大般涅槃經集解 47.20

47.20

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.