The Sutra on the Compendium of Fathers and Sons: Commentary (Lecture 113)

The Buddha expounds the Dharma with a single voice, and beings understand according to their kind.

When asleep at night without dreams, the six consciousnesses—of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind—all cease. After they cease, where do they go? When we awaken, these consciousnesses reappear. From where do they come when they reappear? In the Shurangama Sutra, the World-Honored One states that all dharmas are the nature of the Tathagatagarbha. This Sutra of the Combined Teachings of Father and Son does not discuss the Tathagatagarbha. If one were to explain the nature of the Tathagatagarbha, some listeners might attain enlightenment upon hearing it. Even without explaining the nature of the Tathagatagarbha, sentient beings can still realize the fruit of Arhat emptiness, and all can benefit. Some sutras expounded by the Buddha enable people to both realize fruition and attain enlightenment. It depends on the capacity of the beings: those of Hinayana capacity can only realize the emptiness of the Hinayana, while those of Mahayana capacity, upon realizing the emptiness and Tathagatagarbha of the Mahayana, can also realize the emptiness of the Hinayana. As capacities differ, the degree of realization attained varies, depending on the wisdom of the individual hearing the Dharma.

When the Buddha expounded the Dharma, eighty-four thousand people listened. Their wisdom differed, so their levels of understanding were not the same; the fruitions they realized differed, and the karmic rewards they obtained also differed. The Buddha expounded the Dharma without discrimination, teaching the same Dharma to all sentient beings. However, because the roots and capacities of sentient beings differ, the fruitions they attain are not the same. Those who have committed grave evil deeds, obstructed by their evil karma, attain only a rootless faith. Those without the obstruction of evil karma can realize the fruition of a Hinayana Arhat. Those with sharp faculties can realize the fruition of a Mahayana Bodhisattva. Those with even superior faculties can realize the patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-ksanti) and attain the fruition of a Bodhisattva of a certain Bhumi (stage). Therefore, it is said that the Buddha expounds the Dharma with a single voice, and beings understand according to their kind. Hearing the same Dharma, the degree of understanding and realization attained is each being's own affair; the Buddha shows no partiality.