弘明集 2.5

2.5

論曰。今自撫踵至頂。以去凌虛心往而勿已。則四方上下皆無窮也。生不獨造必傳所資。仰追所傳則無始也。弈世相生而不已。則亦無竟也。是身也既日用無限之實。親由無始而來。又將傳於無竟而去矣。然則無量無邊之曠。無始無終之久。人固相與凌之以自敷者也。是以居赤縣。於八極曾不疑焉。今布三千日月。羅萬二千天下。恒沙閱國界飛塵紀積劫。普冥化之所容。俱眇末其未央。何獨安我而疑彼哉。夫秋毫處滄海。其懸猶有極也。今綴彝倫於太虛為𦴭。胡可言哉。故世之所大道之所小。人之所遐天之所邇。所謂軒轅之前。遐哉邈矣者。體天道以高覽。蓋昨日之事耳。書稱知遠。不出唐虞。春秋屬辭盡於王業。禮樂之良敬。詩易之溫潔。今於無窮之中。煥三千日月以照麗。列萬二千天下以貞觀。乃知周孔所述。蓋於蠻觸之域。應求治之麁感且寧。乏於一生之內耳。逸乎生表者。存而未論也。若不然也。何其篤於為始形。而略於為終神哉。登蒙山而小魯。登太山而小天下。是其際矣。且又墳典已逸。俗儒所編專在治迹。言有出於世表。或散沒於史策。或絕滅於坑焚。若老子莊周之道。松喬列真之術。信可以洗心養身。而亦皆無取於六經。而學者唯守救麁之𨵗文。以書禮為限。斷聞窮神積劫之遠化。炫目前而永忽。不亦悲夫。嗚呼有似行乎增雲之下而不信日月者也。今稱一陰一陽謂陰陽不測之謂神者。蓋謂至無為道陰陽兩渾。故曰一陰一陽也。自道而降便入精神。常有於陰陽之表。非二儀所究。故曰陰陽不測耳。君平之說一生二謂神明是也。若此二句皆以無明。則以何明精神乎。然群生之神其極雖齊。而隨緣遷流成麁妙之識。而與本不滅矣。今雖舜生於瞽。舜之神也。必非瞽之所生。則商均之神。又非舜之所育。生育之前素有麁妙矣。既本立於未生之先。則知不滅於既死之後矣。又不滅則不同。愚聖則異。知愚聖生死不革不滅之分矣。故云。精神受形周遍五道成壞天地。不可稱數也。夫以累瞳之質誕于頑瞽。嚚均之身受體黃中。愚聖人絕何數以合乎。豈非重華之靈始麁於在昔。結因往劫之先。緣會萬化之後哉。今則獨絕其神。昔有接麁之累。則練之所盡矣。神之不滅。及緣會之理積習而聖。三者鑒於此矣。若使形生則神生形死則神死。則宜形殘神毀形病神困。懅有腐敗其身。或屬纊臨盡而神意平全者。及自牖執手。病之極矣。而無變德行之主。斯殆不滅之驗也。若必神生於形。本非緣合。今請遠取諸物。然後近求諸身。夫五岳四瀆謂無靈也。則未可斷矣。若許其神。則岳唯積土之多。瀆唯積水而已矣。得一之靈。何生水土之麁哉。而感託巖流肅成一體。設使山崩川竭。必不與水土俱亡矣。神非形作合而不滅。人亦然矣。神也者妙萬物而為言矣。若資形以造隨形以滅。則以形為本。何妙以言乎。夫精神四達並流無極。上際於天下盤於地。聖之窮機賢之研微。逮于宰賜莊嵇吳札子房之倫。精用所之皆不莊不行。坐徹宇宙。而形之臭腐甘嗜所資。皆與下愚同矣。寧當復稟之以生隨之以滅耶。又宜思矣。周公郊祀后稷宗祀文王世或謂空以孝即問談者。何以了其必空則必無以了矣。苟無以了。則文稷之靈不可謂之滅矣。齋三日必見所為齋者。寧可以常人之不見而斷。周公之必不見哉。嬴博之葬日。骨肉歸于土魂氣則無不之非滅之謂矣。夫至治則天大亂滔天其要心神之為也。堯無理不照。無欲不盡。其神精也。桀無惡不肆。其神悖也。桀非不知堯之善知己之惡。惡已亡也。體之所欲。悖其神也。而知堯惡亡之識。常含於神矣。若使不居君位千歲勿死。行惡則楚毒交至。微善則少有所寬。寧當復不稍滅其惡漸修其善乎。則向者神之所含知堯之識。必當少有所用矣。又加千歲而勿已。亦可以其欲都澄。遂精其神如堯者也。夫辰月變則律呂動。晦望交而蚌蛤應。分至啟閉。而燕鷹龍蛇颯焉出沒者。皆先之以冥化。而後發於物類也。