廣弘明集 8.46

8.46

I reply: Flying spiritually and molting into feathered beings are both claimed to be the power of divine elixirs; being free from disease, light, and strong is also called the efficacy of ingesting formulas. Alas! They do not know that repairing and weaving [destiny] is accomplished beforehand, and birth is distinguished by differing qi. Longevity or early death depends on causes; length of days lies in karma. The Buddhadharma regards existent life as empty and illusory, and therefore forgets the self to benefit beings. The Daoist teaching regards the 'I' and 'self' as real and true, and therefore ingests formulas to nourish life. If life upon life is not prized, what achievement is there in merely preserving existence? Even if one prolongs the span, one cannot be without death. Thus Zhuang Zhou said of Laozi: 'In ancient times this was called escaping the form given by heaven; at first I thought he was a real man, but now he is no longer a man.' Since he was not even an immortal who escaped heaven, Qin Yi came to mourn him; he died in Fufeng and was buried in Huaili. Nirvāṇa is eternal, everlasting, cool and pure, without further birth and death; the mind cannot know it through intellect, and its form cannot be measured through images. None knows how to name it, and forced to do so, one calls it quiescence. As the ultimate, it is indeed supreme! Even though in the twin śāla trees its illumination ceased, its spiritual wisdom constantly abides; although its physical form displayed cremation, the relics remain forever. Even if the great cedrela tree enjoyed vast longevity, it took Pengzu's years as an untimely death; the stage of neither-perception-nor-non-perception lasts many eons, yet shares its threshold with the Avīci Hell. The ordinary and the sage are far apart in principle; movement and quiescence are as different as heaven [and earth]. How can they be evaluated together for superiority and inferiority? Why do you, Sir, hold up residual embers beneath the sun and moon, wishing to vie in brilliance with Xihe? As for obstinacy, why have you reached such an extreme?