弘明集 1.51

1.51

The questioner said: “Your explanations are truly complete and comprehensive; they are indeed things we had never heard. Yet why did you formulate exactly thirty-seven articles in your resolution? Was there also a model for this?” Mouzi said: “When tumbleweeds blew across, chariot wheels were made; when hollowed logs floated, boats and oars were devised; when spiders spread their webs, nets and snares were laid out; when bird tracks were observed, writing was created. Therefore, when there is a model, completion is easy; when there is no model, completion is difficult. When I examined the essentials of the Buddhist scriptures, there are thirty-seven sections; Laozi’s Daoist classic also consists of thirty-seven chapters. Hence I took them as a model.” Thereupon the confused person, hearing this, grew uneasy and paled. Clasping his hands, he stepped away from his mat, shrank back, bowed low, and said: “I am an ignorant and blind man born in an obscure corner. I dared to utter foolish words without considering misfortune or fortune. Now that I have heard your instruction, it is like sudden melting of snow. I beg to reform my sentiments, wash my heart, and admonish myself; I wish to receive the five precepts and become an upāsaka.”