大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 2.31

2.31

In the Commentary, "'Flower' analogizes the myriad practices of meritorious virtues," also has two meanings: First, the flower that elicits fruit analogizes the cause of the myriad practices, because it achieves the fruit of Buddhahood. It may either occur together with the fruit or not together with it: occurring together is like the lotus flower, expressing the mutual interpenetration of cause and fruit; not occurring together is like the peach and plum, not disrupting the sequence of cause first and fruit afterwards. Second, the flower that adorns the body analogizes the meritorious virtues of the various stages necessarily accompanying the fruit of each stage. Thus a later chapter of the sūtra says: "If you see flowers blooming, you should vow that sentient beings' superknowledges and other dharmas blossom like flowers; if you see flowers on trees, you should vow that sentient beings' myriad characteristics are like flowers, complete with the thirty-two [marks]."