弘明集 14.5

14.5

Furthermore, the true spirits of the Five Peaks are the auguries of quintessential energy. Above, they model themselves on the armillary sphere; below, they support Heaven and Earth. Endowed with the Dao of clear emptiness, they are without voice or sound. Honoring them does not make them pleased; slighting them does not make them sorrowful. Amidst a thousand praises or ten thousand slanders, the spirits neither gain nor lose. Yet you make fraudulent claims and falsely attach yourselves to living humans; stirring up qi out of emptiness, slaughter and harm flow from your mouths. If people obey you, you bestow favors; if they disobey you, misfortune strikes. Advancing or retreating, you are fawning and deceitful, forever lacking the tracks of the worthy. You dishonor the true spirits; this is not their Dao! Thus the Xuanzhong ji of the Huangluozi jing says: 'Those who call themselves mountain peak spirits are surely pythons and snakes. Those who call themselves river and sea spirits are surely giant turtles, alligators, fish, and softshell turtles. Those who call themselves spirits of Heaven, Earth, father, or mother are surely wildcats, foxes, and wild beasts. Those who call themselves general spirits are surely brown bears, black bears, tigers, and leopards. Those who call themselves scholar-official spirits are surely monkeys, macaques, and apes. Those who call themselves house spirits are surely dogs, sheep, pigs, and calves. Things like doors, windows, wells, stoves, and broken vessels, and the false forms assumed by ghosts and sprites—all are called spirits. They terrify the myriad people; they are the qi of illicit spirits.' These are recorded in the scriptures, clear verifications handed down through the ages! Since your evil omens gradually began more than six years ago, they have summoned people from all directions, none of whom failed to respond. Those who travel to you bringing illnesses are like small streams flowing to the ocean; those who receive death and return fill the roads with wailing. When severe cases die early, you promptly claim their lifespans were exhausted; when mild cases are easily resolved, you credit your own blessings. If severe afflictions are hard to relieve, then you have no kindness to offer; moderate ailments are not what you can cure. Neither shows efficacy—how can you be served? Yet you cause the multitude of people to devote their hearts and take refuge, though you have neither good doctors nor fine medicines; nor can you descend through [shamans with] disheveled hair. Months and weeks pass without the slightest sign of retribution. Deducing from this: what proof or verification is there? Furthermore, the Great Yuan Huan Prince and the granted enfeoffments—the admirable standards of the six states, the auxiliary radiance of the three stellar platforms, assisting the imperial house so that the black-haired people were joyous—when heavenly misfortune errantly struck and his body suffered a slight ailment, he thought your divinity could be moved by numinous virtue. Therefore, demonstrating virtue and relying on faith, he dispatched an envoy to your spirit shrine, offering the three sacrificial animals and presenting additional rare treasures. If your sagely Dao reached to Heaven and attained the marvelous, why did you not petition the Nine Sovereigns above and consult Empress Earth below, gather all the spirits, and openly manifest subtle arts to make this fine minister of the state dispel his disease and attain peace? Since there was no response, he suddenly passed away. With this proof of your falsehood, how could you be worthy of being served?!