四明十義書 2.167

2.167

若謂纔將譬顯法便為修觀之義者。只如妙經，豈不以蓮華喻其十妙耶？若已具觀行之義，何故十妙之中節節明事法觀門耶？若以法喻為境觀，實無此義。上人事急之後，謾作此說。

If you claim that merely taking a metaphor to reveal a dharma constitutes the meaning of cultivating contemplation: take the Lotus Sūtra—does it not use the lotus to illustrate its ten subtleties? If it already possessed the meaning of contemplation practice, why would it elucidate the phenomenal contemplation gate at every point within the ten subtleties? If one took dharma and metaphor as object and contemplation, there is truly no such meaning. Your Reverence, driven into an emergency, merely fabricated this assertion.