大般涅槃經集解 22.64

22.64

案僧亮曰：答問云何處濁世不污如蓮華，與二人為譬。雖有重罪，不障發心，不為罪行污也。法瑤曰：明菩薩能於眾無畏，必忘身命，宣弘常住。而惡之世，耶見誹謗其說，而執解不從，不改其操，是處濁世不污，如蓮華也。夫能不從外耶者，皆由自己肉眼伏累，不為煩惱污其內心也，故處煩惱不能染也。四種蓮華生淤泥中，不為彼淤泥所污，答處世不污也。次下句雖有煩惱終不為所污，以知如來性相力故。至譬良醫，答煩惱不染也。

Sengliang notes: He answers the question, 'How does one abide in a turbid world without being defiled, like a lotus flower?' providing a metaphor for the two kinds of persons. Although they have heavy transgressions, they do not obstruct the resolve, nor are they defiled by sinful conduct. Fayao says: This clarifies that a bodhisattva can be fearless before the assembly, necessarily forgetting body and life to proclaim and propagate permanence. In an evil age, wrong views slander his teaching, but he adheres to understanding without complying and does not alter his integrity; this is abiding in a turbid world without being defiled, like a lotus flower. Being able to refrain from following external wrongness is entirely because one's own fleshy eyes subdue entanglements, so that defilements do not taint one's inner mind; therefore, abiding among defilements, they cannot contaminate him. The four kinds of lotus flowers grow in mud yet are not defiled by that mud, answering 'abiding in the world undefiled'. The next line, 'although having defilements, he is never defiled by them,' is due to the power of knowing the Tathāgata's nature and marks. Down to the metaphor of the skilled physician, it answers 'defilements cannot contaminate'.