廣弘明集 25.45

25.45

竊以紫氣騰真。玄牝之風西被。白虹沈化。涅槃之蘊東流。轡羽驤霞。影王京而凝眾妙。津慈照寂。啟金園而融至道。義冠空有。理洞希夷。祛濟塵蒙薰滌因累。神道裨教茲焉有徵。坦躅業已遵從。流弊義資懲革（彈曰守法高尚稱為流弊違經拜俗謂之懲革即事不可其如理何）原夫在三之敬六位。峻尊卑之象。百行之本四始。旌罔極之談。本立然後道生。敬形於焉禮穆。寔王化之始。乃天地之經。佛以法為師。帝以天為則。域中有四大王者居一焉。王道既其齊衡。天法固乃同貫。身為法器法惟道本。黃冠慕道緇裳奉佛。致敬君父眇契玄波（彈曰。佛法乃寰外之尊。帝王為域中之大。教存而令屈折。不羈還類編人。此乃法水壅而不流。何玄波之眇契耶）且夫戒錄纔高。猶盡肅於膜拜。況乎貴賤懸邈頓遺恭於屈膝（彈曰。王謐云。沙門所以上下相敬而抗禮。宸居者良以宗致既同則長幼成序。津途有隔則義無降屈。誠哉是言。可為龜鏡矣）必以山林獨往物我兼忘。混親疎齊寵辱。惠我不為是。損己詎稱非。自當泯若無情。湛然恒寂。安假仰迦維而頓顙。覿天尊而雅拜。塵容不異俗。致敬未乖真（彈曰。沙門落采披緇。道俗懸隔拜違佛教。具顯經文。而言敬未乖真容不異俗。此乃指南為北。反白成玄）且伯陽緒訓於和光。不輕演教於常禮。妙叶謙尊之德。遠符隣照之規（伯陽誕自姬周。身充柱史。為官則王朝之一職。言道儒宗之一流拜伏君親固其宜矣。至若不輕之禮四眾乃權道之一時。其猶文命入裸俗而解裳。不可例率土以為模楷）又三極之中師居其末。末猶展敬。本何疑哉（彈曰。釋眾所以師資相敬。正以教義不殊故耳。非是約本末而言。何孟浪之甚也）若以袈裟異乎龍黼。縠巾殊於鷩弁。服既戎矣。拜何必華。各循其本無爽彝式。其有素履貞遯清規振俗神化肹響戒行精勤。藻掞桐鸞梵清霄鶴。錦旌徵獸瓊符御靈。德秀年耆。蠲其拜禮。自餘初學後進聲塵寂寥。並令盡敬君父。請即編之恒憲（彈曰。若以不拜為非。則德秀年耆詎宜蠲免。若以不拜為是。則後進初學無宜令拜進退矛盾去取自乖。請即編之恒憲。何所見之短乎）如此則進德修業。出塵之軌彌隆。苦節棲壇。入道之心逾勵。玄風斯遠國章惟緝。庶可以詳示景。則靜一訛弊（彈曰。以乖宗為景。則謂守法為訛弊。約斯以驗餘何可觀）自我作故奚舊之拘。夫鏡非常之理。必藉非常之照。天鑒玄覽體睿甄微。探象外之遺宗。極環中之幽致。雖則暫駭常聽。抑亦終寘大道。謹議。

