宗鏡錄 79.31

79.31

答。諸佛略有二身。一真實身。二方便身。以眾生有不見如來真實身故。示方便身。令入真實。若悟入時。即方便身是常住體。了幻不可得故。如鴦崛魔羅。是一切寶莊嚴國。一切世間樂見上大精進佛。以本願力。入幻網門。現跡同凡。示行殺害。後見佛悟道。惡業頓消。令一切眾生。知得。道業亡。不生邪執。皆令仰慕佛法難量。不可思議。有大威力。所以鴦崛魔羅經偈云。如來所變化。眾生悉不知。如來所作幻。眾幻中之王。大身方便身。是則為如來。

Answer: The Buddhas have, in brief, two bodies: first, the real body; second, the expedient body. Because sentient beings fail to see the Tathāgata's real body, he manifests the expedient body to lead them to enter the real. When they awaken and enter, the expedient body itself is the eternally abiding substance, because they realize illusion cannot be apprehended. As in the case of Aṅgulimāla: he is the Buddha Supreme Great Diligence Delightful to Behold by All Worlds from the Realm Adorned with All Jewels. By the power of his original vow, he entered the gate of the net of illusion, manifesting traces identical with ordinary beings and demonstrating the act of killing. Afterward, seeing the Buddha, he awakened to the Way, and his evil karma was instantly eliminated, causing all sentient beings to know that upon attaining the Way karma perishes, so that they do not give rise to deviant attachments, and causing them all to admire the Dharma of the Buddha as immeasurable, inconceivable, and possessing great mighty power. Therefore, a verse in the Aṅgulimālīyasūtra says: / What the Tathāgata transforms, / sentient beings do not know at all. / The illusions created by the Tathāgata / are the kings among all illusions. / The great body, the expedient body— / this is indeed the Tathāgata.