大毘盧遮那成佛經疏 2.8

2.8

The sūtra says: “Or life.” This refers to non-Buddhists who impute that all dharmas, up to the four great elements, grasses, and trees, all possess life (jīva). For instance, when grasses and trees grow again after being cut down, one should know they possess life. Furthermore, at night they fold up, so one should know they also possess sentience, because they sleep. The refuter says: If seeing that they grow again after being chopped down you consider them to possess life, then when a person has a limb severed it does not grow again—could they be without life? If the mimosa tree has sleep, then water flows day and night without rest—could it be perpetually awake? All this arises because of not contemplating the intrinsic nature of the self, thereby giving rise to various false views.