凡厥群有同見陶於冥化矣。何數事之獨然。而萬化之不盡然哉。今所以殺人而死傷人而刑。及為縲紲之罪者。及今則無罪與今有罪而同然者。皆由冥緣前遘而人理後發矣。夫幽顯一也。釁遘於幽而醜發於顯。既無怪矣。行凶於顯而受毒於幽。又何怪乎。今以不滅之神含知堯之識。幽顯於萬世之中。苦以創惡樂以誘善。加有日月之宗。垂光明照。何緣不虛。已鑽仰一變至道乎。自恐往劫之桀紂。皆可徐成將來之湯武。況今風情之倫少而汎心於清流者乎。由此觀之。人可作佛。其亦明矣。夫生之起也。皆由情兆。今男女搆精萬物化生者。皆精由情搆矣。情搆於己而則百眾神受身。大似知情為生本矣。至若五帝三后。雖超情窮神。然無理不順。苟昔緣所會。亦必俯入精化相與順生而敷萬族矣。況今以情貫神一身死情。安得不復受一身生死無量乎。識能澄不滅之本。稟日損之學。損之又損。必至無為無欲。欲情唯神獨映則無當於生矣。無生則無身。無身而有神。法身之謂也。今黃帝虞舜姬公孔父。世之所仰而信者也。觀其縱轡升天龍潛鳥颺反風起禾絕粒絃歌。亦皆由窮神為體。故神功所應。倜儻無方也。今形理雖外。當其隨感起滅。亦必有非人力所致而至者。河之出圖洛之出書。蓂莢無裁而敷。玄珪不琢而成。桑穀在庭。倏然大拱忽爾以亡。火流王屋而為烏。鼎之輕重大小。皆翕欻變化感靈而作。斯實不思議之明類也。夫以法身之極靈。感妙眾而化見。照神功以朗物。復何奇不肆何變可限。豈直仰陵九天龍行九泉吸風絕粒而已哉。凡厥光儀符瑞之偉。分身踊出移轉世界巨海入毛之類。方之黃虞姬孔神化無方向者。眾瑞之晻曖顯沒。既出形而入神。同惚怳而玄化。何獨信此而抑彼哉。冥覺法王清明卓朗。信而有徵。不違顏咫尺。而昧者不知。哀矣哉。夫洪範庶徵休咎之應。皆由心來。逮白虹貫日太白入昴。寒谷生黍崩城隕霜之類。皆發自人情。而遠形天事固相為形影矣。夫形元無影聲元無響。則亦情元無報矣。豈直貫日隕霜之類哉。皆莫不隨情曲應物無遁形。但或結於身或播於事。交賒紛綸顯昧眇漫。孰覩其際哉。眾變盈世群象滿目。皆萬世以來。精感之所集矣。故佛經云。一切諸法從意生形。又云。心為法本。心作天堂。心作地獄。義由此也。是以清心潔情必妙生英麗之境。濁情滓行永悖於三塗之域。何斯唱之迢遰微明有實理而直䟽魂沐想飛誠悚志者哉。雖然夫億等之情。皆相緣成識。識感成形。其性實無也。自有津悟以來。孤聲豁然滅除心患。未有斯之至也。請又述而明之。夫聖神玄照而無思營之識者。由心與物絕唯神而已。故虛明之本。終始常住。不可凋矣。今心與物交不一於神。雖以顏子之微微而必乾乾鑽仰好仁樂山。庶乎屢空。皆心用乃識必用用妙接識識妙續。如火之炎炎相即而成爓耳。今以悟空息心。心用止而情識歇。則神明全矣。則情識之搆既新故妙續。則悉是不一之際。豈常有哉。使庖丁觀之。必不見全牛者矣。佛經所謂變易離散之法。法識之性。空夢幻影響泡沫水月。豈不然哉。顏子知其如此。故處有若無。撫實若虛。不見有犯而不挍也。今觀顏子之屢空。則知其有之實無矣。況自茲以降喪真彌遠。雖復進趨大道。而與東走之疾。同名狂者。皆違理謬感遁天忘行彌非真有矣。況又質味聲色。復是情偽之所影化乎。且舟壑潛謝變速奔電。將來未至。過去已滅。已在不住。眒息之頃無一毫可據。將欲何守而以為有乎。甚矣偽有之蔽神也。今有明鏡於斯紛穢集之。微則其照藹然。積則其照昢然。彌厚則照而昧矣。質其本明。故加穢猶照。雖從藹至昧。要隨鏡不滅以辯之。物必隨穢彌失而過謬成焉。人之神理有類於此。偽有累神成精麁之識。識附於神故雖死不滅漸之以空。必將習漸至盡而窮本神矣。泥洹之謂也。是以至言雲富從而𭭬以空焉。夫巖林希微風水為虛。盈懷而往猶有曠然。況聖穆乎。空以虛授人而不情心樂盡哉。是以古之乘虛入道。一沙一佛未詎多也。

