廣弘明集 11.116

11.116

It is answered: Zhuang Zhou said: 'Regarding what is within the six directions, the Sage speaks of it but does not debate it. Regarding what is outside the six directions, the Sage reserves it but does not speak of it.' Laozi said: 'Within the realm there are four greats, and the Dao is one of them.' Examining the purport of the Odes, Documents, Rites, and Music, they only sought to arrange the constant relationships and clarify that loyalty, filial piety, and parental love come first; their intent was to reverently serve rulers and fathers. Even if they speak of 'utmost virtue', it is solely to bring peace to superiors and govern the common people; even if one supposes an 'essential way', it does not go beyond shifting customs and changing habits. Returning to Lu from Wei, did [Confucius] ever set forth words of liberation? The six faculties and nine categories have not yet proclaimed the ultimate meaning. As for the discussions of nourishing life and the equality of things, or the tales of the Dragon Diagram and Phoenix Annals, one may indeed harbor benevolence, hold to good faith, and follow the intentions of Lixiang, or edit the classics, comment on the trigrams, and spread the texts of Queli. Next were called the Nine Currents, and finally were named the Seven Summaries. Examining the various books recorded in the 'Treatise on Arts and Writings' of the Book of the Former Han, numbering 13,269 fascicles, none fails to have its efficacy in immediate benefits, yet none of them penetrates the distant path. All are self-confined within a single lifetime, not loftily transcending beyond the three realms of time. This has caused the principles of cause and effect in the present and the future to remain dark even past dawn, and the meanings of karmic retribution and fortune or misfortune to remain uncomprehended through Confucius. Thus we know that the entire single scroll of the Xiaoyao [you] is still deluded by the attachment to existing things, and the two fascicles of the Daode [jing] have not entered the realm of absolute emptiness. These are merely the terrestrial confines of the six directions, the mundane maxims of the five constants; how could they escape the vast flooding of the four torrents as an arena of afflictions, or the clamor of the six destinies creating the karma of toil and dust? Verily, the true mark is profound and dark, surpassing the essential of essential ways; the dharmakāya is tranquil and still, emerging beyond the mystery of mysteries. Only our Great Master realized this wondrous awakening: the two extremes are suddenly dispelled, and the myriad virtues are totally fused. Neither clamorous nor solitary, how could one seek him through realm or cognition? Neither distinct nor obscured, how could one grasp him through form or name? Being small, he is so small as to have no interior; dwelling in greatness, he is so great as to have no bound. Therefore he is able to measure the dharmadhātu and arouse compassion, to fathom empty space and establish his vows. Thus he manifested birth in an impure land and was born a sage in a royal palace, displaying a golden body and revealing the sign of the jade urna. Spreading the cloud of compassion upon Vulture Peak, the flames of the burning house were quenched; fanning the wind of wisdom upon Cock's Foot Mountain, the mists of the dark paths rolled away. When he walked, golden lotuses held up his feet; when he sat, a jeweled throne bore his body. When he went forth, Śakra was before him; when he entered, the King of Brahmā followed behind. His left assistant, Guhyapada, took extinguishing evil as his merit; his right aide, the Vajra[-holder], took growing good as his task. Śrāvakas and bodhisattvas stood solemn like attendant ministers; the eight classes of beings and myriad spirits were arrayed like guarding escorts. When he expounded nirvāṇa, the earth manifested the six movements; when he spoke prajñā, heaven rained down the four kinds of flowers. Adorned with a hundred merits, he was like the full moon overlooking the blue sea; radiant with a thousand lights, he was like the assembled suns shining on the jeweled mountain. With a single lion's roar, the non-Buddhists' spearheads were broken; when the dharma drum sounded for a moment, the deva-māras bowed their heads. Therefore the Buddha is called the King of the Dharma. How could he ever compete in virtue or vie for precedence with Kāśyapa of the declining Zhou, or be linked in class with the Juwen Boy of the decadent age? Therefore above and below the heavens, he alone is praised as the Honored Tamer; across the three-thousand great-thousand worlds, all look up to the moisture of his compassion. However, the principle is deep and the purport distant, requiring the fishtrap and hare-snare before awakening; the gates of teaching are skillful, relying on teachers and friends before becoming accessible. In unifying his teachings: the treasury of eighty-four thousand, the texts of the two truths and the ten grounds, the discourses at the Jetavana and the Deer Park, the purports of the ocean palace and dragon palace, the characters of the jade tablets and golden scripts, the words of the seven places and eight assemblies—none fails to bequeath the utmost way to a hundred kings and fan the mysterious breeze