集沙門不應拜俗等事 6.37

6.37

The śramaṇa Jingmai says: In humble consideration, when the heir-apparent's lineage is announced to the ancestors, the venerable father bows his body before his son, for the statutes have undergone a change; an armored person does not bow down to ruler or kin. We humbly reflect that when monks raise their voices to perpetuate the Buddha's lineage, the principle of veneration is the same. Therefore love and respect condescend from on high, and [parents] humble their demeanour before that presence; their appearances and garments differ from the conventional, and the alteration of penal statutes is no different, causing the śramaṇa likewise not to bend before ruler or father. In examining inner and outer [matters] thoroughly, although we continue to adopt forms of altered rules, in our hearts we revere ruler and kin—how could we dare be negligent? As for subjects mourning a deceased lord, 'substituting days for months', in form they follow auspiciousness, yet in their hearts they mourn for three years. From this one knows that suppressing the eight tones for three years to cultivate heart-reverence has a long history. If we are made to turn back and bow to parents, then both religious and lay will violate the Buddha's precepts, sinking into the pit of injustice and transmigrating without end. Furthermore, as for that which moves heaven and earth and affects ghosts and spirits, how could it lie in kneeling and prostrating? Only, regarding the interests of the public court, if we know of them there is nothing we will not do; we fear that due to this innovative alteration, if there should be any single fault, we would turn our backs on the Sagely Emperor's vast kindness in granting us the practice of the Dharma, and even if our bodies were powdered to dust through endless kalpas, how could we atone for our culpability? We humbly reflect that Your Majesty widely opens the path for submitting writings and completely accepts the disputations of humble grass-gatherers' words. Lightly soiling the imperial gaze, prostrate, we are increasingly overcome with trembling sweat. Respectfully submitted. Presented on the twenty-fifth day of the eighth month.