弘明集 14.19

14.19

Now, the two truths differ, and thus the way of liberation and secular life are demarcated. The Dharma is empty and quiet; it encompasses the three realms to view them impartially. Secular teachings are confined and stagnant; they cling to a single kingdom to restrict the mind. When the mind is restricted to a single kingdom, everything beyond the reach of ears and eyes is doubted. When the view impartially encompasses the three realms, the principle of divine transformation is constantly illumined. Clinging to doubt so as to obscure illumination is why the multitude of beings are forever submerged. If one closely examines secular teachings, they all take the Five Classics as their model: what they revere is only Heaven, and what they emulate is only the sages. Yet none can fathom Heaven's form, and none can peer into the minds of the sages. Though men revere and believe in them, they remain dim and unenlightened. How much more so is the Buddha more venerable than Heaven and the Dharma more wondrous than the sages! His transformation extends beyond the mortal domain; its principles transcend mundane bounds. Jianwu was still frightened [by Jieyu's words as vast as] the Milky Way; how could secular scholars not be perplexed and terrified by the ocean of awakening? Being terrified by the ocean of awakening, their astonishment matches [Jianwu's fear of] the Milky Way. First, they doubt that the scripture's teachings are wildly fabricated, grandiose, and without verification. Second, they doubt, holding that when man dies the spirit is extinguished, and there are no three times. Third, they doubt because none sees the true Buddha, so he is of no benefit to the governance of the realm. Fourth, they doubt because antiquity had no Dharma teachings, which only recently emerged during the Han dynasty. Fifth, they doubt because the teachings arose in barbarian regions, so their transformation is not meant for Chinese customs. Sixth, they doubt because the Dharma was faint in the Han and Wei, only flourishing in the Jin period. Because of these six doubts, their faithful mind is not established; about to drown, they ought to be rescued. Hence I discuss and compare them. As for those who doubt that the scriptures' teachings are wildly fabricated, grandiose, and without verification, it is simply because accumulated kalpas are inexhaustible and worlds are boundless. People of the present age all know that beyond a hundred years there must be ten thousand years, yet they do not believe that the transformations of accumulated myriad [years] reach to vast kalpas. This is restricting the mind to measure the creation of the cosmos. They all know that beyond the Red County there must be the four extremities, yet they do not believe that far beyond the extremities there are further worlds. This is clinging to [narrow] views to judge the Great Emptiness. Formerly, Tang asked Ge: 'Do the upper, lower, and eight directions have an extremity?' Ge said: 'Beyond the boundless there is again the boundless; within the inexhaustible there is again the inexhaustible. From this, I know it is boundless and inexhaustible.' The great worthies of high antiquity instructed sages based on principle; across a thousand years their tallies match, coinciding from afar with the scriptures. How could men of well-frog understanding know the extraordinary? When, with a mind only a square inch in size, one schemes for one's own body and yet falls into error, and with pupils of a rounded fraction one cannot see through walls, yet one wishes to insult the revered scriptures, turn against the teachings of the sages, slander the accumulated kalpas, and deny the [countless] worlds—this is the first thing to be lamented. If they doubt, holding that when man dies the spirit is extinguished and there are no three times, they are slandering their own spiritual nature and despising their ancestors. Indeed, when the Duke of Zhou and Confucius instituted the canons, they spoke openly of ghosts and spirits. The Classic of Changes says: 'The roaming soul undergoes transformation; by this one knows the nature and circumstances of ghosts and spirits.' Since they have both nature and circumstance, how could they lack form? The Classic of Poetry says: 'The three former kings are in Heaven; King [Wen] is paired [with God] in the capital,' and 'His ascending spirit reached the high heavens'—how could they be said to be extinguished? The Classic of Rites says: 'The Xia revered the mandates [of Heaven], served ghosts, and respected spirits'—this was revered by the Great Yu; could it be empty and fabricated? The Classic of Documents records the Duke of Zhou offering himself in place of King Wu, saying: 'I am able to serve ghosts and spirits'—Ji Dan prayed for his kin; could this be empty and false? If in death there is a spirit, then the three times are like a mirror: who can know the limit of transformations and samsāra? Secular scholars cling to rites while turning their backs on the Five Classics; this is not only slandering the Buddha, but also insulting the sages. If one believes in ghosts from the Five Classics but doubts the spirit in the Buddha's preachings, such people are truly deaf and blind, beyond the reach of discussion. This is the second thing to be pitied. If they doubt because none sees the true Buddha and thus he is of no benefit to the governance of the realm, then the