廣弘明集 4.19

4.19

The Master said: "What an eloquent debater you are, young gentleman! Yet how shallow is your vision! What you talk about does not exceed a hundred generations, and what you have traversed does not reach beyond the eight wildernesses. How could you understand the ultimate term of karmic fruition, or perceive the fundamental limit of causes and conditions? One must not limit oneself to the common six consciousnesses while denying the sacred three vidyās. I have heard that the sowing and planting of the hundred grains is not solely the work of water and soil; how could the fashioning of the four forms of birth be strictly the power of yin and yang? Just as they have roots in their species, they are also not separate from accumulated conditioning. I have observed that sometimes husbands and wives unite in bodily harmony yet remain barren of descendants, or a person is neither a widower nor a widow yet fails to have both sons and daughters. As for the flight of fireflies, the metamorphosis of cicadas, the hives of bees, and the eggs of ants—these are not produced by the union of two essences; how could they rely on the function of the two visceral receptacles? If beings were merely endowed by Qian and Kun, why would humans rely upon father and mother? If everything must be entrusted to fate, where would benevolence and filial piety lead? From this we know that because causes are varied, fruitions alternate in cycles; branching into the three types of retribution, they are arrayed like stars in myriad categories: some are received swiftly in the present body, while some mature late in future lifetimes. This principle is inevitable; how could it ever decay? Consider that the absence of arbitrariness in rewards and punishments is the enlightened law of kings, and the lack of error in sin and merit is the great efficacy of the karmic path. In political governance, there are the five punishments for chastisement and emoluments and ranks for reward; in the unseen realm, there are the three evil paths for sins and humans and devas for blessings. What is before our eyes can serve as a mirror and admonition; how could it be that I have fabricated an empty theory? Before you fall into prison, who believes that there is a Commandant of Justice? If one does not visit Mount Tai, one asserts that there is no netherworld tribunal. It is simply that when good and evil accumulate, misfortune and blessing are abundant; this is set forth in the glorious scriptures, yet you do not understand it. Consider such events as the response of the gushing spring in Shule, or the resonance of the stone blocking the Great River; Lord Yang's white jade, Guo Ju's yellow gold, the piebald mark of Bao Xuan's horse, and the pearl bestowed upon Kuai Can's crane; as well as King Xuan's death by Du Bo, Duke Xiang's terror at Peng Sheng, the omen of Bai Qi accepting death, and the proof of Li Guang never being enfeoffed as a marquis; the calamity that Lu Kang bequeathed to his posterity, and the misfortune of Guo En that terminated with his own person. These are exceedingly evident; who can say they are dark and obscure? Although the Six Classics do not speak of whether the dead have consciousness or lack consciousness, sacrifice to gods and ghosts has been handed down through the Three Dynasties. If indeed death were mere silence and void, why should one seek in life to practice benevolence? You should not discard the lesser teachings of Confucianism and Mohism and lose the great principle of the seen and unseen realms. You are a fine talent, yet what a pity that you are excessively foolish and perverse! You must promptly repent and embody my true words."