弘明集 6.29

6.29

The visitor, having become familiar with the correct teachings of the Buddha and Laozi, has still not encountered their vital path. I shall now briefly outline one corner of it to lead him to reflect upon himself. Only when principle illuminates and examines the mind, and the two names and teachings are both grasped, can movement and stillness be fully exhausted, and whatever one encounters be mounted as a vehicle. The teaching of Laozi consists in cultivating oneself and governing the state, casting aside high status, and ensuring that affairs are correctly proportioned; taking emptiness and non-being as the root, and softness and weakness as the function; introspecting and listening inwardly, sinking roots and resting in tranquility; keeping thought simple in celestial origin, serene and elevated above the human world; nurturing harmony through luminous qi, remaining unperturbed by gain or loss; in adversity, not plotting success but waiting upon one's destined mandate; in success, not scheming for oneself but taking the common good as the measure. This is why scholars look up to what has flown down from him, and why his Dao seems to survive. Where does it find room for boundless spirit transformations or aiding the world with deathlessness? As for harmonizing the morning mist, feather transformation, and refining transformations to reach the wondrous spirit: these are accomplishments accumulated from previous lives, naturally born with extraordinary qi; therefore, although those who record anomalies mention them, those who speak of principle do not base themselves upon them. If we examine spiritual marvels down to the varieties of creatures: on a large scale, there are auspicious anomalies like the qilin and phoenix; on a small scale, there are transformations like sparrows into clams and pheasants into chou. Once having received their form, can they be attained through aspiring study? Coming even to Yan Hui and Confucius, whose Dao bordered on perfection and whose personal endowments reached the ultimate: they could only look up to the spiritual dust and halt their desires, finding no path to follow; thus that destiny is not arbitrary can be clearly demonstrated by deduction. Therefore Confucius valued knowing one's destiny and necessarily had things of which he did not speak; Boyang discarded the pursuit of anomalies and firmly adhered to non-action; both did so in order to suppress the source from which absurdities arise. Thus, plumbing the spirit and exhausting teachings must proceed from a central principle; the completion of the Dao and the attainment of affairs each converge in a primordial source. If one's deeds and karmic activities were set in previous lives, but one now studies forcibly to attain their efficacy; or if accumulations were formed in plain weakness, yet one arbitrarily longs to falsely change what comes first—how could a native of Yan seeking to reach Yue ever hope to arrive? Therefore, when study obtains what is proper to study, study succeeds; when actions do what can be done, actions can be accomplished. Thus, study mirrors sentient beings, establishes teachings under heaven, observes signs, measures changes, and preserves without disputing the profound mysteries of managing the world: this is the utmost limit of Confucius and Laozi. Acting upon what has not yet arisen, illuminating exhaustively the subtle conditions, seeing that diverse lives share a common principle, refining away the false to return to the real: this is the uprightness of spiritual efficacy and the vastness of the Buddhist teaching. Thus the Buddha clarifies the source, while Laozi preserves life. Those who cling to life are obscured; those who clarify the source are penetrating. Yet resting quietly in the Great Norm, though obscured, is not delusion; moving from the source, principle is penetrated and illumination reaches the ultimate. Therefore, one must prize natural wholeness in virtue and seek the Dao from oneself; exalting the root and relying on penetration, merit returns to the four elements; not plotting what is not so, preserving the teachings and keeping to the regular: this is the purity of Confucius and Laozi, attaining what is proper to study. Transcending the source to the ultimate vista, following the streams to explore the source, regarding having life as dust and poison—therefore resting one's veneration of ruler and parents, not marveling or debating over diverse transformations, not clinging to fixed quarters to be alarmed by the wondrous, quietly contemplating to broaden thought, and accumulating deeds in the present to anticipate the future: this is the essence of the Buddhist teaching, bright in its actions. Therefore, when study obtains what is proper to study, it can nourish and preserve living beings, and the teaching will be revered throughout the realm; when one is clear in acting through proper action, one will eliminate habits, flow back against the stream, and transcend both gods and humans. Beyond this, nothing more can be known. The attainment of purifying thought will surely lie here.