華嚴經探玄記 2.19

2.19

Third, revealing distinctions: this single body of Śākyamuni, according to its response to the multitude of capacities, has many different types. It may be identical to ordinary beings and not noble ones, as in seeing a body of three cubits with black elephant feet, or a tree-spirit body, etc.; these are in the ranks of humans and devas. Or it is noble and not ordinary, because it is identical to the body of an arhat noble one. Or it is both ordinary and noble: because it is a true retribution body born of father and mother, composed of the four great elements, it is identical to an ordinary body; possessing the five-part dharmakāya with all outflows exhausted, it is noble. Or it is neither ordinary nor noble, because it is gathered by the Mahāyāna three bodies and is not identical to the arhat noble ones of the Hīnayāna. Or it is transformation and not retribution or Dharma, because it possesses the eight aspects in Jambudvīpa, while the form-summit separately establishes that true retribution [body], as expounded in the Brahmajāla Sūtra and so forth; this is according to the initial teaching. Or it is retribution and not transformation or Dharma, as this very body possesses the twenty-one kinds of extraordinary merits, being the enjoyment body (saṃbhogakāya), as expounded at the beginning of the Buddhabhūmi Sūtra; this is according to the final teaching. Or it is Dharma and not retribution or transformation, because form is identical to Suchness, as the sūtra says: 'My present body is none other than the dharmakāya'; this is according to the sudden teaching. Or it is both Dharma, retribution, and transformation, as expounded in the previous three. Or it is neither Dharma, nor retribution, nor transformation, because it is the ten Buddhas, pervades the three worlds, and is fully equipped with host and retinue, as expounded below in this sūtra; this is according to the perfect teaching. Therefore, this body of Śākyamuni is perfectly interpenetrating and unobstructed, and extremely difficult to conceive.