大般涅槃經集解 11.7

11.7

案僧亮曰：因現事為誓也。僧宗曰：別有因緣，出《枯樹經》。佛將比丘空曠處行，見有洞然枯樹，即問比丘：「此樹可抱不？」答言：「不可。」又問：「設有逼汝令說佛是無常；若不說者，抱此枯樹。汝寧何耶？」「世尊！寧抱火死。」即此語中具二種義，自正、正他也。智秀曰：自觀己身者，邪見之生必由身起，故使觀身猶如火聚也。

Sengliang states: Taking present circumstances to make a vow. Sengzong states: There is another circumstance appearing in the Withered Tree Sūtra. When the Buddha was walking with the monks in an open wilderness, he saw a dry tree that was blazing furiously, and immediately asked the monks: "Can this tree be embraced or not?" They answered: "It cannot." He asked again: "Suppose someone coerced you to say that the Buddha is impermanent; if you did not say so, you would have to embrace this withered tree. Which would you prefer?" "World-Honoured One! We would rather die embracing the fire." Within these very words both meanings are present: rectifying oneself and rectifying others. Zhixiu states: Regarding "contemplating one's own body": the arising of wrong views inevitably originates from the body; therefore he causes them to contemplate the body as being like a mass of fire.