成唯識論了義燈 7.13

7.13

Answer: The sūtra's distinction of the three periods is not in terms of prior and posterior, but only by the characteristics of categories: proceeding from existence as the first, emptiness as the second, and both as the third. Since among the three self-natures the imagined is empty and the remaining two exist, it corresponds to the third. Furthermore, these three periods are expounded with respect to the class of bodhisattvas of gradual enlightenment, not in view of sudden enlightenment.