摩訶止觀 6.159

6.159

三藏菩薩雖復出假，有漏神通非真起應；世智分別非法眼明。雖利眾生而非成就；雖作佛事非淨佛土。止是少分教化，為益甚微云云。若通教入假，雖分別藥病，但依二諦，診病不深，識藥不遠，但是作意神通，非真起應。應有始終，為作父母師長，世世結緣，處處調伏，動經無量阿僧祇劫。善根若熟，即生王宮；道樹作佛，漸頓度人，乃至入涅槃，舍利住世。久久利益，有始有終，乃名為「應」。無而欻有，暫出還沒，故非真應。一時片益，不名「成就」；灰身入滅，非淨佛土。

Although the bodhisattva of the Tripiṭaka teaching steps forth into the provisional, his tainted supernormal powers are not a genuine arising of response; his worldly cognitive discernment is not the clarity of the Dharma eye. Although he benefits sentient beings, it is not bringing them to fruition; although he performs Buddha deeds, it is not purifying a Buddha land. It is merely a minor portion of edification, and the benefit is extremely slight, and so forth. If one enters the provisional in the shared teaching, although one discerns illnesses and medicines, one relies only on the two truths; the diagnosis of illness is not deep, and the recognition of medicine does not extend far. This is merely supernormal power of volitional effort, not a genuine arising of response. A response must have a beginning and an end: acting as parents, teachers, and elders, forming karmic connections lifetime after lifetime, taming and subduing in place after place, easily spanning immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas. When the good roots mature, he is born in a royal palace, becomes a Buddha under the bodhi tree, delivers people through the gradual and sudden, and finally enters nirvāṇa, with relics remaining in the world. Benefiting over a long time, having a beginning and an end—only this is called a 'response'. Arising suddenly from nothing, appearing briefly and then vanishing again, it is therefore not a true response. A temporary fragment of benefit is not called 'bringing to fruition'; reducing the body to ashes and entering extinction is not purifying a Buddha land.