弘明集 8

English (machine translation) 8

Language: English

8.1

Compiled by Vinaya Master Shi Sengyou of Jianchu Monastery in Yangdu of the Liang

Dharma Master Xuanguang, Essay Discriminating Confusion (Bianhuo lun)
Secretary Liu Xie, Essay Eradicating Confusion (Miehuo lun)
Dharma Master Sengshun, Essay Analyzing the Three Destructions (Xi sanpo lun)

8.3

Essay Discriminating Confusion (Preface)

8.4

Shi Xuanguang

8.5

Now the great chiliocosm is vast and distant, and the ten thousand transformations are boundless. Wandering like dust within dreamscapes, beings are stained and deluded by worldly sound and glory. Dependent thoughts add to the haze, so how could they recognize luminous governance? Because the pristine manner has weakened, the host of Māras has arisen in turbulent contention. If one schemes for glory through fraud and deceit, one will inevitably commit the five heinous crimes; if one guides the blind through overbearing force, one will surely inflict the six extremities. Insect-like breath swarms and fills [the world], causing misfortunes that are not singular. Eastern Wu suffered the disaster of the water transcendents; the Western Barbarians bore the name of ghost soldiers; the Min swamps preserved the defilement of the Seed People; the Han generation was moved by the 'Song of Longing for My Son.' Loyal and worthy men sigh in distress, while the governance of the people collapses and ceases. If one took up the sands and grasses of the earth, how could they count their offenses? Followers of the late teachings in the trickling streams do not know the ancestral root. Worldly teachings with erroneous words deceptively obscure the Three Jewels; the old ghosts and people fill the roads with their sighs and laments. All of them are ashes from the flaming mountain, dregs and sediment of the Yellow River and Luo River. Sinking into peril and hardship, I grieve over them deeply. I shall briefly compile past traces, hoping to provide a mirror for the future: illuminating deluded youths in the mysterious homeland, and revealing the wondrous destination beyond the dust. The auspicious wind secretly covers [all], and the feelings of self and other are distinguished—how could words and sounds fully express this?

8.6

Prohibiting scriptures to raise prices is the first offense.

8.7

The mysterious texts, spreading like clouds, thread together the beauty of emptiness and existence; what achievement of sages and worthies has not arisen from this? They are truly an oceanic abyss for scholars, the sun and moon for the living populace. For this reason, Sadāprarudita Bodhisattva, shining equally with great compassion, thundered sound and light on the dark paths, subdued dust-like bandits in perilous marshes, floated the spiritual vessel on the winds of faith, and gathered up floating lives in the waters of suffering. One hears that the various scriptures of the Dao are fabricated with an admixture of mundane ideas, and their doctrinal traces are perverse and perilous; therefore they are not transmitted. How strange! The conversion of the Dao is uselessly locked away and prohibited. Observing today's scholars, they pay no heed to strict codes; as soon as they receive gold and silk, they hand over their scriptures. When poor people approach them, they never behold them to their dying day. Greed for profit without compassion—no perversion exceeds this. Furthermore, their arts and recipes are filthy, turbid, and impure: they click teeth to make heavenly drums, swallow saliva to make sweet wine springs, use horse dung as spiritual firewood, and old rats as mushroom drugs. Relying on this to seek the Way, how could one attain it? In the past, the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han failed to lighten their bodies; they sent Xu Fu and Gongsun afar into the obscure clouds and waves to pray for and await communion with transcendents, yet not a trace of response appeared. If one calms the mind and dispels desires, one's affairs will neighbor the Way. Why would one resort to the toil of sudden exertions, swallowing saliva and gnashing teeth?

8.8

Falsely claiming the true Dao is the second offense.

8.9

Flourishing substance like crimson clouds speaks of the efficacy of the divine elixir; opening luminous and pure wisdom requires the vapor of the divine flower. Even if one preserves these as true, one cannot avoid the end. How much more so with Zhang Ling, who falsely claimed to be the Celestial Master! Having insulted and slighted humans and ghosts, he received retribution in his very body: near the end of the Xingping era of the Han, he was swallowed by a giant python. His son Heng rushed in search of him to no avail. Fearing the reproaches and ridicule of pure criticism, he then set up an expedient device to display traces of spiritual transformation. He tied the foot of a live snow goose and placed it atop a stone cliff; when the plot was prepared, he set a date to initiate it. Coming to the first year of the Jian'an era, he sent a messenger to announce: 'On the seventh day of the first month, the Celestial Master ascends to the Mysterious Capital.' The rice-people and mountain barbarians swarmed like ants outside the threshold. The people of the Cloud Terrace parish and others bowed their heads twice, saying: 'We humbly hear that the sage carriage has gone to the Mysterious Capital; we, your subjects, are forever separated from your protective presence, leaving behind corpse-dust to boil in the nine obscurities and dark nights.' Heng entered inside, and after a long while emerged, falsely claiming: 'I have turned my carriage from Chenhua. Return, each of you, to your governing parish; with pure minds maintain practice, keep the Master in mind, and contemplate the Dao.' Heng then secretly pulled the wandering snare, and the snow goose shot straight into the void. The foolish and ignorant populace and barbarians all declared he had ascended to transcendency. Peddling death to profit the living, this is deceiving heaven and earth.

8.10

Harmonizing qi to remit sins is the third offense.

