觀心論疏 1.12

1.12

The verse says: / 'If the rain of Dharma does not fall, / the Dharma seeds will surely wither.' / This half-line clarifies that when the fourfold assembly lacks the capacity of precepts and wisdom, the noble ones do not respond. How so? The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Cunda himself said: "My body now has a fertile field free from all weeds and waste; I only hope for the Tathāgata's rain of nectar-Dharma to rain upon my body's field and make the sprouts of Dharma grow."' But now the fourfold assembly does not cultivate the path in reliance on the smṛtyupasthānas, and so lacks the seed of wisdom; they do not abide by relying on the prātimokṣa, and so lack a fertile field. Since there is no seed, sentient beings lack the capacity to affect the noble ones; how could they summon the response of the noble rain of Dharma? How could the sprouts of sentient beings' Buddha-nature not wither?