大方廣佛華嚴經疏 1.8

1.8

Regarding the first, the causes and conditions: When the sage establishes a teaching, there must be a reason for it. Just as the great ocean of Sumeru can only be shaken by a great cause, now to shake the Tathāgata's mountain of virtue of molten gold and move the deep and vast ocean of wisdom is no small condition. Therefore a subsequent chapter of the sūtra states: 'It is not by one condition, nor by one matter, that the Tathāgata's appearance in the world comes to fruition.' Because his appearance was fundamentally for the sake of the Great Avataṃsaka, cause is treated first and condition afterwards, each opening into ten meanings to reveal inexhaustibility. / The ten meanings of cause are: first, because the Dharma is naturally so; second, to repay past causes; third, to accord with the responsive capacity of beings; fourth, to serve as the root of the teachings; fifth, to display the virtues of the fruit; sixth, to make manifest the stages and positions; seventh, to preach superior practice; eighth, to reveal the true Dharma; ninth, to disclose the causal nature; tenth, to benefit the present and future.