廣弘明集 25.61

25.61

Your servants have heard that when the secret teachings flowed eastward, they relied on enlightened monarchs to propagate their transformation; when the profound wind moved westward, it depended on supreme wisdom to open the school. Therefore we know that broadly delivering through a thousand gates is an expression of the elegant Way; guiding the myriad classes of beings cuts off perverse paths. One should only follow the sacred teachings to elevate or repress; how could one follow human affairs to cause rise and decline? The śramaṇa seeks the superior fruition of the future; the Daoist trusts in the spontaneous nature of living beings. Those who hold to spontaneous nature value obtaining the true nature and severing proximate deceptive traces; those who seek superior fruition intend to nip evils in the bud and open far ahead the aspiration toward the Way. Although the sources of their guidance and salvation differ, their following of goodness ultimately arrives at the same point. We humbly reflect that Your Emperor Majesty embraces the origin and establishes the supreme standard, governs the realm and manifests rectitude. Riding on the Great Way, you bestow humility; conforming to non-action (asaṃskṛta), you succour those below. Accordant with the mind, you harmonise with things, and your teaching achieves completion without severity. Now, however, the precedence of Daoism and Buddhism has been fixed, and śramaṇas are required to prostrate themselves. Prostration is identical to ordinary etiquette and is not the cause for transcending the world; precedence stems from the feelings of self and other, which can hardly be called the subtlety of non-action. Your Majesty propagates the influence of the Way and sets forth the teachings of Śākyamuni; whenever a memorial or fast day arrives, you command prayers for blessings. Praying for blessings relies entirely on the scriptures; why should these two be in contradiction? Your Majesty is the divine source of creation, and parents are the loving appellation given by human children. While Your Majesty, with the ultimate gravity of status, still suspends the ritual of obeisance, how could those who gave birth [to the monk], being merely subjects, arbitrarily accept such emotional etiquette? Discarding the venerated to follow personal affection, casting aside the weight of the sovereign to violate the scriptures—this does not even make sense emotionally, and how could it be practiced based on the teachings? Your Majesty governs the heavens, radiates the Way, accords with things, and gives form to nature. Since you do not permit violation of physical things, why should the pure teaching be altered? We pray that Your Majesty, following the wishes of gods and men and according with the hearts of the myriad beings, halt the new ritual of prostration and observe the ancient convention regarding the precedence of the venerated. May the golden light radiate in the east without being mingled with the sorrows of the dust and the mundane, and the purple vapor shine in the west without being startled by the conceit of self and other. Thus the Great Way will not be obscured and will flourish in this enlightened era, and the karmic blessings of rectitude will be manifested anew in these sagely days. Respectfully spoken.