辯正論 1.3

1.3

蓋聞。宣尼入夢十翼之理克彰。伯陽出關二篇之義爰著。或鉤深繫象。或探賾希夷。名言之所不宣。陰陽之所不測。猶能彌綸天地包括鬼神。道無洽於大千。言未超於域內。況乎法身圓寂妙出有無。至理凝玄迹泯真俗體絕三相累盡七生。無心即心。非色為色。無心即心。故能心斯心矣。非色為色。故能色斯色矣。䕨蛇於是併空。形名所以俱寂。筌蹄之外豈可言乎。若夫西伯拘羑遂顯精微。子長蠶室卒成先志。故易曰。古之作易者。其有憂乎。論之興焉。良有以矣。法師俗姓陳氏。漢太丘長仲弓之後也。遠祖宦遊播遷江左。近因流寓又處襄州。隋世入關從師請業。玉移荊岫。皎潔之性彌彰。[示*圭]徙幽林。芬芳之風更遠。法師應真人之祥。稟黃裳之吉。內該三藏外綜九流。既善緣情尤工體物。篇章婉麗理致遒華。郁郁間縟錦之文。飄飄聳凌雲之氣。班賈金玉未可同年。潘陸江海寧堪方駕。至如莊生墨生之學。黃子老子之書。三清三洞之文。九府九仙之籙。登真隱決之祕。靈寶度命之儀。吞若胸中說猶指掌。加以舊習中觀少蘊法華。既有聞持比專著述。運思之外汲引無疲。辯中觀則龍樹可期。談自然則老莊非遠。於是四方雜遝。如歸長者之園。七貴紛綸。若赴華陰之市。固以學侔安遠才邁肇生。實開士之棟梁。法城之牆塹者也。乃有道士李仲卿劉進喜等。並作庸文謗毀正法。在俗人士或生邪信。法師愍其盲瞽恐入泥犁。爰發大悲遂製斯論。可謂鼓茲法海振彼詞峯。碧雞之銳競馳。黃馬之駿爭騖。莫不葉墜柯摧雲銷霧卷。狀鴻爐之焚纖羽。猶炎景之鑠輕氷。負勝之儔於斯可見。暫歸慈定已破魔軍。聊奮慧刀即降愚賊。佛日於是重暉。法雲由其廣被。然法師所作詩賦啟頌碑誄章表大乘教法及破邪論等三十餘卷。在世久傳。然此論凡八卷十二篇二百餘紙。窮釋老之教源。極品藻之名理。修述多年仍未流布。昔秦孝公聽說帝而寐。聞談霸而興。陽春和寡。深可悲歎。但法師所述內外兼該。恐好事後生致有未諭。弟子穎川陳子良近伸頂禮。從而問津爛然溢目。若明月之入懷。寂乎應機。譬寶珠之矚物。既悟四衢之幻。便息百城之遊。於是啟所未聞。聊為注解。庶將來同好。幸詳其致焉。

