三照

The three shinings; the sun first shining on the hill-tops, then the valleys and plains. So, according to Tiantai teaching of the Huayan sūtra, the Buddha's doctrine had three periods of such shining: (a) first, he taught the Huayan sūtra, transforming his chief disciples into bodhisattvas; (b) second, the Hīnayāna sūtras in general to śrāvakas and pratyeka-buddhas in the Lumbinī garden; (c) third, the [lang id =1028]方等 sūtras down to the [lang id =1028]涅槃經 for all the living. See the [lang id =1028]六十華嚴經 35, where the order is five, i.e. bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, śrāvakas, lay disciples, and all creatures.

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（喻）佛法好像日光， 日出先照高山， 次照幽谷， 再照平地。 高山喻佛成道後， 最初說華嚴經， 化頓大的菩薩； 幽谷喻佛在鹿苑說小乘經， 化聲聞緣覺； 平地喻佛最後說方等經乃至涅槃經， 化一般大乘漸入的根機。