弘明集 1.18

1.18

The question was asked: "The Buddha's Dao says that when a person dies, he will be reborn again. I do not believe this is certain." Mouzi said: "When a person is on the verge of death, his family ascends the roof to call him; once he is already dead, they call him again—whom are they calling?" Someone said: "They are calling his hun and po souls." Mouzi said: "If the spirit returns, he lives; if it does not return, where does the spirit go?" The person said: "It becomes a ghost or a spirit." Mouzi said: "That is so. The soul and spirit certainly do not perish; it is only that the body itself rots away. The body is like the roots and leaves of the five grains; the soul and spirit are like the seeds and fruit of the five grains. When roots and leaves sprout, they must die; how could seeds and fruit ever have an end? Only when one attains the Dao does the body perish. Laozi said: 'The reason I have great calamity is that I have a body; if I had no body, what calamity would I have?' He also said: 'When the work is accomplished, the person withdraws: this is the Dao of Heaven.' Someone said: "Whether one practices the Dao, one dies; if one does not practice it, one also dies. What difference is there?" Mouzi said: "This is what is called having not a single day of goodness, yet asking for a lifetime of praise. If one possesses the Dao, though he dies, his spirit returns to the hall of blessings; if one commits evil, once dead, his spirit will suffer its retribution. A fool is blind to what has already occurred; the worthy and wise anticipate what has not yet sprouted. The Dao and non-Dao are like gold compared to grass; goodness and blessing are like white contrasted with black. How could they not be different, that you should say what difference is there?"