四明尊者教行錄 4.83

4.83

Answer: What the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra* and the *Treatise on Dharmalakṣaṇa* say about grasses and trees having no mind, possessing only the nature of principle and lacking the nature of practice, belongs to the provisional teachings, which is why insentient things are excluded. In order to give rise to genuine cultivation, one must advance in practice before one can attain Buddhahood. Cultivation through conditions is impermanent, which is the meaning of "originally non-existent, now existing." If one wishes to reveal genuine cultivation, one must rely on the nature of principle. The principle is neither present nor past, and does not discriminate between matter and mind; when one is perfected, all are perfected, which is why it is said that insentient things attain Buddhahood. Furthermore, if one speaks of insentient things attaining Buddhahood on the basis of cultivation through conditions, when marks are exhausted and sentiment is forgotten, then all insentient things attain Buddhahood.