四明尊者教行錄 4.25

4.25

Answer: It is indeed as you have asked, yet there is a reason for it. Why so? If we investigate far into the cause between father and sons, and thoroughly probe the juncture of planting and ripening, the various sūtras have not discussed its beginning, nor has this chapter yet managed to expound it; one must rely on the text of the chapter 'The Span of the Tathāgata's Life' to fully exhaust the power of supernormal faculties. However, if one were to trace the distant planting and definitively point to a vast time, sentient beings would not give rise to a resolute mind nor exert their own strength. Therefore, the commentary and subcommentary now provisionally interpret it as a siddhānta, desiring to cause people to establish practice and redouble their effort; this is the essential point in propagating the sūtra. Therefore, though there is one life, ten grounds, three periods, and six sense faculties, without the latent perfuming of past seeds, how could sharp faculties activate of themselves? Moreover, if this chapter only discussed provisionally showing a distant lifespan, it would also be empty talk; how could it eternally differ from the other sūtras? By what means could the original subtlety be illuminated? Although it is said that the initial mind relies on the teaching, one must still evaluate it oneself by means of meaning. Furthermore, the commentary's indication 'one explanation says' lets it be known that it is not a definitive judgment, and the subcommentary's rebuke of sitting idle and upright is truly an exhortation. Relying on this text, it is not at all contrary to the teaching.