弘明集 5.32

5.32

'Although the Buddha's transforming influence is vast and limitless, extending beyond what is seen and heard, it takes reverence as its foundation. In this, the recluses and the worldly do not differ; it is merely that their ultimate aspirations are distinct, and it is not that reverence and respect should be abandoned. Laozi ranked kings and lords together with the three great ones; tracing this back, what he valued lay entirely in supporting life and keeping fortunes flowing. How could it merely be that because the sage is on the throne, he is equated with heaven and earth? It is because the great virtue of heaven and earth is called life, and keeping life flowing and ordering things rests with the ruler. Therefore, the sacred vessel of rule is revered, and the rites are indeed exalted. How could it be empty adulation, merely an intention toward the ruler's governance? The reason śramaṇas are born and exist in the state also relies daily on his ordering of life. How could they receive his virtue yet omit his rites, benefit from his grace yet abandon their reverence?' At that time, many court officials and eminent worthies replied; although their words had not yet brought understanding to the times, they all had their respective merits. Yet they all merely exhausted what they harbored, while the underlying principle remained trapped in emotion. Consequently, the supreme garment of the Dao was defiled by the worldly dust, and minds of bright integrity were bowed to human affairs. How sorrowful! This is the source of mutual demise and the misfortune of a thousand years. Deeply fearing that the Great Dharma was about to submerge, and moved by the unforgettable events of the past, I have composed five treatises to investigate and expound this subtle purport. How could it be said that the deep abyss depends on the morning dew? It is merely to declare what is boundlessly profound, and also hoping that future gentlemen who revere and respect the Buddha's teachings might examine it thoroughly.