廣弘明集 18.92

18.92

答曰。累伏者屬此則廢彼。實如來告。凡厥心數孰不皆然。亦如來旨。更恨不就學人設言而以恒物為譏耳。譬如藥驗者疾易痊。理妙者吝可洗。洗吝豈復循環。疾痊安能起滅。則事不侔居然已辨。但無漏之功。故資世俗之善。善心雖在五品之數。能出三界之外矣。平叔所謂冬日之陰。輔嗣亦云。遠不必携。聊借此語以況入無果無阻隔。靈運自一悟理。質以經誥。可謂俗文之談。然書不盡意。亦前世格言。幽僻無事聊與同行道人。共求其衷猥辱高難。辭微理析莫不精究。尋覽彌日欣若暫對。輒復更伸前論。雖不辯酬。釋來問且以示懷耳。海嶠岨逈披敘無期。臨白增懷。眷歎良深。謝靈運再拜。

The answer says: As for defilements being subdued because attending to this abandons that, it is truly as your incoming note says. Among all mental factors, which is not like this? It is also as your incoming purport states. I only regret that you did not frame your remarks around learners, but instead mocked them using ordinary things. For instance, when medicine is efficacious, illness easily recovers; when principle is wondrous, stinginess can be washed away. Once stinginess is washed away, how could it cycle again? Once illness recovers, how could it rise and cease? Thus the two matters are not comparable, and the distinction is already clear. But the merit of uncontaminated [wisdom] relies upon worldly goodness. Though the good mind is among the five grades, it can transcend the three realms. Pingshu spoke of 'the shade on a winter day,' and Fusi also said, 'What is far need not be carried along.' I merely borrow these words to illustrate that entering into nothingness is genuinely without obstruction. Ever since I, Lingyun, had an instantaneous awakening to principle, I have tested it against the scriptures; it may be called discourse in worldly prose. Yet writing does not exhaust meaning, as the maxim of past generations says. In seclusion without affairs, I merely seek the truth together with fellow śramaṇas; receiving your noble challenge, with its subtle words and analytical principle, everything has been thoroughly probed. Reading through it for days, my joy is as though we had met briefly. Thereupon I restate the former discourse once more; though it does not debate and reply, it explains the incoming questions merely to show my sentiments. Mountain and sea are far and precipitous, with no date for open conversation. Facing the paper, my emotions swell, and my affectionate sighing is truly deep. Xie Lingyun bows twice.