8.11

When one extinguishes emotions and rids oneself of desires, the mind of the Dao illuminates the true. The followers of the Ban clan falsely fabricated the Yellow Book (Huangshu), using unfounded incantations against leprosy to suppress slight scoffs. (The incantation says: 'The Heavenly Dao is finished, the three and five are accomplished, the sun and moon are bright. Exiting the deep, entering the dark, qi enters, true qi penetrates, spiritual qi spreads, Dao qi circulates; treasonous, depraved, ghostly bandits all perish. Those who look at me become blind, those who listen to me become deaf. If any dare to plot against me, they shall conversely suffer calamity. I am auspicious, and they are ominous.' Coming to the jiazi year, an edict commissioned a sacrificial register where men and women copulated without distinction of high and low. Lu Xiujing of Wu also diligently practiced this).

8.12

They even open the gate of destiny, embrace the infant of the true person, and frolic with dragons and tigers. Striking such poses, they intend to dispel disasters and scatter calamities. How could that be acceptable? How could that be acceptable? In the Han era, Lord Yi practiced this as the Dao; this head demon disordered custom and was banished to Dunhuang. Later, with Sun En, unruly licentiousness grew all the more severe: gentry men and women intermingled indiscriminately, no different from beasts. Indeed, the dust of sensual forms is easily defiled, and the knots of passion are hard to unravel. How much worse it is to intermingle qi in the cinnabar field and prolong life in the cavern of the immortals, recklessly dispatching troops past the forbidden Jade Gate, exhausting the postures of dragon and tiger in myriad grotesque antics! In life they lack the integrity of loyalty and chastity; in death they suffer the torments of the Green Court. It is our earnest prayer that the luminous sovereign examine this in his mirror, so that such folk and their companions may be upright and purified, and not betray the mandate of the unseen realms.

8.13

Usurping the Dao to create rebellion is their fourth perversity.

8.14

The true doctrine is hard to understand, while worldly fame easily deludes. Worldly encumbrances plunge one into deep abysses, while mountainous virtue treats light winds and dew lightly. For instance, the Yellow Turbans and their ilk eyed the Han house like kites; overturning heaven's luminosity, they were all executed for their crimes. Next came Zi Lu, who again proclaimed a demon way; not aided by spirits and deities, he was assailed by wild deer. In the end, Sun En once more proclaimed the Purple Dao; not constrained by the lowliness of commoners, he sought to grasp the exalted weight of an emperor. He produced sounds of clouds from secluded crevices, and brought forth delusional reveries out of empty obscurity. His 'water immortals' deluded the multitude, wrongfully slaying the old and the young, ruining the state and destroying the people. How could this not be treasonous perversity? For this reason, Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty contemplated it with sorrowful indignation; soaring like a dragon for a thousand miles and striding like a tiger across the three rivers, he swept up and struck down the hordes of demons without taking ten days. Conscious beings rejoiced, and grasses and trees were bathed in spring light.

8.15

Using written petitions to ruin virtue is their fifth perversity.

8.16

The traces left behind by the utmost transformation cannot be falsely obscured. Determining posthumous names and titles for the spirits must be based on illustrious virtue. Having no true essence of the Dao, they wildly pursue phantom vacuities, glibly asserting that those who went east died while drunk on wine. Are such ignorant gifts of titles not vulgar and depraved? Furthermore, their petitions to promote the ancestors of seven generations are shallow and flimsy in meaning, begging exemption from carrying sand and gravel only to serve perpetually as Dao demons. Indeed, the sagely wisdom penetrates the minute; whatever thought arises, it illuminates. Why trouble libationers to squander paper and ink recklessly? If a verdict must await petitions and lawsuits, then one realizes that the Lord of the Dao lacks the capacity for profound discernment, and the Heavenly Bureaus lack the illumination of heaven's clarity. The Three Officials would be exhausted by scrutinizing cases, and the inspecting clerks worn out by pursuit and capture. We hear that their presented petitions were originally meant for emergencies, yet on the wuchen day they surely do not arrive. If they do not arrive before the Supreme Lord, then the living people die wrongfully. Alas! How tragic! This is truly the fifth perversity.

8.17

Fearing demons and wearing talismans is the extreme of illegality: Part One.

8.18

Those whose sincere minds tread in accordance [with nature] have their qi transformed away from demonic adversity. For this reason, the utmost sages and eminent worthies harbor no affection for the myriad transformations; hence they can roam freely through metal and stone, and sleep amidst mist and rosy clouds. This is a resonant response of pure sincerity—how could it be caused by wearing talismans? The phrasing of their scriptures is irreverent, crude, and demonic, saying: 'On the left wear the Taiji seal; on the right wear Kunwu iron. Point at the sun and its radiance halts; aim at demons and blood spills for a thousand miles.' They say that if one receives the Yellow Book and Red Seals, one is an efficacious immortal, clattering in wooden clogs into the chamber of silence without paying court to the Supreme Lord. They go so far as to make the gods of the Six Jia prostrate themselves at privy-latrines (as Guo Jingchun also said that immortals ascend to clarity and cross over perils, yet ultimately cannot avoid disaster). In their foolish confusion, how could they know proper decorum? As for their wearing of talismans, we hear that in the past, armies raised standards: Zhang Jiao used yellow talismans, Zi Lu wore crimson, Lu Song raised purple standards, and Sun En used the Guxu [symbols]. All of them deceitfully misled the royal army, and in the end perished as demons among men.

8.19

Regulating the people to assess taxes is the extreme of deceitful contrivance: Part Two.

