冥報記 1.2

1.2

夫含氣有生。無不有識。有識而有行。隨行善惡而受其報。如農夫之播植。隨所植而收之。此蓋物之常理。固無所可疑也。上智達其本源。知而無見。下愚闇其蹤跡。迷而不返。皆絕言也。中品之人。未能自達。隨緣動見。逐見生疑。疑見多端。各懷異執釋典論其分別。凡有六十二見。邪倒於是乎生者也。臨在中人之後。幸而寤其萬一。比見眾人不信因果者說見雖多。同謂善惡無報。無報之說。略有三種。一者自然。故無因果。唯當任欲待事而已。二者滅盡。言死而身滅。識無所住。身識都盡。誰受苦樂。以無受故。知無因果。三者無報。言見今人有修道德。貧賤則早死。或行凶惡。富貴靈長。以是事故。知無因果。臨竊謂。儒書。論善惡之報甚多。近者報於當時。中者報於累年之外。遠者。報於子孫之後。當時報者。若楚子吞蛭。痼疾皆愈。宋公不禱。妖星多退。𧨳齒凶逆。旋踵伏誅。趙高惑亂。俄而滅族之類。是也。累年報者。如魏顆嫁妾。終以濟師。孫叔埋蛇。竟享多福。漢幽鴆如意。蒼苟成災。齊殺彭生。立豕而祟之類是也。子孫報者。若弗父恭於三命。廣宣尼之道。鄧訓歲活千人。遺和熹之慶。陳平陰計。自知無後。欒黶忲侈。盈被其殃之類。是也。若乃虞舜以孝行登位。周文以仁賢受命。桀紂以殘忍亡國。幽厲以婬縱禍終。三代功德。下祚長久。秦皇驕暴。及子而滅。若斯之比。觸類寔繁。雖復大小有殊。亦皆善惡之驗。但事法王道。理關天命。常談之際。非所宜言。今之所錄。蓋直取其微細驗。冀以發起同類。貽告子孫。徵於人鬼之間。若斯而已也。釋氏說教。無非因果。因即是作果。即是報。無一法而非因。無一因而不報。然其說報亦有三種。一者現報。於此身中。作善惡業。即於此身而受報者。皆名現報。二者生報。謂此身作業。不即受之。隨業善惡。生於諸道。皆名生報。三者後報。謂過去身作善惡業。能得果報。應多身受。是以現在作業。未便受報。或次後後生受。或五生十生。方始受之。是皆名後報。於此三報。攝一切法。無所不盡。是今諸見復然大寤。然今俗士尚有惑之。多習因而忘果。疑耳而信目。是以聞說後報。則若存若亡。見有効驗。則驚嗟信服。昔晉高士謝敷。宋尚書令傅高。太子中書舍人報演。齊司徒事中郎陸果。或一時令望。或當代名家。並錄觀世音應驗記。及齊竟陵王蕭子良作宣驗記。王琰作冥祥記。皆所以徵明善惡。勸戒將來。實使聞者深心感寤。臨既慕其風旨。亦思以勸人。輒錄所聞。集為此記。仍具陳所受。及聞見由緣。言不飾文。事專揚確。庶後人見者。能留意焉。

