高僧傳 6.32

6.32

Huiyuan then composed the *Treatise on Śramaṇas Not Paying Homage to Kings*, in five sections in all. The first was "Those at Home": it means that those who uphold the Dharma at home are subjects who follow the secular transformation; their feelings have not changed from worldly customs and their traces are within the realm, and so there is the love of natural kinship and the ritual of serving the ruler; ritual reverence has its root, and this is followed to establish the teaching. The second was "Those Who Have Left the Household": it means that those who leave the household can flee the world to seek their aspiration, and change customs to attain their Way. Changing customs means their robes and insignia cannot share the same rituals as worldly canons; fleeing the world means their traces should be exalted. Those of great virtue can therefore rescue the drowning world from the sinking flow, uproot the mysterious root across repeated kalpas, and from afar open the ford of the Three Vehicles, while near at hand opening the path to humans and gods. If one man perfects his virtue, the Way extends to the six relations and bounty flows throughout all under Heaven; though he does not occupy the station of kings and lords, he already harmonizes with the August Ultimate and shelters the living people. Therefore, inwardly he departs from the gravity of natural kinship without rebelling against filial piety; outwardly he lacks the courtesy of serving the sovereign without losing reverence. The third was "Seeking the Ultimate Without Following Secular Transformation": it means that those who return to the origin and seek the ultimate do not entangle their spirit with life; those who transcend the bond of dust do not entangle their life with emotions. If life is not entangled with emotions, then life can be extinguished; if the spirit is not entangled with life, then the spirit can merge with the void. Merging the spirit and transcending objects is therefore called nirvāṇa. Thus, though śramaṇas match rituals with the ruler of ten thousand chariots and hold their endeavors high, not accepting noble ranks from kings and lords, [the ruler] nonetheless partakes of their blessing. The fourth was "The Ultimate Substance Does Not Adapt Diversely": it means that the Tathāgata and the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, though their points of departure differ, secretly influence each other; their public service and retirement are completely different, but their ultimate aims must be the same. Therefore, though it is said their ways differ, that to which they return is one. That they do not adapt diversely is because creatures cannot receive both at once. The fifth was "The Body Exhausts but the Spirit Is Not Extinguished": it means that consciousness and spirit gallop forth, following karma east and west. This is the general idea of the treatise. From this point on, śramaṇas were able to preserve fully their traces beyond the world.