集沙門不應拜俗等事 5.30

5.30

We reflect that when the white horse returned to the east, monasteries and saṅghārāmas were thereupon founded; when the green ox journeyed up to the west, abbeys and pedestals were first raised. None failed to illuminate the benighted and guide transformations forward. Yet the models for revering the sovereign are sparse and lacking in explicit words, whereas the custom of not bowing has been followed and inherited from the past. Not only does this violate human sentiments and propriety, it also contradicts the sacred scriptures. (The matter is as critiqued in the deliberation of the Department of Civil Service of the Central Ministry.) Furthermore, the ordained forms of Dharma robes demonstrate severance from the constant reverence of the ordinary stream; but how could the precious lotus pedestal teach not bowing to sovereign and parents? (Critique: Copper is born from stone, pearls are nurtured by water; only those who extract them understand them, whereas those who transmit rumors are bewildered. How much more so with the obscure and subtle Buddhist teachings, whose principles are difficult to fathom? To act without knowing—does it not mean precisely this?) The sovereign possesses the honor of Heaven and Earth; revering the sovereign distantly accords with scriptural teachings. Parents display the benevolence of birth and rearing; bowing to parents profoundly meets the source of the Dharma. Assessing affairs, it benefits the scriptures; exploring principles, it does not impair the Dharma. Marshalling our humble opinions, offering reverence is appropriate. We respectfully submit our deliberation.