pure sacrifices and offerings from afar ought also to be discarded. Why? In the vast, azure sky, who has seen the countenance of the Lord on High? In the boundless mounds of earth, how can one recognize the form of Lord Millet? The people till the fields themselves; what strength does the God of the Soil exert? Men build ramparts and dykes; what merit do the Zha spirits have? Yet they still lavish expenses on sacrificial animals and multiply the seasonal offerings—is it not because unseen spirits ought to be revered, and because the people should be taught fine recompense? How much more so is the Buddha's wisdom all-pervasive throughout the realm of space, and his spirit concentrated beyond the mortal domain! The Lord on High completes Heaven owing to [the Buddha's] fashioning compassion; sage kings rule people relying on [the Buddha's] nurturing precepts. When the Dharma is venerated, the six heavens all rejoice; when the Way is abandoned, the myriad spirits grow furious. Today, though people do not see Heaven's form, they claim that the suburban sacrifice brings blessings; yet when they do not see his golden countenance, they say that revering and serving him brings no recompense. Neglecting the root and prizing the branches—this is the third thing to cause dread. If they doubt because antiquity had no Buddhist teachings and they only recently emerged during the Han dynasty: the concealment and manifestation of divine transformations—who can fathom their beginning and end? Tracing back to Fuxi, it is remote, and even his governing achievements are obscured; if there were Dharma teachings there, how could one hear of them? Formerly, Fotudeng knew that at Linzi there was an old image and a dew basin under a buried stone; Gandhara saw the foundations of an ancient monastery in Mount Panchi. When the multitude tried digging, it was all just as they had said. These are the surviving proofs of ten thousand generations, the evident verifications in the Jin period! Who can judge that there was definitely no Buddha in high antiquity? Liezi states: 'In the time of King Mu of Zhou, a transformed man came from the western extremity; he entered water and fire, pierced metal and stone, turned mountains and rivers around, and moved walled cities; he mounted the void without falling and touched solids without hindrance. His thousand changes and myriad transformations could not be exhausted. He could change a person's shape and alter a person's thoughts. King Mu revered him like a spirit and served him like a lord.' Viewing his miraculous traces, it was indeed the transformation of an opening being [bodhisattva]. The dawn of the Great Dharma was already visible at the beginning of the Zhou; the gradual emergence of resonance and response did not begin in the Han dynasty. Yet to cling stubbornly to a single period—this is the fourth thing over which to sigh. If they doubt because the teachings arose in barbarian regions, so their transformation is not meant for China: that would mean the former sages clung to locality to establish teachings, rather than setting up teachings to alter customs. In antiquity, the Three Sovereigns practiced non-action and the Five Emperors governed with moral transformation; the Three Kings used rites and punishments, and the Seven States destroyed each other through force. The land remained the lands of Xia, yet the secular teachings changed nine times. Now, conversely, with the fountainhead of the Utmost Way and mirroring the instructions of Great Wisdom, when stimulated it penetrates everywhere—whither would it not reach? Yu came from the Western Qiang, and Shun was born among the Eastern Yi: who says their land was lowly and thus discards their sagehood? Confucius wished to dwell among the Yi, and Laozi went to the Western Rong: does the place where the Way resides choose its territory? If secular sages in setting up teachings were still not bound by the distinction of Chinese and barbarian, how much more so with the Buddha who commands a great chiliocosm—how could his transformation be confined to the Western Regions? According to the 'Royal Regulations' in the Classic of Rites: 'Within the four seas it is three thousand li square'; the territory held by the Central Xia was already not vast. The Yi and Luo rivers were originally Xia territory but became ruins of the Rong; Wu and Chu were originally barbarian but turned into Chinese towns. The Way has its flowing movements, while land has no permanent transformation. Moreover, the Earth is boundless, realms have differing systems, and the Northern Dipper lies to the northwest; hence we know that Tianzhu resides in the center. Now, using a trivial central land to call oneself Chinese and resist the true Dharma—though one may wish to block it, divine transformations are ever-penetrating. This is the fifth thing to cause sorrow. If they doubt because the Dharma was faint in the Han and Wei and only flourished in the Jin period: the rise and fall in the course of the Way cannot be interrogated like this. Tracing the śramaṇas' cultivation of Śākyamuni's teachings, how does it differ from Confucius's recounting of Tang and Yu? Confucius compiled the Five Classics to leave a model for a hundred kings. Yet the feudal lords of the Spring and Autumn period refused to comply with and apply them; during the Warring States period they were despised and nearly fell to the ground. Then, under