釋摩訶衍論 1.7

1.7

The treatise says: Now, in composing this treatise to re-explain the Mahāyāna, it is because I wish to reveal that the essence of my own teacher is deep and abstruse, and its exhaustiveness is subtle and profound; those who have not attained right realization and have not emerged from wrong practice are in dimness and darkness, utterly beyond the realm of peering, surpassing the sphere of thought. Or it is because I wish to cause sentient beings of sharp and dull faculties to open the gate of sudden entry, to reveal the stages of gradual progress, and to enter into the profound principle that is expounded. Or it is because the teacher's nurturing care is exceedingly deep and heavy, so that I may in small part repay the teacher's great kindness. Or it is because I secretly observe that future sentient beings will give rise to hundreds of thousands of disputes and destroy the tenets of the treatise. Or it is because I personally heard and received his āśaya. For these reasons and conditions, this treatise must be composed.