法華文句記 9.108

9.108

四「斯為」等者，現此非長非短之長短及非廣非狹之廣狹，明成佛既久化迹必多，所以為下非本非迹之遠本及非少非多之廣迹，而為先兆也。故知開竟尚達非遠非近之遠本，況復近迹？若未開顯尚昧近迹，況非遠非近之遠本？以未知久本而為惑者，斯理必然。及至開顯，咸知本無長短遠近斯存，故名「不思議一」，故先現之密表非本非迹之本迹。「四眾遍見」下明廣狹中，亦先略示，次「夫肉眼」下釋。肉天二眼任其自力所見不遙，今忽見遠知非己力，即知如來現此神變必說妙法。次「雨猛華盛」譬見應也。「龍大池深」譬知真也。「見應」下合譬也。見諸菩薩應相既多，必並證得彌法界真，秖向見短之人而見於廣，廣若是機短豈專應？既見即狹之廣，理亦方見即短之長，密表當破無明故且抑其一分。

Fourth, regarding "this is..." and so forth: revealing this length and shortness which are neither long nor short, and this breadth and narrowness which are neither broad nor narrow, clarifies that since attaining buddhahood has been so long in the past, the traces of conversion must be abundant; therefore this serves as a prior omen for the distant origin that is neither origin nor traces, and the vast traces that are neither few nor many, which come below. Thus we know that once the revelation is complete, one still reaches the distant origin which is neither distant nor near, let alone the near traces. If it has not yet been opened and revealed, one is still ignorant of the near traces, let alone the distant origin which is neither distant nor near. That they are confused because they do not yet know the ancient origin—this principle is inevitable. When it comes to the opening and revealing, all know that fundamentally there are no such things as length, shortness, distance, or nearness preserved here; therefore it is named "inconceivable oneness," and so it was first manifested to secretly signify the origin and traces that are neither origin nor traces. Under "the four assemblies everywhere saw," within the clarification of breadth and narrowness, it is also first shown briefly, and next explained under "as for the physical eye." The physical and heavenly eyes, left to their own power, do not see far; now suddenly seeing far, they know it is not their own power, and thus know that the Tathāgata, in displaying this supernatural transformation, must certainly preach the wondrous dharma. Next, "heavy rain and luxuriant flowers" is a metaphor for seeing the response [body]. "The dragon is large and the pool is deep" is a metaphor for knowing the real. Below "seeing the response" is the matching of the metaphors. Seeing that the response forms of the bodhisattvas are so numerous, they must all equally have realized the real that pervades the dharma realm; it is only to the person who saw what was short that the vast is shown. If the vast is indeed the capacity, how could the short be solely the response? Since they have seen the broad that is identical with the narrow, in principle they are also only now seeing the long that is identical with the short, secretly signifying that ignorance should be destroyed, and so for the time being one part of it is subdued.