Master Huijing’s Short Dharma Teaching about the Classification of Teachings – the Difficult and Easy Paths
淨宗判教 – 難易二道判
The sutras spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha are many. They are generally known as 84,000 teachings. In ancient India all 84,000 teachings were divided into two groups one labeled “Emptiness” and the other “Existence”. However, when they were transmitted to China, they were categorized into eight schools.
The classification of the Difficult Path and the Easy Path is the interpretation of Nagarjuna Bodhisattva. He comprehensively analyzed all of the 84,000 teachings spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha including: southern and northern lineages, great and small vehicles, esoteric and exoteric schools. He then divided them into these two paths. That is to say, though the Buddhist teachings are plentiful, they can all be included within these two paths - the Difficult Path (the Path of Difficult Practice) or the Easy Path (the Path of Easy Practice).
釋迦牟尼佛所說的經典非常多,即一般所謂的八萬四千法門。在古印度時代,這八萬四千法門,只歸類為「空」、「有」兩宗,但傳到了中國之後,分歸為八宗。
「難易二道判」是龍樹菩薩的思想見解,他將釋迦牟尼佛一生所說的八萬四千法門,不管是南傳北傳、大乘小乘、顯教密宗,把它們全體綜合分析歸納為這兩門。也就是說,佛法雖然多,不離開這兩門,不是「難行道」,就是「易行道」。
Namo Amituofo!