Now, of all things that partake of breath and possess life, none is without consciousness. Possessing consciousness, they have deeds; and according to whether their deeds are good or evil, they receive their retribution. Just as a farmer sows and plants, reaping according to what he has sown, this is surely the constant principle of things, certainly admitting of no doubt. Those of highest wisdom penetrate to the primal source, knowing without [speculative] views; those of lowest folly are blind to its traces, straying without return; both are beyond words. People of intermediate grade cannot reach penetration on their own: their views stir according to conditions, and following their views they conceive doubts. Their doubtful views take many paths, each harboring different attachments. When the Buddhist scriptures discuss these distinctions, there are sixty-two wrong views in all; it is from these that perverse errors arise. I, Lin, rank behind the intermediate person, yet by good fortune have awakened to one part in ten thousand of this. Observing in recent times those among the multitude who do not believe in cause and effect, their professed views, though many, agree in asserting that good and evil have no retribution. Their claims of no retribution are roughly of three kinds: First, [nature is] spontaneous, and therefore there is no cause and effect; one should merely give free rein to desires and await circumstances. Second, [all is] utterly extinguished: they say that upon death the body is annihilated and consciousness has nowhere to abide; since body and consciousness are both extinguished, who is there to receive suffering or pleasure? Because there is no recipient, they know there is no cause and effect. Third, there is no retribution: they say that they see in the present day those who cultivate virtue and the Way die early in poverty and low station, while those who practice cruelty and evil enjoy wealth, high status, and long lives; for this reason they know there is no cause and effect. I, Lin, venture to say that Confucian books discuss retribution for good and evil extensively. In the near term, retribution comes in one's own time; in the mid term, retribution comes after several years; in the far term, retribution comes upon one's descendants. As for retribution in one's own time: King Hui of Chu swallowed a leech and his chronic illness was cured; Duke Jing of Song would not pray [to avert the portents] and the baleful stars retreated; Chi Chi committed treason and was executed in his tracks; Zhao Gao sowed chaos and in a moment his clan was destroyed—such are of this kind. As for retribution after several years: Wei Ke married off his father's concubine and ultimately rescued his army; Sunshu Ao buried a two-headed snake and ended up enjoying manifold blessings; Empress Lü of the Han poisoned Prince Ruyi and the pale dog brought disaster; the ruler of Qi killed Pengsheng and a standing boar haunted him—such are of this kind. As for retribution upon descendants: Fu Fugi was reverent at three appointments, extending the way of Confucius; Deng Xun saved a thousand lives a year, bequeathing blessings upon Empress Hexi; Chen Ping devised dark stratagems and knew himself that he would have no posterity; Luan Yan was arrogant and extravagant, and his son Ying suffered the calamity—such are of this kind. Furthermore, Shun of Yu ascended the throne through filial conduct; King Wen of Zhou received the Mandate through benevolence and worthiness; Jie and Zhou lost their states through cruelty and ruthlessness; Kings You and Li met their disastrous ends through lust and self-indulgence. The merits and virtues of the Three Dynasties brought prolonged blessings to their descendants; the First Emperor of Qin was arrogant and brutal, and his line was extinguished by the time of his son. Comparisons such as these are indeed numerous across all categories. Though their magnitude differs, they are all verifications of good and evil. However, these matters pertain to the kingly way and their principles concern the Mandate of Heaven; they are not what should be spoken of in ordinary conversation. What is recorded here merely takes subtle and minute verifications, hoping thereby to inspire those of like mind and leave a record for descendants, seeking evidence between humans and spirits—it is merely such as this. In the teachings expounded by the Śākyan, there is nothing that is not cause and effect. Cause is the action, and effect is the retribution. There is not a single dharma that is not a cause, nor a single cause that is not requited. Yet their exposition of retribution also has three kinds: The first is retribution in the present life: where one creates good or evil karma within this body and receives retribution in this very body, all is called retribution in the present life. The second is retribution in the next life: this means that when one creates karma in this body, one does not receive it immediately, but according to whether the karma is good or evil, one is born into the various destinies; all is called retribution in the next life. The third is retribution in subsequent lives: this means that when one created good or evil karma in past bodies, it is capable of yielding retribution that must be experienced over many bodies; therefore, the karma created in the present does not bring immediate retribution, but is received in the next life after that, or only begins to be received after five or ten lifetimes; all is called retribution in subsequent lives. These three retributions encompass all phenomena without remainder. This causes the various current views to undergo a great awakening. Yet worldly scholars of the present day still harbor confusion regarding it: they mostly practice the cause but forget the effect, doubting what they hear and believing only what they see. Hence, when they hear of retribution in subsequent lives, it seems to them as though it may or may not exist; but when they see an actual verification, they are startled, lament, and faithfully submit. Formerly, Xie Fu, a gentleman of high character under the Jin; Fu Liang, Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat under the Song; Yan Yanzhi, Secretariat Drafter to the Crown Prince; and Lu Guo, Gentleman-Attendant to the Minister over the Masses under the Qi—some were prominent figures of their time, others were celebrated writers of their age—all recorded the Records of Avalokiteśvara's Verifications. Furthermore, Xiao Ziliang, Prince of Jingling under the Qi, composed the Records of Proclaimed Verifications (Xuanyan ji), and Wang Yan composed the Records of Netherworld Signs (Mingxiang ji). All of these served to manifest good and evil and exhort and admonish future generations, truly causing those who heard them to awaken with a deep heart. Since I, Lin, admire their purpose and also wish to exhort others, I have forthwith recorded what I have heard and compiled it into this record. I have fully set forth what I received and the origins of what I heard and saw; my words are unadorned with literary embellishment, and the matters are entirely factual. It is hoped that those who see it in later times may direct their minds to it.