Why Do Śrāvakas Dislike Much Learning and Pratyekabuddhas Dislike Deliberation?

Original text of the Upāsaka Precepts Sūtra, Volume Seven: 声闻之人厌于多闻。缘觉之人厌于思惟。佛于是二心无疲厌。故名为佛。

Explanation: Why do people with the śrāvaka indriya grow weary of extensive learning? In the Hīnayāna sūtras, the Buddha once said that śrāvakas are called śrāvakas precisely because they delight in extensive learning, yet here in the Mahāyāna, the Buddha says that śrāvakas are weary of extensive learning. Does this mean the Buddha's teachings are always contradictory? Actually, no. Every definition has a precondition; it is a definition within a certain scope. Once that scope is exceeded, the previous definition is no longer appropriate, and so the definition must change. The śrāvakas' extensive learning is learning within the scope of the Hīnayāna path of liberation, learning within the scope of the Four Noble Truths as conventional truth. Beyond this scope, they no longer wish to know or hear more; they are content with the status quo, and they also believe that beyond this scope there is no further dharma. This limitation in their cognition stems from their initial aspiration, from the breadth of their mind and vision, and also from their wisdom and insight, which are not particularly deep.

Through listening to the Buddha's teachings, śrāvakas came to recognize the suffering of the world of the five aggregates. Their aspiration is small; they only wish to be liberated from worldly suffering. As long as they can be liberated from worldly suffering, that is enough for them. As for the distant buddha-path of three great immeasurable kalpas, they are not interested. Some of them even believe that being liberated from the bondage of the three realms already constitutes buddhahood, and that beyond that there is nothing left to cultivate or realize. Due to the limitations of their roots of goodness, merit, and wisdom, when they study the Four Noble Truths, they cannot touch the principle of the Mahāyāna prajñā and the tathāgatagarbha, and so they blindly believe that the Four Noble Truths are the ultimate and final word for liberation, with no other dharma beyond them. It is precisely on account of such foolish "wisdom" that at the Lotus Sutra assembly, five thousand bhikṣus withdrew from their seats; they did not believe or listen to the Mahāyāna dharma, much less contemplate it. From this point alone, one can see that śrāvakas in fact do not delight in extensively learning the Buddha-dharma.

The roots of goodness and wisdom of the pratyekabuddhas are somewhat deeper than those of the śrāvakas. They need not follow at the Buddha's side to extensively learn the Buddha-dharma, but whenever they encounter conditions, they will contemplate on their own the ins and outs of things, tracing them back to their roots and getting to the very bottom of the dharma, down to its ultimate source. Thus they engaged in contemplation of the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination, and through repeated forward and reverse deduction, they touched upon the Ālayavijñāna, the original source of all dharmas of the world of the five aggregates. When their contemplation reached the Ālayavijñāna, due to their indriya and habitual tendencies, they did not contemplate further, nor did they wish to realize this truth of the ultimate reality of the dharmadhātu; their wisdom stagnated at the level of being able to liberate themselves from the suffering of the world of the three realms. Because they did not make the great bodhi aspiration to accomplish the buddha-way, they only wished to be liberated from the bondage of the world of the five aggregates and sought nothing else. That is why they were content with the status quo, content with eradicating the ignorance concerning liberation from the suffering of the world of the five aggregates, without any desire or intention to eradicate the more subtle levels of ignorance. Therefore the Buddha says here that pratyekabuddhas are weary of contemplation.

The Buddha differs from śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Throughout the cultivation of three great immeasurable kalpas, He made a vast aspiration—for immeasurable sentient beings to be freed from suffering, not for His own peace and happiness. With deep roots and a great capacity, His wisdom was vast. In order to investigate the true principle of the dharmadhātu, He practiced what was difficult to practice and endured what was difficult to endure. He was not content with the small and shallow dharmas obtained at the present stage, but constantly contemplated more deeply and constantly investigated the ultimate truth. His pursuit of truth never grew weary, and only thus could He ultimately perfect omniscience (sarvākārajñatā) and accomplish the buddha-way.

To sum up, a person's indriya is extremely important. Only with deep roots and a great capacity will the branches flourish and the leaves be lush; only with a mind embracing the vast void will the capacity encompass worlds as numerous as sands. How fortunate it is when a bodhisattva can deliver a sentient being of great indriya! Encountering a sentient being of great indriya is something to treasure. Who would be willing to expend extra effort to deliver those useless, selfish śrāvakas, draining one's precious energy for delivering sentient beings? With that energy, delivering one bodhisattva of initial aspiration is superior to delivering hundreds of millions of koṭis of śrāvakas. This bodhisattva of initial aspiration, when he attains accomplishment in the future, will be able to rescue immeasurable sentient beings from suffering and lead immeasurable sentient beings toward liberation. If one can deliver a bodhisattva whose roots of goodness have already matured, that is an even more fortunate thing!

Therefore, if you see that I am partial, do not be surprised or misunderstand. Look at why I am partial and where my partiality lies—wherever it lies, there are Mahāyāna bodhisattvas. Whether they are bodhisattvas of initial aspiration or bodhisattvas of long cultivation, in any case they are bodhisattvas who will attain buddhahood in the future, and immeasurable sentient beings will benefit from them and attain liberation. Perhaps many sentient beings are already quietly benefiting right now. If I had no partiality, then I would have no mind of equality, and unfair things would appear—that kind of mind would truly be biased. For example, if person A contributes one hundred shares and person B contributes only one share, and I give them both the same treatment, this is clearly unreasonable, unfair, and unequal.

The Buddha likewise has partiality. The Buddha especially favors Mahāyāna bodhisattvas and favors the sons of the Buddha. Who are the sons of the Buddha? Bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi onward are the sons of the Buddha. Although these bodhisattvas' wisdom regarding liberation within the world of the five aggregates is not equal to that of arhats and pratyekabuddhas—even differing greatly from them—the Buddha protects the bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, calls them His own sons, and has them inherit the family enterprise of the Tathāgata; whereas He calls arhats and pratyekabuddhas "sprouts scorched and seeds spoiled," and never says that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are His sons, the sons of the Buddha. When the Buddha came to the Sahā world to deliver sentient beings, those accompanying Him were all bodhisattvas of various stages whom He had delivered over immeasurable kalpas. Although these bodhisattvas dwell in other worlds, they can follow the Buddha to the worlds of the ten directions to deliver sentient beings; among the Buddha's retinue there are no śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas. When the Buddha taught the dharma in the Sahā world, He taught the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas for only twelve years, but taught the bodhisattvas for more than thirty years. Among the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of the canon, there is only a small amount of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha dharma; the great majority is Mahāyāna bodhisattva dharma. And among the dharmas not yet spoken, an even greater abundance is bodhisattva dharma.