金光明經文句記 6.177

6.177

初、「我常」下五行，正敘昔願行請現。我常念佛者，念即觀照之異名也。心遊法界，常照三身。敘昔觀力未充，欲求深證，故助之以誓願、跪之以合掌，加乎戀慕哀泣、雨淚修行大悲等，並助常念之觀也。言最上大悲者，即無緣悲也。正助合修，故曰最上。問：樹神在會，明見如來入定說經，何故今方頻言欲見於佛耶？答：今有二意。一者、如來入定本為說經，說經既畢要須出定，欲出其定須得其請。故佛出定，能印三番所說皆實。既一期事畢，乃樹神致請殷勤，故敘昔常願見復加願行，欲使未來亦得見佛，故云願使我身常得見佛。二者、樹神久已分見如來真身，欲增念佛之觀更求上證，故寄請佛出定，頻陳欲見。苟得如來酬請現身，即己心中真佛顯發更明，故下結云「唯願慈悲為我現身」。

First, the five lines from "I constantly..." directly recount her past vows and practices in requesting [the Buddha's] manifestation. "I constantly recollect the Buddha": recollection is another name for contemplative discernment. One's mind roves the dharma realm, constantly illuminating the three bodies. This recounts that in the past, because her power of contemplation was not yet full and she sought profound realization, she therefore aided it with vows, knelt with palms joined, and added yearning, weeping, shedding tears, and practicing great compassion; all of these aided the contemplation of constant recollection. That which is called the "supreme great compassion" is unconditioned compassion. Because the primary [contemplation] and auxiliary [practices] were cultivated together, it is called "supreme."
Question: The tree goddess was present in the assembly and clearly saw the Tathāgata enter samādhi and expound the sūtra; why then does she now repeatedly speak of wishing to see the Buddha?
Answer: There are two meanings here. First, the Tathāgata entered samādhi originally to expound the sūtra. Once the expounding of the sūtra was concluded, he necessarily had to emerge from samādhi, and wishing to emerge from that samādhi, he required a request. Thus, when the Buddha emerged from samādhi, he was able to seal as real everything spoken in the three rounds. Since the business of that session was concluded, the tree goddess made her diligent request, recounting her past constant vow to see [him] and adding further vows and practices, wishing that in the future she might also be able to see the Buddha; hence she says: "May my body constantly be able to see the Buddha." Second, the tree goddess had long since partially seen the Tathāgata's true body. Wishing to enhance her contemplation of recollecting the Buddha and further seek superior realization, she used the occasion of requesting the Buddha to emerge from samādhi to repeatedly state her wish to see [him]. If she could obtain the Tathāgata's response to her request by manifesting his body, then the true Buddha in her own mind would be revealed and brought forth even more clearly. Therefore, she concludes below: "I only pray that in your compassion you will manifest your body for me."