The treatise says: Now, touching from heel to crown, if one takes this [body] to soar into the void with a mind that travels and never stops, then the four quarters, above, and below are all boundless. Life does not arise in isolation; it must transmit what supports it. If one traces back what has been transmitted, it is without beginning. Successive generations give birth to one another without end, so it is likewise without culmination. As this body both makes daily use of boundless reality, personally coming from the beginningless, and furthermore will be transmitted into the unending and depart, then within the expanse of the measureless and borderless, and the duration of the beginningless and endless, humans certainly traverse it together to unfold themselves. Therefore, dwelling in the Red County, people have never doubted the eight extremities.

Now, three thousand suns and moons are arrayed, twelve thousand continents are spread out, Ganges sands mark out realms of countries, and flying specks of dust record accumulated kalpas: all that the dark transformations embrace are together minuscule and far from ending—why then feel secure in our [realm] alone while doubting those others? A fine autumn hair placed in the vast ocean still has an ultimate limit to its disparity. But linking the cardinal human relations to the Grand Void as a minuscule boat—how can words express it? Therefore, what the world considers great, the Dao considers small; what humans consider far, Heaven considers near. What is referred to as 'before Xuan Yuan, how distant and remote!', if one embodies the heavenly Dao to gaze from on high, it is merely yesterday's matter. The *Book of Documents* praises 'knowing the distant', yet does not exceed Yao and Shun; the *Spring and Autumn Annals* connects its phrases, exhausting itself in royal undertakings; the noble reverence of rites and music, and the warmth and purity of the *Odes* and the *Changes*—now, amidst the infinite, three thousand suns and moons shine radiantly to illuminate and embellish, and twelve thousand continents are aligned in correct view. From this, one knows that what the Duke of Zhou and Confucius described was merely within the realm of the snail's horns, responding to the coarse feelings that seek order and temporary peace, lacking beyond the scope of a single life. What escapes beyond life they left intact without discussion. If this were not so, why would they be so earnest regarding the initial corporeal form, yet so neglectful regarding the ultimate spirit? Climbing Mount Meng makes Lu seem small; climbing Mount Tai makes the world seem small—this is their boundary.

Furthermore, the ancient records have been lost; what common scholars compile centers solely on traces of governance. Words that transcend the world were either scattered and lost in historical records, or extinguished in the burning [of books] and burying [of scholars]. The Dao of Laozi and Zhuang Zhou, and the arts of Chisongzi, Wang Qiao, and the ranks of perfected immortals, can truly cleanse the mind and nourish the body, yet none were adopted into the Six Classics. But scholars cling only to the deficient texts intended to remedy coarseness, taking the *Documents* and the *Rites* as boundaries; they cut themselves off from hearing of the distant transformations of exhausting the spirit through accumulated kalpas, dazzled by what is before their eyes and perpetually negligent—is this not lamentable? Alas, it is like walking beneath thick clouds and not believing in the sun and moon.

Now, as for saying 'one yin and one yang' and asserting 'that which is unfathomable in yin and yang is called spirit', this means that the ultimate non-action is the Dao, where yin and yang are doubly blended, and hence it is called 'one yin and one yang'. Descending from the Dao, one enters the spirit, which constantly exists beyond yin and yang and is not what the Two Modes can exhaust; hence it is said 'yin and yang are unfathomable'. Zhuang Junping's statement that 'the one generates the two' refers to the spirit. If both these statements are explained as not meaning the spirit, then through what can one illuminate the spirit? Yet, though the culmination of the spirits of all living beings is equal, following conditions they drift and shift, forming coarse or subtle consciousness, and yet they are fundamentally not destroyed along with it.

