法華論疏 3.148

3.148

"Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata had already entered nirvāṇa, yet again manifested his body": this repeats the preceding [point on] the equality of the world and nirvāṇa. Above, it pointed out that Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata being in the world is nirvāṇa; here, it clarifies that Prabhūtaratna entering nirvāṇa is constantly being in the world; hence one knows that the world and nirvāṇa are equal. Since the world and nirvāṇa are equal, one therefore knows that one's own body and the bodies of others are also equal. "One's own body" is Prabhūtaratna's body; "the bodies of others" refers to the bodies of the buddhas of the ten directions and Śākyamuni Buddha. The textual meaning is precisely this, and one must grasp it by undertaking profound contemplative practice. Furthermore, although Prabhūtaratna had entered nirvāṇa, he constantly manifested in the world: this is taken as the equality of the world and nirvāṇa. By analogy, although Śākyamuni and the other buddhas of the ten directions are in the world, they are constantly in nirvāṇa; this too is the equality of the world and nirvāṇa. Furthermore, Prabhūtaratna Buddha is constantly in the world yet is said to have entered nirvāṇa, and although Śākyamuni and the other buddhas of the ten directions are in the world, they too are in nirvāṇa. Hence one knows that Prabhūtaratna and Śākyamuni, self and other, are not different, and that the dharmakāyas of self and other are equal. The Vimalakīrti[-nirdeśa] has three kinds of thusness: that is, all dharmas are also thus, all sentient beings are also thus, and all worthy ones and sages are also thus. "All dharmas are also thus" is the third equality. "All sentient beings are also thus" is the second equality. "All worthy ones and sages are also thus" is the first equality. Wishing to show the equality of the world and nirvāṇa, as the "Chapter on Nirvāṇa" in the Madhyamakaśāstra states: "Between the world and nirvāṇa, there is not the slightest distinction. Between nirvāṇa and the world, there is also not the slightest distinction. The actual limit of birth-and-death and the limit of nirvāṇa—between these two limits, there is not a hair's breadth of difference." The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: "Only in the Mahāyāna teaching is the equality of birth-and-death and nirvāṇa expounded; in the Hīnayāna teaching there is no such principle." This agrees with the intention of the Fahua lun.