天台菩薩戒疏 3.21

3.21

敘曰：明曠生地，洲屬天台，縣隣章安，洲毘括務。天台五葉，繼踵三洲，豈無宿曾見聞，今方忻遇者。自幸髯之歲，問道東南，弱冠之年，名住剡邑。圓具纔畢，北面於國，清海冠憑，從師常閏。既逾一紀，施途故園，人處荒蕪，悲傷屬因。唯經唯戒，答乎地恩，故以書之，被當時也。諸有闕略，他疏委尋，同聲見聞，推功有本。願大師道眼，遙鑒丹心，值佛聞經，以為杖託耳。大曆十二年二月初一日，於台洲黃嚴縣三章寺記之。略釋十如義。相以據外，性以據內，主質為體，功能為力，造作為作，習因為因，助因為緣，習果為果，報果為報，初相為本，後報為末，初後相在，為究竟等。

The postscript states: Mingkuang's birthplace is in the prefecture of Tiantai, in a county adjacent to Zhang'an, which was under the administrative oversight of the regional authority. Five generations of Tiantai [succession] have followed one another across the three continents; how could it be that without past hearing and seeing in previous lives, I would now joyfully encounter this? Since the fortunate year of my adulthood, I sought the Way in the southeast; at the age of twenty, my name was registered in Shan county. Scarcely had I completed full ordination when I traveled north to the capital, where, amidst a venerable gathering of eminent monks, I followed my teacher Changrun. After more than twelve years had passed, I set out on the road back to my old homeland. The places and people were desolate and overgrown, bringing sorrowful grief born of karmic conditions. Solely through this sūtra and these precepts do I repay the kindness of the land; therefore, I wrote this down to benefit the present times. Wherever there are omissions or deficiencies, one may seek them in detail in other commentaries. May those of common voice who see or hear this attribute the merit to its original source. I pray that the Great Master's eye of the Way may gaze from afar to inspect my sincere heart, and that meeting the Buddha and hearing the sūtra may serve as my support. Recorded on the first day of the second month in the twelfth year of the Dali era [777 CE], at Sanzhang Temple in Huangyan county, Taizhou. A brief explanation of the meaning of the ten suchnesses: "Appearance" is based on the external; "nature" is based on the internal; the primary substance is "essence"; functioning capability is "power"; active production is "activity"; habitual cause is "cause"; auxiliary cause is "condition"; habitual effect is "effect"; retribution effect is "retribution"; the initial appearance is the "beginning"; the final retribution is the "end"; and the mutual presence of the beginning and the end is "ultimate equality."