8.20

The Five Pecks of Rice teaching originated from the Celestial Master. Later generations became depraved and turbid, establishing anew the 'Rice People', who were abhorred and feared by the world. Thus Ziming and Du Gong both arose on account of demonic serpents. Furthermore, the 'Fast of Mud and Charcoal' originated with Zhang Lu. Because the Di and Yi barbarians were hard to transform, he instituted this method: having them roll like donkeys in the mud, smearing yellow brine and mud on their faces, disheveling their hair and hanging ropes around their necks, working them like potter's clay until thoroughly subdued. This method was intended for the borderlands, not to be implemented in the central lands. At the beginning of the Yixi era, there was Prince Wang, whose successors were greedy for treasures and shrank from hardship, secretly omitting the beatings. Lu Xiujing of Wu knew well that its origin was depraved, yet he still merely smeared the forehead and hung ropes. It is the height of foolish depravity; pray do not call it the Dao!

8.21

Delivering kitchens and tomb-gate [rites] are the extreme of inhumanity: Part Three.

8.22

Opening the gates for great almsgiving shares beauty with all beings. The lingering qi of heterodox paths, however, performs tomb-gate kitchen releases, being proud of hidden feasts and harbouring the ways of wild beasts. In former times, Zhang Zi Lu released blessings in Hanzhong, holding a great assembly of libationers and demon soldiers (Demon soldiers, demon people, demon clerks, demon ways—these were titles made by Zi Lu because he belittled the Di and Yi. Furthermore, 'Celestial Master', 'Succeeding Master', 'Inheriting Master', and the 'Three Female Masters' were laudatory titles Zhang Lu conferred upon himself. Also, 'Dao men', 'female officials', 'Dao fathers', 'Dao mothers', 'divine lords', and 'seed people' were names for goods bestowed after the mingling of qi. Moreover, 'Rice people', 'Rice clans', and 'libationers of capital merit' were names used to pacify and transform during times of famine. In addition, 'Pindao' and 'Dharma Master of the Three Caverns' were titles coined by the monk Sengyi of Chang'an. Furthermore, 'Xiansheng', 'Dao people', 'immortal lords', and 'people of Moling County' were coined by Wang Lingqi. Moreover, 'Daoist', 'ant bandit', 'wine-regulating', and 'rice bandit' were designations applied by the world. Also, 'Dharma Master', 'Chief Lecturer', and 'Sūtra Attendant' were titles instituted by Lu Xiujing by imitating Buddhism and relying on worldly customs. Further, 'Heavenly Duke', 'Earthly Duke', as well as styling themselves 'servant and concubine', 'Way of Great Peace', 'Way of the Five Pecks of Rice', 'Great Way', 'Purple Way', and 'Demonic Divine Master Lord' were borrowed prestigious titles used while acting as bandits. In addition, Luan Da of Jiaodong was appointed General of the Five Benefits; though he had enfeoffment, he lacked the integrity of a minister, and by the end of Han Wudi's reign was no longer titled as such).

8.23

Drinking heavily beyond measure, they ultimately fell into licentious revelry. Their foul reputation spread afar, reaching all the way to the Min region. Liu Zhang issued an instruction saying: 'Indeed, efficacious immortals nourish life, still moderating pine needles and rosy mist to preserve the body; if one is addicted to rich flavors, how can one exalt the Dao?' Zi Lu heard this and felt deep shame and indignation; as punishment, he had them sweep the roads. Later generations transmitted that Daoists raised markers at their gatherings to guard against this difficulty, and also restricted the kitchens by limiting wine to three sheng; from the end of the Han onward, they called it 'regulating wine'. By the time of Wang Lingqi, he eliminated the titles of transgression, and both 'Xiansheng' and 'Dao People' were bestowed with relief and gifts. Though having the prestige of the 'Five Benefits', they were merely names for demonic creatures.

8.24

Delivering from perils by tormenting life is the extreme of falsehood: Part Four.

8.25

One's material constitution is as precarious as an autumn stem, and life is as fragile as spring ice. The winds of karma blow and scatter it, swirling like tumbleweed through realms of transformation. Therefore Duke Jing resigned himself to conditions and fate, and Sunzi recorded people as walking corpses. Deluded followers of shallow learning do not recognize the Great Scope; when encountering sickness, decline, and disaster, their delusions become extreme. Finding the origin of demonic calamities in deep demons and mynas, they treat these as disasters; they cross dangerous straits on distant rivers, hang stones and fish for stars at steep crags, and write red tallies in the snow on Mount Hua. They knit their brows and make ugly grimaces, while subterranean demons say that the envoys of the Three Officials have already sent back the deceased. Thus, they pointlessly squander funeral goods. This is truly the profit of grain and silk for ignorant libationers; like silkworms eating mulberry leaves, they deplete the common people, harming both public and private interests. This causes the Utmost Sage to be alarmed at the burning house, and stirs human longing with songs of return.

8.26

Committing offenses in dreams is the extreme of stubborn folly: Part Five.

8.27

The heavenly family has its origin in transformation, with consciousness and illumination as its root. Renouncing body and life, [the times we have done so] are beyond the number of grass and trees. Indeed, there is no mound or mountain on the great earth that is not our former dust; the vast rolling rivers are all our tears and blood. Looking at it this way, who is not our relative or friend? Yet when some see deceased ancestors in dreams, they immediately declare it an ominous anomaly. Although humans and ghosts are distinct, birth and cessation are truly the same; feelings of affection and love occasionally leave ripples and echoes. The wicked hordes have no decorum, not recognizing rebellion and compliance; summoning demon clerks and soldiers to eat, they present petitions to sever them. Cutting off unseen spirits, who illuminates their solitary heart? It is our earnest prayer that in the future, people will not value deluded words, so that the heavenly halls may have no thoughts of abandoned meals, and the icy rivers may quiet the sounds of calamitous pining.

