大般涅槃經集解 47.20

47.20

案僧亮曰：犯四重者，更稱後難答也。寶亮曰。此下答第二問，明闡提雖當時斷善根，後若善根發時，其必成佛。無有中間停者，若是定者，云何成佛耶？涅槃乃可是萬法之數，其體用是定故，不得同生死虛偽也。真體不動，迹無定相，先說十譬明萬法是虛，後廣明化物也。

Sengliang comments: As for those who commit the four grave offenses, he further addresses the subsequent challenge in his reply. Baoliang says: Below this answers the second question, clarifying that although the icchantika severs wholesome roots at the time, later, when wholesome roots arise, he will definitely become a buddha. There is no intermediate stopping point; if it were determinate, how could he become a buddha? Nirvāṇa may indeed be numbered among all phenomena, but because its essence and function are determinate, it cannot be identical to the false and deceptive nature of saṃsāra. The true essence is unmoving, while its traces have no fixed characteristic. He first preaches ten similes clarifying that all phenomena are empty and false, and later elaborately explains the conversion of beings.