弘明集 14.6

14.6

Furthermore, in the past, stones stood upright on Mount Tai, altars relocated, and numinous spirits descended in visible forms, their renown echoing for ten thousand generations. This was a response of Heaven and Earth, manifestly acting as auspicious omens of the times. You falsely claim such sanctity, yet you can neither raise clouds nor bring rain to display divine virtue; scheming demonic heterodoxy, you impair the true Dao. Even if you could make chopsticks move over dishes or raise cups to drain wine, it would still merely be demonic illusion, not genuine truth. How much less so when there are no signs whatsoever—what kind of spirit are you? Furthermore, Mount Tai is under the administration of King Yama; its land is dark and obscure, a numinous realm distinct from the mundane world. The Emissary of the General Register descends in accordance with divine operations, fixing one's original lifespan in the imperial records, inspecting the general registers in the Heavenly Offices. Among the host of evils, none, however subtle, is spared; among delicate goods, none, however minute, is omitted. It gathers spirits and souls; it is no mansion responsive to the living! How is it that wretched ghosts deceitfully claim this mandate, acting wildly and insolently in the human realm, practicing myriad forms of deception and deceit? Trees in overgrown groves and fields of crows and magpies—agitating both near and far, you are listed in the sacrificial codes. Gathering men and women, you plant worldly intentions. Foul qi incites [strife] externally, and owl-like cries spread afar; the poison concentrates in the royal domain, causing harm all the more grievous. When clouds and mist obscure Heaven, a multitude of evils eclipses what is upright. Since your bizarre omens appeared, you have caused much harm. Though I am of the lower stream, I fully possess the three monastic robes. Whenever I peruse the scriptures and records and behold such monstrosities, deducing from the past and examining the present, heterodoxy cannot overcome the upright! I shall cleanse away the filth and glorify the sagely Dao. When this proclamation arrives, we will strictly drag your party of specters back to wander among graves and tombs, eating fruits and drinking from springs—paths sufficient to sustain life. We shall thereby bring an end to the common people's plight of exhausting their wealth, and spare birds and beasts the disaster of nets. If you still linger, hoping for offerings and refusing to depart, I shall assemble the Divine King Vaiśravaṇa, the Heluozi, and others, conferring upon them the vajra, stationing true masters whose martial valor is like autumn frost, shaking the three thousand worlds with ferocious might difficult to withstand. Glancing at spears and shining swords, wherever they aim, mountains collapse; subduing dragons and taming Māra, none fails to bow their head to the ground. You are mere petty ghosts, yet dare to affront the Three Luminaries! It is like swan feathers falling into coals, fish swimming in a boiling cauldron, tilting the river to extinguish a fire, or morning dew exposed to the sun! Bearing compassion in mind, I pity your deeds; divining your perilous state, my heart aches at the thought. Swiftly return to your original form before me, and retire forever ten thousand li away to the shores of the azure ocean! Do not linger any longer! Obey and carry this out clearly!