廣弘明集 22.58

22.58

蓋聞。二儀有像。顯覆載以含生。四時無形。潛寒暑以化物。是以窺天鑑地。庸愚皆識其端。明陰洞陽。賢哲罕窮其數。然而天地包乎陰陽而易識者。以其有像也。陰陽處乎天地而難窮者。以其無形也。故知像顯可。徵雖愚不惑。形潛莫覩。在智猶迷。況乎佛道崇虛。乘幽控寂。弘濟萬品。典御十方。舉威靈而無上。抑神力而無下。大之則彌於宇宙。細之則攝於毫釐。無滅無生。歷千劫而不古。若隱若顯。運百福而長今。妙道凝玄。遵之莫知其際。法流湛寂。挹之莫測其源。故知蠢蠢凡愚區區庸鄙。投其旨趣能無疑惑者哉。然則大教之興。基於西土。騰漢庭而晈夢。照東域而流慈。昔者分形分跡之時。言未馳而成化。當常現常之世。民仰德而知遵。及乎晦影歸真遷儀越世。金容掩色。不鏡三千之光。麗象開圖。空端四八之相。於是微言廣被。拯含類於三途。遺訓遐宣。導群生於十地。然而真教難仰。莫能一其指歸。曲學易遵。邪正於焉紛糺。所以空有之論。或習俗而是非。大小之乘。乍沿時而隆替。有玄奘法師者。法門之領袖也。幼懷貞慜。早悟三空之心。長契神情。先苞四忍之行。松風水月。未足比其清華。仙露明珠。詎能方其朗潤。故以智通無累神測未形。超六塵而逈出。敻千古而無對。凝心內境。悲正法之陵遲。栖慮玄門。慨深文之訛謬。思欲分條析理廣彼前聞。截偽續真開茲後學。是以翹心淨土往遊西域。乘危遠邁杖策孤征。積雪晨飛途間失地。驚砂夕起空外迷天。萬里山川。撥煙霞而進影。百重寒暑。躡霜雨而前蹤。誠重勞輕求深願達。周遊西宇十有七年。窮歷道邦詢求正教。雙林八水味道餐風。鹿苑鷲峯瞻奇仰異。承至言於先聖。受真教於上賢。探賾妙門精窮奧業。一乘五律之道。馳驟於心田。八藏三篋之文。波濤於口海。爰自所歷之國。總將三藏要文。凡六百五十七部。譯布中夏宣揚勝業。引慈雲於西極。注法雨於東陲。聖教缺而復全。蒼生罪而還福。濕火宅之乾焰。共拔迷途。朗愛水之昏波。同臻彼岸。是知惡因業墜善以緣昇。昇墜之端惟人所託。譬夫桂生高嶺雲露方得泫其華。蓮出淥波飛塵不能污其葉。非蓮性自潔而桂質本貞。良由所附者高則微物不能累。所憑者淨則濁類不能沾。夫以卉木無知。猶資善而成善。況乎人倫有識。不緣慶而求慶。方冀茲經流施將日月而無窮。斯福遐敷與乾坤而永大。

