大般涅槃經集解 29.22

29.22

Sengliang comments: This compares to how the bodhisattva does not even crave heavenly retribution, how much less could he rejoice in this human result? Sengzong comments: The steep cliff compares to the body of the five aggregates. Being covered by grass compares to ignorance. The amṛta on the cliff's edge compares to the retribution of wonderful medicine. The great pit compares to the suffering of death. Immediately taking it is due to craving the pleasant result, cultivating wholesome causes. The foot slipping means sinking forever in birth-and-death. Baoliang comments: This provides a parable for the non-Buddhists. The steep cliff compares to [the heaven of] neither-perception-nor-non-perception; the cover of grass compares to that retribution of birth-and-death which the non-Buddhists do not understand, reckoning it to be nirvāṇa. The amṛta compares to the bliss of dhyāna-concentration. A life of a thousand years compares to eighty thousand kalpas. Craving its flavor compares to attachment to dhyāna-concentration. The deep pit is the suffering of birth-and-death. The foot slipping means that non-Buddhists, taking neither-perception to be nirvāṇa, fall into the three evil paths because they deviate from the principle.