8.28

Recklessly creating cold and heat is the extreme of fierce flattery: Part Six.

8.29

Indeed, keeping the mind and mouth in profound silence is the true virtue of the myriad practices. Yet sentient beings in the dusty realm generally lack compassion and love. Fierce, cruel, heterodox, and flattering, they vie to manufacture talismans and petitions, hanging them on gates and pasting them on doors to deceive the foolish vulgar; the noble and discerning find no peace in this. They fabricate the 'Yellow Spirit Seal of the Cross' to kill ghosts, and also create the 'Red Seal' to kill people. Courting worldly favor, they take no account of sins and retribution. Harboring jealousy in dark plots is already established by former standards in the scriptures: in death they enter the great hell of iron pincers; reborn, they become shrikes, deaf and mute, their subtle skeletons muddled and decayed, sunken in exile for eternal kalpas. Who knows this? You old demon people and Daoists are not like this; matters ought to be tested against reality. Although remonstrance and criticism are bitter, the wise find them sweet to hear; hence I have stated this briefly. Pray test your thoughts thrice: if you can brush away old traces and reform your designs, you will share the same wind as the Great Transformation! If you truly do not reform, we shall await the illustrious and virtuous, who fully illuminate voices and melodies, to awaken the long night—how could it be fully expressed by today's weak words?

8.30

Treatise Eradicating Delusion

8.31

By Liu Xie, Secretarial Aide of Dongwan

8.32

Someone composed the 'Treatise on the Three Destructions', whose arguments and evidence are mediocre and shallow, and whose diction and style are vulgar and crude. Although the ultimate principle is settled among the deeply discerning, circulating rumors deceive those of shallow sensibilities. Vulgar tales from petty alleys are truly not worth debating, yet I fear that rustic listeners will consider them true. I shall briefly select what can be addressed and sketch the refined truth.

8.33

The 'Treatise on the Three Destructions' says: 'The marvel of the Daoist teaching lies in subtle contemplation to attain the One, entering sagehood without death. The marvel of the Buddhist transformation lies in samādhi and dhyāna penetrations, with nothing to hope for from the unborn; they call death nirvāṇa. We have never seen anyone who studies death fail to die.'

8.34

The 'Treatise Eradicating Delusion' says: The truth and falsehood of the two teachings are brilliantly easy to distinguish. The Buddha's Dharma refines the spirit; the Daoist teaching refines the physical form. The physical vessel must ultimately end, obstructed within a single enclosure; spiritual consciousness is boundless, repeatedly encompassing the realm beyond the six directions. The luminous rely on the boundless, teaching through superior wisdom; the darkened cling to what must ultimately end, deceiving through flying immortals. The art of immortality culminates in ingesting drugs; the pursuit of wisdom begins in contemplating dhyāna. Because dhyāna refines true consciousness, it is subtle and wondrous, and nirvāṇa may be hoped for; because drugs arrest the false vessel, though one thinks subtly, soaring aloft remains hopeless. If one abandons the marvelous treasure-store and neglects wisdom to nourish the body, examining this according to principle, its falsehood can be known. Even if the body were to soar to the edge of the sky while the spirit remains dark, like a kite flying up to heaven, could it escape being merely a bird? As for the marvelous fruit of nirvāṇa, its Dao is uniquely eternally abiding. How could their talk of "studying death" analyze principle?

8.35

The 'Treatise on the Three Destructions' says: 'If it is said that the Crown Prince is the lord of the teaching, the lord did not cut his hair yet makes people shave their heads; the lord did not abandon his wife yet makes people sever their lineage. This is truly laughable! It is clearly known that Buddhism is a technique for eradicating evil. We have humbly heard that the virtue of the noble person begins with filial piety: "The body, hair, and skin are received from parents; one dares not damage them."'

8.36

The 'Treatise Eradicating Delusion' says: The Crown Prince abandoning his wife and cutting his hair are matters clearly stated in the sūtras, yet to turn white into black—is that not deception? The filial piety of Buddhism encompasses far more: its principle originates in the mind and has no tie to hair. If one cherishes hair while abandoning the mind, how does that partake of filial piety? Formerly, Taibo and Yuzhong cut their hair and tattooed their bodies, and the Master praised them twice for utmost virtue. Adapting expediently as worthies within the mundane realm, they properly cultivated worldly decorum; cutting hair to yield the state is a celebrated tale of sages and philosophers. How much more so is the teaching of prajñā, whose undertakings surpass expedient adaptation, and the fruit of bodhi, whose principle is more subtle than overcoming oneself to yield! Because its principle is more subtle than yielding, one renounces hair to lay hold of the Dao; because its undertaking surpasses expedient adaptation, one abandons outward traces to seek the mind. Measured against the two worthies, there is no lack of filial piety; examined in light of the sagely realm, why find it strange?

