大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 3.30

3.30

Regarding the commentary's "Sixth, displaying the stages": the text of the commentary has two parts: first, generally displaying the overall intent; second, opening the sections to explain them individually. In the former, there are two parts: first, explaining the contextual intent straightforwardly; second, from "Now, the sage's..." onward, establishing the principle to substantiate it via the converse. "The great treasure of the sage is called position": this comes from the second part of the "Xici" in the Zhouyi, which says: "The great virtue of heaven and earth is called life; the great treasure of the sage is called position." The commentary says: "If there were no function, there would be nothing to treasure; since there is function, there is something to treasure. As for being without function yet constantly sufficient, nothing is more wondrous than the Dao. As for having function and propagating the Dao, nothing is greater than position. Therefore it is said: 'The great treasure of the sage is called position.'" The commentary's "If this position were lacking, practice would not be accomplished" is the converse proof of the necessity of position.