大般涅槃經疏 1.17

1.17

'I have heard' is also like this: Formerly, I heard that the four assemblies were not the eight buddhas; now, I hear that the eight buddhas are precisely the four assemblies. Formerly, I heard of the superiority and inferiority of beginning and end, and the shifting among the five fruits; now, I hear that the two givings are without difference, and both are equally permanent and joyful. Formerly, I heard that rivers meander and do not go straight to the ocean; now, I hear that the continent of Godānīya is like a straight cord. Formerly, I heard that the fleshly eye does not even see emptiness, let alone being able to see the nature; now, I hear that those who learn the Mahāyāna, although possessing fleshly eyes, are named as having the buddha-eye, and the buddha-eye sees the nature clearly and distinctly. Formerly, I heard that good and evil are as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers, and that heterodoxy and orthodoxy take different tracks; now, I hear that the timingila and the divine turtle are together in the water. This is how 'I have heard' commonly prefaces all five chapters.