Now, although Shun was born to the blind Gu Sou, Shun's spirit was certainly not generated by Gu Sou; and the spirit of Shangjun was again not reared by Shun. Prior to birth and rearing, coarseness and subtlety already inherently existed. Since the foundation is established prior to birth, one knows it is not destroyed after death. Furthermore, if it is not destroyed, it is not uniform: the foolish and the sage are different; one knows that between the foolish and the sage, life and death do not alter the distinction of non-extinction. Thus it is said: 'The spirit receives a corporeal form, circulating through the five destinies, through the formation and destruction of worlds beyond count.' With the constitution of double pupils born to a blind fool, and the body of the perverse Shangjun receiving substance from the central yellow, the fool and the sage are separated by a gulf—by what calculation could they be combined? Is it not that the soul of Chonghua [Shun] was initially coarse in the past, forming causes before past kalpas, and conditions converged after myriad transformations? Now his spirit stands singularly supreme, yet having past burdens of contact with coarseness, it was exhausted through refining. The non-extinction of the spirit, the principle of the convergence of conditions, and becoming a sage through accumulated cultivation: these three are mirrored here.

If the spirit were born when the form is born and died when the form dies, then when the form is maimed the spirit should be ruined, and when the form is sick the spirit should be exhausted. Yet there are instances where the body decays, or at the final breath on the brink of death, the spirit and intention remain calm and whole; and when grasping the hand through the window at the extremity of illness, the master of moral virtue remains unchanged. These are practically proofs of non-extinction. If the spirit must be born from the form, originally not being a conjunction of conditions, let us now take examples from distant things and then seek them close at hand in our bodies. If one says the Five Peaks and Four Waterways lack spirits, that cannot be definitively asserted. If one grants their spirits, the peaks are merely an accumulation of much earth, and the waterways merely an accumulation of water. How could the spirit that attains the One be born from the coarseness of water and earth? Yet feelingly lodged in crags and currents, it solemnly forms a single body; supposing the mountains collapsed and the rivers dried up, it would certainly not perish together with the water and earth. The spirit is not made by the form; conjoining with it, it is not destroyed. The same is true of human beings. 'Spirit' is spoken of as that which is subtle to the myriad things. If it relied on form to be created and was destroyed along with form, then with form as the root, how could it be spoken of as subtle?

Now, the spirit reaches in the four directions and flows everywhere without limit, reaching up to heaven above and coiled over earth below. From the sages' exhausting of subtle springs and the worthies' probing of the minute, down to the likes of Zai Yu, Duanmu Ci, Zhuangzi, Ji Kang, Jizha of Wu, and Zhang Zifang: wherever the function of their essence went, without solemnity and without motion, they sat and penetrated the universe. Yet the foul decay and physical desires on which their forms relied were completely identical to the most foolish! How could they again receive it from birth and perish with it? One should consider this further. The Duke of Zhou offered the suburban sacrifice to Houji and the ancestral sacrifice to King Wen; some in the world say this was purely out of filial piety. But if one asks these speakers how they clearly know it was purely [symbolic], they will certainly have no way to know. If they have no way to know, then the spirits of King Wen and Houji cannot be called extinguished. Fasting for three days, one will certainly see the person for whom one fasted; how could one judge, from ordinary people not seeing them, that the Duke of Zhou certainly did not see them? On the day of burial between Ying and Bo, the bones and flesh return to the earth, but the soul and qi go everywhere—this does not mean extinction.

Now, supreme order reaches heaven, and great disorder overflows heaven; their crux is the doing of the mind-spirit. Yao had no principle he did not illuminate, and no desire he did not exhaust; his spirit was pure essence. Jie had no evil he did not indulge; his spirit was perverse. It was not that Jie did not know Yao's goodness and did not know his own evil, nor that evil was already obliterated; the desires of his body perverted his spirit. But the consciousness knowing Yao and knowing evil to be ruined was constantly contained within his spirit. If he were not placed on the throne of a ruler and did not die for a thousand years, so that committing evil brought harsh torment and slight goodness brought a little relief, would he not gradually diminish his evil and progressively cultivate his goodness? Then the consciousness knowing Yao that was formerly contained in his spirit would certainly find a little use. Adding another thousand years without end, his desires could also be completely cleared, and he would ultimately purify his spirit like Yao.

