辯正論 1.3

1.3

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.