弘明集 10.69

10.69

緄和南。弟子竊以為交求之道必取與為濟。至於續蒙不告。則空致衝衝倏忽之觀。殆將可息。所以自絕諮受崇深莫窺誠自愧也。徒以闇識因果脩局。誠冀履霜不退。堅氷可至耳。而法師弘心山藪幸能藏疾。雖未昇堂遂招以法流。杜夷云。召渴馬於滮泉。不待鞭策而至矣。垂示上答臣下神滅論。晨宵伏讀用忘疲寢。構斯法棟導彼迷流。天屬既申三世又辯。鬼神情狀於焉可求。然謂海實廣廣孰能知。謂天蓋高高不可測。聖論鉤深旨超繫表蒙情易駘惡能是。空銘末示終愧鑽仰。弟子沈緄和南。

Gun bows in reverence. Your disciple ventures to think that the way of mutual intercourse must be accomplished by give and take. As for continuing to be foolish and not offering inquiry, it vainly brings about the flitting view of a rushing moment, which ought almost to be set aside. Thus, to cut oneself off from questioning and receiving instruction, while regarding the profound as too exalted to spy into, is truly a matter of personal shame. Merely having an obscure understanding of cause and effect and a narrow discipline, I truly hope that by treading on frost without retreating, the solid ice might be reached. Yet the Dharma master's vast mind is like mountains and marshes, fortunately able to harbor defects; though I had not yet ascended the hall, you summoned me with the stream of Dharma. Du Yi said: 'Summoning a thirsty horse to the gushing spring, it arrives without waiting for the whip.' You have condescended to show me His Majesty's reply to his subject regarding the treatise on the extinction of the spirit. Morning and night I respectfully read it, forgetting fatigue and sleep. Erecting this pillar of the Dharma, it guides that stream of confusion. Natural familial bonds are articulated, and the three times are distinguished; the conditions of ghosts and spirits may thereby be sought. Yet they say the ocean is truly vast—who can know it? They say Heaven is supremely high—it cannot be measured. The sagacious treatise plumbs the depths; its purport transcends the commentaries of the *Changes*. My ignorant mind is easily sluggish—how could it fathom this? Vainly inscribing this late presentation, I am in the end ashamed before drilling and gazing upward. Your disciple Shen Gun bows in reverence.