弘明集 6.9

6.9

You say that for transgressions the unseen realm watches, while for blessings spirits bestow protection. Now, when one embodies the utmost purity of virtue, all good things gravitate toward him. The Book of Changes states: 'He treads in good faith and meditates on yielding compliance; from Heaven blessing is bestowed on him; there is good fortune and nothing that is not beneficial.' It also says: 'When one commits misdeeds in hidden obscurity, the ghosts and spirits are able to punish him.' Are these not the watchfulness of the unseen realm and the protection of the spirits? As for the retribution of good and evil, the scriptures contain verified proofs; they need not be enumerated here in full. You say that banquets exhaust fine delicacies and monasteries reach the height of magnificence. These are simply families cultivating blessings who exhaust their means to prepare provisions for the future, draining their wealth solely as a grand strategy for their own persons. It is hardly that the spirits savor the magnificence or that the assembly of monks covets the flavors! It is just like a farmer sowing crops or a craftsman building a house: they will select sound timber to seek the adornment of halls and chambers, and carefully screen seeds to anticipate the harvest of fine crops. Therefore, agriculture must be planted in fertile soil, and in choosing a dwelling one must select a high and dry location. Hence we know that the Three Jewels are the field of blessings for living beings; making offerings is simply cultivating one's own merit. You say that they carve away the precious items of the living people and exalt useless and empty expenses. Now, broadly bestowing and universally loving is the deep virtue of the benevolent; adorning the ancestral temple is the utmost mind of filial reverence. If secular teachings are like this, the Dao is also the same. Among things, there are those where losing brings gain, and doing it brings certain rewards. Furthermore, floating wealth is like dung and dirt, while bestowing generosity serves the spirit; it is like using rotten wood to make a boat, which nevertheless becomes a vital ford for crossing over. What empty expense is there? If one wishes to sit upright and wait for spontaneous ease, or fold one's hands in silence hoping for peace and joy, that is like seeking to fell trees without an axe, or seeking fullness without eating—how could it be attained? If failing to cultivate oneself already brings distress, why must you go further to obstruct the ears and eyes of the common people and block the great goodness of the realm? Having already drunk poison yourself, you further wish to administer aconite to others; what cruelty could match this? This can be called destroying oneself while entrapping others, bringing disaster upon both together. Thus, retribution as the blind, deaf, dumb, and mute, and calamities dwelling in darkness across kalpas, are the karmic retribution of Devadatta, who undergoes the uninterrupted suffering of the Avīci Hell. You say that this depletes the yearly stores of private households and leaves the resources of the military and the state deficient. When a sage king governs the world, pure customs spread afar; he shakes the guidelines of the Dao to maintain the six directions, and spreads the net of virtue to encompass all talents. In the rivers there are no men beating the waves in distress, and in the valleys there are no scholars harboring sighs. The four classes of people all rest secure in their vocations, and the hundred officials each fulfill their duties. Within the seas all is harmonious and open, and the nine provinces are bound together as one. Thereupon the war chariots are stowed away, and the armored soldiers turn back to spread manure on the fine grains left across the fields; the granaries are stacked until the grain decays; the young advance in virtue renewed day by day, and the aged live out their full longevity. They should together beat the earth singing praises of the Great Peace, and drum their bellies to behold this flourishing transformation! Why do you harbor such deep and unwarranted worries, fretting that the times are deficient? Is this not excessive? You say: 'Begrudging the Court Provisioner, one's mouth swells; facing the vast ocean, one draws in one's belly.' This truly applies to you, sir!