大乘起信論義記 3.220

3.220

Question: If the true mind is precisely the Buddha, why does the text below say "born from causes such as the pāramitās"? Answer: This is spoken with regard to the meaning of innate enlightenment according with conditions. Yet when incipient enlightenment awakens to the source of the mind, it is equal and of one plane; what difference could there be? The above is spoken with regard to the final teaching. If spoken with regard to the initial teaching: using the compassion and wisdom of all Buddhas as the predominant condition, and sentient beings' receptive capacities and seeds as the causal condition, relying on the Buddha's fundamental substance, their own minds transform images; hence it is said to manifest in their own consciousness. The rest is as explained in treatises such as the Yogācārabhūmi and Vijñaptimātratā.