妙法蓮華經玄義 7.212

7.212

定法譬者，權實難顯，借喻蓮華，譬於妙法。又七喻文多，故以譬標題。又解云：蓮華非譬，當體得名。類如劫初，萬物無名，聖人觀理，準則作名：如蛛羅引絲，倣之結網；蓬飛獨運，依而造車；浮槎汎流而立舟；鳥跡成文而寫字；皆法理而制事耳。今蓮華之稱，非是假喻，乃是法華法門；法華法門清淨，因果微妙，名此法門為蓮華，即是法華三昧當體之名，非譬喻也。餘經多自釋名，此經無解，或是其文未度耳。而此兩釋皆有道理，今融二意。

Regarding determining [whether it is] doctrine or metaphor: because the provisional and the real are difficult to manifest, the metaphor of the lotus flower is borrowed to illustrate the subtle Dharma. Furthermore, because passages with the seven metaphors are numerous, a metaphor is used to headline the title. Another explanation says: The lotus flower is not a metaphor; it takes its name directly from the entity itself. It is like at the beginning of the kalpa, when the myriad things had no names, the sages observed principles and established names based on them: like a spider spinning threads, which they imitated to weave nets; like the tumbleweed blowing and turning alone, which they relied upon to invent carts; setting rafts afloat on currents to establish boats; observing bird tracks forming patterns to create writing—these were all instances of taking principles as models to institute things. Here, the designation 'lotus flower' is not a borrowed metaphor; rather, it is the Dharma gate of the Lotus [Sūtra]. The Dharma gate of the Lotus is pure, and its causes and effects are subtle and wondrous. Naming this Dharma gate 'Lotus Flower' means it is the direct name of the entity of the Lotus Samādhi itself, not a metaphor. Other sūtras mostly explain their own titles, whereas this sūtra contains no such explanation; perhaps that text was not translated over. Yet both of these two explanations are reasonable, and we now harmonise the two views.