弘明集 12.89

12.89

I have carefully examined your special letter and the letter from the Eight Ministers inquiring into why śramaṇas do not revere kings. Their intent is to honor the ruler and exalt the superior, preserving from afar name and substance, quoting Laozi to equate kings and lords with the three greats, and taking the way of supporting life and facilitating movement as the reason. They assume that his sacred vessel ought to be honored. If we trace their origin and seek out their source, all receive qi from the two modes (heaven and earth) and take form from their parents. Thus, taking the way of continuous generation and facilitating movement as vast support, they consider preserving the principles of daily usage to be paramount. Hence one should not receive his favor while omitting the rituals toward him, or partake of his kindness while neglecting respect for him. This is the basis for your premise, Danapāla, and I, a poor monk, do not differ from your noble sentiments. Yet if one seeks it in the Buddhist teachings to investigate the principles and reasons of a śramaṇa, it is not so. Why is this? What the Buddhist scriptures explain falls into two categories: the first is residing in secular life to propagate the teaching; the second is leaving the household to cultivate the Way. Residing in secular life, the etiquette of serving the superior, the respect of honoring parents, and the duty of loyalty and filial piety are expressed in the scriptural texts. The instruction on the three [bonds] is manifest in the sacred scriptures. This shares the same mandate with the royal regulations, fitting like tallies. This single point is entirely what you, Danapāla, have clarified; in principle there is no room for difference. As for leaving the household, such a person is a guest beyond the realm, whose traces are severed from worldly things. As for the teaching: he realizes that troubles and fetters arise from possessing a physical body, and does not preserve the body in order to bring an end to trouble; he understands that continuous generation derives from receiving transformation, and does not comply with transformation to seek the ultimate principle. Seeking the ultimate principle does not come from complying with transformation; hence he does not value the resources that facilitate movement. Bringing an end to trouble does not come from preserving the body; hence he does not prize the benefits of enriching life. This is where principle diverges from the world, and the Way is contrary to the secular. For this reason, whoever leaves the household lives in seclusion to pursue their aspiration and alters secular ways to realize their Way. Altering secular ways, their garments and insignia cannot share the same rituals as secular statutes; living in seclusion, their conduct ought to be exalted. Because it is so, they are able to rescue the worldly from drowning in the sinking torrent and uproot dark roots through repeated kalpas, opening the ford of the three vehicles afar and broadly opening the path of humans and gods. Therefore, internally they deviate from the weight of natural kinship, yet do not violate filial piety; externally they lack the deference of serving the ruler, yet do not forfeit respect. For such people, their vow begins when they cast aside the hairpin, and their aspiration is accomplished in their declining years. If even a single man attains complete virtue, his Dao reaches the six relations and his bounty flows throughout the world. Although he does not occupy the station of kings and lords, he has already harmonized with the August Ultimate and broadly sheltered the living populace. Being such, how could he be merely sitting and receiving benefits, vainly enjoying favors, sharing unearned sustenance with those virtuous ones who hold sinecures? Recently, Danapāla, considering that there are those who wear the vestments but lack the person, you therefore purified and selected them, tolerating no disorder. Once this order was proclaimed, all were a hundredfold more sincere; the depth of its compliance is beyond words to convey. If you again broaden their way of appearing in the world and retiring, so as to propagate the Way beyond the realm, then those of open mind will draw upon its lingering breeze, and those who rinse with streams will savor its remaining waters. If after purification and selection it still does not satisfy expectations, and among them truth and falsehood are intermixed with the Jing and Wei rivers still indistinct, then one may discard the person on account of the Way, but surely one must not discard the Way on account of the person. If discarding the person on account of the Way, one should remove their robes; if discarding the Way on account of the person, one should preserve their rituals. When rituals are preserved, the intent of establishing the teaching can be traced; when traces are abandoned, the joy of fulfilling aspirations has no recourse. How is it known to be so? The śramaṇa's vestments and ritual implements, though not statutes of the Six Dynasties, are naturally the distinct system of the house of the Way, the sacred vessels outside the secular world. If sacred vessels are confounded, matters deviate from their root; if matters deviate from their root, rituals lose their function. Therefore, those who cherish ritual will never diminish its sacred vessels; that their non-diminution is obtained also has its provenance. Those who remotely comply with ancient statutes still preserved the sacrificial sheep of the new moon; if a sacrificial sheep could still preserve ritual, how much more so the Dharma robes of the Tathāgata? Inferring from this, even if the Way is absent, one must preserve its rituals; when rituals are preserved, the Dharma can be propagated; when the Dharma can be propagated, the Way can be pursued. This is the immutable Great Dharma shared by past and present. Furthermore, the kāṣāya is not court attire for audiences, and the alms bowl is not a vessel for temple halls. The military and the state have different deportments; the barbarian and the Chinese do not mix. For one who has shaved their hair and altered their form to suddenly take part in the rituals of the Xia states is a phenomenon of different kinds confounding each other, and privately I find no peace in it. Danapāla, your extraordinary grace was outstanding in your youth, and your elegance surpassed the declining age; yet you still consult with contemporary worthies to seek the middle path. Inferring from this, you will surely not discard the words on account of the person. I, a poor monk, am in my declining years, borrowing the sun and moon to await my end; what my heart cherishes is hardly the preservation of myself or stubborn attachment to what I hold. It is simply that I desire the Three Jewels to undergo revival in this epoch-making juncture, and bright virtue to shed fragrance down through a hundred generations. If once this is carried out, the Buddhist teaching will sink forever, and the Great Dharma of the Tathāgata will be obliterated here; gods and humans will sigh in lamentation, and both religious and secular will turn their minds. Where then will my hidden sincerity find rest? Because your favor and regard have been so grand, I have laid bare my feelings. Holding the brush in grief and distress, I do not notice the tears and snivel streaming down.