釋氏稽古略 3.256

3.256

戊辰二年。觀察使裴休守宣城。常與名緇講道。門人謂公曰。敢問三界之言未立。人不知修行。不見因果。介景福者不為之少。洎斯教也行乎中國。愚人畏罪損其惡。賢人望福增其善。增之不已則至今當盡善矣。損之不已至今當無惡矣。何昏迷暴虐無減於秦漢之前。福慧聰明不增於魏晉之後歸之者。殊途輻湊立之者萬法雲興。宜使吾人盡昇覺路。不宜蚩蚩庶類。由古至今若斯之迷也。由之之用庸非溺乎。公笑謂之曰。大明肇啟法不齋備。聖人繼出代天為工。結網畫卦文質滋改。一聖立一法生。天道人事顯若符契。夫燧人氏之未有火也。則天無火星。人無火食。龜無火兆。物無火災必矣。少昊氏之未理金也。則天無金星。人無金用。龜無金兆。物無金災必矣。及聖人攻木出火鍛石取金。於是乎精芒主宰騰變上下。則知世法時事隨聖人也。考精神之源。窮性命之表。作大方便護於群生。群生受之而不知。蓋猶天道運行物以生茂。皆謂自己孰知其然也。於是問者廓然自得佛味。及詔許立寺。而宣城士民相鼓以萬。請先立之於宣郛。遂復新興寺焉。休乃禮迎黃檗希運禪師至郡。寓開元寺朝夕受法（傳燈錄）。

In the wuchen year, the second year (848), Surveillance Commissioner Pei Xiu governed Xuancheng. He often discussed the Way with eminent monks. A disciple said to him: "May I venture to ask: before the teachings of the Three Realms were established, people did not know how to cultivate, nor did they see karmic cause and effect, yet those who enjoyed great fortune were by no means few. When this teaching came to be practiced in China, foolish people feared sin and lessened their evil, while worthy people hoped for blessing and increased their goodness. If they increased it without cease, then by today all should be completely good; if they lessened it without cease, then by today there should be no evil. Why is it that benightedness and cruelty are not diminished from what they were before the Qin and Han, while fortune, wisdom, and intelligence have not increased since the Wei and Jin? Those who turn to it converge from different paths like spokes at a hub; those who established it caused myriad teachings to rise like clouds. This ought to make all our people ascend the path of awakening, yet it is not fitting that the multitude of common folk from antiquity to the present should remain as deluded as this. Is following its application not in vain and immersed in delusion?" Pei Xiu smiled and said to him: "When the Great Brightness first opened, laws were not completely prepared. Sages successively appeared to act as craftsmen on behalf of Heaven. They knotted cords, drew hexagrams, and refined substance and culture. With the rise of one sage, one method was born; the Way of Heaven and human affairs match as clearly as tallies. When the Suiren clan had not yet produced fire, Heaven indeed had no Fire Star, humans had no cooked food, tortoises had no fire divinations, and things had no fire disasters. When the Shaohao clan had not yet refined metal, Heaven indeed had no Metal Star, humans had no use of metal, tortoises had no metal divinations, and things had no metal disasters. But when sages worked wood to produce fire and smelted stone to extract metal, then the refined radiance and ruling power soared and transformed above and below. Thus we know that worldly methods and timely affairs follow the sages. Investigating the source of the spirit and exhausting the exterior of nature and life, they devise great expedient means to protect the multitude of beings. The multitude of beings receive it without knowing it, just as the Way of Heaven circulates and things thereby grow and flourish—all say it is of themselves, but who knows why it is so?" Thereupon the inquirer was enlightened and obtained the flavor of the Buddha's teaching for himself. When an edict permitted the re-establishment of monasteries, the gentry and commoners of Xuancheng encouraged one another by the tens of thousands, requesting that one first be established in the suburbs of Xuan, and they thereupon restored the Xinxing Monastery. Pei Xiu then reverently invited Chan Master Huangbo Xiyun to the commandery, lodging him at Kaiyuan Monastery, where he received the Dharma morning and evening (Transmission of the Lamp).