廣弘明集 28.23

28.23

Qia bows his head and pays reverence. The purpose of teaching must be to elucidate what beings have not yet comprehended; that which enables beings to understand is also acquired from teachers. Although the mysterious lineage is subtle and remote, and its wondrous tenets are deep and obscure, that which unifies them is inherently simple and easy. Therefore, though the reach is distant, one must employ proximate words to clarify it; though the principle is dark, one must borrow bright metaphors to verify it. Thus, tenets on the verge of falling can be preserved across a thousand years, and tendencies about to be severed can be realized in a single morning. At present, the discourse on original non-being (benwu) is generally clear and straightforward; every scripture clarifies it, which may be said to be manifold. Yet expressions that penetrate the subtle are truly difficult to frame; the true principle reaches the ultimate, and understanding it is not easy. How could one, simply because understanding is not easy, then expand disparate and converging theories, thereby making the discourses on emptiness and existence wildly divergent, so that later students hesitate and know not what to follow? Now your Guide to the Practice of the Way comprehensively sets forth form and emptiness with exceedingly refined purport. Yet it is not yet clear whether the scriptural text possesses an explicit teaching, or whether you have grasped it beyond the images, extending it according to categories? Now the scriptures are very numerous, and their metaphors are not far to seek; how could there not be a single word that makes it lucid and easy to understand? The ancients said: 'The words of the sages can make people believe them, but cannot make them understand.' Therefore, examining them in the texts, I do not know how they are explained. Now, I inquire into several matters, longing to hear your fine instructions to resolve my doubts. Qia bows his head and pays reverence.