廣弘明集 11.9

11.9

Your Majesty has responded to Heaven and conformed to the seasons, holding the charts and receiving the mandates, meeting the hearts of the ten thousand states, and bearing the blessings of the One Man. Your strength in upholding the endangered and saving the world, your merit in subduing the vicious and pacifying distress, already overshadow past kings in awe and surpass former emperors in renown. Furthermore, you turn your mind to the triratna and pay heed to the fields of merit, so that among all who have left the household, there is none who does not gratefully cherish the celestial benevolence. It is merely because monks like us have failed to observe and uphold the precepts and conduct so as to repay the state's grace, and ignorant fools have violated rules and committed offenses, that Fu Yi has been brought to utter these wicked words. We beat our breasts and stamp our feet in agonizing heartbreak, with nowhere to cast our bodies. Now, if monks and nuns have committed crimes, they willingly accept the ultimate punishment; but we resent that Yi lightly insults the sage, his words being fiercely venomous. We deeply fear that those of false views will, on this basis, practice wrongdoing. Consider that in the Spring and Autumn Annals, in the seventh year of Duke Zhuang of Lu, in the fourth month of summer, 'the constant stars were not seen, and the night was bright as day'—this was indeed the auspicious response at the time of the Buddha's birth. Furthermore, the Buddha possesses the two bodies of truth and response, the two wisdoms of the expedient and the real, the three vidyās, the eight liberations, the five eyes, and the six supernormal powers. His spirit is called inconceivable; His Dharma is termed the cessation of the tracks of mental activity. His Way: it conveys the multitude of sages into nirvāṇa. His power: it rescues lowly worldlings from the sea of suffering. Since the third year of the Yongping era of Emperor Ming of the Later Han, when he dreamed of the golden man, the image teaching flowed east, and its wondrous auguries have not been single; they are fully recorded in the various histories of Han and Wei, and the books of Yao and Shi. As for the likes of Dao'an and Daoli, the company of Fotudeng and Kumārajīva, all possessed exalted conduct and profound understanding, being famous monks of their age; all were recognized by rulers and kings, and revered by the noble and preeminent. For more than five hundred years since, temples and pagodas have spread throughout the nine provinces, and monks and nuns have filled the Three Auxiliaries. This has all been due to the contemporary monarchs' reverent faith, with court and countryside submitting their hearts. That the image teaching has flourished and continued down to the present without cessation is truly due to carrying the strength of human kings. In the world, between lord and minister, father and son, people still say that grace and favor are hard to repay, as boundless as the vast heavens; how much more so is the Buddha the transcendent compassionate father of sentient beings, and the excellent physician for both ordinary and holy! To desire to suppress and humiliate Him, to convict and insult Him, is impossible. Respectfully examining it: the Tathāgata's wisdom transcends being and non-being—how could the Three Sovereigns fathom it? His power encompasses creation—He cannot be compared to the Two Modes. Formerly, Pi, the Grand Minister of Wu, asked Kong Qiu: 'Is the Master a sage?' Confucius replied: 'Qiu has broad knowledge and a strong memory; I am not a sage.' He asked again: 'Were the Three Kings sages?' He replied: 'The Three Kings were good at employing wisdom and courage; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.' He asked again: 'Were the Five Emperors sages?' He replied: 'The Five Emperors were good at employing benevolence and trustworthiness; whether they were sages is likewise not known to Qiu.' He asked again: 'Were the Three Sovereigns sages?' He replied: 'The Three Sovereigns were good at employing the seasons; whether they were sages is likewise not known to Qiu.' The Grand Minister was greatly astonished and said: 'If so, then who is a sage?' The Master's countenance changed, and after a moment he said: 'Among the people of the west there is a sage: he does not govern, yet there is no disorder; he does not speak, yet he is naturally believed; he does not transform, yet [the Way] naturally proceeds. How vast! The people cannot find a name for him.' If the Three Kings and Five Emperors were definitely great sages, how could Kong Qiu have concealed it and not spoken? That would be the fault of hiding sages. Appraising it by this, the Buddha is acknowledged as the Great Sage. The Laozi xisheng jing says: 'My master transformed and journeyed to India, well entering nirvāṇa.' The Fuzi says: 'The master of Laozi was named Śākyamuni.' Directly consulting the classics and books of Confucius and Laozi, textual witnesses to their honoring the Buddha as master are not few. How could Yi alone slander Him? Formerly, Gongsun Long wrote the treatise On Hard and White, blaming the Three Sovereigns and censuring the Five Emperors; down to this day, when people read it, they still gnash their teeth, regarding it as a warning from the past. How truly lamentable!