金剛般若經贊述 1.52

1.52

Regarding 'mealtime', it refers to the time for the midday meal. Below, each of these symbolizes something, as the *Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra* states: the Buddha told Ānanda that all the deportment and movements of the Buddhas are nothing other than Buddha-work. Why does it now say 'mealtime'? This shows that when the meal is finished and the sūtra is expounded, the sun is exactly at midday, symbolizing that the Mahāyāna principle of the signless that is expounded abandons attachment to the two extremes of emptiness and existence; hence 'mealtime' refers to the distinctive time for preaching the sūtra. This symbolizes that when about to preach the signless teaching, one first contemplates the signless principle, just as when about to preach the *Innumerable Meanings Sūtra*, [the Buddha] first entered the samādhi of the station of innumerable meanings and contemplated the principle of the station of innumerable meanings. The Buddha takes wisdom as life and the signless as food; wishing to preach the signless teaching, he first contemplates the wondrous signless principle with wisdom and only then expounds it; hence it says 'mealtime'.