弘明集 12.26

12.26

臣言。陛下體達佛理將究其致。遠心遐期研精入微。但恨起予非昔對揚未易。臣少信大法。積習善性。頗聞餘論髣髴玄宗。往者侍座過蒙眷誘。意猥辭訥不能有所運通。此之為恨畢世無已。臣近難慧義據食。蓋區區樂同之意。不敢求長於人。側餐下風已達天聽。臣請此事自一國偏法。非經通永制。外國風俗不同言語亦異。聖人不變其言。何獨苦改其用。言以宣意意達言忘。儀以存敬敬立形廢。是以聖人因事制戒隨俗變法。達道乃可無律。思夫其防彌繁。用捨有時通塞惟理。膠柱守株不以疎乎。今之沙門匠之善誘道無長一。各信所見尠能虛受。乃至競異於一堂之內。不和於時雍之世。臣竊耻之。況於異臣者乎。司徒弘達悟有理中。不以臣言為非。今之令望信道未篤意無前定。以兩順為美。不斷為大。俟此而制河可清矣。慧嚴道生本自不企。慧觀似悔始位伏度。聖心已當有。在今不望明詔孤發。但令聖旨粗達。宰相則下觀而化。孰曰不允。皇風方當遠暢。文軌將就大同。小異雖微。漸不可長。青青不伐將尋斧柯。故宜自邇及遠。令無思不服。江左中興高座來遊愛樂華夏。不言此制。釋公信道最篤。不苦其節思而不改。容有其旨。羅什卓犖不羈。不正可測落髮而不偏據。如復可尋。禪師初至詣闕求通。欲以故林入據。理不可開。故不許其進。後東安眾集。果不偏食。此即先朝舊事。臣所親見者也。謹啟。

Your servant states: Your Majesty has embodied and comprehended the Buddhist principle and is about to fathom its ultimate reaches. With a far-reaching mind and distant aspirations, you investigate its subtleties with precision. I only regret that 'the one who stirs me' is no longer of the past, and responding in audience is not easy. Since youth, your servant has had faith in the Great Dharma and cultivated good nature through habit; I have heard some of the remaining discourses and vaguely grasped the profound school. In the past, while attending Your Majesty's seat, I was excessively favored with your kind encouragement, but my thoughts were crude and my speech stammering, unable to achieve flowing expression. This has been a regret lasting my entire life. Recently, I challenged Huiyi on squatting to eat; it was merely my modest desire for harmony, not daring to seek superiority over others. Eating at your windward side, it has already reached the celestial hearing. Your servant submits that this matter is merely a partial regulation of a single state, not a permanent rule universally valid across the scriptures. Customs in foreign lands are not uniform, and spoken languages also differ. The sages did not change their language; why alone stubbornly change their practices? Words serve to express meaning, and once meaning is attained, words are forgotten; rituals serve to preserve reverence, and once reverence is established, bodily forms may be discarded. Therefore, sages instituted precepts according to circumstances and adapted rules according to customs. When one has attained the Way, there can even be no vinaya; considering how its safeguards proliferate, their adoption and abandonment depend on the time, and their openness or restriction relies solely on principle. Is it not obtuse to glue the bridges of a zither or wait by a tree stump? Monks today, though skillfully guided by teachers, have no single supreme standard in the Way. Each trusts his own view and few are able to receive others with an open mind, to the point of competing in differences within a single hall and failing to harmonize in an era of universal peace. Your servant privately feels ashamed of this; how much more so should those who differ from your servant? The Minister of Works, broad-minded and enlightened, recognizes what is reasonable and does not consider your servant's words wrong. The present prominent figures are not yet earnest in their faith in the Way and have no predetermined opinions; they regard pleasing both sides as fine and indecision as greatness. If we wait for this to be regulated, the Yellow River might first turn clear! Huiyan and Daosheng originally did not squat; Huiguan seems to regret his initial position. I humbly surmise that the imperial mind must already have formed a view. I do not now expect a bright edict to issue alone, but if Your Majesty's intention were roughly conveyed, the Chancellor would observe from below and be transformed—who then would say it is not proper? The imperial influence is about to extend far, and written culture and vehicular tracks are about to achieve great unity. Although minor differences are subtle, their gradual growth must not be fostered. If what is green and tender is not cut, one will soon need an axe. Therefore, one should proceed from the near to the far, making it so that none harbor disobedience. In the Eastern Jin resurgence, the High Seat [Śrīmitra] came to travel, loving the Central Land, and did not speak of this rule. Master Shi [Dao'an] was most earnest in believing the Way; he did not make its rules an ordeal, considering them and not adopting them; there must have been a purpose. Kumārajīva was preeminent and unrestrained; though not easily fathomable, when he shaved his hair he did not sit with one leg raised, which can also be verified. When the Dhyāna Master first arrived, he went to the palace seeking an audience, wishing to enter and squat in the old manner; the principle could not be permitted, so he was not allowed to advance. Later, when the assembly gathered at Dong'an, they indeed did not squat to eat. These are past events of the previous reign that your servant personally witnessed. Respectfully submitted.