[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [弘明集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102) › 5.19 # 弘明集 5.19 弘明集 5.19 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.19) 答曰。有斯難也形神有源。請為子循本而釋之。夫火因薪則有火。無薪則無火。薪雖所以生火。而非火之本。火本自在因薪為用耳。若待薪然後有火。則燧人之前其無火理乎。火本至陽。陽為火極。故薪是火所寄。非其本也。神形相資亦猶此矣。相資相因生塗所由耳。安在有形則神存。無形則神盡。其本惚恍不可言矣。請為吾子廣其類以明之。當薪之在火則火盡。出火則火生。一薪未改而火前期。神不賴形又如茲矣。神不待形。可以悟乎。 > I answered: 'For this objection, corporeal form and spirit have their origins. Please allow me to explain it for you by tracing back to the root. Fire exists because of firewood; without firewood, there is no fire. Although firewood is that by which fire arises, it is not the root of fire. Fire inherently exists at the root, merely taking firewood as its function. If one had to wait for firewood before fire existed, was there no principle of fire before Suiren? Fire is originally the ultimate Yang, and Yang is the pinnacle of fire; thus firewood is what fire lodges in, not its root. The mutual reliance of spirit and corporeal form is also like this. Mutually relying and mutually causing, they are merely the path through which life proceeds. How could it be that when there is corporeal form, spirit exists, and when there is no corporeal form, spirit is exhausted? Its root is indistinct and beyond words. Please allow me to broaden the comparison to clarify this for you: when firewood is in the fire, the fire is extinguished; when it comes out of the fire, the fire is born. While a single piece of firewood remains unchanged, the fire departs first. That the spirit does not depend on corporeal form is also like this. Can you not realize that the spirit does not depend on corporeal form?' > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.18) - [Next: 5.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.20) - [Up: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102~en-mt.5.19) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.19) · Pramāṇa