I have heard that the two modes of nature have forms, manifesting canopy and support to embrace living beings; the four seasons are formless, covertly alternating cold and heat to transform things. Therefore, looking up at heaven and inspecting the earth, even the common and foolish recognize their beginnings; clarifying yin and penetrating yang, even the worthy and wise rarely exhaust their reckonings. Yet heaven and earth envelop yin and yang and are easy to know, because they have form; yin and yang dwell within heaven and earth and are difficult to exhaust, because they lack form. Thus we know that when forms are manifest and verifiable, even the foolish are not confused; when shapes are hidden and invisible, even the wise remain perplexed. How much more so with the Buddhist Way, which exalts the void, rides the obscure, and commands stillness! Broadly rescuing the myriad classes, it guides and governs the ten directions. It elevates majestic spirit without limit, and reins in divine power without bound. At its largest it fills the universe, and at its finest it fits within a hair's tip. Without cessation and without arising, it traverses a thousand kalpas without growing old; appearing as if hidden or manifest, it deploys a hundred blessings and endures into the present. The marvelous Way condenses in the dark and deep; following it, none can know its boundary. The stream of Dharma is clear and still; dipping into it, none can plumb its source. Thus we know that the ignorant, ordinary, and common folk, when confronted with its aims, cannot but have doubts and hesitations! Now, the rising of the Great Teaching was founded in the Western lands; it soared into the Han court as an auspicious dream, and illuminated the Eastern regions, pouring forth compassion. In ancient times, when the Buddha divided his forms and traces, his transformation was accomplished before words were spread; during the age when he constantly manifested his enduring presence, the people looked up to his virtue and knew to follow him. But when his shadow was dimmed and he returned to truth, changing his form and passing from the world, his golden countenance concealed its luster, no longer mirroring the radiance of the three-thousandfold world; his beautiful likeness was set forth in depictions, displaying in empty air his thirty-two marks. Thereupon his subtle words spread widely, rescuing sentient beings from the three paths; his bequeathed instructions were proclaimed far, guiding living beings toward the ten grounds. Yet the true teaching was hard to look up to, and none could unify its direction; perverse doctrines were easy to follow, and the heterodox and orthodox became tangled therein. Thus the debates over emptiness and existence were judged right or wrong according to prevailing customs, and the Great and Lesser Vehicles waxed and waned with the times. There is the Dharma Master Xuanzang, who is a leader of the Dharma gates. In his youth he embraced constancy and compassion, early on awakening to the mind of the three emptannesses; grown to maturity, he matched divine perception, first encompassing the practice of the four patiences. The wind in the pines and the moon on the water are insufficient to match his pure radiance; fairy dew and bright pearls can hardly rival his luminous clarity. Thus, with his wisdom penetrating without impediment and his spirit detecting what has not yet taken shape, he transcended the six sense objects to stand far apart, unrivaled across a thousand ages. He concentrated his mind on the inner realm, grieving over the decline of the true Dharma; he rested his thoughts in the profound gate, lamenting the errors in the esoteric texts. He wished to distinguish the branches, analyze the principles, and broaden what had been heard before, cutting off the false to continue the true and opening the way for later students. Therefore, raising his heart toward the pure land, he journeyed to the Western Regions, braving dangers to travel afar and leaning on his staff to journey alone. In the morning, drifting snow flew and the ground was lost beneath his path; in the evening, startling sands arose and the sky was obscured beyond the air. Across myriad leagues of mountains and rivers, he pushed through mists and clouds to advance his shadow; through a hundred rounds of cold and heat, he trod upon frost and rain to press his footsteps forward. Sincere in gravity, regarding labor as light, his quest was deep and his vow attained. He wandered the Western realm for seventeen years, traversing the lands of the Way to the utmost and inquiring after the orthodox teachings. In the Twin Śāla Groves and along the eight rivers, he tasted the Way and fed on the wind; in the Deer Park and on Vulture Peak, he gazed upon marvels and revered the extraordinary. He received ultimate words from past sages, and accepted the true teaching from eminent worthies. He explored the secrets of the marvelous gate, thoroughly mastering the profound teachings. The paths of the One Vehicle and the five vinayas galloped across the field of his mind; the texts of the eight treasuries and three baskets surged like billows upon the ocean of his mouth. Thereupon, from the countries he had passed through, he brought back essential texts of the Tripiṭaka, six hundred and fifty-seven works in all, to translate and disseminate in the central lands, proclaiming the supreme enterprise. He drew the clouds of compassion from the western extremity, and poured the rain of Dharma upon the eastern borders. The holy teachings, once fragmented, became complete again; the common people, once sinful, returned to blessings. He dampened the dry flames of the burning house, together plucking beings from the deluded paths; he clarified the murky waves of the river of attachment, together reaching the other shore. Thus we know that evil causes fall by karma, and good rises through conditions; the starting point of rising and falling depends solely on what a person relies upon. Just as when a cassia tree grows on a high ridge, clouds and dew can moisten its flowers; when a lotus emerges from clear waves, flying dust cannot soil its leaves. It is not that the lotus's nature is intrinsically pure and the cassia's substance inherently constant, but truly because that which they cleave to is high, so trivial things cannot burden them, and that which they rely upon is pure, so turbid things cannot stain them. If insensate flora still depend on good to achieve good, how much more so should conscious humankind seek blessings by relying on auspicious conditions? We hope that these scriptures will spread endlessly with the sun and moon, and that this blessing will extend far and wide, enduring forever with heaven and earth.