大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 23.21

23.21

Regarding the commentary's statement, "The questions of the ninth assembly are identical throughout to those of the first assembly, but regarding causes, they cite the causes of the principal Buddha": the ten causes here all mention "all bodhisattvas," which applies to others as well. The ten causes in the Dharmadhātu [Chapter] merely say "displaying the Tathāgata's past mind that sought all-knowledge, the past great vows made as a bodhisattva," and so forth; thus they are the causes of the principal Buddha. The words "clarifying that the causes are the causes of the effect" and so forth explain and establish the meaning of the ninth assembly citing the causes of the principal Buddha. This means that the causes pertain to having already attained buddhahood; the causes are not the causes directly practiced by bodhisattvas, because both cause and effect are fully realized and entered.