弘明集 5.40

5.40

The questioner asks: "Surveying past history, those who have held the throne and occupied the ancestral seat since the Sovereigns of High Antiquity have never diverged from their original root. The root cannot be two; therefore, a hundred generations have shared the same standard and all unified their lineage. As the saying goes: 'Only heaven is great, and only Yao took it as his model.' In this case, it is not that their wisdom failed to illuminate something; rather, there was simply nothing outside for it to illuminate. It is not that their illumination failed to exhaust something; rather, there was simply no principle left unexhausted. Inferring from this, outside what can be seen and heard, there is vast emptiness with nowhere to lodge anything. When the principle has nowhere else to lodge, the ultimate root is clear. Now, the śramaṇas do not realize the meaning beyond the text and are confused by the purport beyond the teaching. Their error is already complete. If this can be clearly demonstrated once again, it would be a rare discourse indeed."