弘明集 13.13

13.13

A sūtra states: 'The mind makes heaven, the mind makes humans, the mind makes hell, the mind makes animals; up to and including those who attain the Dao, it is also the mind.' Whenever a thought issues from the mind, retribution is received for thought after thought. Though the deed has not yet reached corporeal form, the unseen retribution is already framed in the dark realm. The movement of thoughts is roundly swift, occurring in a flash without interval; the mechanism is set in motion at the tip of a fine hair and instantly fills the universe. Sins, blessings, the corporeal, and the Dao all proceed from it. Good fortune, misfortune, regret, and humiliation are determined in a brief moment. Therefore, those who practice the Dao must be watchful over themselves when alone in their minds, guarding against subtle inclinations and considering beginnings, taking ultimate principle as their rampart and moat. They constantly take hold of the fundamental to control the peripheral, and do not lightly give rise to mental thoughts merely because the matter has not yet manifested in corporeal form. Is it only that 'words uttered in one's chamber are responded to from a thousand miles away,' and 'nothing is more visible than what is hidden,' so that what one must be cautious of is merely corporeal form?