涅槃經遊意 1.155

1.155

釋迦為破我人病故，明無人我，而有法，故云無造、無受者，善惡之累不忘也。又法通生死涅槃故，法長人短者，生死無人，唯涅槃有人，生死無我，唯涅槃有我也。此則具破眾生斷、常二見。生死無人故不常，而有法故不斷。眾生若聞生死中有人，則起常見；破常見故，明生死一向無人。眾生若聞無法，則言無因果、罪福等，則起斷見；為破此見，故云有法。雖無有人，善惡之法不失，故明人短法長也。

Because Śākyamuni sought to destroy the illness of [believing in] a self and a person, he explained that there is no person or self, yet there are dharmas; hence it is said that without a creator or an experiencer, the consequences of good and evil are not lost. Furthermore, because dharmas extend throughout saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, "dharmas are long and persons are short" means that in saṃsāra there is no person, only in nirvāṇa is there a person; in saṃsāra there is no self, only in nirvāṇa is there a self. This fully refutes both the views of annihilation and permanence held by sentient beings. Because in saṃsāra there is no person, it is not permanent; and because there are dharmas, it is not annihilated. If sentient beings heard that there is a person in saṃsāra, they would give rise to the view of permanence; to refute the view of permanence, he explained that saṃsāra definitively lacks a person. If sentient beings heard that there are no dharmas, they would say there are no causes and effects, no sin and merit, and so forth, thereby giving rise to the view of annihilation; to refute this view, he said that dharmas exist. Although there is no person, the dharmas of good and evil are not lost; thus he explained that persons are short and dharmas are long.