四明尊者教行錄 4.117

4.117

九問：有情無情既同一真性，何故斫伐樹木，不為冤對，不令人墮地獄？纔損有情，便為冤對，令人墮苦受報何耶？又復既是依正二報同一法性，何故有情有覺知，無情無覺知耶？

Ninth question: Since sentient and insentient beings share the same single true nature, why does felling trees not constitute an adversarial karmic debt and not cause one to fall into hell, whereas the moment one harms a sentient being, it constitutes an adversarial karmic debt and causes one to fall into suffering and receive retribution? Furthermore, since both the dependent and primary retributions share the same single dharmatā, why do sentient beings possess sentience and perception, while insentient beings lack sentience and perception?