肇論新疏 3.17

3.17

姚嵩者，亦秦之宗枝。依唐《弘明集》十八，略云：「秦王先有詔云『夫道者以無為為宗』。姚嵩難云：『不審明道之無為，為當以何為體？若以妙為宗者，雖在帝先而非極等。』秦王答略云：『吾意以謂，道止無為，未詳所以宗也。』末又云：『夫道以無寄為宗。若求寄所在，恐乃惑之大者也。』」文多不載。無為，即涅槃也。因依生死，推至涅槃，故云流轉等。生死，果也。必自因招，故云著欲故也。若欲下，明返生死而復涅槃。無復下，躡前以明。潛神者，冥潛心神也。玄默者，準寂默，是漠字俱通。玄妙寂默，謂涅槃也。虛空舉喻無相略同，故言合德。《集》中「德」作「體」字。既曰下，正顯意，謂無為宗極，返生死有為，證涅槃無為，無相無名，何體何宗？恐心有所係，當以無寄為宗耳。

Yao Song was also a member of the Qin imperial lineage. According to fascicle 18 of the Tang *Hongming ji*, it states in brief: “The King of Qin had earlier issued an edict stating, ‘Now, the Dao takes non-action (*wuwei*) as its fundamental tenet.’ Yao Song objected, saying: ‘I do not understand: in clarifying the non-action of the Dao, what should be taken as its essence? If one takes the subtle as the fundamental tenet, though it precedes the sovereign, it is not the ultimate, etc.’ The King of Qin replied in brief: ‘My view is that the Dao simply rests in non-action; what its fundamental tenet is has not yet been elaborated.’ At the end he also said: ‘The Dao takes having no basis to rely upon as its fundamental tenet. If one seeks where that basis lies, I fear that is the greatest of delusions.’” The text is lengthy and not recorded here. Non-action is nirvāṇa itself. Because it is based on birth-and-death and deduced to nirvāṇa, it says “transmigrating,” etc. Birth-and-death is the result. It is necessarily incurred by causes; hence it says “all due to attachment to desires.” “If desire [ceases]…” below clarifies returning from birth-and-death to revert to nirvāṇa. “No further…” below takes up what precedes to clarify it. “Submerging the spirit” means quietly submerging the mind-spirit. “Profound silence” (*xuanmo*) follows the sense of tranquil silence; the character *mo* is interchangeable. Profound, subtle, tranquil, and silent refers to nirvāṇa. “Empty space” is used as an analogy, animitta being roughly the same; hence it says “matches its virtue.” In the *[Hongming] ji*, “virtue” (*de*) is written as “essence” (*ti*). “Since it is called…” below directly reveals the intent, meaning that the fundamental principle of non-action turns back from the conditioned of birth-and-death and realizes the unconditioned of nirvāṇa; being without characteristics and without names, what essence or fundamental tenet could it have? Fearing that the mind might become attached to something, it must simply take having no basis to rely upon as its fundamental tenet.