大方廣佛華嚴經搜玄分齊通智方軌 1.26

1.26

Third, discerning the central theme and purport: There are two: (1) the person; (2) the Dharma. Regarding the person, there are two: namely, the one who bestows empowerment and the one who receives empowerment, each having essence, characteristic, and function. The assemblies below all simply differ according to the location and assembly. The essence of the one who bestows empowerment takes internally realized Dharma-wisdom as its essence; contemplating for seven days with joyful celebration manifests the characteristic of virtue; empowering the preaching is the function. The essence of the one who receives empowerment to assist in transformation takes entering samādhi as essence, receiving empowerment as characteristic, and arising to preach as function. The rising and falling, superiority and inferiority in the remaining assemblies can be understood by analogy with this. Regarding the Dharma, the four kinds of pure lands are the central theme of this assembly. Alternatively, the dharmadhātu and the ocean of worlds may also be taken as the central theme. This Dharma takes suchness as its essence, distinct virtues as its characteristic, and benefiting beings as its function.