the First Emperor of Qin, they were burned to ashes. Was this because Confucius was unworthy, or that the Odes and Documents were shallow and base? Only when reaching Emperor Wu of the Han did Confucian teachings first become prominent: he raised ministers versed in the Classics and exalted the arts of the sage Confucius. Could it be that because they were slighted by the Seven States, they should have been discarded in later ages? According to the Han era of Emperor Yuan, Liu Xiang's Preface to the Immortals states: 'Seventy-four people appear in the Buddhist scriptures.' Thus we know that scriptures flowing into the Central Xia have a long history. Coming to Emperor Ming's sensing of the dream, Fu Yi spoke of the Buddha. Thereupon Qin Jing was sent east, and She Moteng and [Zhu Falan] arrived from the west. Images were painted at the Kaiyang Gate pavilion, and scriptures were stored in the Orchid Terrace chamber. Deep texts were not expounded, and no one recognized the profound meaning. Therefore, King of Chu practiced benevolent and pure sacrifices, and Emperor Xiaohuan established the canopy worship; the characteristics of the Dharma were not yet fully harmonized, and they merely treated it as a spirit. When Cao Cao with his heroic insight wrote an account of the wondrous transformation, and Sun Quan with his grand strategy erected stupas and monasteries, by the beginning of Emperor Wu of the Jin, the faculties and conditions gradually deepened. Jīvaka displayed the traces of divine penetration, and Dharmarakṣa assembled the treasury of the Dharma jewel. Thereupon the various officials and the gentry cleansed their minds to advance their virtue; the people and the worthy across the myriad states applied their wills to move toward goodness. When Emperor Ming of the Jin, with his sharp awakening, embraced unity and settled his spirit, he personally painted precious images to display them for joyous viewing. Soon after, Master Dao'an propagated the scriptures east of the mountains, and Master Kumārajīva proclaimed the Dharma west of the pass. Once the refined doctrines were unfolded, the true mark shone ever brighter. Heroic talents and profound intellects verified the principles and bowed in conviction. Hence we know that the cloud of Dharma begins by brushing against the rock, and the water of wisdom has its origin in a small cup. Teachings must proceed by degrees; this is the constant boundary of divine transformation. Resonance and response follow the times; without conditions, what can be done? Thus, Confucian arts were not foolish in Qin and wise in Han: it was simply a matter of being used or not used. The Buddha's Dharma was not shallow in Han and deep in Jin: it was simply a matter of being clarified or not clarified. From this we know that the Five Classics are constantly good, while their exaltation or decline depends on destiny; Buddhist transformation is constantly blazing, while its opening or blockage lies in conditions. If one reflects with this alone, one will have no deep confusion. Yet clinging to doubts without awakening—this is the sixth thing to be deeply grieved. Indeed, faith and compliance are the foundation of blessing; delusion and slander are the gate to disaster. How much more so when the dim-witted multitude mostly do not measure their own strength, using what they do not know to slander the all-knowing omniscience of the First Awakened One, and using what they do not see to deny the clear vision of the Utmost Person! Seeing through the three times is conversely branded as heterodox; exclusively bound to what is before their eyes, they call themselves wise. Thereupon, confusion and doubt congest their chests, and slander fills their mouths. With frivolous discussions they purchase heavy suffering; with overt denunciation they incur unseen punishments. Their words have not the least grain of merit; their thoughts have not the slightest fraction of benefit. The flowing stream passes as if flying; hiding the boat in the valley vanishes like lightning. Once a single breath does not return, suddenly they arrive at future lives. Retribution follows like a shadow; can regret then be overtaken? Indeed, divine transformations are boundless; the unseen and the visible alternate in movement. How could the transformations in the five destinies ever be deficient? The manifest verification of heavenly palaces is shown in the gifts given to Zhao Jianzi and Duke Mu of Qin. The mutual retribution of the ghostly realm is shown in the appearances of Du Bo and Pengsheng. Cultivating virtue with responsive blessings is shown in the verifications of Wu Ding of Yin and Duke Jing of Song. The disaster incurred by much killing is proven by Bai Qi and Cheng Pu. The unseen subtleties of the present world are recorded in detail in classical texts; the dark responses of future lives are spread throughout the revered scriptures. But the principle of conditioned response is profound, and the meaning of cause and effect is subtle. Because subtle things are difficult to grasp, I have passed over them and not set them forth in detail. What former philosophers have argued has already correctly fixed the crucial points. With rash and humble intent, I add this at the end. Although the phrasing is not of jade, the matters are sufficient to serve as an adornment and a mirror. May the gentle and dignified gentleman seek much blessing for himself!