「末法の中に持戒の者有らば是れ怪異(けい)なり、市(いち)に虎有るが如し此(こ)れ誰か信ず可き」云云。

　Moreover, the Great Teacher Dengyō left this warning for future ages: “If in the Latter Day of the Law there should be persons who keep the precepts, that would be something rare and strange, like a tiger in the market place. Who could possibly believe it?”

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