廣弘明集 12.34

12.34

I, Gai, have heard: The true body is beyond all dualities; it cannot be sought through bodily form or physical obstruction. The ultimate principle transcends human conception; how could it be obtained through speech and discourse? How vast, opening wide beyond the Great Dao! How subtle, transcending the exterior of the True One! Thereupon the four propositions are suddenly eliminated and the hundred negations thoroughly dispelled; exhausting speech and reaching the limits of thought, no thing can name it. However, deluded consciousness drifts on indefinitely, and confused sentiments stir blindly, indulging the four frenzies without awakening, indulging in the five intoxications and remaining perpetually darkened. Therefore the Great Sage extended his compassion, his intent set on rescue and deliverance. Thereupon he unfolded the traces of the five modes of birth and gave voice through the four unhindered eloquence. He manifests a body where there is no body, his body filling the dharma-realm; he displays preaching where there is no preaching, his preaching pervading the great chiliocosm. Thus there are transformation bodies numerous as minute dust motes, dispersing without end; and Dharma treasuries numerous as the sands of the Ganges, flowing and spreading without exhaust. Therefore the *Scripture of the Diagram of Mount Sumeru* states: "Bodhisattva Ratnapratibhāna transformed into Fuxi; Bodhisattva Śrī transformed into Nüwa; Mānavaka should transform into Kong Qiu; Kāśyapa transformed into Laozi; Wonderful Virtue (Mañjuśrī) lodged his body as an enlightened being; the Able Scholar (Śākyamuni) gave birth to the imperial preceptor." Furthermore, the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* states: "All scriptures, records, treatises, arts, and literary compositions are what the Buddha spoke." Deducing from this, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Confucius, Laozi, the Duke of Zhou, and Zhuangzi are all included among the transformation bodies of bodhisattvas; writings, charts, books, poems, odes, rites, and music are all subsumed within the Dharma treasuries of the Buddhas. The textual principles are lucid; how could they be false? Yet Yi clings to words and errs regarding the principle; seeing the transformations, he is blind to the truth. He exclusively mocks them through physical traces, and delimits them by names and vessels. Using clay and wood, he defames the Sage; holding up carvings and paintings, he attacks the true. Yet how could carvings and paintings that substitute for the true be the true Buddha? How could clay and wood that represent the holy be the actual Sage? Therefore the Buddha has an awakened name, but it is an imputed name, not the real; the Buddha has a physical image, but it is an imputed image, not the true. An image is established though it is not the true, in order to cause one to awaken to the true by means of the image; a name is conferred though it is not the real, in order to cause one to awaken to the real by means of the name. Without name and without reality—this is how the awakened one opens to emptiness; neither image nor true—this is how the person of attainment mystically unites. How wonderful are these ultimate words! How profound is this utmost principle! Yet Yi is blind to the deep principle and confused about karmic retribution, failing to consider what comes after death and reckoning only what is before his eyes. If one says that to seek wealth and nobility, one need only rely on strong horses bearing iron armor to exert strength on the battlefield, without needing to fashion images or cultivate merit to pray for the power of blessing—then [Liu] Wuzhou had the most strong horses, and [Wang] Shichong lacked not for thick armor; exerting their strength in warfare and firmly guarding the battlefields, they should have continually enjoyed wealth and nobility. Where are they today? If one says that to obtain an abundance of cloth and silk, and to have grain ripen, one need only plant mulberries and hemp and accumulate rotten dung, without needing to copy a thousand sections of the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* or recite the *Lotus Sūtra* a hundred times to pray for the power of blessing—then [Dou] Jiande occupied vast mulberry fields, and Xue Ju had a great surplus of horse dung; they should have long planted and harvested, taking vast stores into granaries and kitchens. Where are they today? If one says that to obtain full and overflowing grain stores and to plow and harvest without missing the seasons, one need only open canals to draw water, irrigating plots and moistening banks, without needing to turn ten sections of the *Sūtra of the Ocean Dragon King* to seek moistening rain—then Xiao Xian occupied Jingzhou, where the dikes and embankments were twice the normal size, so that the rich moisture should have yielded great levies and harvests, preserving his borders and territory. Where is he today? Deducing from this, I