廣弘明集 19.47

19.47

Now, the principle reaches the ultimate, and its illumination exhausts the empty and quiescent. Entering the three gates, it clearly observes; guiding through the five defilements, it transcends the ford. It is like a fierce flame that stays far from all evils without touching them; like the rising sun that reveals the single mark to hasten along the Way. Since Rājagṛha expounded these profound words and the City of Fragrance magnified these wondrous teachings, Maitreya inscribed the letters within a circular aura, and Śakra contemplated goodness in dhāraṇī-spells. Receiving, upholding, reading, and reciting them, their spiritual power shatters violent gales; revering and honouring them, their blessings and benefits surpass [the merit of building] jewelled stupas. Indeed, it is the consummate perfection of the many sages and the fundamental source of the myriad phenomena. The Emperor’s true wisdom is self-arisen, and his great compassion responds to beings. Ushering in and seeing off the sun and moon, weaving together heaven and earth, he calms the frivolous trends of the three degenerations and mends the decadent customs of the five extremities. Coming forth, he oversees the thoroughfare hall; retiring, he attends to his fasting quarters. He does not hold the imperial carriage in high regard, but ever keeps the common people in mind. Though his virtue pervades the realms, it is yet insufficient to manifest utmost benevolence; though the principle transcends names and words, he is all the more earnest in esoteric exposition. In the past, the lamp of wisdom concealed its radiance, and the storehouse of Dharma diverged into streams. The two vehicles went astray in opposite directions, and the five divisions fell into discrepancy. Harivarman was narrow and inferior, gazing in vain upon the light of the waning moon; the Abhidharma was one-sided and stagnant, failing to perceive the treasure of the sunken pearl. Ever since the Sage Emperor responded to the era, he has plumbed the subtle depths to the utmost, dispelling the multitude of delusions and subduing heterodox traditions. Reaching the vast breadth of the celestial palaces, plumbing the esoteric depths of the dragon mansions, he thereupon broadly generated the aspiration for awakening and profoundly magnified prajñā, cutting off afflictions forever and returning together to purity, showering amṛta upon sentient beings, and turning the wheel of the Dharma without cease. Formerly, in the eleventh year of the Tianjian era, His Majesty annotated the Great Chapter [of the Prajñāpāramitā], and since then has personally engaged in lecturing and expounding. Furthermore, as the three wisdoms elucidated within it are the most profound and far-reaching, he specially extracted a single chapter to constitute an independent scripture roll. This is just as, owing to Avalokiteśvara's mighty power, the Chapter of the Universal Gate was specifically highlighted; and when the attainments of the stages and practices reached profundity, the chapters of the Avataṃsaka were brought forth. Thus, he grasped the essential points to illuminate and awaken beginners. The Great Rectifier of Monks, Huiling, is the head of the Dharma gate and also a spiritual-foot disciple endowed with dhāraṇī. His vow equalled Subhūti's questioning, and his request matched Kāśyapa's entreaty; he thereupon petitioned for an imperial lecture to expound this scripture, and an edict granted permission. Thus, on the twelfth day of the third month in the seventh year of the Datong era, the Golden-Lettered Scripture of the Three Wisdoms of the Prajñāpāramitā was lectured on at the Chongyun Hall in the Hualin Garden. The Hualin Garden had been the imperial pleasure grounds of the rear court since the eastern crossing of the Yangtze. From the Jin through the Qi, for nearly two hundred generations, the times fell into decay and the rulers were mostly extravagant and usurpative. The dance halls and bell pavilions were like the old foundations of Epang; the wine pools and meat forests were identical to the former sites of Chaoge. Since the Perfected Man took charge of the realm, he abandoned sounds and sights, returned the beauties of the leaning palaces, and shared the numinous parks with the common folk. Moreover, taking the decay and collapse of the flowery garden as an awakening to the impermanence of all things, and recognizing that jewelled terraces, as temporary composites, are solid only when supported by the ten powers, he renounced this celestial garden and established a place of the Way therein. He adorned the Dharma ceremonies and gathered the assembly of monks. The solemn, spiritual halls nestled in the shade of emerald peaks; the towering multi-storeyed pavilions looked down upon crimson battlements. Broad and luminous, it surpassed the grounds of the Āmrapālī grove; serene and joyful in body and mind, it truly matched the Garden of Delight. At that time, the three spring months reached their season, and the myriad things unfolded their glory. The gentle wind and sun lingered, neither cold nor hot. Auspicious flowers and jewelled trees shone with seven tiers; jade bottoms and golden pools rippled with the eight virtues. Wide open stood the lofty gates, and the great assembly gathered like clouds. They hastened toward the Dharma seats with bubbling clamour, yet upon hearing the tolling bell, fell silent and tranquil. The Crown Prince's wisdom equalled Siddhārtha's and his virtue surpassed Dharmodgata's. Renouncing the worldly amusements of the three palaces, he approached the two seats to inquire after the Way. The Prince of Xuancheng, along with the princes, marquises, and members of the imperial clan, all generated profound aspiration and cultivated pure conduct together. Perfuming themselves with the incense of the precepts to become gentle and good, they donned dyed robes and took their places. The shade of their cicada-wing caps and ceremonial headgear fluttered, and those pushing through the golden gates and ascending the jade steps were magnificent in vast crowds. Soon the imperial clearance was shouted as they proceeded north, and the halberds turned east. At the gates resounded pure Sanskrit chanting, while to the sides billowed fragrant smoke. Donning the robes of the Pure Abodes, His Majesty ascended the Sumeru seat. His eight kinds of wondrous voice uttered words without impediment; the ten directions listened with reverent awe, each understanding according to their kind. The profound meaning, when drawn upon, proved inexhaustible; his eloquence of delightful speech grew ever fresher through back-and-forth debate. As for seasoned scholars and elder monks, who had frequently sunk into biased attachments, solely