廣弘明集 10.17

10.17

奏曰。自國立政惟貴於道。制化養民寧高於德。止見道消國喪。未有兵強祚久。是以虐紂恃眾禍傾帝業。周武修德福集皇基。夫差驕戰遂至滅身。勾踐以道危而更安。以此論之。何關壞佛退僧方平東夏。直是毀佛。當此託定之時。偶然斯會。妄謂壞法有益。若爾湯伐有夏。文王滅崇。武王誅紂。秦并天下。赤漢滅項。此等諸君豈由壞佛。自後交論譏毀人法。或以抗禮君親。或謂妄稱佛性。或譏辯析色心。或重見作非業。或指身本陰陽。林皆隨難消解。帝雖構難重疊三番五番窮理盡性。林則無疑不遣。有難斯通。帝曰。卿言業不乖理。凡有入聖之期。性非業外。道有通凡之趣。此則道無不在凡聖該通。是則教無孔釋虛崇。如是之言。形通道俗。徒加剃剪之飾。是知帝王即是如來。宜停丈六。王公即是菩薩。省事文殊。耆年可為上座。不用賓頭。仁惠真為檀度。豈假棄國。和平第一精僧。寧勞布薩。貞謹即成木叉。何必受戒。儉約實是少欲。無假頭陀。蔬食至好長齋。豈煩斷穀。放任妙同無我。何藉解空。忘功全逼大乘。寧希波若。文武直是二智。不觀空有。權謀徑成巧便。豈待變化。加官真為授記。無謝證果。爵祿交獲天堂。何待上界。罰戮見感地獄。不指泥犁。以民為子。可謂大慈。四海為家。即同法界。治政以理。何異救物。安樂百姓。寧殊拔苦。剪罰殘害。理是降魔。君臨天下。真成得道。汪汪何殊淨土。濟濟豈謝迦維。卿懷異見妄生偏執。即事而言何處非道。

[Dao]lin presented a memorial, saying: "Since the state established governance, it has valued only the Way. In regulating, transforming, and nurturing the people, what could be higher than virtue? We have only seen that when the Way declines the state perishes; never has an army's strength alone maintained an enduring dynastic mandate. Thus the tyrant Zhou relied on his multitudes and brought calamity down upon his imperial heritage, while King Wu of Zhou cultivated virtue and blessings gathered upon his royal foundation. Fuchai was haughty in battle and ultimately perished, whereas Goujian relied on the Way and turned danger into peace. Judging by this, what does pacifying the eastern Xia have to do with destroying the Buddha and demoting the monks? It is merely that the destruction of the Buddha coincided with this destined moment of pacification; it was an accidental convergence, and you mistakenly deem that destroying the Dharma was beneficial. If that were so, when Tang attacked the Xia, King Wen destroyed Chong, King Wu executed Zhou, Qin unified all under Heaven, and the Red Han extinguished Xiang [Yu]—did these rulers achieve this through destroying the Buddha?"

Thereafter they exchanged arguments, criticizing and maligning persons and teachings: some criticized them for resisting ritual propriety toward ruler and parents, some for falsely claiming a Buddha-nature, some for analyzing form and mind, some for holding that performing actions incurs no karmic consequence, and some for pointing to yin and yang as the origin of the body. Daolin resolved and dissolved them all according to the objections. Although the Emperor constructed layered objections three to five times, exhausting principle and probing nature, Daolin dispelled every doubt and unblocked every difficulty.

The Emperor said: "You say that karma does not conflict with principle, and the ordinary person has the prospect of entering sainthood; nature is not external to karma, and the Way contains the orientation toward accommodating the ordinary. If so, then the Way is nowhere absent, comprehensively penetrating ordinary and holy alike. Thus the teachings need not be emptily venerated as those of Confucius or Śākya. Such words physically bridge the sacred and the profane, rendering the ornament of shaving and tonsuring an empty addition. Know, then, that the sovereign is none other than the Tathāgata; you may dispense with the sixteen-foot statue. The lords and princes are none other than bodhisattvas; omit serving Mañjuśrī. The elders may serve as theras; there is no need for Piṇḍola. Benevolence and kindness are truly the pāramitā of giving; why must one abandon the state? Peace and harmony are the foremost pure saṅgha; why labor over the uposatha? Chastity and prudence constitute the prātimokṣa; why must one receive the precepts? Frugality is truly having few desires; there is no need for dhūta practices. A vegetarian diet is the finest lifelong fast; why bother with abstaining from grains? Letting things take their course is subtly identical to non-self; why rely on understanding emptiness? Forgetting merit wholly converges with the Great Vehicle; why hope for prajñā? Civil and military are simply the two wisdoms, without contemplating emptiness and existence. Expedient stratagems directly constitute skillful means; why await transformation? Conferring offices is truly conferring prediction; it does not yield to realizing the fruits [of arhatship]. Official ranks and emoluments jointly attain the heavenly realms; why wait for the higher spheres? Executions and punishments visibly manifest hell; there is no pointing to Naraka. Taking the people as one's children may be called great compassion. Taking the four seas as one's home is identical to the dharmadhātu. Governing with reason: how is it different from saving living beings? Bringing peace and joy to the hundred surnames: how is it distinct from pulling them out of suffering? Executing and punishing the vicious and harmful in principle constitutes conquering Māra. Ruling over all under Heaven truly amounts to attaining the Way. In its vastness, how does it differ from a pure land? In its splendor, how does it yield to Kapilavastu? You harbor divergent views and give rise to obstinate attachments; in practical terms, what place is not the Way?"