8.37

The first destruction says: 'Entering a state and destroying the state: falsely stating that constructions involve no expense, they oppress and tax the common people, leaving the state empty and the people impoverished; they do not assist the state in reproducing people, causing decrease and depletion. People are seen wearing clothes without sericulture and eating food without farming. The destruction of the state and the extinction of the people stem from this failing. Daily expenses and waste bring not the slightest benefit; the harms of the five disasters do not exceed this.' The 'Treatise Eradicating Delusion' says: The Great Vehicle is perfect and consummate, penetrating principle to the utmost subtlety; therefore it clarifies the two truths to dispel existence, and explains the three emptinesses to indicate non-existence. The four immeasurables expand its superior mind, and the six perfections deliver beings from painful karma. How could the slander of false words harm the sun and the moon? The construction of pagodas and monasteries expounds and propagates the divine teaching: the work is established for a single time, but the Dao covers a thousand ages. Formerly, when Yu assembled the feudal lords, jade and silk came from ten thousand states; by the time of wars and battles, only seven rulers survived. Under the governance of Taishi, households flourished and were abundant; yet with the warfare of the Red Eyebrows, no smoke was seen for a thousand miles. Could the destruction of states and extinction of people have been caused by this? In the time of Ershi and Ziying, a picul of grain cost a hundred thousand; in the reigns of Jingdi and Wudi, stored grain turned red and rotted. It was not because there were many śramaṇas at the end of the Qin, nor that there was no Buddhism at the beginning of the Han! Examining the past and measuring the present, how does it harm governance?

8.38

The second refutation states: "Entering the family, it destroys the family: it causes father and son to take different paths, and brothers to observe divergent teachings; the two parents are abandoned, and the way of filial piety is abruptly severed. Their sorrows and joys differ, their songs and weepings are not the same; flesh and blood become enemies, and family relations are permanently forsaken. It rebels against moral transformation and violates obedience, without repaying [the debt as boundless as] vast heaven. Of the five heinous deeds and acts of unfiliality, none surpasses this."

8.39

The Treatise Destroying Delusions states: Filial principle is ultimate; the way of the recluse and the secular run along the same thread. Although their internal and external traces differ, their spiritual functioning follows a single track. If one's life is bound to secular causes, one fundamentally cultivates the teachings [of society]; in the ritual operations of Confucianism, one abandons the fruit of the Way, yet equally promotes filial piety within Brahmic conduct. Therefore, consulting one's parents to leave the household has its meaning clarified in the Lotus [Sūtra]; studying only after obtaining permission has its precedent set by Vimalakīrti. How could they have forgotten their root? There was a reason for it! They all illuminated and realized spiritual principles and cast light upon human life. [Life passes] swifter than a four-horse team, as stated in the maxims; the passing stream was mourned by the supreme sage. Hence we know that while expending one's care until the end of life fails to rescue the departed spirit, studying the Way to deliver one's parents extinguishes suffering in the netherworld forever. They examined the subtle resonance without error and discerned that the superior fruit was assured. Therefore, weighing the light and the heavy, they discarded the former and took up the latter. Now, as for the institution of mourning garments, it arose from tracing the distant [ancestors]; though sacrifice stems from the heart, it also conforms to the times. Formerly, the perfect governance of the Three Sovereigns was admired by Yao and Shun: when people died, they were wrapped in firewood and buried in the wilderness, without building mounds or planting trees, and with no fixed periods for mourning garments of coarse cloth or untrimmed sackcloth. Could one say that the Three Sovereigns taught the people to abandon filial piety? Coming down to the Five Emperors, mourning regulations shone forth; yet we have never heard that Yao and Shun adhered to the rites so as to trace back and reproach the Three Sovereigns. If the Three Sovereigns were not reproached, why suspect the Buddha alone? The Buddha's having no mourning garments is rooted in eradicating suffering; the Three Sovereigns' dispensing with mourning conformed to pristine simplicity. Pristine simplicity is not doubted, yet eradicating suffering incurs blame—this is what is meant by 'three in the morning and four in the evening,' provoking alternating joy and anger! One clearly knows that the teachings of the sages respond to resonances with total adaptability: the Three Sovereigns lacked mourning dress due to pristine simplicity; the Five Emperors instituted mourning by following human feelings; and Śākyamuni eradicated suffering and thus discarded worldly customs to return to the real. In examining their traces, their paths diverge; but their profound transformations converge upon the same goal.

8.40

The third refutation states: "Entering the person, it destroys the person, the body of human life. First, there is the affliction of injury and harm; second, there is the suffering of having the head shaved; third, there is the rebellion of being unfilial; fourth, there is the crime of severing one's lineage; fifth, regarding this living body, from having consciousness one only learns unfiliality. Why should I say so? When commanded not to kneel to one's parents, they immediately vie to obey it. If a son first becomes a śrāmaṇera, and his mother later becomes a bhikṣuṇī, she must kneel to her son. The Middle Kingdom has severed such teachings lacking in propriety—how could one follow them?"

8.41

The Treatise Destroying Delusions states: Dwelling in a corporeal form and endowed with consciousness, the principle is determined by previous karma; entering the Way or abiding in the secular, matters are tied to cause and effect. Therefore, when Śākyamuni appeared in the world, his transformation extended to devas and humans; both those ruling the state and those managing the household realized the traces of the Way. We have never heard that everyone in the world universally left the household together. This is truly because conditions and resonances are not uniform; hence the nominal teachings are twofold, which is why the civil gentry and the śramaṇas differ. However, in initially pulling oneself out of the realm of defilement, the principle relies on precepts and concentration. A wife is an encumbrance of affection; hair is an adornment of the body. Encumbrances of affection harm the spirit; bodily adornments run counter to the Way. Therefore, one purifies the spirit, extinguishes affection, cultivates the Way, and discards adornments. Since the principle transcends ordinary standards, the teaching must inevitably reverse secular ways. As for not kneeling to one's parents, it is because the Way is venerable; parents bowing to them is also because they revere the Way. According to the rites, when one first puts on the cap and sees his mother, his mother bows to him; admiring his complete virtue, she bends what is venerable to salute what is lowly. A soldier in helmet and armor does not bow when seeing his lord; prizing his bearing of weapons, veneration is not required. The black cap is a light headpiece and originally has no spiritual Dao; armor and helmet are inauspicious implements and have no ultimate virtue. Yet when circumstances require additional reverence, the mother bows to her son; when conditions make it fitting to suspend homage, the minister does not kneel to the ruler. Ritual codes and secular teachings were instituted by the Duke of Zhou and Confucius; discussing their flexibility, they did not follow a single track. How much more so the venerability of the Buddha's Way, which rises beyond the three realms! Its spiritual teaching and subtle origin draw the multitudes to the profound principle. Applying this to human beings, it is truly more venerable than cap or armor. Violations of ritual etiquette for the cap and armor have not been doubted from ancient times to the present; what is there to find strange in paying heightened reverence to the Buddha's Way?

