廣弘明集 1.23

1.23

The treatise says: “Fo” in Chinese means “awakened,” implying the awakening of all living beings. In unifying its teaching, it takes the cultivation of goodness and a compassionate mind as principal; one who does not kill living beings and devotes himself exclusively to purity and vigor is a śramaṇa. In Chinese this means resting the mind, shaving the hair, leaving home, severing passions, washing away desires, and returning to the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta). Furthermore, they believe that when a person dies, the spirit is not extinguished, but receives a bodily form again according to [karma]. The good and evil done will all have retribution in a later birth. What is prized is practicing goodness to refine the spirit; refining it without end, one reaches the unborn and can become a Buddha. His body is sixteen feet tall, golden in color, bearing the light of the sun and moon at the back of his neck, with transformations unfathomable, pervading everywhere; hence he can convert and penetrate the ten thousand things and broadly save all beings. There are several thousand fascicles of scriptures, taking emptiness as their principle, encompassing the fine and the coarse, unifying everything. They are adept at grand and magnificent words; what they seek is within one’s own body, and what they illuminate is beyond seeing and hearing. The refuge is mysterious and subtle, deep and far-reaching, difficult to fathom. Therefore, when princes, dukes, and great men contemplate the juncture of life and death, and retribution, there are none who are not struck with fear and lose their composure. The Book of Wei says: “Its Buddhist scriptures generally speak of all living species arising on account of actions and karmic deeds, spanning the three periods of past, present, and future. Its stages and ranks of cultivating the Way are not singular; all proceed from the shallow to the deep, relying on the subtle to reach the prominent. In general, it lies in accumulating benevolence and compliance, getting rid of cravings and desires, and practicing emptiness and stillness so as to achieve penetrating illumination.” And so forth.