維摩經略疏 6.76

6.76

From "Vimalakīrti" to "sentient beings": third, expounding for them the Dharma gate of the inexhaustible lamp. The bodhisattvas of all four teachings possess it, but there are the ultimate and non-ultimate. In the Tripiṭaka and Shared teachings, where forms are reduced to ashes and consciousness severed, the fruit has an end. Yet transmitting the transformation during the causal stage up to the fruit, although one enters nirvāṇa, prophecies are successively conferred and the Buddha's transforming work is uninterrupted. This is the inexhaustibility of an exhaustible lamp. In the Distinct and Perfect teachings, knowing and seeing all dharmas as inexhaustible like space, wisdom is also inexhaustible; it cannot be exhausted in oneself, and the same is true in transforming others. For example, consider two lamps: one has little oil and a small wick; the second has much oil and a large wick. In the case of the one with much oil and a large wick, the original lamp is not exhausted, and when transmitting to other lamps, it is likewise inexhaustible. Vimalakīrti uses this Dharma gate to successively cross others over, furthermore causing hundreds of thousands all to generate the aspiration, without any diminishment to the original lamp; hence he uses it as an analogy. Thus, "those in darkness all become bright, and the brightness never ends," causing all sentient beings to continue the lineage of the Dharma King; this is precisely being able to repay the Buddha's kindness and benefit all.