8.42

The Treatise on the Three Destructions says: "The old versions of Buddhist scriptures originally said futu; Kumārajīva altered it to fotu ('follower of the Buddha') because he recognized the evil of its origin. The reason it was called futu was that the barbarians were fierce and wicked. Laozi said that when he began converting them, he did not wish to harm their bodies, and therefore shaved their heads and named them futu, likening it to butchering (tu). Coming down to Sengyi, it was later altered to fotu ('image of the Buddha'). Originally, old scriptures said sangmen ('gate of mourning'); 'gate of mourning' came from the gate of death and extinction, meaning that its Dharma was a teaching of non-birth, hence called sangmen. Coming down to Kumārajīva, he changed it again to sangmen ('mulberry gate'); Sengyi again changed it to shamen (śramaṇa). Shamen comes from the method of sorting (shatai); it is not worth praising."

8.43

The Treatise Destroying Delusions states: In the time of Emperor Ming of the Han, Buddhist scriptures were first transmitted, so the pronunciations and characters in the Han translations were not yet correct. The pronunciation of fu resembles fo; the pronunciation of sang resembles sha—these were phonetic errors. Taking tu ('butcher') for tu ('diagram') was an error in characters. Kumārajīva was fluent in the languages of both China and the barbarians, and his understanding encompassed both sound and meaning; correcting the 'three pigs' error was certainly fitting! In the worldly canons of the Five Classics, scholarship does not rely on translation, yet the commentaries of Ma [Rong] and Zheng [Xuan] alter pronunciations and characters back and forth. Thus, in the 'Eulogies of Zhou,' [the gloss of] 'solemn and profound' (yumu) as 'not recording' misled teachers and pupils; in the 'Canon of Yao,' [changing] 'sincere and substantial' (yunsei) to 'peaceful and tranquil' (an'an) ran counter to sagely virtue. Does the depth of the ultimate teaching really reside in two characters? Catching the meaning and forgetting the words was grasped by Zhuang Zhou; letting words harm the intention was criticized by Meng Ke. Without tracing back to the great principle, one seeks solely among characters—how could the ropes of the man of Song surpass this?

8.44

The Treatise on the Three Destructions says: "These methods of the three destructions are not applied in the Middle Kingdom; originally, they were used to rectify the Western Regions. Why say so? The barbarians have no duplicate [nature]; they are stubborn, unyielding, and devoid of propriety, no different from birds and beasts, and do not believe in emptiness and non-being. When Laozi passed through the pass, he therefore devised the teaching of images to convert them. It also says: 'The barbarians are crude and ferocious; wishing to cut off their evil seed, he therefore commanded that men not take wives and women not marry.' When an entire country submitted to this law, they naturally went extinct."

8.45

The Treatise Destroying Delusions states: When the traces vanished between the Twin Trees, images arose in their stead; the principle had already accumulated from the beginningless, and the Way had covered the boundless. Examining Old Li's exit through the pass, it was timed during the decline of the Zhou; because the times were blocked and the worthy went into hiding, he left and forgot to return. If Jieyu in avoiding the world still concealed his traces, how much more so when going to external realms—who saw his footprints? Thereupon treacherous libationers fabricated the scripture on converting the barbarians, with clumsy reasoning and vulgar diction, handed down by domestic slaves. Examining the Western Hu, they are cowardly and weak, while the Northern Di are ferocious and fierce. If Laozi eliminated evil, discarded virtue, and employed physical punishment, why would he cherish the fierce Di and conversely annihilate the weak Hu, thereby allowing the Xianyun to run rampant and spread their poison for ten thousand generations? Jackals and wolves block the road, yet foxes are punished; descending into utter ruin as a cruelty is unheard of under heaven and earth. The laws of Shang Yang did not reach such cruelty; could the Way of Boyang be like this? Furthermore, when they were not yet submissive, establishing images would have been ineffective; once they believed and obeyed, executions could have ceased. Yet after they submitted to the teaching, capital punishment was then applied! With a single word straying from the Way, numerous fabrications become evident. What can such wild words from Dongye do against reason?

8.46

The Treatise on the Three Destructions says: "We have heard that when the likes of the Three Sovereigns, Five Emperors, and Three Kings studied the Way, they all received spiritual resonance, yet we have never heard of the Buddhist teachings. Was it that the Nine Sovereigns neglected it, or was it that the Buddhist teachings had not yet emerged? If the Buddhist teachings had not yet emerged, then they are heterodox and bogus, and need no further discussion."