When the constellations and moon shift, the pitch-pipes resonate; when the dark of the moon and full moon alternate, the clams and oysters respond. At the equinoxes, solstices, and openings and closings [of seasons], swallows, hawks, dragons, and snakes suddenly appear and vanish: all are preceded by dark transformations, and only then manifest among creatures. All living beings together appear molded by dark transformation; why would only a few matters be so, while the myriad transformations were not entirely so? Now, the reasons why someone who kills a person dies, someone who injures a person is punished, or someone is bound in chains, as well as those who are currently innocent yet share the same fate as those who are currently guilty, all stem from dark conditions encountered beforehand, with human principles manifesting afterward. The unseen and the visible are one: a fault is encountered in the unseen and its ugliness manifests in the visible—this is already not strange; committing atrocities in the visible and receiving torment in the unseen—how could that be strange? Now, with the undying spirit containing the consciousness that knows Yao, moving through the unseen and visible across ten thousand generations, with suffering to admonish evil and joy to entice goodness, supplemented by the Ancestor of the Sun and Moon [the Buddha] shedding bright radiance—on what grounds would one not empty oneself, drill, look up, and transform at once toward the ultimate Dao? I suspect that the Jies and Zhous of past kalpas can all slowly become the Tangs and Wus of the future; how much more so for those of our contemporary temper who are young and float their minds toward the pure stream! Viewed from this, that humans can become Buddhas is also clear.

Now, the arising of birth entirely stems from the stirrings of passion. In our world, men and women join essences and the myriad things are transformed and born: all essence is joined by passion. When passion is joined in oneself, hundreds of thousands of spirits receive bodies; this greatly resembles knowing that passion is the root of birth. As for the Five Thearchs and Three Kings, although they transcended passion and exhausted the spirit, they accorded with every principle; if past conditions converged, they also necessarily descended into essence-transformations, according with birth alongside [others] to spread the myriad clans. How much more so for those who today bind the spirit with passion: when one body dies, how could passion not again receive another body, through measureless births and deaths? If consciousness can clarify the undying root and receive the study of daily decrease—decreasing and further decreasing—it will certainly reach non-action and desirelessness. When desires and passions cease and the spirit alone shines, there is no correspondence with birth. With no birth there is no body; with no body yet possessing the spirit, this is what is called the Dharma Body.

Now, the Yellow Emperor, Shun of Yu, the Duke of Zhou, and Master Kong are those whom the world reveres and believes in. Observing how they slackened the reins and ascended to heaven, dragons submerged, birds soared, winds reversed and standing grain rose, or they abstained from grain and strummed the zither while singing, these all likewise stemmed from exhausting the spirit as essence; hence what their spiritual efficacy responded to was untrammeled and unfathomable. Now, although physical principles are external, when they arise and cease according to stimuli, there are also necessarily things that arrive not through human power. The River producing the Chart, the Luo producing the Writing, the *mingjia* plant blooming without being cut, the dark jade tablet forming without being carved, the mulberry and paper mulberry in the courtyard suddenly becoming an armful in size and abruptly vanishing, fire flowing over the royal chamber and turning into a raven, the light and heavy, small and large of the cauldrons: all suddenly transform and arise in response to the spirit. These are truly luminous categories of the inconceivable. With the ultimate numinous efficacy of the Dharma Body, responding to the subtle multitudes and manifesting transformations, illuminating spiritual efficacy to brighten beings, what marvel would it not display, what transformation could be limited? How could it merely soar up into the Nine Heavens, walk like a dragon in the Nine Springs, inhale the wind, and abstain from grain? All the greatness of radiant appearance and auspicious omens—dividing the body, leaping forth, moving and turning world systems, or huge oceans entering a hair-pore—compared to the untrammeled and unfathomable spiritual transformations of the Yellow Emperor, Shun of Yu, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius, when the dimness and clarity, appearance and disappearance of those many omens have already exited form and entered spirit, identical in trance-like obscurity and dark transformation, why believe only in the latter while suppressing the former? The Darkly Awakened Dharma King is clear, bright, preeminent, and lofty; he is trustworthy and verified, not distant from our faces by a foot, yet the benighted do not know it—how lamentable!