Now, it is heard that when Xuanni had his dream, the principles of the Ten Wings were clearly manifested; and when Boyang departed the pass, the significance of the two chapters was thereby established. Some plumb the depths and tie on images; others explore the arcane, subtle and indistinct. What names and words cannot proclaim, and yin and yang cannot measure, can still encompass heaven and earth and subsume ghosts and spirits. Yet their Dao does not suffuse the great chiliocosm, and their words have not surpassed the mundane realm. How much more so, then, the dharmakāya's nirvāṇa, wondrously transcending existence and non-existence! Its ultimate principle congeals in the profound; its traces obliterate the ultimate and the conventional; its essence transcends the three marks; and its burdens exhaust the seven rebirths. Being without mind is itself mind; not being form is itself form. Because being without mind is itself mind, it can mind-ify this mind; because not being form is itself form, it can form-ify this form. The vine and snake are thereupon both empty; form and name are therefore both stilled. Beyond the fish-trap and the hare-snare, how could it be spoken of? When the Western Earl was detained at Youli, he consequently made manifest what was refined and subtle; when Zijian suffered the silk-room, he ultimately fulfilled the intention of his predecessors. Thus the Changes says: "Did not those who made the Changes in antiquity have sorrow?" The rise of this treatise truly has its reason. The Dharma master's secular surname was Chen; he is a descendant of Chen Zhonggong, the magistrate of Taiqiu in the Han. His remote ancestors travelled as officials and moved to the region east of the Yangtze; recently, due to wandering and dwelling as refugees, they resided in Xiangzhou. During the Sui dynasty, he entered the passes to seek instruction from teachers. When the jade moved from the peaks of Chu, its immaculate nature became ever more manifest; when the cinnamon tree was transplanted from the dark forest, its fragrant wind reached even farther. The Dharma master answered to the auspicious omen of a true person and received the fortune of the yellow lower-garment. Internally, he embraced the Tripiṭaka; externally, he synthesized the nine philosophical schools. He was skilled in expressing emotions and particularly adept at depicting things. His compositions were graceful and elegant, and their principles and literary style were vigorous and splendid. Flamboyant and ornate, his writings were like patterned brocade; drifting and towering, his spirit soared into the clouds. The gold and jade of Ban Gu and Jia Yi cannot compare to him; the rivers and seas of Pan Yue and Lu Ji could hardly run neck and neck with him. As for the teachings of Master Zhuang and Master Mo, the books of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi, the texts of the Three Clarities and the Three Caverns, the registers of the Nine Mansions and the Nine Immortals, the secrets of the Dengzhen yinjue, and the rituals of the Lingbao duming, he held them in his breast, explaining them as easily as pointing to his palm. Moreover, he was practiced of old in Mādhyamika and had accumulated the Lotus Sūtra from his youth. Since he possessed retentive memory, he recently concentrated on writing. Beyond the exercise of his thought, he guided and delivered others without fatigue. In discerning Mādhyamika, Nāgārjuna could be expected; in discussing spontaneity, Laozi and Zhuangzi were not far off. Thereupon, people flocked from the four quarters as if returning to the Elder's park; the seven noble lineages crowded in, as if rushing to the market of Huayin. His learning truly equaled Dao'an and Huiyuan, and his talent surpassed Sengzhao. He was truly a pillar and beam of the bodhisattvas, a rampart and moat of the citadel of the Dharma. But there were Daoist masters such as Li Zhongqing and Liu Jinxi who composed vulgar writings to slander and defame the true Dharma. People in secular society at times gave rise to wrong beliefs. The Dharma master pitied their blindness, fearing they would enter niraya; thereupon he aroused mahākaruṇā and composed this treatise. It may be called drumming this sea of the Dharma and shaking that peak of words. The sharpness of the Green Cock vied to gallop; the steeds of the Yellow Horse competed to sprint. There were none whose leaves did not fall and whose branches were not broken, like clouds melting and mists rolling away. It was like a great furnace burning a fine feather, like the blazing sun melting thin ice. The vanquished and the victorious can be seen herein. Briefly resting in the samādhi of loving-kindness, he had already broken the army of Māra; casually wielding the sword of wisdom, he forthwith subdued the foolish thieves. The sun of the Buddha thereupon shone again; the cloud of the Dharma was thereby broadly spread. Now, the poems, rhapsodies, petitions, eulogies, steles, elegies, memorials, treatises on the Mahāyāna teaching, the Poxie lun, and other works composed by the Dharma master total over thirty fascicles, which have long circulated in the world. However, this treatise, in eight fascicles, twelve chapters, and more than two hundred sheets of paper, plumbs the source of the teachings of Śākya and Laozi, and exhausts the famous principles of evaluation. Though composed over many years, it has not yet been widely disseminated. In ancient times, Duke Xiao of Qin fell asleep when listening to discourse on the thearchs, but was roused when hearing talk of hegemons. High Spring finds few to sing in harmony, which is deeply lamentable. But the Dharma master's exposition encompasses both the internal and external; it is feared that curious youth of later generations may fail to understand it. The disciple Chen Ziliang of Yingchuan recently prostrated in reverence, and seeking guidance thereupon, it shone brightly before his eyes: as if the bright moon had entered his breast, or silently responding to capacities, like a precious gem illuminating things. Having realized the illusion of the four crossroads, he halted his travels through the hundred cities. Thereupon, having been enlightened to what he had never heard, he briefly made an annotated commentary, hoping that like-minded persons in the future may fortunately examine its principles.