弘明集 11.40

11.40

夫至道緬邈佛理幽深。豈是悠悠常徒所能習求。沙門去棄六親之情。毀其形骸。口絕滋味。被褐帶索。山棲枕石。永乖世務。百代之中庶或有一髣髴之間。今世道士。雖外毀儀容。心過俗人。所談道俗之際。可謂學步邯鄲匍匐而歸。先聖有言。未知生焉知死。而令一生之中困苦形神。方求真寘黃泉下福。皆是管見未體大化。迷而知反去道不遠。可不三思運不居人。忽焉將老。可復追哉。聊贈至言。幸能納之。

The supreme Dao is far-reaching; the Buddhist truth is profound and obscure. How could it be practiced and sought by the drifting common run? Śramaṇas cast aside the affections of the six relations, mutilate their physical frames, cut off fine flavours from their mouths, wear coarse hemp and ropes for belts, dwell in mountains pillowed on stones, forever estranged from the affairs of the world. Across a hundred generations, there may perhaps be one such person of fleeting semblance. The religious of today, though outwardly altering their appearance, have minds that surpass worldly folk. When they discourse on the boundary between the sacred and the secular, they may be described as learning the gait of Handan and crawling on hands and knees to return. The former sage has said: 'While you do not know life, how can you know death?' Yet they cause their physical form and spirit to suffer hardship through an entire life, only to seek real placement and blessings beneath the Yellow Springs. All this is tunnel vision, failing to comprehend the Great Transformation. If they are deluded and know to turn back, they will not be far from the Dao. Can one not reflect thrice upon this? Time does not linger for man; suddenly one will grow old—how can it be pursued again? I venture to offer these sincere words, hoping you may accept them.