首楞嚴義疏注經 4.451

4.451

問：夫三世遷變，合從未來遷為現在，從現在世改為過去，何故此文返而說耶？答：今約從微至著，變少為多，已是十二，當為百千，故不可先約未來以對初疊，以未來未見數故，故須返對也，以變者是逆義故。下文云「生從順習，死從變流。」經文既言流變，故須逆增其數。此約眾生身中六根取境本分功能作用名為功德，非同《法華》持經所熏令成淨用。然染淨雖別，皆從本有熏力而成，故彼此文數量無異。

Question: In the transition of the three times, it should proceed from future moving to present, and from present era changing to past; why does this text state it in reverse? Answer: Here it is discussed in terms of proceeding from subtle to prominent, transforming few into many; being already twelve, it should become hundreds and thousands. Therefore one cannot first take the future to correspond to the first layer, because in the future the count is not yet seen; hence one must match them in reverse, because 'transformation' has the sense of reversal. A later text says: "Life follows habitual compliance; death follows transformative flow." Since the sūtra text says "flowing and transforming", one must increase the count in reverse. This refers to the inherent functional capacities and operations of the six faculties within the bodies of sentient beings when taking up objects, which are termed 'virtues'; it is not the same as the pure functioning brought about by the perfuming of upholding the sūtra in the Lotus Sūtra. However, although defilement and purity are different, both are completed from the perfuming power of the fundamentally existent; hence there is no difference in count between that text and this.