The Lotus Sūtra 3.6

3.6

「如來說法，一相一味——所謂：解脫相、離相、滅相，究竟至於一切種智。其有眾生聞如來法，若持讀誦，如說修行，所得功德，不自覺知。所以者何？唯有如來知此眾生種相體性，念何事、思何事、修何事，云何念、云何思、云何修，以何法念、以何法思、以何法修，以何法得何法。眾生住於種種之地，唯有如來如實見之，明了無礙。如彼卉木叢林諸藥草等，而不自知上中下性。如來知是一相一味之法——所謂：解脫相、離相、滅相——究竟涅槃常寂滅相，終歸於空。佛知是已，觀眾生心欲而將護之，是故不即為說一切種智。

"The Dharma preached by the Tathāgata has one characteristic and one flavor—namely, the characteristic of liberation, the characteristic of detachment, and the characteristic of cessation, ultimately reaching the knowledge of all modes. If there are living beings who hear the Dharma of the Tathāgata, uphold, read, and recite it, and practice it as taught, they do not themselves perceive or know the merit they obtain. Why is this? Only the Tathāgata knows the species, characteristics, substance, and nature of these living beings: what they think of, what they reflect upon, what they cultivate; how they think, how they reflect, how they cultivate; with what dharma they think, with what dharma they reflect, with what dharma they cultivate; and by what dharma they attain what dharma. Living beings abide on various stages, and only the Tathāgata sees them as they truly are, clearly and unobstructed. It is just like those plants, trees, thickets, forests, and medicinal herbs that do not know their own superior, middling, or inferior nature. The Tathāgata knows this Dharma of one characteristic and one flavor—namely, the characteristic of liberation, the characteristic of detachment, and the characteristic of cessation—which ultimately reaches nirvāṇa, the characteristic of constant quiescence, finally returning to emptiness. Having known this, the Buddha observes the mental desires of living beings and protects them, and therefore does not immediately preach the knowledge of all modes for them.