弘明集 10.105

10.105

辱告惠示。至尊所答臣下審神滅論。昔者異學爭途。孟子抗周公之法。小乘亂道。龍樹陳釋迦之教。於是楊墨之黨舌舉口張。六師之徒轍亂旗靡。言神滅者可謂學僻而堅。南路求燕。北轅首楚。以斯適道千里而遙。聖上愍其迷途。爰奮天藻鉤深致遠。盡化知神。俾此因蒙均斯氷釋。陳茲要道同彼月照。弟子並以凡薄始竊恩紀。纓冕則天之朝。飡捉稽古之論。贊幸之誠獨加踊躍。猥頒告逮謹用書紳。陸任倕呈。

We are honoured by your letter and by your showing the treatise on the extinction of the spirit answered by the Most Venerable to his ministers. Formerly, heterodox learnings contended over different paths, and Mencius upheld the ways of the Duke of Zhou; the Hīnayāna disrupted the Dao, and Nāgārjuna expounded the teachings of Śākyamuni. Thereupon, the partisans of Yang and Mo held their tongues and opened their mouths in awe, and the bands of the six masters had their ruts thrown into disorder and their banners drooping. Those who speak of the extinction of the spirit can be said to have perverse yet stubborn learning: seeking the state of Yan by heading south, or pointing the carriage toward Chu while turning north. To reach the Dao in this manner is a thousand leagues away. The Sacred Sovereign, pitying their straying paths, exerted his heavenly compositions to hook the deep and reach the distant, exhausting transformation and knowing the spirit, causing this ignorance to melt away like ice, and displaying this essential Dao like the shining of the moon. We, your disciples, both ordinary and shallow, have newly received imperial favor, wearing caps and robes in a court that models Heaven, and taking in discourses that investigate antiquity. The sincerity of our joyful praise is especially exuberant. Unexpectedly receiving your communication, we respectfully write it on our sashes. Presented by Lu Ren and Lu Chui.