廣弘明集 14.20

14.20

Fu also says: 'When sovereigns had no Buddha, the state was well-governed and their reign long; when they had the Buddha, governance was cruel and their dynastic fortune short.' These, too, are unconsidered words. This would imply that the teachings instituted by the Capable Benevolent One all promulgate the ways of licentiousness and tyranny, and the words established by the Bodhisattva exclusively promote the deeds of Jie and Zhou. To discuss it in truth, it is completely not so. When the Yin lost the great treasure, the calamity arose from the words of Daji; when the Zhou lost the feudal lords, the disaster was caused by Baosi's smile. The downfall of the Three Dynasties was brought about by these things; how could the teachings of the Three Vehicles esteem them? The Buddha's Way consists of benevolence, compassion, joy, and protection, equalizing self and others, viewing enemies and kin alike, bestowing peace and joy, and delivering from danger and suffering. What enabled the ancients to win their people, the Buddha had already promoted; that by which people fled their superiors, the scriptures have strictly cautioned against. The virtues of Fuxi, Xuan[yuan], Shun, and Yu are encompassed within the six pāramitās; the faults of Yi, Zhuo, Gui, and Xin are comprehensively restrained by the ten unwholesome deeds. Had Jie formerly promoted the teaching of having few desires, and Zhou followed the way of great compassion, Yi Yin and Lü Shang would have had no need to employ their strategies, and Tang and Wu—how could they have carried out their punitive expeditions? It would have allowed Mingtiao to escape the calamity of losing the state, and Muye to quell the chaos of turning spears; the Xia ruler would have listened to the song of the Luo's confluence, and the Prince of Chu would have avoided the disaster of Ganxi. Thus, the benefit of the Śākya conversion is not small: it extends blessings and fortune endlessly, and halts peril and ruin before they manifest. When Fu claims that possessing it is a loss and lacking it is a benefit, what kind of words are these? What kind of words are these? What grudge does he bear against the Buddha that he slanders him to this degree? How has the Buddha wronged him that he hates him like an enemy?