弘明集 4.38

4.38

釋曰。影表之說以徵感報。來意疑不必侔嫌其無度。即復除福應也。福應非他氣數所生。若滅福應即無氣數矣。足下功存步驗而還伐所知。想信道為心者必不至此。若謂不慈於土木之飾。有甚於順時之殺者。無乃大負夫人之心。黃屋玉璽非必堯舜之情。崇居麗養豈是釋迦之意。責天宮之賞。求地獄之罰。頗類昔人亞夫之詰英布之問。有味乎其言。此蓋眾息心之所詳。吾可得而略之。

[Zheng Daozi] explains: The analogy of the shadow and gnomon was used to prove resonance and retribution. In your inquiry, you suspect they need not correspond and doubt they have any measured ratio; this amounts to abolishing karmic response altogether. Karmic response is born from nothing other than the movements of qi and fate. If karmic response is eliminated, then qi and fate would cease to exist. You dedicate your effort to pacing out verification, yet turn around and attack what you already know. I believe that anyone whose mind is set upon trusting the Dao would certainly not go this far. If you say that failing to show loving-kindness towards decorations of wood and earth is worse than killing according to the seasons, are you not greatly misjudging the minds of those persons? The yellow carriage-canopy and jade seal were not necessarily the private desire of Yao and Shun; how could grand dwellings and sumptuous provisions have been the intention of Śākyamuni? To interrogate the rewards of the heavenly palaces and investigate the punishments of the hells is quite like the former queries of Zhou Yafu and Ying Bu. There is deep flavor in your words! These are matters understood in detail by those who have pacified their minds, so I may pass over them briefly.