8.47

The Treatise Destroying Delusions states: Spiritual transformation is versatile; the body of the teaching is not uniform. The spiritual response meets and coalesces, appearing and disappearing without limit. If conditions reside in subtle transformation, then bodhisattvas propagate their Way; if transformation resides in coarse conditions, then sagely emperors unfold their virtue. Now, sagely emperors and bodhisattvas manifest responses according to resonance; their different teachings harmonize in concord, never failing to be the Buddha. Thus we know that from the Three Sovereigns onward, as the resonance ceased, the name was hidden; while under Emperor Ming of the Han, as conditions responded, the images appeared. As for the virtuous transformation of the Three Sovereigns and the benevolent instruction of the Five Emperors, this is what is called the Way, which seems unlike the Supreme Lord [Lao]. When Fuxi and Shennong established order, we never heard of presenting petitions to heaven; when Yao and Shun ordered government, would they have drawn talismans? When Tang and Wu suppressed violence, should they have consumed elixirs? The classical records of the Five Classics do not deign to mention Celestial Masters; to seek backing from the sagely emperors—is this not completely wrong?"

8.48

The Treatise on the Three Destructions says: "The Dao takes qi as its foundation and is called 'attaining the One.' Examining the scholars and gentlemen of the Central Plains, none do not revere the Dao. Now, those in the Middle Kingdom who revere the Buddha must be of the race of the Qiang and Hu. If you claim they are not, why do they revere the Buddha?"

8.49

The Miehuo lun states: The ultimate Dao is the supreme principle, and its truth converges in oneness; the true realm of the wondrous Dharma is fundamentally devoid of duality. When the Buddha reaches the ultimate, [his nature] is vacuous, profound, and formless, yet all phenomena respond at once; quiescent and without mind, yet his profound wisdom illuminates ever wider. The subtle reckonings covertly align so that none can see their limits; their dark function is used daily so that none perceives how it is so. However, once words and images arose, provisional names were established. What barbarian speech calls bodhi, Han speech calls Dao. As for the manifestation of his traces: a golden countenance expresses his holiness; in responding to the secular, he manifests birth in a royal palace. To rescue the ignorant, he began with the four dhyānas; to advance wisdom, he made the ten stages the stairs. Gathering nāgas and ghosts, he guides them equally; embracing all wriggling creatures, his compassion is impartial. His expedient teachings are inexhaustible, not failing to respond because of distinctions between Dao and secular; his wondrous transformation is without exterior, so how could it block sentiments between Hua and the Rong? Therefore, with one sound he expounds the Dharma, yet through diverse translations all understand together; in the One Vehicle he displays the teaching, yet different sutras return to the same canonical purport. Because of expediency, the teachings of Confucius and Śākyamuni differ, yet the Dao harmonizes and their understanding is identical; because of wondrousness, barbarian and Han tongues are divided, yet the transformation penetrates. It is only because affinities are refined or crude that the teachings divide into Dao and secular; lands have east and west, so states are bounded as inner and outer. Their encompassing of divine transformation and molding of all living beings do not differ. By this, he can pull up the six destinies and assemble the great chiliocosm. The Dao is truly supreme; the Dharma is truly most revered. Yet although the ultimate Dao is one, divergent paths give rise to delusion: ninety-six schools all call themselves 'the Dao'. Listening to their names, heterodoxy and orthodoxy cannot be distinguished; verifying their teachings, truth and falsity divide of themselves. Examining the teachings established by the Daoists, there are three grades: the highest promotes Laozi, the next recounts immortals, and the lowest inherits Zhang Ling. Taking the Grand Supreme as the source, we examine the Scribe of the Pillar who happily retired—he was truly a great worthy. Writing books to discuss the Dao, he valued non-action; the principle returns to quiescent oneness, and transformation is rooted in emptiness and gentleness. However, the three times are not recorded, and karmic deeds of wisdom are unheard of. This is merely a good book for guiding the secular, not a wondrous scripture for transcending the world. As for the petty path of the immortals, it is termed the 'five supernatural knowledges': their merits culminate in birth in the heavens, and their forms fly through the air. Having supernatural powers, they still cannot escape the outflows; long-lived though they may be, they cannot be without an end. Their merit does not come from ingesting elixirs; their virtue follows karmic practice. Thereupon, foolish and deceitful occultists multiplied their false fabrications: Zhang Ling, the Rice Bandit, wrote records of ascending to heaven, and Ge Xuan, an uncouth fellow, composed biographies of immortals. The foolish are deluded by this; can the wise be deceived? Now, if one traces back to Master Li, the defects of the teaching are like that; if one takes immortals as a model, the essence is inferior like this. The upper and middle [grades] deemed wondrous are still not worth counting, so how much less the emulation of Zhang Ling and Lu Xiu, sacrificial matters, petitions, and talismans! Establishing a teaching of Five Pecks and wishing to rescue the three realms—how could a mosquito bearing a mountain ever endure it? Claiming the name of the Great Dao, yet its teaching is coarser than the secular; raising the title of the Grand Supreme, yet its methods plumb the lowest folly. How is this known? Greed for long life and fear of premature death are shared by all conscious beings; therefore, fleshy fungus and stone blossoms are used deceitfully to claim flight. Loving sex and pursuing passions are the same throughout the world; therefore, the 'Yellow Book' and copulation are falsely proclaimed as reaching earthly immortality. All living beings cherish the fullness of flesh and skin; therefore, they treasure and conserve mucus and saliva to water the spiritual root. Avoiding calamity and fearing sickness are the constant worries of the common people; therefore, they execute and bind mountain spirits and demons to gratify foolish emotions. Relying on intimidation and brandishing martial might is an old custom of the vulgar; therefore, petty clerks, soldiers, hooks, and cavalry are used to stir shallow minds. As for lustful techniques to dispel calamity and wicked methods of sorcery, their principles are so filthy and their words so shameful that they cannot be transmitted in writing. Because such things accord with the vulgar crowds, house after house converts to their sect. For this reason, Zhang Jiao and Li Hong spread their poison at the close of the Han, and Lu Song and Sun En filled the close of the Jin with chaos. The remnants swept by these waves truly formed great followings. Without the rank of Marquis, they casually registered households; without the tallies of tigers and bamboos, they illicitly demanded rent and taxes. Squandering estates and bewitching men and women, in times of difficulty they gnawed at the state like scorpions, and in times of peace they harmed the people like woodworms, damaging governance and sprouting rebellion. How could this be the same as the Buddha? Moreover, can the Mahāprajñāpāramitā or Nirvāṇa be compared to the Primordial Supreme or Great Clarity? Why should the wondrous marks of the golden countenance envy a ghost chamber or an empty room? Subduing heavenly Māra, one does not admire the frauds of deceptive sorcery; purely cultivating the precepts, how could one equal the ugliness of completing talismans? Amassing great vows in a square inch [of the heart]—how could that compare to harboring officials and generals in the cinnabar field? Resounding a great bell with the Brahma voice—how could that compare to striking heavenly drums with the lips and teeth? Comparing them by outward traces, the refined and the crude are already far apart; investigating them by ultimate principle, how could truth and falsity remain hidden? To mock the refined with the crude and slander the true with the false is like a blind man facing Li Zhu and saying, 'I can see!'

