大般涅槃經集解 53.36

53.36

Sengliang states: This answers the sixth objection. Sengzong states: This answers the fifth objection. It is now said that it cannot be said to already exist unconditionally; because it will exist in the future, it is said to exist. For example, if milk is left lying for up to a month, curd will still not be produced. But if one adds a single drop of sap from the poqiu tree, it immediately turns into curd, because its conditions are fully present. If there were already curd in the milk, why would it need to wait for conditions? Regarding 'being able to do what is difficult to do': it means that precisely because one is endowed with these five matters such as the straightforward mind, one is able to perform these things that are difficult to endure, even not sparing body and life, because one deeply understands the characteristic of emptiness. Baoliang states: This answers the fifth objection that clung to the effect existing within the cause. Now it is explained that the myriad dharmas arise from conditions and have no svabhāva; when conditions assemble, they exist, and when they have not assembled, they do not exist. How could it allow that the effect already exists within the cause? If the effect already existed, why would it need multiple conditions? Because there is no fixed nature, one is able to become a Buddha. Having finished answering the objection, he again brings up the previous concluding sentence: by this principle, the bodhisattva always praises others' goodness, and therefore it is called a straightforward mind. After the concluding sentence, he specifically turns to the bodhisattva's mind in relation to affairs to explain the straightforward mind.