大乘法苑義林章 7.32

7.32

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.