爾時慧命須菩提 摩訶迦旃延 摩訶迦葉 摩訶目犍連 從佛所聞未曾有法 世尊授舍利弗阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記 發希有心 歡喜踊躍 即從座起 整衣服偏袒右肩 右膝著地 一心合掌 曲躬恭敬 瞻仰尊顏而白佛言 我等居僧中首 年並朽邁 自謂已得涅槃 無所堪任 不復進求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提 世尊往昔說法既久 我時在座 身體疲懈 但念空無相無願 於菩薩法遊戲神通淨佛國土成就衆生 心不喜樂 所以者何 世尊令我等出於三界 得涅槃證 又今我等年已朽邁 於佛教化菩薩阿耨多羅三藐三菩提 不生一念好樂之心 今於佛前 聞授聲聞阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記 心甚歡喜 得未曾有 不謂於今忽然得聞希有之法 深自慶幸 獲大善利
ěr shí huì mìng xū pú tí mó hē jiā zhān yán mó hē jiā shě mó hē mù jiàn lián cóng fó suǒ wén wèi céng yǒu fǎ shì zūn shòu shè lì fú ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí jì fā xī yǒu xīn huān xǐ yǒng yuè jí cóng zuò qǐ zhěng yī fú piān tǎn yòu jiān yòu xī zhe dì yī xīn hé zhǎng qū gōng gōng jìng zhān yǎng zūn yán ér bái fó yán wǒ děng jū sēng zhōng shǒu nián bìng xiǔ mài zì wèi yǐ dé niè pán wú suǒ kān rèn bù fù jìn qiú ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí shì zūn wǎng xī shuō fǎ jì jiǔ wǒ shí zài zuò shēn tǐ pí xiè dàn niàn kōng wú xiàng wú yuàn yú pú sà fǎ yóu xì shén tōng jìng fó guó tǔ chéng jiù zhòng shēng xīn bù xǐ lè suǒ yǐ zhě hé shì zūn lìng wǒ děng chū yú sān jiè dé niè pán zhèng yòu jīn wǒ děng nián yǐ xiǔ mài yú fó jiào huà pú sà ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí bù shēng yī niàn hào lè zhī xīn jīn yú fó qián wén shòu shēng wén ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí jì xīn shèn huān xǐ dé wèi céng yǒu bù wèi yú jīn hū rán dé wén xī yǒu zhī fǎ shēn zì qìng xìng huò dà shàn lì
Key Message
Even the most senior disciples can begin anew before a greater truth; genuine awakening arrives together with the joy of transcending one's own self-imposed limitations.
▸The Chapter on Faith and Understanding (Xinjie Pin, 信解品) presents the Buddha's senior shravaka disciples — Subhuti, Mahakashyapa, Mahamaudgalyayana, and Mahakatyayana — responding with overwhelming joy upon hearing the teaching of the One Vehicle in the preceding chapter and witnessing Shariputra receive a prediction of future Buddhahood.
The Chapter on Faith and Understanding (Xinjie Pin, 信解品) presents the Buddha's senior shravaka disciples — Subhuti, Mahakashyapa, Mahamaudgalyayana, and Mahakatyayana — responding with overwhelming joy upon hearing the teaching of the One Vehicle in the preceding chapter and witnessing Shariputra receive a prediction of future Buddhahood. In a spirit of candid self-reflection, these elder disciples confess that they had long assumed they had already attained nirvana and had ceased seeking supreme unsurpassed enlightenment (anuttara-samyak-sambodhi). The central parable of this chapter is the Parable of the Prodigal Son (zhangzhe qiongzi biyu, 長者窮子譬喩): the only son of a great wealthy householder runs away and lives in poverty for decades. He eventually arrives at his father's estate and, not recognizing it as his own home, hires himself out as a common laborer. Only after long years of service, when the father's death approaches, does the son learn the truth: this is his father, and the entire estate is his inheritance. This parable depicts the joy of the shravaka disciples in finally recognizing themselves as true heirs to the Buddha's spiritual wealth (dharma-treasure, 法財) — capable of receiving the full inheritance of Buddhahood rather than merely the partial attainment they had settled for.