華嚴經探玄記 2.17

2.17

First, on determining the Buddha-body: Question: What kind of body is the Buddha of these eight assemblies? Answer: Some explain that it is the nirmāṇakāya Buddha, because attaining the Way with the eight aspects under the bodhi tree is the nirmāṇakāya, because not leaving yet ascending to the heavens is repeated transformation, and because Rocana is an alternative name for Śākyamuni and not a distinct saṃbhogakāya. Yet others explain: the Buddha who preaches this sūtra is the true saṃbhogakāya, because it is the Rocana dharmadhātu-body and resides in the Padmagarbha Pure Land. Below, at the beginning of the seventh assembly, praising the Buddha as possessing those twenty-one kinds of extraordinary merits refers to the true saṃbhoga[kāya]. It is merely because it does not depart from transformation that it covers this [seat] under the tree; it is not a nirmāṇakāya. Now I explain: according to the text below, this Buddha is the body of the ten Buddhas, pervading the three worlds, because what is seen by those prior to the bhūmis—namely the ten faiths, three stages of worthies, etc.—is not the true saṃbhoga[kāya]. Yet, residing in the Padmagarbha, it is not restricted to transformation. The land-body and others are not the preceding two. Because it fully gathers the preceding two, its nature interpenetrating, and because it is completely equipped with host and retinue, like Indra's net; therefore, it is exclusively the body of the ten Buddhas that universally pervades the dharmadhātu.