辯正論 7.4.6

7.4.6

盜跖凶狂翻招長命。 二王事佛而誅家。 三張奉道而滅族。 行善得禍作惡無愆。 交報之徵豈非詭說。 開士喻曰。 顏生知十。 子夏起予。 示隅不反實恥也。 然一世局談未能盡理。 三世備舉方可窮源。 聖說有業現苦有苦報有業現。 樂有苦報有業現。 苦有樂報有業見。 樂有樂報。 或餘福未盡惡不即加。 或宿愆尚在善緣便發。 如灰覆火豈得稱無。 若闇尋聲當知必有。 且夫善惡有歸報應無爽。 周孔之教皆同此說。 可以為善而偶逢禍至。 行惡而或值福來。 即謂丘說必虛且談不實耶。 亦由江南吳不信有千人帳。 河北漢不信有萬石船。 無得以蓬艾之小心。 測扶搖之遠運也。 顏氏誡其子曰。 汝曹若顧存俗計。 樹立門戶不棄妻子。 未能出家者。 猶當兼行戒行留心誦讀。 以為來世資糧。 人身難得。 勿虛過也。 夫有子孫者。 自是天地間一蒼生耳。 與身竟何親乎。 而乃愛護為其勤苦。 匱以產業憂其飢飽況於己之神爽而不自念頓欲棄之哉。 可謂迷大聖之慈訓。 信凡人之臆說也。

while the ferocious Robber Zhi contrarily attained a long life. The two Wangs served the Buddha, yet their families were put to death; the three Zhangs followed the Dao, yet their clans were annihilated. Good deeds meet with misfortune, while wicked deeds incur no guilt; is the proof of mutual retribution not an empty claim?' The bodhisattva instructed: 'Yan Hui could deduce ten things from one, and Zixia inspired Confucius; not returning to the subject after being shown one corner is truly shameful! Discussing only a single lifetime cannot exhaust the principle; only by taking into account all three realms of time can the source be thoroughly fathomed. The Sage taught that there are actions in which suffering is experienced now and has a suffering retribution; there are actions in which pleasure is experienced now and has a suffering retribution; there are actions in which suffering is experienced now and has a pleasurable retribution; and there are actions in which pleasure is experienced now and has a pleasurable retribution. Or it may be that remaining past merits are not yet exhausted, so evil does not immediately fall; or past offenses still linger, while conditions for good are just arising. If ashes cover a fire, how could one say fire does not exist? When tracing a sound in the dark, one must know its source surely exists! Moreover, good and evil have their destinations, and retribution never errs. The teachings of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius both agree with this statement. If one does good and by chance meets with misfortune, or commits evil and happens to encounter fortune, could one claim on that basis that Confucius's words are necessarily hollow and his discussions untrue? It is like the people of Wu south of the Yangtze who do not believe there is a tent for a thousand men, or the Han people north of the Yellow River who do not believe there is a ship of ten thousand bushels. Do not measure the distant course of the tempestuous wind with the petty mind of weeds and wormwood! Yan [Zhitui] admonished his sons, saying: "If you are bound by mundane designs, establishing a household and not abandoning your wives and children, and are unable to leave home, you should nonetheless observe the precepts and apply your minds to recitation and study, so as to make provisions for future lives. A human body is hard to obtain; do not pass through it in vain! Now, having sons and grandsons simply means having common mortals between heaven and earth; what true intimacy do they have with your own person? Yet you cherish and protect them, laboring on their behalf, impoverishing yourself with property and worrying over their hunger and satiety; how much more should you care for your own spiritual consciousness, rather than neglecting it and discarding it all at once?" This can truly be called straying from the compassionate instruction of the Great Sage and believing the subjective theories of ordinary mortals.'