弘明集 10.109

10.109

辱告。惠示勅旨答臣下審神滅論。源深趣遠豈鹿兔所測。隨類得解或亦各欣其所見。奉以周旋不勝舞躍。法師學冠一時道叶千載。起予之說寄在明德。想弘宣妙旨無復遺蘊耶。弟子業謝專經智非通識。豈能仰述淵猷讚揚風教。論者限以視聽。豈達曠遠目覩百年心惑三世。謂形魄既亡神魂俱滅。斯則既違釋典。復乖孔教矣。焉可與言至道語其妙理者哉。夫明則有禮樂。幽則有鬼神。是以孔宣垂範以知死酬問。周文立教以多才代終。詩稱三后在天。書云。祖考來格。且濠上英華著方生之論。柱下叡哲稱其鬼不神。為薪而火傳交臂而生謝。此皆陳之載籍章其明者也。夫緣假故有滅。業造故無常。是以五陰合成終同煙盡。四微虛構會均火滅。竊謂神明之道非業非緣。非業非緣故雖遷不滅。能緣能業故苦樂殊報。此能仁之妙唱。搢紳之所仰也。雖教有殊途理還一致。今棄周孔之正文。背釋氏之真說。未知以此將欲何歸。正法住世尚有斷常之說。況象法已流而無異端之論。有神不滅乃三聖同風。雖典籍著明多歷年所。通儒碩學並未能值。皇上智周空有照極神源。爰發聖衷親染神翰。弘獎至教啟悟重昏。令夫學者永祛疑惑。眷逮不遺。使得豫餐風訓。沐浴頂戴良兼欣戢。明山賓和南。

I was humbled by your letter, which kindly conveyed the imperial decree responding to the ministers' inquiry on the treatise on the extinction of the spirit. Its source is deep and its purport far-reaching—how could it be measured by deer or hares? While beings attain understanding according to their kind, each perhaps also delights in what they have seen. Reverently upholding it repeatedly, I am overwhelmed with joy and dancing. The Dharma Master's learning crowns the present age, and his Dao matches a thousand years. The saying about stimulating others rests with your illustrious virtue. I presume that in widely propagating the sublime intention, nothing has been left unrevealed. As for your disciple, my achievements fall short of specializing in the classics, and my wisdom is not comprehensive knowledge. How could I look up to expound the profound plan or praise the moral instructions? The author of that treatise is limited by his sight and hearing; how could he reach what is vast and distant? His eyes only see a hundred years, while his mind is deluded about the three times. He claims that once the corporeal form and p’o-soul perish, the spirit and hun-soul are both extinguished. This already violates the Buddhist scriptures and furthermore contradicts the teachings of Confucius. How can one speak with him of the ultimate Dao or talk to him of its sublime principles? In the manifest world, there are rites and music; in the hidden realm, there are ghosts and spirits. Therefore, Confucius established the model by answering an inquiry about knowing death; King Wen of Zhou instituted his teaching by using his manifold talents to substitute for King Wu's end. The Book of Odes praises the three sovereigns as being in heaven; the Book of Documents states that the ancestral spirits arrive. Furthermore, the illustrious master on the Hao River composed the treatise on 'simultaneous living and dying'; the wise sage beneath the pillar declared, 'Its ghosts are not spiritual.' As fuel is consumed, fire is passed on; hands are joined, and yet life departs. These are all set forth in the records and brightly evident. Because of dependence on conditions, there is extinction; because karma is produced, there is impermanence. Hence the five aggregates, being compounded, ultimately end like smoke; the four subtle elements, being empty constructs, converge uniformly like extinguishing fire. I humbly submit that the path of the spirit is neither karma nor condition. Because it is neither karma nor condition, though it undergoes transitions, it is not extinguished. Because it can serve as condition and produce karma, there are differing retributions of suffering and bliss. This is the sublime proclamation of the Benevolent Sage (Śākyamuni), which the scholar-officials look up to. Although the teachings have different paths, the principle returns to the same destination. Now, abandoning the correct texts of Zhou and Confucius and turning one's back on the true sayings of Śākyamuni, I do not know where one intends to return with this. When the True Dharma resided in the world, there were still doctrines of annihilation and permanence; how much more so when the Semblance Dharma has already spread should there not be treatises of heterodox schools? That there is an unextinguished spirit is the shared ethos of the three sages. Although the scriptures have clearly shown it across many passed years, neither comprehensive scholars nor great erudites had yet encountered [such a definitive explanation]. His Majesty's wisdom encompasses emptiness and existence, and his illumination exhausts the profound source of the spirit. Thereupon, bringing forth his sagely mind, he personally wielded his divine brush, broadly promoting the supreme teaching and opening and enlightening the profound darkness, causing scholars to permanently dispel their doubts and confusions. His gracious favor did not leave me out, allowing me to partake in the breeze of his instruction. Bathing in it and reverently receiving it atop my head, I truly combine joy and gratitude. Ming Shanbin pays veneration.