法華經義記 1.15

1.15

今明因三義，竝是顯一句中，不在開三句中；明果三義，竝是顯遠句中，不在開近句中也。法者非是軌則故名法，法名自體，明所妙之法各有體。然法語通漫無的因果，表明因亦是法、果亦是法，故知此法妙因妙果法也。此位既以因果為體，故借蓮花為喻。

Now, the three meanings of cause clarified here all belong to the phrase 'revealing the One', not to the phrase 'opening the three'. The three meanings of fruition clarified here all belong to the phrase 'revealing the distant', not to the phrase 'opening the near'. 'Dharma' is named dharma not because it is a rule or model: 'dharma' names the intrinsic substance, clarifying that each of the dharmas designated as sublime has its substance. Yet the word 'dharma' is generic and pervasive, not specific to cause or fruition, clearly showing that cause is dharma and fruition is also dharma; hence we know that this dharma is the dharma of sublime cause and sublime fruition. Since this state takes cause and fruition as its substance, it borrows the lotus as a metaphor.