辯正論 2.8

2.8

“Furthermore, the *Oral Instructions on the Spontaneity of Lingbao* says: ‘The Perfected of the Supreme Mysterious Unity said: “The Supreme Limitless Great Dao, the Unsurpassed Supreme True Mystery, dwells in empty non-being, formless and spontaneous, atop the pinnacle of empty non-being. Above, there is no heaven; below, there is no earth; hence it is called the Unsurpassed Supreme True Great Dao. Although the Dao is empty and non-being, it can generate the One and serves as the root of all things.”’” The Master of Comprehension asked: “If the Dao can generate the One, who then generated the Dao? If the Dao does not arise from anything, then the Dao also cannot generate the One. If the Dao is not born from an other, the One is also not born from the Dao. If the Dao is self-born, the One is also self-born. Since the One cannot be self-born, the Dao likewise cannot be self-born. If the Dao generates itself, then the Dao also models itself on the Dao. Why did Laozi say: ‘Humanity models itself on Earth; Earth models itself on Heaven; Heaven models itself on the Dao; the Dao models itself on spontaneity’? Since the Dao does not model itself on itself but models itself on spontaneity, it follows that the Dao is not self-born, but born from spontaneity. If the Dao is not born from spontaneity, then neither is the One born from the Dao. Furthermore, if the One is inferior to the Dao and is born from the Dao, it follows that the Dao is inferior to spontaneity and is born from spontaneity. If the One is born from the Dao and the Dao can be called great, then the Dao being born from spontaneity means spontaneity can be called great, and the Dao cannot be called great. If it cannot be called great, it should be called the small Dao. If the Dao faces toward spontaneity, then the Dao models itself on spontaneity, and spontaneity is the root of the Dao. Since the Dao is rooted in spontaneity, then spontaneity is permanent and the Dao cannot be permanent. Now, if the Dao is called permanent and spontaneity is also permanent, it should also be that just as the Dao models itself on spontaneity, spontaneity should also model itself on the Dao. If spontaneity is the root, the Dao cannot be the root; if spontaneity is permanent, the Dao cannot be permanent. If both are permanent, then both should model themselves on each other. If one models itself on the other while the other does not, then one is permanent and the other is impermanent. If you say both are permanent, then both are spontaneous. Since there is the spontaneous and the non-spontaneous, there is also the permanent and the impermanent. If spontaneity is the fundamental and the Dao is the trace, and both fundamental and trace are called permanent, it should also be that the Dao is the fundamental and Heaven is the trace, and Heaven and Dao are both impermanent. Now, if the fundamental of the Dao is contrasted with the trace of Heaven, the Dao is permanent while Heaven is impermanent. It should also be that spontaneity is contrasted with the trace of the Dao: the Dao is impermanent while spontaneity is permanent. If the Dao is identical to spontaneity, then Heaven is also identical to the Dao. If the substance of Heaven is not the substance of the Dao, then one is permanent and one is impermanent. Now, could it also be that the substance of the Dao is identical to the substance of spontaneity? If they share the same substance, they share the same permanence. Now, if the Dao models itself on spontaneity, how could they have the same substance? Since the Dao models itself on spontaneity and spontaneity does not model itself [on the Dao], it still follows that spontaneity is permanent and the Dao is impermanent. If there is a permanence different from impermanence, how could impermanence not be different from permanence? Because of impermanence there is permanence; because of permanence there is impermanence. Even a permanent phenomenon does not exist—how could there be an impermanent one? If impermanence exists apart from permanence, or permanence exists due to other permanences, then apart from permanence there is no permanence. Therefore, know that both impermanent and permanent phenomena do not exist; how then could there be an impermanent Dao? If it is called permanent, it becomes the foremost among all wrong views; if it is called great, it is again bound within the worldly realm. Hesitating between two extremes like a bat, how can you free yourself? Even if there were a Dao, it would merely be achieving immortality through elixirs. Therefore, Yuan Hong's ‘Treatise on Suburban Sacrifices’ in the *Records of the Later Han* says: ‘The Daoist school emerged from Laozi. It takes purity, emptiness, and detachment as its foundation, and hatred of good and resentment of evil as its teaching. Retribution of fortune and misfortune occurs within a single lifetime. They maintain wives and children, and make use of talismans and writings. If their practice never ceases, they can attain divine transcendence.’”} ],