for ten thousand ages, being true words and real words, inconceivable. At hand, they bring peace to the state and benefit the people; far off, they transcend the ordinary and realize the sage. Thus his forms pervade the six realms of rebirth and his teachings fill the ten directions. He is truly the field of merit for the world, indeed the refuge of the living multitude. At that time, those companions of reverent faith were like the seven luminaries circling the Northern Celestial Pole; those disciples who received conversion were like the myriad rivers plunging into the great ocean. Examining his spiritual transformations and meritorious undertakings that benefit humans and devas, he is indeed beyond naming. Having fulfilled causes numerous as the sands of the Ganges, he attained the fruit of permanent bliss. Excellent indeed! Beyond measure! Yet because the cycle of time was not yet unified, it brought about differing responses between India and China. Therefore the Western Regions were the first to revere his sounds and forms, while the Eastern Country only later received the benefits of seeing and hearing. When the clouds of compassion rolled up their moisture and the sun of wisdom withdrew its light, a golden man was dreamt of in the Yongping era, and relics were witnessed in the Chiwu era. Thereupon, during the governance of the Han, Wei, Qi, and Liang, the image teachings vigorously arose; from the Yan, Qin, Jin, and Song onward, famous monks emerged at intervals. Some painted the full moon beside the Clear Terrace, or displayed the harmikā outside the Yongmen Gate. Coming down to the translation of texts in the north and the compilation of catalogues in the south, the Way flourished in the Three Auxiliaries and faith was harmonized across the Nine Provinces. It grew increasingly abundant as it crossed the left bank of the Yangtze, and turned ever more flourishing as it passed through the Metal Dynasties. The Wei River was provided with the park of Xiaoyao, and Mount Lu assembled the terrace of prajñā. Profound texts and esoteric purports were disclosed to usher in propriety; eminent scholars and venerable monks arrived in unbroken succession from afar. Coming down to the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang, the three teachings moved abreast and the three vehicles galloped together. Although he dwelled in the purple zenith, his heart was attuned to Fenyang; he set aside the master of wine and dismissed the slaughterer, perfuming himself with the fragrance of precepts and savoring the joy of the Dharma. Fearing that the four torrents were hard to pull out of, he personally led with the seven eloquence-powers; he made light of imperial robes to wear dyed garments, and renounced the carved palanquin to sit on a grass seat. At that time, he broadly initiated the enterprise of terraces of wisdom and widely laid the foundations of raised stupas. (The Chronicles of Liang states: 'His reign in the eastern terrace and western court lasted for over eighty years. The grand monasteries in the capitals numbered over seven hundred, and the lecturing assemblies of monks and nuns constantly counted ten thousand people, discussing internal scriptures and together observing the sacred enterprise, tireless and diligent, each tired of worldly glory.') This caused the prominent clans of the five capitals to grow weary of official caps and take refuge, and famous families across the four seas to cast aside glory and enter the Way. From the lands where sovereign emperors reside to the domains where sound-teachings reach, there was none who did not prostrate and dedicate merit, taking refuge with all five limbs. The depth of his benefit to beings has indeed been long-standing! How could the conversions bequeathed by Confucius and Laozi ever compare with this? Examining the Chronicles of the Thirty-Six States, the Biographies of Eminent Monks, the Biographies of Famous Monks, and the records of Mouzi and others: beginning from the tenth year of Yongping of the Later Han onward, the Buddha Dharma flowed east, spanning ten dynastic reigns and nearly six hundred years. Eminent monks and great virtues who were revered by the world totaled 257 persons; those who were mentioned incidentally or appended, along with princes and dukes of Yan and Zhao and ministers of Qi and Liang, totaled 251 persons. Setting forth their deeds, they are broadly divided into ten categories: first, translators of sutras; second, interpreters of meaning; third, workers of miracles; fourth, practitioners of dhyāna; fifth, elucidators of the vinaya; sixth, self-immolators; seventh, reciters of sutras; eighth, promoters of blessings; ninth, cantors of sutras; tenth, preachers. These eminent monks all had their virtue patterned upon the four refuges, their merit complete in the three karmas; that the Dharma was transmitted to Cīnasthāna was truly what relied upon them. (Heterodox views are concealed and not discussed, only mentioning three or five bad ones. Within the Snowy Mountains, there is inherently much amṛta, yet there are also poisonous weeds; in the great ocean, while there are bright pearls, it also abounds in rākṣasas. It is like Mount Kun lacking a chip of stone, or the Forest of Deng damaged in a single branch. What is there to find strange about it?)