大般涅槃經義記 1.88

1.88

自下第六如來變林以敦眾心。何故須爾？新眾既來，見佛猶在，望聖不滅，戀情容賒，故佛變林，表滅敦勵。文中初辯、次類、後合。辯中，初先變林令白，明是鮮白，故說如鶴。何故現白？人言白色是樹死相，為表聖滅。此如前破。又人復云：「白是色本。」顯佛歸本。或容可爾，但非經說，未可專定。次現寶堂，映發雙林，人亦就此種種異表，難知且止。下現泉池，妙華盈滿，映飾寶堂，類合可知。准此合文，定知林堂非是別相，現堂之後方言樹林，種種莊嚴，甚可愛等。

From here below is the sixth section: the Tathāgata transforms the grove in order to brace the assembly's minds. Why was this necessary? When the newcomers had arrived, seeing the Buddha still present, they expected the Sage not to pass away into extinction, and their feelings of attachment could easily have lingered. Therefore the Buddha transformed the grove to signify extinction and thereby brace and encourage them. In this text, there is first the analysis, next the comparison, and finally the synthesis. Within the analysis, first he transformed the grove to make it white, indicating that it was pure and bright, which is why it is said to resemble cranes. Why did he manifest white? Some say white is the mark of a dying tree, signifying the extinction of the Sage. This was refuted above. Others further say: "White is the root of colors," showing that the Buddha is returning to the root. This may perhaps be so, but since it is not stated in the sūtra, it cannot be definitively asserted. Next, he manifested a jeweled hall, radiant against the twin trees. Regarding this as well, people offer various divergent symbolic interpretations, but being difficult to verify, let us leave them aside. Below, he manifested springs and ponds filled with exquisite flowers, brightening and ornamenting the jeweled hall; its comparison and synthesis can be understood accordingly. Based on this synthesis in the text, we know for certain that the grove and the hall do not possess distinct marks: only after manifesting the hall does it speak of the forest being variously adorned, extremely delightful, and so forth.