大般涅槃經義記 7.315

7.315

就初番中，先明近友，文別有二：一正明近友、二「若有親」下明近友益。前中有六：一知識心，有聰明者常教不倦。二知識人，亦名為體，謂佛、菩薩、聲聞、辟支。三知識義，「何故名為」問以起發，下辯可知。四知識儀，如法而說、如說而行是其儀也，先舉後辯。辯中三番：初番約就離惡分別，後二約就教善分別，先果後因。五知識法，為生求樂，見過不說是其法也。於中初舉，「何等」下辯。「不求自樂，常為眾生」就心論法。「見過不說」就口明法。「以是」下結。六知識益，空月喻說，下合可知。

In the first round, it first clarifies drawing near to a friend. The text specifically has two parts: first, directly clarifying drawing near to a friend; second, from 'If one has intimacy...' onward, clarifying the benefit of drawing near to a friend. In the former there are six parts: First, the mind of the spiritual friend—one who possesses intelligence teaches constantly without wearying. Second, the person of the spiritual friend, also called the essence, meaning buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas. Third, the meaning of the spiritual friend—'Why is it called...' raises a question to introduce it, and the explanation below can be known. Fourth, the deportment of the spiritual friend—speaking according to the Dharma and practicing according to what was spoken is the deportment; it is first raised and then explained. In the explanation there are three rounds: the first round distinguishes regarding leaving behind evil; the latter two rounds distinguish regarding teaching goodness, first result and then cause. Fifth, the dharma of the spiritual friend—seeking joy for sentient beings and seeing faults without speaking of them is the dharma. Within this, it is first raised, and from 'What is...' onward explained: 'not seeking one's own joy, constantly for the sake of sentient beings' discusses the dharma regarding the mind; 'seeing faults and not speaking of them' clarifies the dharma regarding speech; from 'For this reason...' onward concludes. Sixth, the benefit of the spiritual friend—explained through the simile of the moon in the sky; the following application can be known.