大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 2.24

2.24

In the Commentary, "Considering that in the era of the True Dharma its clear brilliance was still hidden, how fortunate that in the late Semblance Age we have chanced upon this profound transformation!" and so forth, is the second [part], directly expressing feelings about encountering it. Within this there are also two: first, rejoicing for oneself by contrasting with the past; second, rejoicing for oneself by considering the present. Now this is the first. It means that during the five hundred years [after the Buddha]—which corresponded to the True Dharma—the clear brilliance of this sūtra was hidden within the Dragon Palace, and people of that time did not hear it. How fortunate that in the declining final years of the Semblance Dharma, we encounter this profound and subtle transformation! Living in the end of the Semblance Age, one ought properly to feel sorrow, yet looking back at those who previously did not hear the sūtra, we need not feel inferior even to the era of the True Dharma; hence we rejoice for ourselves. This is based on the [reckoning that] the period of the True Dharma without destruction is one thousand years; thus the present is the end of the Semblance Age, because the present is 1,860 years since the Great Master's nirvāṇa. Furthermore, according to the Candragarbha section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta: in the first five hundred years, liberation is steadfast; in the second five hundred years, dhyāna concentration is steadfast; in the third five hundred years, erudition is steadfast; in the fourth five hundred years, stupas and monasteries are steadfast; and in the fifth five hundred years, fighting and quarreling are steadfast. Today, living at the end of the period of stupas and monasteries and nearing the time of fighting and quarreling, to nevertheless hear this inconceivable sūtra—even breaking one's body into pieces could not repay such joy.