法華玄論 2.74

2.74

Evaluation: This is a matter of great importance, and should be carefully settled. Having cited above the "Expedient Means" and "Simile" chapters where the Buddha himself verbally declared that the two nirvāṇas, greater and lesser, are different, why contravene the Buddha's words by saying they are not different? Doing so marks one as a person without faith. Furthermore, to object: if the two vehicles, greater and lesser, share the same nirvāṇa, then their causes would differ while their fruits would be identical—which is impossible. Moreover, the original expectation of both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna lies in the fruit; since they would be identical in the fruit, why would the causes need to differ? What we now clarify is: because the two causes differ, the two fruits also differ; there are no longer different causes, for all ultimately return to the one cause, and there are no longer different fruits, for all ultimately return to the one fruit.