大般涅槃經集解 11.7

11.7

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.