華嚴經探玄記 2.30

2.30

Seventh, 'provisional and real': if analyzed according to the three vehicles, when the Buddha resides in this Sahā world, the miscellaneous assembly is real, because they are born through real retribution; the bodhisattvas are provisional, because they appear through upāya. As a sūtra says, 'Those bodhisattvas conceal their immeasurable sovereign powers, and so forth.' Or, the bodhisattvas are real, because bodhisattvas prior to the bhūmis are still born in this land; the miscellaneous assembly is provisional, because according to the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra, they are all provisional forms manifested by great bodhisattvas and others from other directions. If the Buddha resides in a pure land, the bodhisattvas are purely real, because they are born through real retribution; the miscellaneous assembly is illusory transformation, not truly existent. The Mahāyānasaṃgraha says, 'In a land of enjoyment, such sentient beings do not truly exist; in order to make the pure land not empty, such miscellaneous classes of sentient beings are created through transformation.' If within the One Vehicle, when the Buddha is in this Padmagarbha world, the bodhisattvas and the miscellaneous assembly are either all real, because they are subsumed under the real virtues manifested in the sāgara-mudrā samādhi; or both are provisional, because they appear in accordance with conditions. The remaining senses should be inferred accordingly.