廣弘明集 10.51

10.51

Your servant [Ming]guang respectfully replies: The Classic of Poetry says: 'No virtue is unrequited; no word is unanswered.' Although I am mediocre and empty, I have heard this from previous masters: the ultimate Way is beyond mental contemplation; great virtue transcends reputation. The noble person utters no superficial words; the Buddhas invariably make solid assertions. Dispelling delusion, shattering clinging, and opening the path for the multitudes in darkness, the revered position of the Teacher of Gods and Humans has existed for a long time. Good words instruct things, and both commoners and sages return to benevolence. Who can see the virtue of amṛta and fragrant epidendrum? Even if Yao was praised for the ultimate Way, he did not see the golden dream of Pingyang; though Shun was called non-contriving (asaṃskṛta), he was still separated from the auspicious light of Puban. How sorrowful! Life is vain and death is easy, yet the True Dharma is difficult to hear. The pure and superior style is largely contravened, and flattering, crooked words are difficult to adopt. If the rise of the Buddhadharma in Qi and Liang caused the dynastic fortune not to prosper, did Tang [Yao] and Yu [Shun] practice their deeds in sangha monasteries that the imperial line was cut off and the people starved with sallow faces? Have we ever heard from Liang history that the heavenly flood disaster recorded from Yao's time occurred then? Why must a state of complete Way only belong to Tang and Yu? Does the corruption of the people only happen in the realms of Qi and Liang? As for when righteousness prevails in a bountiful state, raising jeweled halls is not considered toil; when ritual is abandoned in an impoverished era, dwelling on earthen steps is considered ease. Therefore Fu Yi said: 'People of the world praise Shennong's personal farming and Yao and Shun's thatched roofs; this was the language of an era of decline, not the Way of the former kings.' The stupas and monasteries of Qi and Liang naturally opened the cause of blessed virtue; how could they demand an immediate recompense of protection? Thus Zengzi said: 'When a person loves goodness, though blessings have not yet arrived, misfortune is already far away; when a person does evil, though misfortune has not yet arrived, blessings are already far away.' Baopuzi said: 'The worthy do not necessarily live long, nor do the foolish necessarily meet harm; good brings no immediate blessing, and evil brings no immediate disaster.' How can one demand these near tests and discard the great distant manifestations? The past and present shift, and simplicity and refinement alternate; governing the state and aiding the world value suiting the times. I sorrowfully fear that with regard to the superior customs of Tang and Yu, claiming they are right is not exclusively right; with regard to the degenerate Dharma of Qi and Liang, claiming it is wrong is not exclusively wrong.