廣弘明集 12.34

12.34

概聞真身絕待。非形方質礙可求。至理出情。豈言談語論可得。大矣哉豁蕩乎大道之外。妙矣哉超絕乎真一之表。於是四句頓亡百非洞遣。窮言極慮物莫能名者哉。但妄識悠悠迷情蠢蠢。縱四狂而弗惺。耽五醉而長惛。故大聖垂慈志存拯拔。於是開五生之迹。通四辯之音。非身現身。身滿於法界。無說示說。說遍乎大千。故有微塵化身分散而莫盡。恒沙法藏流演而無窮。故須彌圖經云。寶應聲菩薩化為伏羲。吉祥菩薩化作女媧。儒童應作孔丘。迦葉化為李老。妙德託身開士。能儒誕孕國師。又涅槃經云。所有經書記論伎藝文章。皆是佛說。以此而推。三皇五帝孔李周莊。皆是菩薩化身所收。文字圖書詩章禮樂。並是諸佛法藏所攝。文理昭然豈為虛妄。而奕執言謬理。覩化迷真。專以形迹見譏。名器相局。將泥木以毀聖。持鐫畫以難真。然鐫畫代真。寧是真佛。泥木表聖。非即聖人。故佛有覺名假名。非實佛有形像。假像非真。非真而立像。為令因像以悟真。非實以施名。為令因名以悟實。無名無實。悟者所以豁虛。非像非真。達人所以玄會。妙哉斯言之至也。深矣斯理之極也。而奕闇於深理迷於業報。弗論身後唯計眼前。若言欲求富貴。唯須壯馬負鐵効力疆埸。不須造像修功以祈福力者。武周壯馬最多。世充厚鉀不少。効力征戰固守疆埸。常應富貴。今者何在。若言欲得布絹豐饒穀米成熟。但栽蒔桑麻積聚爛糞。不須寫涅槃千部。誦法華百遍。以祈福力者。建德廣占桑田。薛舉大足馬糞。長應種殖多納倉厨。今復何在。若言欲得糧貯充牣。耕穫弗愆。但開渠引水灌畦注埠。不須轉海龍王經十部。以求雨潤者。蕭銑據有荊州。堤堰倍常。沃潤應課收納。保據封疆今復何在。以此而推。我。

I, Gai, have heard: The true body is beyond all dualities; it cannot be sought through bodily form or physical obstruction. The ultimate principle transcends human conception; how could it be obtained through speech and discourse? How vast, opening wide beyond the Great Dao! How subtle, transcending the exterior of the True One! Thereupon the four propositions are suddenly eliminated and the hundred negations thoroughly dispelled; exhausting speech and reaching the limits of thought, no thing can name it. However, deluded consciousness drifts on indefinitely, and confused sentiments stir blindly, indulging the four frenzies without awakening, indulging in the five intoxications and remaining perpetually darkened. Therefore the Great Sage extended his compassion, his intent set on rescue and deliverance. Thereupon he unfolded the traces of the five modes of birth and gave voice through the four unhindered eloquence. He manifests a body where there is no body, his body filling the dharma-realm; he displays preaching where there is no preaching, his preaching pervading the great chiliocosm. Thus there are transformation bodies numerous as minute dust motes, dispersing without end; and Dharma treasuries numerous as the sands of the Ganges, flowing and spreading without exhaust. Therefore the *Scripture of the Diagram of Mount Sumeru* states: "Bodhisattva Ratnapratibhāna transformed into Fuxi; Bodhisattva Śrī transformed into Nüwa; Mānavaka should transform into Kong Qiu; Kāśyapa transformed into Laozi; Wonderful Virtue (Mañjuśrī) lodged his body as an enlightened being; the Able Scholar (Śākyamuni) gave birth to the imperial preceptor." Furthermore, the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* states: "All scriptures, records, treatises, arts, and literary compositions are what the Buddha spoke." Deducing from this, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Confucius, Laozi, the Duke of Zhou, and Zhuangzi are all included among the transformation bodies of bodhisattvas; writings, charts, books, poems, odes, rites, and music are all subsumed within the Dharma treasuries of the Buddhas. The textual principles are lucid; how could they be false? Yet Yi clings to words and errs regarding the principle; seeing the transformations, he is blind to the truth. He exclusively mocks them through physical traces, and delimits them by names and vessels. Using clay and wood, he defames the Sage; holding up carvings and paintings, he attacks the true. Yet how could carvings and paintings that substitute for the true be the true Buddha? How could clay and wood that represent the holy be the actual Sage? Therefore the Buddha has an awakened name, but it is an imputed name, not the real; the Buddha has a physical image, but it is an imputed image, not the true. An image is established though it is not the true, in order to cause one to awaken to the true by means of the image; a name is conferred though it is not the real, in order to cause one to awaken to the real by means of the name. Without name and without reality—this is how the awakened one opens to emptiness; neither image nor true—this is how the person of attainment mystically unites. How wonderful are these ultimate words! How profound is this utmost principle! Yet Yi is blind to the deep principle and confused about karmic retribution, failing to consider what comes after death and reckoning only what is before his eyes. If one says that to seek wealth and nobility, one need only rely on strong horses bearing iron armor to exert strength on the battlefield, without needing to fashion images or cultivate merit to pray for the power of blessing—then [Liu] Wuzhou had the most strong horses, and [Wang] Shichong lacked not for thick armor; exerting their strength in warfare and firmly guarding the battlefields, they should have continually enjoyed wealth and nobility. Where are they today? If one says that to obtain an abundance of cloth and silk, and to have grain ripen, one need only plant mulberries and hemp and accumulate rotten dung, without needing to copy a thousand sections of the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* or recite the *Lotus Sūtra* a hundred times to pray for the power of blessing—then [Dou] Jiande occupied vast mulberry fields, and Xue Ju had a great surplus of horse dung; they should have long planted and harvested, taking vast stores into granaries and kitchens. Where are they today? If one says that to obtain full and overflowing grain stores and to plow and harvest without missing the seasons, one need only open canals to draw water, irrigating plots and moistening banks, without needing to turn ten sections of the *Sūtra of the Ocean Dragon King* to seek moistening rain—then Xiao Xian occupied Jingzhou, where the dikes and embankments were twice the normal size, so that the rich moisture should have yielded great levies and harvests, preserving his borders and territory. Where is he today? Deducing from this, I