弘明集 13.27

13.27

為道者蓋流出於仙法。故以練形為上。崇佛者本在於神教。故以治心為先。練形之家。必就深曠支飛靈糇丹石粒芝精。所以還年却老延華駐彩。欲使體合纁霞軌遍天海。此其所長。及偽者為之則忌災祟課租願混士女亂妖正。此其巨蠧也。治心之術。必辭親偶閉身性師淨覺信緣命。所以反一無生剋成聖業。智邈大明志狹恒劫。此其所貴。及詭者為之則藉髠落狎菁華傍榮聲謀利論。此其甚誣也。物有不然事無終弊。衡石日陳猶患差忒。況神道不形固眾端之所假。未能體神而不疑神無者。以為靈性密微可以積理知。洪變欻恍可以大順待。照若鏡天蕭若窺淵。能以理順為人者。可與言有神矣。若乃罔其真而責其弊。是未加心照耳。

Those who practise the Dao derive from the methods of immortals, and so take refining the corporeal form as supreme. Those who revere the Buddha are rooted in the teaching of the spirit, and so take governing the mind as primary. The school of refining the corporeal form must seek deep and wide wildernesses, eating flying spirits, grain-avoiding cinnabar minerals, and mushroom essences, in order to return youth and ward off old age, prolonging their bloom and retaining their colour. They wish to make the body unite with rosy clouds and trace their tracks across heaven and sea. This is their strength. When hypocrites practise it, they dread disasters and curses, assess taxes, vow to mingle men and women, and confuse evil with correctness—this is their great moth-pest. The art of governing the mind must part with kin and mate, shut off the body and nature, take the pure awakening as master, and believe in karmic conditions and destiny, in order to return to the oneness of non-arising and successfully achieve the sage enterprise, with wisdom transcending the great brightness and aspiration embracing countless kalpas. This is what makes it precious. When deceivers practise it, they take advantage of their tonsure, become familiar with the elite, cling to glorious fame, and scheme for profit and debate—this is their grave falsehood. Things may not be so, but matters do not end in defect; even when weights and balances are displayed daily, one still worries about discrepancies, how much more so for the spiritual Dao, which is formless and naturally borrowed by manifold pretexts! Those who cannot embody the spirit yet do not doubt that the spirit is non-existent consider that the spiritual nature is subtle and hidden, knowable through accumulated principle; and that vast transformations, fleeting and indistinct, can be awaited through great accord. Shining like a mirror of heaven, quiet as peering into an abyss, one who can act as a person through principle and accord may be spoken with of the existence of the spirit. As for ignoring its truth and blaming its defects, that is merely failing to apply the illumination of the mind.