妙法蓮華經文句 1.82

1.82

Regarding origin and traces: these venerable ones have long been praised by the Buddhas; in their origin they attained the banner of victory samādhi, surpassing all non-Buddhists, and had already previously perfected the universal knowledge of all-species wisdom. In their traces, they came to assist the Buddha in executing conversions, manifesting as “great, many, and superior” amidst emotional attachment and views in order to lead [beings] from milk into curd; furthermore, manifesting as “great, many, and superior” in the Tripiṭaka teaching in order to lead them from curd into clarified butter; manifesting as “great, many, and superior” in the Vaipulya teachings in order to lead them from clarified butter into butter; manifesting through the rotation of teaching as “great, many, and superior” in the Prajñā teachings; and in order to lead them from butter into ghee, manifesting as “great, many, and superior” in the Lotus Sūtra. However, in their original ground, “great, many, and superior” are also [far beyond this] (and so on).