維摩經略疏 2.36

2.36

Question: The Tripiṭaka inferior response was an affair of the past; how can it serve as a remote reason for this? Answer: The Lotus Sūtra says: "For twenty years he constantly had him remove dung. Only after this did their minds come to trust each other, and going in and out was without difficulty." Therefore, now, preaching the Mahāyāna sūtras together with the voice-hearers and displaying the superior response body, he joined the canopies and displayed the miraculous sign symbolizing the preaching of the buddha-land. One should know that the past inferior response makes manifest the present superior response; therefore it is the remote reason.