涅槃經遊意 1.254

1.254

今明至理尚無頓漸，豈有頓漸之知？雖無頓漸，亦頓亦漸。故經云：「發心畢竟，二不別。」《華嚴》云：初心菩薩與三世佛等，而復有漸漸知義，有五十二地不同，初地百法，二地千法故也。

Now we explain that the ultimate principle is devoid of suddenness or gradualness, so how could there be sudden or gradual cognition? Although devoid of suddenness and gradualness, it is both sudden and gradual. Therefore, the sūtra says: "Initial aspiration and ultimate [realization] are not two or distinct." The Avataṃsaka says: "The bodhisattva of the initial mind is equal to the Buddhas of the three times," yet there is also the sense of gradual cognition, as there is the distinction of fifty-two stages, with a hundred dharmas at the first bhūmi and a thousand dharmas at the second bhūmi.