大乘法苑義林章 6.5

6.5

As for distinct essence, in Chapter Five of the Nirvāṇa-sūtra, the Buddha said: "Gautamī! Do not make offerings to me; you should make offerings to the Saṅgha. If you make offerings to the Saṅgha, you will fully complete offerings to the Three Refuges." Mahāprajāpatī said: "Among the Saṅgha there is no Buddha and no Dharma; why do you say that by making offerings to the Saṅgha one fully completes offerings to the Three Refuges?" I told her again: "If you follow my words, that is making offerings to the Buddha. For the sake of liberation, that is making offerings to the Dharma. When the Saṅgha receives them, that is making offerings to the Saṅgha. Therefore, the Three Refuges cannot be made into one. Good son! Sometimes the Tathāgata explains one as three, and sometimes three as one. Such meaning is the realm of the Buddhas, not what śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas can know."