起信論疏筆削記 16.52

16.52

1. Internal Cause. On the treatise's "wholesome roots are slight and meager": Their roots are inferior, because the wholesome seeds perfumed from past lives could not be plentiful. On the commentary's "delusions are heavy": Greed and anger blaze intensely, and they cannot restrain them. On the treatise's "encountering Buddhas": This also applies after the extinction [of the Buddha], because seeing images of the Buddha, one also can make offerings. On the commentary's "inverted seeking": Delighting in cultivating the five precepts and ten virtues, they merely hope for the retributions of humans and gods. Humans and gods do not transcend saṃsāra and should properly be reviled, yet they seek them instead; hence it is called "inverted." Referring to the cause in terms of the fruit, the treatise says "seeds." "Divergent seeking" means that, dreading saṃsāra, they delight in contemplating the truths and conditions, seeking the fruit of the two vehicles; although emerging from the three realms, they cannot reach the ultimate and do not tread the same path as the Buddhas of the three times, hence it is called "divergent." On the treatise's "advancing and regressing", etc.: This will be distinguished below. However, in this passage, from the beginning up to making offerings, all should be considered meagerness of virtue, because wholesome roots and the like are the foundation of virtue, and the rest are inferiorities of practice; examine this.