弘明集 12.57

12.57

I object: That the ultimate principle admits of no repayment is truly as your letter says. Yet when feelings dwell on boundless [favor], reverence naturally follows. This is why the sages instituted ritual according to feelings, enabling each to convey its lodging. If, because merit is profound and benevolence heavy, one must dispense with gratitude, then as for the virtue of Śākya, is it profound or is it shallow? If it is shallow, one ought not to disrupt the great human relationships with a minor path. If it is profound, how could one show austere reverence to him while severing one's reverence toward this [sovereign]?