8.50

Response to the Daoist Falsely Ascribed to Zhang Rong's Treatise on the Three Destructions (Nineteen Items)

8.51

By the śramaṇa Sengshun

8.52

The Treatise says: 'Nirvāṇa is death. I have never seen anyone study death and attain longevity. This is a teaching that annihilates the lineage.'

8.53

The explanation says: Now, striving excessively for life to the point of not attaining non-arising—the likes of Zhang Yi and Shan Bao are its match. Therefore, the Confucians say: 'Among people, none does not cling to his death while fretting over his life.' Laozi said: 'When I have no body, what trouble do I have?' Zhuang Zhou also personally lamented having a physical body. These three are among the sages and masters; none did not consider life an affliction. If one seeks non-arising, nothing surpasses Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is the wondrous name for non-action. Speaking of its traces, there are texts on the royal palace and the twin trees; speaking of its reality, there is the teaching of eternal abiding and eternal bliss. You are revolving in the five paths; how could you hear the essentials of Nirvāṇa? It is like three blind men feeling an elephant: the one who touched the ear argued that the elephant was like a winnowing basket, while the one who touched the trunk argued that the elephant was like a pestle. Although each grasped one part of the elephant, neither grasped the elephant's true totality. When you say that Nirvāṇa is death, you are truly one of the blind men feeling the elephant.

8.54

The Treatise says: 'The Crown Prince did not abandon his wife, yet he makes people sever their lineage.'

8.55

The explanation says: The sage is in truth tranquil, yet his traces manifest in response. When the Crown Prince took a consort while heir apparent, it was to show that the way of human relations was complete, and that he could then abandon this great treasure and dismiss those bonds of affection. As for the devas descending at night and the white steed flying over the city, the principle of the Ten Epithets was present there—how could he have had a wife and children? Moreover, in this world, wives and children are the heaviest burden: cold and hunger give rise to theft, while satiety and warmth bring forth arrogance and extravagance. For this reason, when a leprous woman gives birth at night, she urgently calls for a lamp, fearing only that the child will resemble herself and likewise become leprous. The lineage of ordinary mortals is just like the leprous birth. The sutra says: 'All sentient beings possess Buddha-nature.' If we revere and seek this purport, this is the Buddha lineage: leaving home to follow the Dao, abandoning leprosy to approach the Buddha. For joy and for benefit, what could surpass this? You are deluded by worldly ways and mired in heavy ignorance; in this dream within a dream, when will you ever awaken?

8.56

The Treatise says: 'The Crown Prince did not shave his head, yet he makes people shave their hair.'

8.57

The explanation says: At home, there is love for both parents; leaving home, there is reverence for the strict master. Speaking of affection, hair and skin are foremost; speaking of reverence, cutting them off is the most difficult. The reason one undergoes shaving with reverence and bids farewell to one's parents to depart forever is that one wishes to remove these afflictions and approach that non-action. If love for one's hair and skin can still be discarded, what external things could be worthy of regret? Without disdaining hair and skin, how could one honor the Dao? Without taking leave of natural kin, how could one serve a strict master? For instance, in mourning rites, when an adopted heir leaves to succeed the primary lineage, he lowers the mourning for his biological parents and elevates that for his adoptive lineage. This makes the son uphold the heavy responsibilities of the ancestral temple and sever his feelings of looking back. Returning to his biological parents requires only one year of mourning—this is not because affection is thin; fulfilling three years for the adoptive line is truly because righteousness is profound. The Book of Rites says: 'He who departs must reduce his mourning, because someone else has adopted him'—this illustrates the principle. The sutra says: 'The devas presented the sword and carried the hair up to the heavens.' What nonsense is your talk of 'not shaving'? You are merely eager to make far-fetched interpretations and timid in seeking the true purport; I can only sigh for you.

First 57 of 91 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

弘明集 — 僧祐, Classical Chinese