弘明集 13.15

13.15

The Zhengzhai jing says: 'One may only speak of a person's hundred virtues, and must not speak of a person's single fault. When one speaks of a person's virtues, a good mind immediately arises; when one speaks of a person's faults, resentful thoughts at once arise. Though the intention is subtle at the start, they gradually nourish and accumulate one another. Therefore, one good produces millions of goods, and one evil produces millions of evils.' The ancients said: 'The rise of military houses does not exceed three generations.' Chen Ping also said: 'I have engaged in many secret plots; my descendants will not prosper.' Adducing these as teachings is truly sufficient to have broad effect. However, Qi and Chu enjoyed surviving lineages for accumulated generations, while Yan Hui and Ran Geng had no manifest retribution among their descendants. Since this has already been made manifest through the evidence of events, one does not need to infer principle before it becomes clear. Furthermore, when Gun was executed, Yu arose; Pan and Fu had differing forms. The punishment of the four criminals did not extend to their kin, which is a universal canon across a hundred generations. When wise kings governed the world, there were still no excessive and indiscriminate penalties; how much less so with the natural, profound response that is without personal bias! To have sin and blessing received haphazardly and good and evil devoid of clear rules would be a profound deception of principle. Moreover, even the Qin law of enslaving wives and children still took the offender as primary; the primary offender suffered the punishment, and only then was culpability extended to the rest. If the offense did not fall upon one's own body while the disaster extended to one's relatives, enacting laws in this way is not only something that the sacred canons would not tolerate, but is also something that Shen Buhai and Han Feizi would certainly have rejected. Therefore the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'If the father does what is unwholesome, the son does not receive it in his stead; if the son does what is unwholesome, the father does not receive it either. The good naturally obtains blessings, and the evil naturally receives disaster.' Utterly perfect are these words, which accord with the mind and correspond to principle! Yet, in tracing the emergence of worldly teachings, is it not because the objects of emotional concern do not stop with oneself? The broader the reach, the deeper the warning and fear. For this reason, ultimate truths are concealed within the chest, and they consistently draw on what is close at hand to restrain the coarse. In advancing, this does no harm to chastening and encouraging, while being suited to worldly expediency. Those of thoughtful disposition should set aside the outer events, comprehend the deep, and grasp the subtle meaning. If one clings to the literal text without understanding its expedient transformations, sacrificing oneself to the teaching without grasping its intent, and uses this to establish one's mind and follow principle, would that not be missing the mark?