大乘起信論裂網疏 4.81

4.81

Someone might ask: Since the Tathāgata has no functioning within the realm of conventional truth, why do sentient beings see the Buddhas as each different, up to the events of coming and going, sitting and reclining, manifesting birth and nirvāṇa, and so forth—are these not conventional truth? Therefore, it is now explained: it is merely according to sentient beings' seeing, hearing, and so forth. "A shadow-image appearing from the transforming consciousness" means that when the active manifestations of the eight consciousnesses turn, the Buddha's bodily shadow appears upon the seeing-division as an object-division; that which is seen by the minds of those ordinary beings and [followers of] the two vehicles, entirely due to the turning of the consciousness of shared characteristics, thus manifests this shadow-image. Originally, it does not come from outside the mind; however, because those ordinary beings and [followers of] the two vehicles do not know of the storehouse consciousness, they do not know that the bodies manifested by the Buddhas within sentient beings' minds can serve as the fundamental archetype for the sentient beings within the Buddhas' minds, and they do not know that the Buddha-bodies seen by the sentient beings within the Buddhas' minds precisely rely upon the bodies manifested by the Buddhas within sentient beings' minds and transform themselves into shadow-images. Hence it says that they "see it as coming from the outside, and grasp at limits of form." However, although they falsely imagine it to come from outside, in reality it was never outside. Although they falsely grasp at limits, in reality the transformation body was never limited. Because this transformation body is precisely the function of tathatā, it is immediately the reward [body] and immediately the Dharma [body], for the function of tathatā cannot exist apart from the essence and attributes of tathatā. For this reason, Śakra could not see the crown of his head, Maudgalyāyana could not exhaust his voice, and even with figures made by combining clay, casting metal, carving wood, or painting on paper, in all Buddha images the three bodies are completely apparent and the four virtues are not diminished. One must not mistakenly follow the blind-from-birth ordinary beings or the one-eyed [followers of] the two vehicles in claiming that they are not true Buddhas, thereby falling into distorted views oneself.