I venture to think that the purple aura mounted the true, and the breeze of the Mysterious Female spread to the west; the white rainbow sank its transformation, and the store of nirvāṇa flowed to the east. Reins of feathers and soaring sunset-clouds cast their shadows upon the royal capital, congealing the manifold wonders; the ford of compassion shone upon stillness, opening the Golden Garden and merging with the ultimate Way. Its doctrines surpass emptiness and form; its principles penetrate the subtle and the soundless. It banishes and saves the dust-blinded, washing and purifying causal burdens; that the divine Way assists governance finds its proof here. The open path having already been followed, its degenerating abuses rightfully call for restraint and reform. (Refutation: To call upholding the Dharma in lofty detachment 'degenerating abuses', and to call violating the scriptures by paying obeisance to the secular 'restraint and reform'—this is inadmissible in practice, so how can it accord with principle?) Now, the reverence of the 'three superiors' and the six positions elevate the marks of the noble and the humble; the four beginnings of the hundred conducts illustrate the boundless debt [owed to parents]. Only when the root is established does the Way arise; when reverence takes form, ritual becomes solemn. This is truly the beginning of royal transformation, the constant norm of heaven and earth. The Buddha takes the Dharma as his master; the emperor takes Heaven as his standard. Within the realm there are four great things, and the king is one of them. Since the kingly way matches them in balance, the heavenly law must naturally share the same thread. The body is a vessel of the Dharma, and the Dharma is the root of the Way. The yellow caps aspire to the Tao, and the black robes serve the Buddha; paying reverence to ruler and father mysteriously tallies with the profound ripples. (Refutation: The Buddha-Dharma is the honor of that which is beyond the universe; emperors and kings are the greatness within the realm. If the teaching is preserved yet they are ordered to bend and bow, the unrestrained will revert to the ranks of registered commoners. This is to block the waters of the Dharma from flowing; how could it be a 'mysterious tallying with the profound ripples'?) Furthermore, even when one's rank in the precepts is slightly higher, one still exhausts solemnity in prostrations; how much more, when the noble and the humble are so vast apart, should one abruptly omit reverence in bending the knee? (Refutation: Wang Mi said: 'The reason śramaṇas respect one another between senior and junior yet stand on equal terms with the sovereign's abode is simply because, the lineage and principle being identical, seniority forms an order; but between their paths there is a divide, so in principle there is no bending down.' Truly these words can serve as a mirror for posterity!) If one must walk alone in the mountain forests, forgetting both self and other, conflating the close and the distant, and leveling favor and disgrace, then granting to me is not considered right, and harming oneself is hardly called wrong; one ought naturally to be tranquil without passion, serene and ever-still. Why bother raising one's head toward Kapilavastu to knock one's forehead, or beholding the Heavenly Honored One to make solemn bows? If the dusty appearance does not differ from the secular, rendering reverence does not contravene the true. (Refutation: The śramaṇa sheds his adornments and dons the black robe; the sacred and the mundane are vastly separated. Paying obeisance violates the Buddha's teaching, as is fully revealed in the scriptural texts. Yet they say reverence does not contravene the true and appearance does not differ from the secular—this is pointing north and calling it south, turning white into black!) Moreover, Boyang handed down instructions on softening the light, and Sadāparibhūta expounded teachings on constant courtesy. This wondrously harmonizes with the virtue of humbling the honored, and distantly tallies with the norm of shining upon neighbors. (Boyang was born in the Ji-Zhou dynasty and served as an archivist; as an official, it was a post in the royal court, and in speaking of the Way, he was of the lineage of Ruist forebears; his prostrating to ruler and kin was naturally fitting. As for Sadāparibhūta's bowing to the four assemblies, it was a temporary expedient; it is like Yu entering the land of the naked and taking off his skirt—it cannot be taken as a universal model for the entire realm.) Furthermore, among the three poles the teacher holds the last place; if one still extends reverence to the branch, why should one doubt the root? (Refutation: The reason the community of Śākya respect one another as master and disciple is precisely because their doctrinal principles are identical, not because of a distinction between root and branch. How exceedingly reckless!) If it is thought that the kāṣāya differs from dragon robes and silk caps differ from pheasant bonnets—since the attire is already barbarian, why must the obeisance be Chinese? Let each follow their origin without deviating from standard rules. Those who possess pure conduct in steadfast seclusion, whose clear discipline elevates the mundane, whose spiritual transformation resonates, whose precept-conduct is refined and diligent, whose literary elegance shines like paulownia phoenixes, whose chanting is pure like heavenly cranes, whose brocade banners summon beasts, and whose jade tallies command spirits—those distinguished in virtue and advanced in years should be exempted from the ritual of obeisance. As for the rest, the beginners and juniors whose reputation and dust are obscure and desolate, let them all be ordered to pay full reverence to ruler and parents. We request that this be immediately entered into permanent law. (Refutation: If not paying obeisance is wrong, how could those distinguished in virtue and advanced in years be exempted? If not paying obeisance is right, then beginners and juniors should not be ordered to pay obeisance. Vacillating between contradiction, their acceptance and rejection are inconsistent. To request that this be entered into permanent law—how short-sighted their view is!) In this way, advancing in virtue and cultivating one's calling, the track of transcending the dust will flourish all the more; enduring hardship in the cloister, the mind of entering the Way will be further spurred. The profound breeze will reach far, and the state's statutes will be orderly. We hope this will clearly demonstrate great models and pacify errors and abuses. (Refutation: Taking contradiction of the lineage as a great model and calling the upholding of the Dharma an error and abuse—testing the rest by this, what is there worth looking at?) 'Let us establish our own precedent; why be constrained by the old?' Now, to mirror extraordinary principle, one must rely on extraordinary illumination. The Heavenly Mirror inspects the profound, its essence wise and discerning of the subtle; it probes the left-behind lineage beyond forms, and reaches the dark purport within the ring. Though it temporarily startles ordinary ears, it ultimately settles the Great Way. Respectfully submitted.