肇論新疏 3.374

3.374

十演之九也。通，同也。古，先也。意云：涅槃之體，性出自古，無始無終。今三乘之智，本是即理之智，不證則已，證則冥通。何有即理之智證即智之理，尚分今古之異而不通同？故生公云：「若尋其趣，乃是我始會之，非照今有。照不在今，即是莫先為大。既云大矣，所以稱常。」故下云「理而成聖，聖不異理」，演此明證窮自性同自性也。

The ninth of the ten expositions. 'Connecting' means being identical. 'Antiquity' means prior. The meaning is: the substance of nirvāṇa by nature originates from antiquity, without beginning and without end. Now, the intellect of the three vehicles is fundamentally the intellect that is identical to principle; if not realized, that is all, but once realized, it darkly connects. How could the intellect identical to principle realize the principle identical to intellect, yet still distinguish the difference of present and antiquity without connecting as identical? Therefore Master Sheng said: 'If we seek its significance, it is only that I first met with it, not that illumination now exists. Illumination not residing in the present is precisely none being prior and thus being great. Since it is called great, it is named constant.' Therefore below it says, 'Through principle one becomes a sage, and the sage is not different from principle,' expounding this to clarify that realization exhausting one's own nature is identical to one's own nature.