[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) › 5.43 # 弘明集 5.43 弘明集 5.43 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.43) 問曰。論者以化盡為至極。故造極者必違化而求宗。求宗不由於順化。是以引歷代君王使同之佛教。令體極之至以權君統。此雅論之所託。自必於大通者也。求之實當理則不然。何者夫稟氣極於一生。生盡則消液而同無神。雖妙物故是陰陽之化耳。既化而為生。又化而為死。既聚而為始。又散而為終。因此而推。故知神形俱化原無異統。精麁一氣始終同宅。宅全則氣聚而有靈。宅毀則氣散而照滅。散則反所受於大本。滅則復歸於無物。反覆終窮皆自然之數耳。孰為之哉。若令本則異氣數合則同化。亦為神之處形。猶火之在木。其生必並其毀必滅。形離則神散而罔寄。木朽則火寂而靡託。理之然矣。假使同異之分昧而難明。有無之說必存乎聚散。聚散氣變之總名萬化之生滅。故莊子曰。人之生氣之聚。聚則為生。散則為死。若死生為彼徒苦。吾又何患。古之善言道者。必有以得之。若果然耶。至理極於一生。生盡不化義可尋也。 > The questioner asks: "The author of the treatise takes the exhaustion of transformation as the ultimate; therefore, one who attains the ultimate must go against transformation to seek the root principle. Seeking the root principle does not come from complying with transformation; for this reason, he cites the successive generations of sovereigns to align them with the Buddhist teaching, claiming that those who attained the ultimate ruled as kings through expedient means. This is what the refined treatise relies upon, presuming on an overarching comprehensiveness. Yet when we seek its practical truth, the principle is not so. > > "Why is this? The endowment of qi is limited to a single lifetime. When life is exhausted, it dissolves and becomes nothingness. Although the spirit is a subtle entity, it is nevertheless merely the transformation of yin and yang. Having transformed into life, it transforms again into death; having gathered to form the beginning, it disperses to form the end. Inferring from this, we know that spirit and corporeal form transform together, originally without separate lineages. The fine and the coarse are of one qi, dwelling together from beginning to end. When the dwelling is intact, the qi gathers and there is sentience; when the dwelling is destroyed, the qi disperses and illumination is extinguished. When it disperses, it returns what it received to the Great Root; when it is extinguished, it returns again to nothingness. The cycles of reversal and termination are all the natural course of things—who could be doing this? > > "Even if their roots were different qi and they only transformed together when their numbers combined, the spirit's abiding in the corporeal form would still be like fire being in wood: their generation is necessarily simultaneous, and their destruction is necessarily mutual extinction. When the corporeal form separates, the spirit disperses and has nothing to lodge in; when the wood decays, the fire is silenced and has nothing to rely on. The principle is naturally so. > > "Even if the distinction between identity and difference is obscure and hard to clarify, the doctrine of existence and non-existence must reside in gathering and dispersing. Gathering and dispersing are the general names for the transformation of qi and the generation and extinction of the myriad transformations. Therefore, Zhuangzi said: 'The life of human beings is a gathering of qi; when it gathers, there is life, and when it disperses, there is death. If death and life are companions, what affliction do I have?' The ancients who were skilled at speaking of the Dao must have attained something of this. If it is indeed so, the ultimate principle is limited to a single lifetime: when life is exhausted, there is no further transformation. The meaning can be verified." > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.42) - [Next: 5.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.44) - [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.5.43) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [佛祖歷代通載](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.7.77) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.5.43) · Pramāṇa