弘明集 10.29

10.29

Guo pays homage. Prostrate, I have perused the imperial decree answering the ministers' examination of the Treatise on the Extinction of the Spirit. Indeed, proceeding from the unfixated root rests in silence and halts thought; hidden within the tathāgatagarbha, it is remote, profound, and difficult to express in words. Therefore, it caused Zhongchu to establish his clinging to the fire and fuel, and Huiyuan to broadly set forth the difficulty of extinction and rekindling. Transmitted doubts and manifold arguments have fallen into confusion and decadence for long years. Yet the Imperial Sagacity is naturally endowed; his holy illumination is innate knowledge. Discerning the roots of beings, he dispenses medicine; adapting to conditions, he deploys expedients. Thereupon he expounded the rites to straighten the crooked, pointing to filial piety to reveal a corner of truth. Truly, because delusion sprang from secular studies, he used the secular to illustrate the Dao; because perplexity was drawn from external texts, he approached the external to elucidate the internal. Giving free rein to words, he produced marvels; relying on the principle he held, he fortified it like moats and walls. Across the three times he shoulders all living beings, shattering darkness in the present and cleaving nets in the future. Within a single writing tablet, what is not beneficial? How could the benefits of even a few words be completely detailed? Having been born with past blessings, I share the same time with this supreme virtue. Participating in receiving these remaining discourses, I leap with joy and carry them upon my head. That you did not overlook me with your gracious bestowal leaves me deeply holding earnest thoughts. Lu Guo pays homage.