upholding the treatises on enumerations without comprehending the scripture’s text: they measured with petty minds and looked up to the Great Honoured One to raise their questions. Thereupon, brandishing the blade of wisdom, he cut away the net of doubts, showing them the lost direction and returning them to the proper path. There were none who did not find their doubts melted like ice and who did not rejoice to uphold the teaching, like a lotus flower gradually unfolding or the waxing moon growing day by day. The audience ranged from the Crown Prince, princes, marquises, imperial clan, and maternal relatives, to the Prefect of the Masters of Writing, He Jingrong, the hundred lords and ministers, the chief envoy of the northern captives, Cui Changqian, the deputy envoy Yang Xiuzhi, and various envoys from foreign realms, numbering one thousand three hundred and sixty persons. All had travelled along roads exceeding nine post-stations and journeys of ten thousand leagues; admiring the imperial transformation, they came galloping, and hearing of the celestial flowers, they leapt for joy, prostrating themselves fully to express their courtesy, and voicing praise from their ranks below. Moreover, a thousand monks learned in doctrine were separately invited to the Tongtai Temple, where at night they reviewed the formulated theses. All were renowned as 'dragons and elephants,' their wisdom broad as the Yangzi and the Yellow Rivers. Their reception of the teachings was likened to water poured from one vase into another; their chanting was like rushing rain. The śramaṇa Śākya Falong, nearly a hundred years of age, whose learning encompassed the Tripiṭaka and whose understanding penetrated the eight dhyānas, who expounded the Dharma to deliver people and whose renown was celebrated north of the passes, had heard that the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra was to be lectured on in the Central Realm, and had therefore come from afar. At that time, the Monk Rectifier Huiling had not yet formally requested the lecture, nor did the clergy and laity of the capital know that His Majesty was to deliver it. On the day the lecture commenced, foreign monks beyond count, whom the multitude did not recognize, gathered together at the Dharma seat. Thus we know that when the emitted light shone everywhere, the earth spirits cried out to proclaim it; what need was there for couriers galloping on elephants? It mysteriously corresponded with the appointed time of the faithful drum. At the King Aśoka Temple in Mao County of Guiji, the Śākya Faxian practiced austerities and aspired to wisdom and understanding. His contemplation equalled that of Uttara, and his sincerity matched that of Sadāprarudita. Thereupon, at the lecture hall, he declared the power of his vow, piercing his flesh to sprinkle blood upon the ground to demonstrate his utmost sincerity. In the past, people gouged their bodies to make offerings and split their bones to write scriptures, taking refuge in the true Dharma without begrudging bodily life; looking back from the present to antiquity, this is truly no empty tale. The lecture lasted for twenty-three days in all. From the commencement of the lecture to the dispersal of the assembly, all-encompassing offerings were set out daily and distributed throughout the capital. Civil and military guards were all conferred rewards. His Majesty had illuminated and ruled all under heaven for over forty years, personally practicing frugality and finding comfort in simple fare. He constantly occupied a small hall that merely sheltered him from wind and rain, and the curtained seat where he resided barely accommodated his knees. Externally, he renounced the rites of the three drives of the hunt; internally, he cast aside banquets of a thousand flagons. The culinary master's expenditures were reduced by ten thousand pieces of gold each year, and the expenses of the inner quarters were cut by hundreds of millions annually. In addition, broadly gathering the fruits of the land, he gathered treasures as if dredging the ocean; and filling the national treasury, it was inexhaustible like the dragon's gold. Thus, without toiling human labour or damaging state revenues, both wealth and Dharma were bestowed, circulating without end. During this lecture, numinous anomalies crowded together, beyond conception: First, the Buddha images in the palace all emitted bright light. Second, the great earth quaked, manifesting all manner of leaps and subsidences. Third, it invariably poured rain at night and cleared by morning; with gentle air and beauteous flowers, no dust arose. Fourth, once the ghaṇṭā sounded and the lecture assembly was about to convene, with shoulder to shoulder and wheel-hub brushing against wheel-hub crowding the four gates, yet horses and men were harmonious, neither startling nor disturbing one another. Fifth, the arranged Dharma seats could only accommodate ten thousand persons, yet a multitude like the sands of the Ganges felt no crowding or constriction. Sixth, the fourfold assembly, even far away, all heard the wondrous discourse; outside the balustrades, their hearing was all the clearer. Seventh, pure offerings were set out everywhere, without the kitchen preparing them overnight; wondrous food appeared in due season, with a hundred flavours overflowing. Eighth, an exquisite, anomalous fragrance filled the air along with the wind. Ninth, resonant, elegant music naturally rang out. Tenth, voices in unison praising goodness pervaded empty space. These are the testaments of past Buddhas and the sympathetic responses of the devas, surpassing the miraculous leaping jewels of old and exceeding the ancient portents of falling flowers. At that time, across the entire land, people danced with joy and all sentient beings were jubilant, longing to participate in the field of merit and vying to practice joyous giving. His Majesty distinguished their mental trajectories and made great vows for them. We reflect that upholding even a single verse gives rise to myriad goodnesses, and letting even two words pass through the ear leads to superior recompense; how much more so broadly turning the Great Vehicle and universally proclaiming the true Dharma, so that all alike generate the roots of wisdom and together advance toward the wondrous fruition! Truly, when preserved in jewelled boxes and transmitted in those golden letters, its light will endure for ten thousand kalpas and its benefits will pervade the great thousandfold world. How grand it is! Truly, its virtue is beyond praise. I, a petty official, was present at the lecture assembly, and my duty pertains to historical records; I respectfully record the events of the time to compose the present preface.