起信論疏筆削記 14.26

14.26

Question: This is the differential condition; as the previous commentary only matched it to ordinary beings and the two vehicles, how can this now be applied to those above the three [levels of] worthies? Answer: If it were as matched in the commentary, why does the earlier treatise state: "From the initial aspiration when first seeking the Way, up to attaining Buddhahood, wherein they either see or remember"? One should know that this single differential condition applies universally to ordinary beings, the two vehicles, and bodhisattvas of all stages. Question: The single equal condition is matched in the commentary exclusively to those above the three [levels of] worthies; can this condition exist in the previous stage of faith? Answer: If one relies on the treatise's meaning, it can also extend to the prior stages. This is because the later text states: "Namely, sentient beings, relying on samādhi, then attain equality, because they see the Buddhas." If, during the stage of the ten faiths, when properly cultivating the tathatā samādhi, one sees them within it, how could that not be the equal condition? One should know that the differential condition mentioned earlier is not defined in terms of what is seen within absorption; it merely manifests bodies across the ten realms according to type and expediency, hence it is named "differential." If, relying on samādhi, one sees the equal Buddha-body devoid of marked boundaries, that is the equal condition. In the commentary, the earlier passage merely discerned the two conditions provisionally in terms of perfuming based on consciousness—that was just a tentative formulation. Scholars should know this.