大乘起信論裂網疏 1.48

1.48

"How is this so again" raises the general question. First it explains the time when the Buddha was in the world, and next explains after his passing. "Those to be transformed had sharp faculties": speaking comprehensively, sentient beings in the Buddha's time also had various differences of the three faculties, but contrasted with those after his passing, all are called sharp, because those whose wholesome roots were not deep could not personally meet the Buddha. "The Buddha's form and mind were superior": form was adorned with the major marks and minor characteristics; mind possessed the six superknowledges and ten powers; hence it is called "superior." "With a single voice he expounded boundless meanings and flavors": the Buddha expounded the Dharma with a single voice, and sentient beings each attained understanding according to their kind. It is like the rain of a single cloud, through which the three grasses and two trees each attain growth. Superiority of form is the inconceivable transformation of the body-wheel. Superiority of mind is the inconceivable transformation of the mental-wheel. Expounding with a single voice is the inconceivable transformation of the oral-wheel. Since those to be transformed had sharp faculties, and the three wheels of the one who transforms were also superior, they were able to awaken without needing treatises.