[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [唐護法沙門法琳別傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051) › 1.18 # 唐護法沙門法琳別傳 1.18 唐護法沙門法琳別傳 1.18 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051.1.18) 高祖置龍田寺。既而山泉勝美。栖心是寄。而法師雅好美之。乃徙居焉。七年春二月。有太子中舍人辛諝。設難二條。以問紀國寺僧釋慧淨。淨時因著折疑論以答辛諝。論在續高僧傳。淨時以所著論呈法師。法師答淨書曰。近覽所報辛中舍人折疑論。詞義包舉比喻超絕。璀璨眩離朱之目。鏗鏘駭師曠之耳。固以妙盡環中詞殫辯囿。譬玉衡之齊七政。猶溟海之統百川。煥煥乎巍巍乎。言過視聽之外。理出思議之表。足可以杜諸見之門。開得意之路者也。至如住無所住兼修之義在焉。為無所為濟應之功弘矣。將令守雌顏厚獨善。靦容乃理異之顯哉。豈玄同之可得。夫立象以表意。得意則象忘。若忘其所忘。則彼此之情斯泯。非忘其所忘。則小大之殊有異。是知日月既出。無用爝火之光。時雨既降。何煩浸灌之澤。故云。彼此可忘非無彼此也。故吾去也。因故去而辯無常。新吾來也。藉新來以談緣起。非新非故。熏修之義莫成。無繕無刻。美惡之功孰着。蓋藉以生滅破彼斷常之迷。寄以因果。示其中觀之路。斷常見息。則弱喪同歸。中觀理融。則真如自顯。或談業理以明熏習。乍開報分以釋自然。意出言端旨超文外。報分有在。鳧鶴不亡其短長。業理相因。蟬蜂各任其飛化。可謂於無名相中。假名相說。體真會俗。豈不然歟。詳中舍人天挺之才。未若上人盡理之說。子期可慚於喪偶。顏生有愧其坐忘。可以息去取之兩端。泯顛沛之一致。楚既得之齊亦未為失也。法師博物不群智慧無限。當今獨步即日棟梁。既為眾所知識。實亦名稱普聞。加以累謁金門頻登上席。扇玄風於鶴鑰。振法鼓於龍樓。七貴挹其波瀾。五師推其神俊。既聳垂天之翼。又縱橫海之鱗。支遯之匹王何。寧堪並駕。帛祖之方嵆阮。未足連衡。用古儔今。君有之矣。 > Gaozu established Longtian Monastery. Its mountain springs were exceedingly lovely, and here the mind could find repose; the Master took great delight in its beauty, and thereupon moved his residence thither. In the seventh year \[of Wude, 624 CE\], in the second month of spring, the Household Secretariat of the Heir Apparent (Taizi Zhongshe-ren), Xin Xu, formulated two objections to question the monk Śramana Huijing of Jiguo Monastery. Huijing thereupon composed the Shedi lun (Treatise on Dispelling Doubts) to answer Xin Xu. This treatise is recorded in the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks. Huijing presented his composed treatise to the Master. The Master replied to Huijing in a letter, saying: “Recently I examined the Shedi lun that you sent in response to Household Secretariat Xin. Its language and principles are all-encompassing, and its metaphors transcend the ordinary. Sparkling, it dazzles the eyes of Li Zhu; resonant, it startles the ears of Shi Kuang. Indeed, it subtly exhausts the center of the ring and its rhetoric plumbs the groves of debate. It may be compared to the jade traverse that aligns the seven planetary regulators, or like the vast ocean that governs the hundred rivers. How magnificent! How sublime! Its words go beyond hearing and sight; its principles surpass thought and deliberation. It is truly sufficient to shut the gates of all erroneous views and open the road to grasping the purport. As for ‘abiding nowhere,’ the meaning of simultaneous cultivation resides within it; as for ‘acting with non-action,’ the merit of delivering and responding is vast. If one were to keep to the feminine, grow brazen, and merely cultivate oneself in isolation, would such an abashed countenance not make the difference of principle manifest? How could mysterious sameness ever be attained? Now, symbols are set up to express meaning; once meaning is attained, the symbols are forgotten. If one forgets that which should be forgotten, then feelings of other and self are extinguished. If one does not forget that which should be forgotten, then differences between the small and great remain. Thus we know that once the sun and moon have come forth, there is no use for the light of a torch; once the seasonal rain has fallen, why trouble with the irrigation of channels? Therefore it is said: that self and other may be forgotten does not mean that self and other do not exist. ‘The old self departs’—on the basis of the old departing, impermanence is elucidated. ‘The new self arrives’—relying on the new arriving, dependent origination is expounded. If there were neither new nor old, the meaning of perfuming and cultivating could not be established; if there were no mending or carving, where would the merit of beauty and ugliness adhere? One relies upon arising and ceasing to shatter the delusion of annihilation and permanence, and lodges in cause and effect to reveal the path of the middle view. When annihilationist and eternalist views cease, those who had gone astray return together; when the principle of the middle view harmonizes, the tathatā reveals itself. Sometimes karmic principles are discussed to clarify perfuming; sometimes the karmic portion of retribution is opened up to explain the natural state. The meaning emerges beyond the words; the purport transcends the text. Since the portion of retribution is fixed, ducks and cranes do not lose their shortness or length; since karmic principles are mutually conditioned, cicadas and bees are left to their respective flights and transformations. It can be said that within the absence of names and forms, provisional names and forms are preached; realizing the ultimate while harmonizing with the conventional—how could it be otherwise? Considering Household Secretariat Xin’s naturally endowed talent, it does not match the Venerable’s discourse that exhausts the principles. Ziqi would feel ashamed regarding ‘losing one’s partner’; Master Yan would feel chagrined at his ‘sitting in oblivion.’ It can put an end to the two extremes of taking and rejecting, and efface the uniformity of stumbling along. Since Chu has obtained it, Qi has not lost it either. Master, your erudition is peerless, and your wisdom is boundless; you are the foremost runner of our day, a true pillar of the present time. As one known to the multitude, indeed your fame is universally heard. Moreover, you have repeatedly visited the golden portal and frequently ascended the foremost seats, fanning the profound breeze at the crane-padlocked gates, and beating the Dharma drum in the dragon tower. The seven nobles admire your cascading waves; the five masters yield to your divine elegance. You have raised wings that hang from the heavens, and unleashed fins that traverse the seas. Compared to Zhi Dun rivaling Wang and He, how could they even drive side by side? Compared to Bo Zu matched with Ji and Ruan, they would not suffice to share the yoke. Matching the ancients with the moderns, you alone possess this.” > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051.1.17) - [Next: 1.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051.1.19) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051~en-mt.1.18) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [續高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.3.8.6) — 道宣, Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051.1.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2051.1.18) · Pramāṇa