禪林寶訓 2.24

2.24

靈源曰。善住持者以眾人心為心。未嘗私其心。以眾人耳目為耳目。未嘗弘其耳目。遂能通眾人之志。盡眾人之情。夫用眾人之心為心。則我之好惡乃眾人好惡。故好者不邪惡者不謬。又安用私託腹心而甘服其諂媚哉。既用眾人耳目為耳目。則眾人聰明皆我聰明。故明無不鑒聰無不聞。又安用私託耳目而固招其蔽惑耶。夫布腹心託耳目。惟賢達之士務求己過。與眾同欲無所偏私。故眾人莫不歸心。所以道德仁義流布遐遠者。宜其然也。而愚不肖之意。務求人之過。與眾違欲溺於偏私。故眾人莫不離心。所以惡名險行傳播遐遠者。亦宜其然也。是知住持人與眾同欲。謂之賢哲。與眾違欲。謂之庸流。大率布腹心託耳目之意有殊。而善惡成敗相返如此。得非求過之情有異。任人之道不同者哉。

Lingyuan said, "One who is good at being an abbot takes the mind of the multitude as their mind, never making their mind private; they take the ears and eyes of the multitude as their ears and eyes, never aggrandizing their own ears and eyes. Thus they can communicate with the will of the multitude and exhaustively understand the sentiments of the multitude. Now, when using the mind of the multitude as one's mind, one's likes and dislikes are the likes and dislikes of the multitude; therefore what is liked is not perverted, and what is disliked is not erroneous. What need then to secretly rely on confidants and willingly submit to their flattery? Since one uses the ears and eyes of the multitude as one's ears and eyes, the acuity of the multitude is all one's own acuity; therefore one's sight fails to illuminate nothing, and one's hearing fails to hear nothing. What need then to secretly rely on spies and ears, obstinately inviting obscurity and delusion? As for deploying confidants and relying on eyes and ears: only worthy and eminent individuals do so while striving to seek their own faults, sharing desires with the multitude without partiality; therefore the multitude never fails to give their allegiance. That their Way and virtue, benevolence and righteousness spread far and wide is truly proper. But the intention of the foolish and unworthy is to strive to seek others' faults, conflicting with the desires of the multitude and drowning in partiality; therefore the multitude never fails to become alienated from them. That their evil reputation and treacherous conduct spread far and wide is likewise proper. From this we know that an abbot who shares desires with the multitude is called a worthy and wise person; one who conflicts with the desires of the multitude is called a mediocre sort. In general, the intention behind deploying confidants and relying on eyes and ears differs, yet good and bad, success and failure are as contrary as this. Is this not because their attitude toward seeking faults is different, and their way of employing people is not the same?"