妙法蓮華經文句 1.38

1.38

Explaining "thus" (如是) in terms of origin and traces (本迹): in the three periods of time and the ten directions, it is so both horizontally and vertically. The distant past is vastly remote, the present is boundless, and the future is unending—all are fully "thus." Where is the origin? Where are the traces? Provisionally, in terms of Śākyamuni's initial attainment of the Way, the "thus" at the beginning of sūtras is the origin; his intermediate manifestations of becoming a buddha and preaching sūtras, down to the "thus" at the beginning of the sūtra spoken today, are all traces. Furthermore, the "thus" transmitted by Ānanda is the trace; the "thus" spoken by the Buddha is the origin. Again, master and disciple thoroughly penetrating "thus" not just starting today nor just intermediate is the origin; doing so in the intermediate periods and today is the trace.