維摩義記 1.2

1.2

I once saw in the Tiantai Monastic Controller's General Catalogue of the Canon of Teachings: "The Record of the Meaning of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra in four fascicles, composed by Huiyuan." Thereupon I considered that our ancestral Great Master Zhiyi, when commenting on the Contemplation Sūtra, largely adopted [the interpretations of the master of] Jingying [temple, Huiyuan], and regarding the Vimalakīrti Sūtra it was presumably the same. Recently a bookseller arrived carrying a case containing this Record of the Meaning, and I acquired it with great joy. Reading it, although it was not entirely as I had originally envisaged, its explanations are most exhaustive. As for its exposition of a single doctrine, it mostly raises objections first and only then resolves them, truly never forgetting the structure of the mātṛkā; the master of Jiaxiang in the Guanzhong region could not rival it. When our ancestor expounded the meanings, phenomena and principle were both rounded out, yet he took contemplation of principle as primary and phenomenal explanations were somewhat concise; therefore, would it not be fitting to read this Record first and afterwards harmonize it with the discussions of Zhiyi? However, omissions and errors are particularly numerous; may those who obtain a good edition in the future kindly correct them.