大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 27.10

27.10

Regarding the commentary's: “It is also like the *Lotus Sūtra* saying: ‘King Brahmā is the father of sentient beings’”: this is in the sixth fascicle, in the “Chapter on the Original Conduct of the Medicine King,” which says: “Just as the Great King Brahmā is the father of all sentient beings, this sūtra is also like this: it is the father of all sentient beings.” Because King Brahmā was born at the beginning of the kalpa, and later various devas descended to King Brahmā, ordinary beings all falsely imagine King Brahmā to be their father. The various sūtras and treatises all refute this as wrong, being a view of non-Buddhists. Now in the *Lotus Sūtra*, the Tathāgata himself cites this as a simile for the *Lotus*; could the Buddha not know that this fatherhood is false? Therefore, it is merely the World-Honoured One speaking in accordance with convention. Now, speaking in accordance with convention that heaven has form, how does it contradict principle? Yet now the commentary does not disallow the view of Jingfa; it is only that once [a view] is attached to a sūtra and can be slightly accommodated, it reconciles and explains it, not wishing people to slight or disparage the sacred teachings.