禪林寶訓 2.62

2.62

Gao'an said, 'Among monks there are no worthy or foolish; it solely depends on the kalyāṇamitra taking painstaking care to elevate their virtue and work, testing them through experience to develop their capacity and ability, praising and rewarding them to give weight to their words, and treating them with generous care to preserve their integrity. Over the months and years, both their reputation and substance will become abundant. For all humans possess spirit; it only requires diligent guidance and encouragement. They are like jade within the rough stone: if cast away, it is just tiles and rocks; if cut and polished, it becomes jade tablets and scepters. They are like water emerging from its source: if blocked and dammed, it turns to silt and mud; if dredged and channeled, it becomes rivers and marshes. From this one knows that in the semblance age, not only are worthy people neglected and left unused, but the way of nurturing, encouraging, and rewarding has also fallen short. During times when the monastic groves flourished, [those accepted] would all have been the discarded timber of a declining age. In a declining age they are deemed foolish; in a rising age they are deemed wise. Therefore it is said: "All humans possess spirit; it only requires diligent guidance and encouragement." Thus we know that the talents and abilities of students rise and fall with the times: if appreciated, they arrive; if rewarded, they are elevated; if suppressed, they decline; if cast aside, they vanish. Such is the cause of the wax and wane of the students' the Way and virtue, as well as their talents and abilities' (from *A Letter to Transport Commissioner Li*).