廣弘明集 11.47

11.47

It is answered: The Dharma has flowed into the Han land for more than five hundred years; monasteries, monks, and nuns have existed across successive generations. The niches, stūpas, halls, and shrines were all initiated and built by previous dynasties; the rooms, dwellings, gates, and corridors were all erected out of faithful devotion. Whether for living and deceased parents, or for rebirth across seven generations, they sought future superior recompense and planted present fields of merit. All proceeded from their good intentions, not from quotas established by the Buddha and the Saṅgha. The Documents say: 'Do not destroy what has been successfully completed.' Thus Zichan did not destroy the shrine of Boyi, and the Master called him a benevolent man. How much more so is the Buddha a fertile field for the three realms and a father and mother to the four forms of birth! He can only be made offerings to, not destroyed and eradicated. Although the Buddha has left the world, the Dharma was entrusted to human kings. Prostrating, we contemplate that