廣弘明集 10.53

10.53

臣廣又對。佛為慈父調御天人。初中後善利安一切。自潛神雙樹地動十方。髮授四天軀分八國。涅槃經云。造像若佛塔。猶如大拇指。常生歡喜心。則生不動國。明知資父事師自關古典。束脩發起孔教。誠論叵有。衛嵩橫加非難。入堂不死。豈勝不言。昔唐堯則天之治。天有逸水之災。周置宗廟之禮。廟無降雨之力。如謂塔無交福。以過則歸。亦可天廟虛求。例應停棄。若以理推冥運。寤天廟之恩亦可數窮命也。豈堂塔而能救。設使費公縮地魯子迴天。不奈必死之人。豈續已休之命。命而不定。福也能排。義異向論。必須慈祐。至如遍吉像前病癩歸之得愈。祇洹精舍平服殘患之人濟苦攘災事多非一。更詶餘難不復廣論。若夫道不獨遍德無不在。千途一致何止內心。至若輸伽之建寶塔。百鬼助以日功。雀離之起浮圖。四天扶其夜力。大矣哉感天地動鬼神。外修無福是何言也。此若課貧抑作。民或嗟勞。義出苞容能施忘倦。若必元由塔寺敗國窮民。今既廢僧。貧應卒富。儉困城市更甚昔年。可由佛之者也。鬼非如敬謂之為諂。拜求社樹何惑良多。若言社樹為鬼所依資奉而非咎。亦可殿塔為佛住持修營必應如法。若言佛在虛空不處泥木。亦應鬼神冥寂。豈在樹中。夫順理濟物聖教元開。非義饒益經言不許。頗有天宮佛塔。撤作橋屏之牆。繡像幡經。用充膿血之服。天下日日饑窮。百姓年年憔悴。鬼神小聖尚或叵欺。諸佛大靈何容可負。詩云。旻天不駿其德。降喪饑饉。此之謂也。更別往代功臣今時健將。干戈討定清息遐方。生乃偏受榮勳。朱門紫室。死則多使民夫樹廟興墳祭死殺生。崇虛損實有勞無益。初未涉言。況釋迦如來道被三千化隆百億。前瞻無礙後望誰勝。能降外道之師。善伏天魔之黨。不用寸兵靡勞尺刃。五光遍照無苦不消。四辯橫流恕蒙安樂。為將為帥名高位大。寺存廟立義有何妨。土龍不能致雨。尚遵之以求福。泥佛縱使不語。敬者豈得無徵。昔馬卿慕藺孔父夢周。故重古人敬遵舊德。況三世諸佛風化理同。就使彌勒初興。不應頓棄釋迦遺法。

