弘明集 1.44

1.44

問曰。穀寧可絕不乎。牟子曰。吾未解大道之時。亦甞學焉。辟穀之法數千百術。行之無效為之無徵。故廢之耳。觀吾所從學師三人。或自稱七百五百三百歲。然吾從其學。未三載間各自殞沒。所以然者。蓋由絕穀不食而啖百果。享肉則重盤。飲酒則傾樽。精亂神昏穀氣不充。耳目迷惑淫邪不禁。吾問其故何。答曰。老子云。損之又損之。以至於無為。徒當日損耳。然吾觀之。但日益而不損也。是以各不至知命而死矣。且堯舜周孔各不能百載。而末世愚惑。欲服食辟穀求無窮之壽。哀哉。

The questioner asked: Can grains really be abstained from? Mouzi said: When I had not yet understood the Great Dao, I also once studied this. The methods of abstaining from grains number in the thousands and hundreds of techniques; practicing them brought no effect, and doing them brought no verification, so I abandoned them. Looking at the three masters whom I followed and studied under, some claimed to be seven hundred, five hundred, or three hundred years old. Yet while I studied under them, before three years had passed they each passed away. Why was this so? It was because they cut off grains and did not eat, yet consumed all kinds of fruits; when enjoying meat, it was piled on multiple platters; when drinking wine, they drained their cups. Their essence was disordered, their spirits dimmed, and the grain qi was not replenished; their ears and eyes were deluded and confused, and their wanton desires were unrestrained. I asked them the reason for this, and they replied: 'Laozi said: "Decrease it and further decrease it, until one arrives at non-action." One should simply decrease daily.' Yet when I observed them, they only increased daily and did not decrease. Thus each of them died before reaching the age of knowing the decree of Heaven. Furthermore, Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius could not even reach a hundred years, yet the foolish and deluded of this latter age wish to ingest concoctions and abstain from grains to seek infinite longevity. How lamentable!