[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) › 5.38 # 弘明集 5.38 弘明集 5.38 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.38) 問曰。尋夫老氏之意。天地以得一為大。王侯以體順為尊。得一故為萬化之本。體順故有運通之功。然則明宗必存乎體極。求極必由於順化。是故先賢以為美談。眾論所不能異。異夫眾論者則義無所取。而云不順化何耶。答曰。凡在有方同稟生於大化雖群品萬殊精麁異貫統極而言。有靈與無靈耳。有靈則有情於化。無靈則無情於化。無情於化。化畢而生盡。生不由情。故形朽而化滅。有情於化。感物而動。動必以情。故其生不絕。生不絕則其化彌廣而形彌積。情彌滯而累彌深。其為患也。焉可勝言哉。是故經稱泥洹不變以化盡為宅。三界流動以罪苦為場。化盡則因緣永息。流動則受苦無窮。何以明其然。夫生以形為桎梏。而生由化有化以情感。則神滯其本而智昏其照。介然有封。則所存唯己所涉唯動。於是靈轡失御生塗日開。方隨貪愛於長流。豈一受而已哉。是故反本求宗者。不以生累其神。超落塵封者。不以情累其生。不以情累其生。則生可滅。不以生累其神。則神可冥。冥神絕境。故謂之泥洹。泥洹之名。豈虛搆也哉。請推而實之。天地雖以生生為大。而未能令生者不化。王侯雖以存存為功。而未能令存者無患。是故前論云。達患累緣於有身。不存身以息患。知生生由於稟化。不順化以求宗。義存於此義存於此。斯沙門之所以抗禮萬乘高尚其事。不爵王侯而沾其惠者也。 > The questioner asks: "If we examine Laozi's thought, heaven and earth are great because they attain the One, and kings and princes are noble because they embody compliance. By attaining the One, they are the root of the myriad transformations; by embodying compliance, they have the efficacy of revolving and circulating. If so, illuminating the fundamental principle must lie in embodying the ultimate, and seeking the ultimate must come from complying with transformation. Therefore, past sages took this as a fine discourse, and the various arguments could not dissent from it. For one who dissents from the various arguments, his doctrine has nothing to recommend it. Why, then, do you say that one does not comply with transformation?" > > I answer: "All that exists within the spatial realm equally receives life from the Great Transformation. Although the myriad kinds are immensely diverse and their fine and coarse aspects have different threads, to speak of them in terms of their overarching principle, there are simply those with sentience and those without sentience. Those with sentience have feelings toward transformation; those without sentience have no feelings toward transformation. With those who have no feelings toward transformation, when transformation ends, life is exhausted; because life does not arise from feelings, when the corporeal form decays, transformation ceases. With those who have feelings toward transformation, they are moved by responding to external things; being moved necessarily involves feelings, and therefore their life does not cease. When life does not cease, their transformations become ever more extensive and their corporeal forms ever more accumulated, their feelings become ever more stagnant and their burdens ever deeper. How could the troubles this causes ever be fully described! > > "Therefore, the sūtras state that Nirvāṇa is unchanging, taking the exhaustion of transformation as its dwelling, while the three realms are in flux, taking suffering and affliction as their arena. When transformation is exhausted, causes and conditions cease forever; when there is flux, one endures suffering without end. How do we know this to be so? Life takes the corporeal form as its fetters, yet life arises from transformation. When transformation is stirred by feelings, the spirit stagnates in its root and wisdom is blinded in its illumination. When there is obstinate attachment, what is preserved is only the self, and what is encountered is only movement. Thereupon, the reins of the spirit lose control and the paths of rebirth open daily. One simply follows craving into the long current—how could it be limited to just a single lifetime? > > "Therefore, one who returns to the root and seeks the ultimate does not burden his spirit with life; one who transcends the dust of worldly bounds does not burden his life with feelings. When one does not burden his life with feelings, life can be extinguished; when one does not burden his spirit with life, the spirit can merge \[into the dark principle\]. When the spirit is merged and objects of perception are cut off, this is called Nirvāṇa. How could the name of Nirvāṇa be an empty fabrication? > > "Please let us examine this through reality: Heaven and earth, though taking the generation of life as great, cannot make the living not transform. Kings and princes, though taking the preservation of life as their merit, cannot make the preserved free from distress. Therefore, the preceding treatise said: 'Understanding that distress and burden stem from having a body, he does not preserve the body to extinguish distress; knowing that the generation of life arises from receiving transformation, he does not comply with transformation to seek the ultimate.' The meaning lies precisely in this; the meaning lies precisely in this. This is why the śramaṇa treats the lord of ten thousand chariots as an equal, holds his enterprise high, does not accept enfeoffment from kings and princes, yet extends his blessings to them." > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.37) - [Next: 5.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.39) - [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.5.38) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [佛祖歷代通載](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.7.72) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.38) · Pramāṇa