大方廣佛華嚴經疏 3.18

3.18

Second, concerning juxtaposing and distinguishing separation and combination: within the seven characters of the title, there are ten items forming five pairs:
First is the pair of teaching and meaning: the single character 'sūtra' is the teaching that can express, while the six characters 'Great' and the rest are the meaning that is expressed.
Second, within the meaning, is the pair of Dharma and metaphor: 'Great' and the rest are Dharma, and 'Flower Adornment' is the metaphor.
Third, within the Dharma, is the pair of person and Dharma: 'Great, Broad, and Expansive' is the unobstructed Dharma that is realized, and 'Buddha' is the person who can realize it; it is also called the pair of object and wisdom.
Fourth, within the Dharma, is the pair of selecting and retaining: the single character 'Great' selects, while 'Broad' retains—that is, selecting the great to distinguish it from the small, selecting the real to distinguish it from the provisional, and selecting the fruit to distinguish it from the cause; it is also the pair of essence and function. 'Great and Broad' is the essence, for 'the great square has no corners'; 'Expansive' is the function.
Fifth, within the person, borrowing the lower character 'Flower' to serve as a metaphor for the cause constitutes the pair of cause and fruit, for 'Buddha' is the fruit. Therefore, using the single character 'Flower' alone only serves as a metaphor for the cause. If combined as 'Flower Adornment', it also serves as a metaphor for the four characters above, as will be clarified below.