弘明集 12.10

12.10

仰復淵旨匪邇伊教。俯惟未造鞠躬汎對。竊以為遂通資感涉悟籍緣。誠微良因則河漢滋惑。故待問擬乎撞鍾。啟發俟於悱憤。夫妙覺窮理。乃聖乃神。光景燭八維。覜仰觀九有。然而運值百齡窅均萬劫者。豈非嘉緣未構。故革化莫孚哉。是以聖靈輟軌斯文莫載。靡得明微理歸指斥宗致。祇以微顯婉成潛徙冥遠。好生導三世之源。積善啟報應之𨅊綱宿昭仁蒐苗弘信。既以漸漬習成吝滯日祛。然後道暢皇漢之朝。訓敷永平之祀。物無𪏕熒人斯草偃。寔知放華猶昏文宣未旭。非旨暌以異通。諒理均而俱躓者。附會玄遠。孰夷冐言。謬犯不韙。輕率狂簡。

Looking up, I reply to your profound purport, which is not an ordinary teaching. Bowing down, I reflect upon my lack of attainment, and with bowed head make this general response. In my humble view, penetrating all things depends upon resonance, and entering awakening relies upon conditions. If one truly lacks good causes, then river and sea will foster confusion. Therefore, awaiting inquiries is likened to striking a bell, and inspiring understanding depends on feelings of eager frustration. The wondrous awakening exhausts principle; it is both sage and divine. Its light illuminates the eight directions, and looking up and down it observes the nine realms. Yet when its fortune encounters a span of a hundred years, seeming as vast as ten thousand kalpas, is this not because auspicious conditions have not yet formed, so that transforming influence cannot take hold? For this reason the sage spirit paused its course and this culture did not record it; unable to manifest subtle principles, they aimed at direct reprimand and fundamental guidance, merely using subtle manifestations and gentle persuasion to guide them toward the profound and distant. Loving life guides the source of the three times; accumulating goodness initiates the steps of karmic retribution. Hunting with nets and sparing the roosting birds illustrates benevolence; seasonal hunting broadens trust. Once beings were gradually soaked and steeped until habit was formed, stinginess and blockage were dispelled day by day; only afterward did the Dao flourish in the court of the august Han, and the instructions spread during the Yongping era. Things were freed from delusion and people yielded like the grass before the wind. We truly know that the radiant blossoms of Fangxun were not yet dawn, and King Wenxuan had not yet risen. It is not that their purports were divergent so as to lead to different understandings, but that principles were equal though both encountered obstacles. In adhering to the profound and distant, who would dare to speak recklessly? Erring in what is right, I have been rash and foolish.