妙法蓮華經玄義 10.89

10.89

然二經教意，起盡是同。如《法華》三周說法，斷奠聲聞，咸歸一實，後開近顯遠，明菩薩事。《涅槃》亦爾，先勝三修，斷奠聲聞，入祕密藏，後三十六問，明菩薩事也。又《涅槃》臨滅，更扶三藏，誡約將來，使末代鈍根，不於佛法起斷滅見，廣開常宗，破此顛倒，令佛法久住。如此等事，其意則別，第五醍醐，佛性味同也。

However, the teaching purports of the two sūtras are identical from beginning to end. Just as the *Lotus Sūtra* has three cycles of expounding the Dharma, settling the śrāvakas and bringing them all back to the one reality, and afterwards opens the near and reveals the distant to clarify the affairs of bodhisattvas; the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* is also like this: first surpassing the three cultivations, settling the śrāvakas, and entering the secret storehouse, and afterwards through the thirty-six questions clarifying the affairs of bodhisattvas. Furthermore, when the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* was on the verge of extinction, it additionally supported the Tripiṭaka and gave admonitions for the future, so that the dull-witted in the final age would not give rise to nihilistic views regarding the Buddha-Dharma; it extensively opened the principle of permanence to shatter these inversions, causing the Buddha-Dharma to abide long. In matters such as these, their purports differ; but in the fifth [flavor of] ghee, the flavor of Buddha-nature is identical.