Now, the various omens and the responses of good and bad fortune in the *Great Plan* all come from the mind. Up to the white rainbow piercing the sun, Venus entering the Pleiades, cold valleys sprouting millet, crumbling walls, and falling frost: such things all issue from human feelings, and from afar take shape in heavenly events, naturally acting as form and shadow to each other. If the form originally lacked a shadow, and sound originally lacked an echo, then feelings would likewise originally lack retribution. How could it merely be things like piercing the sun and falling frost? None fail to bend and respond according to feelings, and no thing has an escaping form; but they are either tied to the body or spread into events, alternating and delaying in tangled confusion, visible and dark, vast and boundless—who can see their boundaries? The myriad transformations filling the world and the diverse forms meeting the eyes are all the accumulation of spiritual resonance across ten thousand generations. Therefore, the Buddhist sutras say: 'All dharmas produce form from intent.' They also say: 'The mind is the root of dharmas; the mind makes heaven, and the mind makes hell.' The meaning stems from this. For this reason, a pure mind and clean feelings will certainly be born subtly into a splendid realm; turbid feelings and defiled conduct will eternally pervert one into the realm of the three evil paths. How could these proclamations, so distant, subtly bright, and possessing true principles, merely soothe the soul, cleanse thoughts, fly sincerity, and instill fear in the will?

Even so, the passions of countless beings all depend on conditions to form consciousness, and consciousness responding forms corporeal shapes; their nature is truly non-existent. Ever since there has been ford-crossing awakening, a solitary voice has opened up, eradicating the afflictions of the mind; nothing has reached this extremity. Please let me explain and clarify it again. When the holy spirit illuminates mysteriously without the consciousness of deliberation and contrivance, it is because the mind is severed from objects and there is only the spirit. Therefore, the fundamentally empty and luminous essence is eternally abiding from beginning to end and cannot wither. Now, when mind and objects interact, they are not unified with the spirit; even with Yan Hui's subtlety, he still had to be diligently drilling and looking up, fond of benevolence and delighting in mountains, hoping repeatedly to be empty. These are all functions of the mind, which is consciousness: whenever function is used, subtlety joins consciousness, and consciousness is subtly continued, like blazing fire where flames follow one upon another to form a blaze. Now, by understanding emptiness and resting the mind, when mental function ceases and passion-consciousness rests, the spirit-illumination is complete. Since the construction of passion-consciousness is subtle continuity of the new and old, it is entirely a boundary of disunity; how could it be permanently existent? If Cook Ding were to view it, he would certainly not see the whole ox. What the Buddhist sutras call the phenomena of change and dispersion, the nature of dharmas and consciousness—emptiness, dreams, phantoms, shadows and echoes, bubbles, foam, and the moon in the water—how could it not be so? Yan Hui knew it was like this; therefore he dwelt in being as if in non-being, touched reality as if it were void, and did not mind when offenses occurred without taking revenge. Now observing Yan Hui's 'repeated emptiness', one knows that his 'being' was truly 'non-being'. How much more so for those descending from this, who lose the true ever more distantly! Though they again advance toward the Great Dao, sharing the name of 'madmen' with those rushing frantically eastward, all go against principle, falsely respond, flee from nature, and forget conduct, being even further from true being. How much more so for substance, flavors, sounds, and forms—are they not the shadow-transformations of passion and falsehood?

Furthermore, the boat in the ravine secretly passes away, transforming faster than rushing lightning. The future has not arrived; the past is already destroyed; what is present does not abide: within the span of a breath or a blink, not a single hair can be seized upon. What would one wish to cling to as 'being'? How severe is false being's obstruction of the spirit! Suppose there is a clear mirror here, and diverse dirt gathers on it: when slight, its reflection is dim; when accumulated, its reflection is faint; when increasingly thick, it reflects darkly. The substance is fundamentally bright; hence even with dirt added, it still reflects. Though going from dim to dark, it fundamentally relies on the undying mirror to distinguish things. Objects will certainly be lost increasingly with the dirt, and errors will result. The spiritual principle of human beings is similar to this. False being burdens the spirit to form subtle or coarse consciousness; consciousness clings to the spirit, so even in death it is not destroyed. Imbued gradually with emptiness, one will certainly practice gradually until exhausting [delusion] and exhausting the fundamental spirit: this is what is called Nirvāṇa. For this reason, the ultimate words are abundant as clouds, following along to establish emptiness. Crags and forests are tranquil, and wind and water are empty; approaching them with a full heart, one still feels expansive—how much more so for the sage's solemn emptiness, using voidness to confer upon humans, so that without passion the mind delights in exhaustion! Therefore, of those of old who mounted the void to enter the Dao, finding one Buddha in every grain of sand would not yet be too many.