弘明集 5.40

5.40

問曰。歷觀前史。上皇已來在位居宗者。未始異其原本。本不可二。是故百代同典咸一其統。所謂唯天為大唯堯則之。如此則非智有所不照。自無外可照。非照有所不盡。自無理可盡。以此推視聽之外廓無所寄。理無所寄則宗極可明。今諸沙門不悟文表之意。而惑教表之旨其為謬也。固已全矣。若復顯然驗此。乃希世之聞。

The questioner asks: "Surveying past history, those who have held the throne and occupied the ancestral seat since the Sovereigns of High Antiquity have never diverged from their original root. The root cannot be two; therefore, a hundred generations have shared the same standard and all unified their lineage. As the saying goes: 'Only heaven is great, and only Yao took it as his model.' In this case, it is not that their wisdom failed to illuminate something; rather, there was simply nothing outside for it to illuminate. It is not that their illumination failed to exhaust something; rather, there was simply no principle left unexhausted. Inferring from this, outside what can be seen and heard, there is vast emptiness with nowhere to lodge anything. When the principle has nowhere else to lodge, the ultimate root is clear. Now, the śramaṇas do not realize the meaning beyond the text and are confused by the purport beyond the teaching. Their error is already complete. If this can be clearly demonstrated once again, it would be a rare discourse indeed."