大章第四明用者，天台云：用是佛之妙能，經之勝用。滅惡生善，為經力用。滅惡故言力，生善故言用，滅惡故言功，生善故言德。此皆偏舉，具論必備也。舊或以破疑生信為此經力用，此濫同法華。孤山以返妄歸真為用，以經云：一人發真歸元，十方虗空悉皆消殞。故此說宗之力用可爾。若當章明義，則又不然。何者？以妙玄揀宗用中云：宗亦有用，用亦有宗。宗用非用用，用用非宗用，用宗非宗宗，宗宗非用宗。宗用者，因果是宗，因果各有斷伏為用。用有宗者，慈悲為用宗，斷疑生信為用用。若論於宗，且置斷伏，但論因果。今明於用，但論斷疑生信，且置慈悲。(文)孤山返妄歸真，正是宗中因果各有斷伏之用。今章中正意，不說宗用，正明用用。宜以破妄知見、顯真知見，為如來之妙能，此經之勝用也。破妄知見是滅惡，顯真知見是生善。滅惡邊際，直至等覺；生善邊際，直至妙覺。所謂生一切善，滅一切惡也。故經云：一切眾生，生死相續，皆由不知常住真心。性淨明體，用諸妄想，此想不真，故有輪轉。常住真心，唯佛究盡。經之生善，生此善也。一切眾生，言該九界。經之滅惡，滅此惡也。一經之旨，不出乎此。故於經首，提而示之，以為下文張本。若分文段義，則初二兩卷，徵心辨見，破妄知見為正，顯真知見為傍。三四兩卷，明如來藏，顯真知見為正，破妄知見為傍。如仁王王世，志在宣文。國亂民離，又須先武。故武王繼文王而興，則先之以征伐。周公輔成王而治，則先之以禮樂。文武既濟，妙得其宜。經之力用，亦復如是。眾生心病，偏執既甚，藥弗瞑眩，厥疾不瘳。故破心極之於在內在外，破見極之於在面在眼。豈大聖引物入如來藏之本心哉？蓋亦有所不得已而然也。然於所破，雖後深先淺，其為所顯，莫不初後俱深。略如屈指飛光，騐見不動。示人真見，直指靈源。餘之旨歸，多若是也。問：用之力用，既聞命矣。宗之力用，可得示乎？答：宗中斷伏之義，已如釋名斷究竟中說。雖非此章正意，若欲立名，亦可以破妄知見，顯真知見，以為力用。如經之後文，明地位，防陰魔，即其事也。
Chapter 4: A Clear Explanation of the Function
Tiantai says: Function refers to the wondrous ability of the Buddha and the excellent capability of the sutra. Eliminating evil and giving rise to good is the sutra’s power and function. Eliminating evil is called "power," and giving rise to good is called "function." Eliminating evil is "merit," and giving rise to good is "virtue." These are all partial descriptions; a complete discussion would require both.
Some earlier interpretations argued that breaking doubts and giving rise to faith constitutes the sutra’s power and function. However, this confuses it with the Lotus Sutra. Gushan claimed that returning from delusion to truth was the function, citing the sutra’s statement: “If one person awakens and returns to the root, the emptiness of the ten directions all vanishes.” This explanation works as the power and function of the central principle, but not here.
Why? The Profound Meaning of the Wondrous Dharma distinguishes between the principle and its function, saying: “The principle also has function; function also has principle. The principle’s function is not the function’s function; the function’s function is not the principle’s function. The function’s principle is not the principle’s principle; the principle’s principle is not the function’s principle.”
To clarify: The principle is cause and effect. Cause and effect each have their own power of breaking delusion and subduing afflictions—this is the principle’s function. Function, when seen from its own perspective, has compassion as its root and breaking doubts and giving rise to faith as its specific activity—this is function’s function.
When discussing the principle, we set aside breaking and subduing and focus solely on cause and effect. When discussing function here, we focus on breaking doubts and giving rise to faith, setting aside compassion for now.
Gushan’s idea of “returning from delusion to truth” perfectly describes the power of breaking and subduing within the causal principle—the function of the principle. But the main point of this chapter is not about the principle’s function; it is about the function’s function.
Thus, we should take “breaking false knowledge and views, and revealing true knowledge and views” as the Tathagata’s wondrous ability and this sutra’s excellent function. Breaking false knowledge and views is eliminating evil; revealing true knowledge and views is giving rise to good. The scope of eliminating evil extends all the way to the stage of Equal Enlightenment; the scope of giving rise to good extends to Wonderful Enlightenment. This is what is meant by giving rise to all good and eliminating all evil.
Therefore, the sutra says: “All beings’ continuous cycle of birth and death is due to their ignorance of the ever-present true mind. The nature is pure and bright, yet they use various deluded thoughts. These thoughts are not real, so they revolve [in samsara].” The ever-present true mind is fully realized only by the Buddha. The good that the sutra gives rise to is this good. When it says “all beings,” it includes beings of all nine realms. The evil that the sutra eliminates is this evil. The entire meaning of the sutra is contained in this.
Thus, at the beginning of the sutra, this point is raised and revealed as a foundation for the subsequent text. If we divide the sutra into sections: The first two chapters focus primarily on questioning the mind and discerning views—breaking false knowledge and views is the main emphasis, with revealing true knowledge and views as secondary. The third and fourth chapters explain the Tathagata Store—revealing true knowledge and views is the main emphasis, with breaking false knowledge and views as secondary.
Consider a benevolent king who rules a kingdom: his intention is to promote culture. But if the country is in chaos and the people are in disarray, military action must come first. Thus, King Wu, succeeding King Wen, began with conquest. The Duke of Zhou, assisting King Cheng, began with rites and music. When culture and military power are balanced, both are applied skillfully. The sutra’s power and function work in the same way.
When beings’ mental afflictions become stubbornly entrenched, medicine must be strong enough to produce a healing crisis. Therefore, the analysis of the mind was pushed to its extreme, examining whether it is inside or outside the body. The analysis of views was pushed to its extreme, examining seeing in terms of a face and eyes. Did the Great Sage lead beings into the Tathagata Store only reluctantly? No—sometimes it was unavoidable.
Nevertheless, even though the objects of analysis progress from shallow to deep, what is revealed is always profound from start to finish. Examples include using a finger pointing to the flying light to test the unchanging nature of seeing, pointing directly to the spiritual source. Most of the sutra’s other key points follow this pattern.
Question: Now that I understand the power and function of function, could you also explain the power and function of the principle?
Answer: The meaning of breaking and subduing within the principle has already been explained in the section on “the ultimate breaking in the explanation of names.” Although it is not the main point of this chapter, if you want to give it a name, you can also call it “breaking false knowledge and views, and revealing true knowledge and views” as the power and function. For example, later passages in the sutra that clarify the stages of practice and guard against demonic states are precisely this.
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大佛頂首楞嚴經玄義卷第三