大乘法苑義林章 7.32

7.32

第四任持者，法性土，佛不假任持。自受用土，自法樂持。他受用土，《佛地經》言「廣大法味喜樂所持，十地菩薩大乘法味喜樂所持。」食能令住，是任持義。已超三界，性是無漏，能斷有漏，不應名食，是任持因，故亦名食。如有漏法雖障無漏，然持有漏得名為食。無漏亦爾，雖斷有漏，然持無漏，云何非食？諸佛菩薩後得妙智，能說能受大乘法味生大喜樂。或正體智受真如味生大喜樂，能任持身令不斷懷，長養善法，故名為食。七地已前猶分段生，非不資於段、觸等四。八地以上及一切佛不資段食，可說資餘。諸論說為示現依止住食攝故。若變化土，實資四食，亦得說資法味為食。如聞《妙法花》六十劫住故。然此經下〈菩提分品〉言「既飡不死法，還飲解脫味。」以涅槃不死而為食者，所證妙境生於喜樂，可名食故。能持無漏，亦與食名不相違也。然此食體，諸教不同，廣如別章及《法花疏》。

Fourth, sustenance: For the dharmatā land, the Buddha does not rely on sustenance. The self-enjoyment land is sustained by his own joy in the Dharma. Regarding the other-enjoyment land, the Buddhabhūmi-sūtra says, "It is sustained by the joy and bliss of the vast taste of the Dharma; it is sustained by the joy and bliss of the Mahāyāna Dharma taste of the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds." Food enables abiding, which is the meaning of sustenance. Having transcended the three realms, being anāsrava by nature, and being capable of severing the sāsrava, it should not be called food; yet, because it is the cause of sustenance, it is also called food. Just as sāsrava dharmas, though obstructing the anāsrava, maintain the sāsrava and are termed food, the anāsrava is likewise: though severing the sāsrava, it maintains the anāsrava—why should it not be food? The wondrous subsequent wisdom of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas can expound and experience the flavor of the Mahāyāna Dharma, generating great joy and bliss. Or, the fundamental wisdom experiences the taste of tathatā, generating great joy and bliss, which can sustain the body, prevent its cessation, and nurture wholesome dharmas; therefore it is called food. Prior to the eighth ground, there is still portioned birth; it is not that they are not supported by the four kinds [of food], such as morsel food and contact food. Those on the eighth ground and above, as well as all Buddhas, do not rely on morsel food, but may be said to rely on the others. The treatises say that these are subsumed under food for provisional abiding. In the transformation lands, they actually rely on the four foods, and may also be said to rely on the flavor of the Dharma as food, just as [the congregation] remained for sixty kalpas upon hearing the Lotus Sūtra. However, later in this sūtra, the "Chapter on the Factors of Bodhi" says: "Having already eaten the deathless Dharma, they further drink the flavor of liberation." Taking the deathless of nirvāṇa as food is because the wondrous realm realized generates joy and bliss, and thus can be called food. Being able to sustain the anāsrava also does not contradict the name of food. However, the essence of this food differs across the teachings, as is explained extensively in the separate chapter and the Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra.