華嚴經探玄記 15.9

15.9

Third, in the clarity of past lives, there are two parts: first, remembering and knowing the past events of oneself and others; second, from 'again remembers' onwards, remembering the causes, effects, and events of past Buddhas. Because these are Buddhas appearing in the world for the sake of sentient beings, they are mostly explained in terms of the eight phases [of a Buddha's life]. Because this bodhisattva has attained the eye of the nine times, seeing the past and present phenomena, what is known is therefore limitless. If it were not so, then if those past phenomena did not pass away, they would not be past; if they had already ceased and passed away, then there would be no phenomenon; and seeing where there is no phenomenon would not be true reality. If one says that it is merely that for past experienced events, seed-images appear before the mind, and therefore one is said to remember and know them, then one merely sees the reflections of one's own mind and does not see those phenomena. Furthermore, for events one has never experienced, one should not be able to remember and know them. Moreover, one would merely see the present and not the past, so how could it be called the wisdom of past lives? The remaining text can be seen.