弘明集 8.37

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?