Your servant Guang further replies: The Buddha is the compassionate father, the tamer of gods and humans, good in the beginning, middle, and end, bringing benefit and peace to all. Since he concealed his spirit beneath the twin śāla trees, the earth shook throughout the ten directions; his hair was given to the four heavenly kings, and his relics were divided among eight realms. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: 'If one builds an image or a stūpa even as small as a thumb, always giving rise to a joyous mind, one will be born in the Akṣobhya realm.' Clearly we know that relying on one's father and serving one's teacher inherently accord with ancient standards. The offering of dried meat as tuition originated in the teachings of Confucius; that is a true assertion, and how could it not be so? Wei Yuansong leveled groundless criticisms, yet enters the halls without perishing—how can his not being bested be left unsaid? Formerly, Tang Yao governed by modeling himself on Heaven, yet Heaven brought the calamity of surging floods; the Zhou established the rites of the ancestral temples, yet the temples lacked the power to send down rain. If you say that stūpas do not bring immediate blessing and attribute faults to them, then one might as well say that petitions to Heaven and the ancestral temples are in vain and should all likewise be abandoned! If one investigates the unseen workings through reason, one realizes that the ancestral temples' benevolence may well cease when one's allotted lifespan is exhausted; how could halls or stūpas save one then? Even if Master Fei shrank the earth or the son of Lu turned back the heavens, they could do nothing for a person destined to die; how could they prolong a life that has already ceased? When life's term is not yet fixed, blessings can indeed avert calamity; this meaning differs from the argument above, and one must rely on compassionate aid. As for those afflicted with leprosy who, taking refuge before the image of Samantabhadra, were healed, or those whose crippling afflictions were cured at the Jetavana monastery—cases of relieving suffering and dispelling disasters are manifold. I will answer the remaining objections without speaking at length. If the Way is not uniquely confined to one place and virtue is nowhere absent, a thousand paths lead to the same end; why should it be confined to the mind within? When King Aśoka erected the precious stūpas, hundreds of spirits aided him with their daylight labors; when the Que-li stūpa was raised, the four heavenly kings assisted with their nightly power. How great indeed! Moving heaven and earth, shaking ghosts and spirits—what kind of talk is it to say that outward practice brings no blessings? If the poor were coerced and forced into labor, the commoners might lament their toil; but when it stems from a spirit of generosity, people can give without growing weary. If it was truly stūpas and temples that brought ruin to the state and impoverished the commoners, then now that the monks have been defrocked, the poor should have suddenly become rich; yet the distress and famine in the cities and towns is even worse than in past years. Could this be caused by the Buddha? Serving a spirit not one's own is called flattery; how is it not deeply bewildering to bow down and pray before the earth-god's tree? If you say that the earth-god's tree is the dwelling of a spirit and that offering support to it incurs no blame, then likewise the halls and stūpas are the residences of the Buddha, and their construction must be done according to the Dharma. If you say that the Buddha abides in empty space and does not reside in clay or wood, then the ghosts and spirits are also unseen and still—how could they dwell within a tree? When the holy teachings were first instituted, it was to rescue living beings in accord with principle; the scriptures state that unrighteous benefit is not permitted. Yet now there are heavenly palaces and Buddhist stūpas torn down to make walls for bridges and latrines, and embroidered images, banners, and scriptures used to clothe oozing pus and blood. Throughout the empire, daily hunger and poverty spread; year after year, the common folk grow withered and haggard. If minor holy beings like ghosts and spirits cannot be deceived, how could the great, wondrous spirits of the Buddhas ever be wronged with impunity? The Book of Odes says: 'Great Heaven shows no bountiful virtue; it sends down death and famine.' This is what it refers to. Furthermore, consider the meritorious ministers of past dynasties and the valiant generals of our own time: with shield and spear they pacified and quelled distant frontiers. In life, they enjoyed exclusive honors and rewards, scarlet gates, and purple chambers; in death, they conscripted many laborers to raise shrines, erect tombs, and sacrifice animals to the dead. Exalting the empty while harming the real, bringing toil with no benefit—not a word was ever said against this. How much less so for Śākyamuni Tathāgata, whose Way covers the trichiliocosm and whose transformations enrich ten billion worlds! Looking forward, he has no obstacle; looking back, who can surpass him? He can subdue the teachers of non-Buddhist schools and easily defeat the host of the deva-māras; without using an inch of armor or wearying a foot of blade, his five lights shine everywhere, leaving no suffering undispelled, and his fourfold eloquence flows forth, granting all living beings peace and happiness. When generals and commanders have high renown and great station, their temples and shrines are erected without objection—what harm is there in that? Even a clay dragon cannot bring rain, yet people still revere it to seek blessings; though an earthen Buddha does not speak, how could those who show it reverence fail to obtain proof? In the past, Sima Xiangru admired Lin Xiangru, and Master Kong dreamt of the Duke of Zhou; thus people value the ancients and respectfully follow ancestral virtue. How much more so since the transformative winds and principles of the Buddhas of the three periods are identical: even if Maitreya were just now arising, the bequeathed Dharma of Śākyamuni should not be discarded all at once.