辯正論 4.9

4.9

In his leisure from imperial governance, the Sovereign would always stroll and rest in the groves of the arts, examining the plans from Confucius' wall and opening the teachings of the Stone Classics. He took past events under the hundred kings as a model and investigated the ultimate tenets of the three teachings. Yet he considered that their words had not yet touched upon the emptiness of emptiness, and their affairs ultimately remained sunk in existence of existence. Deliberating on the true essentials of spiritual nature that can steady the mind and deliver worldly folk, none surpassed the teaching of the Śākya clan. Mindful of the Dharma medicine, he intended to circulate it broadly. At that time, there was the Tripiṭaka Master from Central India (Tianzhu), originally of the kṣatriya royal lineage, a kṣatriya named Prabhākaramitra, which in Chinese means 'Luminous Good Friend'. Having heard from afar that the Tang empire was broadly propagating the Mahāyāna, he crossed the Onion Ranges to travel to this sagely era. In the month of Dalu (twelfth month) of the first year of Zhenguan, he personally brought Sanskrit texts and arrived at the capital. Formerly, when the governance of Gaozong flourished, Fu Yan entered his dreams; now, as our Emperor's Dao flourishes, the Star of Virtue appears in the wilds. The Tripiṭaka Master had a penetrating and keen discernment, and an expansive and profound character. Regarding the texts compiled by the five hundred arhats and the principles explained in the eighty thousand sūtras—ever since Dharmaratna went to the Han and Sengui traveled to Wu, translations succeeded one another, yet whenever there were points not yet understood, the Master thoroughly traced their origins and ends and investigated their differences and similarities. Even with the internal sectarian positions and external heterodox tenets, there was nothing he did not internalize in his mind or explain with total clarity. As for the debates in the Chenghua hall and the exposition of doctrines in the Sucheng hall, he was particularly favored with royal pleasure and recorded in the Emperor's heart. In the first month of spring of that year, an imperial decree commanded the Tripiṭaka Master Prabhākara and others to proceed to Shengguang Monastery to translate the two treatises: the Prajñāpradīpa-śāstra and the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra. Supreme Pillar of State, Left Pushe of the Department of State Affairs, and Duke of Liang State, Fang Xuanling, Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, Left Mentor of the Heir Apparent, and Supervisor of the Household Du Zhenglun, and others, under imperial decree, selected nineteen eminent masters. Right Guanglu Daifu and Chief Minister of the Court of the National Granaries, Baron of Lanling Xiao Jing served as imperial commissioner to oversee the various offices in supplying abundant provisions of the four requisites. I, Falin, also took part as the scribe, and thus composed the preface, which reads: 'The Prajñāpradīpa-śāstra contains over six thousand gāthās in the Sanskrit text. It was composed by the great being of noble lineage in Magadha, Bodhisattva Bhāviveka, which in Chinese means "Discriminating Brightness". To begin with, the myriad things are not existent; the single mind is like an illusion. Because the mind is like an illusion, though active it is constantly tranquil; because things are non-existent, though arising they are without birth. Therefore, the sage speaks of the mind that is like an illusion and inspects things that are non-existent. When one realizes that things are not things, then each and every thing is empty of intrinsic nature; when one knows that the mind has no mind, then each and every mind is tranquil in substance. A person of penetrating insight attains their ultimate convergence and forgets the vehicle through which they were conveyed. Thereupon, conceptual proliferations (prapañca) of discrimination are naturally eliminated without needing to be dispelled; the gate of contemplation of non-attainment is entered without requiring practice. Vast and boundless, it neither exists nor departs, neither abides nor relies on anything. In the seven hundred years after the Buddha's passing into nirvāṇa, there was an ordained bodhisattva named Nāgārjuna. Having profoundly reached the true aspect of reality and attained the tolerance of non-arising phenomena, in order to repay the Buddha's benevolence, he expounded the Madhyamaka-śāstra. The Fu fazang [zhuan] states: "That man, in the Semblance Dharma, lit the torch of the true Dharma and broke down the banner of wrong views." The records of foreign lands say: "The sun of wisdom has already set; this man now shines anew. The world has long slept in darkness; this man awakens them to consciousness." There are five masters who commented on the Madhyamaka-śāstra, and Bodhisattva Discriminating Brightness is one of them. This bodhisattva had broad learning, held dhāraṇīs, had deep wisdom, and firm resolve. By the power of his original vow, he does not abandon sentient beings, and abides in the Asura Palace awaiting to see Maitreya. Since the era of the Sage is distant and various treatises are contentious, collectors of herbs on the Snow Mountains gather mostly poisonous weeds, and seekers of pearls in deep waters scramble for rubble and tiles. Truly fearing that failure to exhaust a single principle would conversely increase wrong views, or that leaving a single word incomplete would mistakenly give rise to divergent doctrines, he compiled and commented on Nāgārjuna's verse text to create this Prajñāpradīpa-śāstra. In this treatise, he rebukes internal and external tenets and praises the ultimate and conventional truths; he exhausts the principle of non-arising and investigates the source of the true aspect of reality. Illumination that is nowhere not tranquil is designated "prajñā"; attachments that are nowhere not destroyed are likened to a "bright lamp". It is indeed the core of the Vaipulya teachings and the field of practice of the Buddhas! Ah, future scholars may then cease their journeys through a hundred cities, and remain forever free from the errors of the five losses.' The treatise consists of twenty-seven chapters in fifteen fascicles. When an internal Buddhist proponent establishes a doctrine, his name is indicated; if unnamed, it is universally designated 'our own school'. When an external non-Buddhist proponent establishes a doctrine, his name is also indicated; if unnamed, it is universally designated 'an outsider'. Prior to the 'Chapter on Bondage and Liberation', Huize served as the scribe; after the 'Chapter on the Examination of Karma', Falin served as the scribe. Thereupon, beginning in the summer of the fourth year and concluding in the winter of the sixth year, the collation was completed and the copying was finished. The officials in charge carefully read it and then memorialized it to the throne. An imperial decree ordered the officials to make ten copies each and distribute them to the various monasteries to be circulated at will. Following the wheel-turning king's transformation of the world through the ten virtues, slaughtering trades were abolished in all markets throughout the realm, and the populace was universally prohibited from butchering and killing. In the Jiangnan region, weirs were erected to catch fish, which was done everywhere in more than thirty prefectures; they had to break the dams before catching them. What was taken was like a single branch of the Deng forest, yet those that died needlessly exceeded hundreds of millions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Furthermore, the Emperor issued a decree of loving-kindness, abolishing them all. Moreover, the years were abundant, the seasons harmonious, and the land was blessed with bountiful harvests. Three thousand monks and nuns were also ordained and distributed among the various prefectures. Subsequently, his virtue moved the heavens above and resonated with the ultimate sages: the seven perils were all eradicated, and the seven blessings all arrived. His benevolence reached beyond the nine frontiers, and his majestic awe extended outside the eight extremities. In the first month of winter of that year, the Xiongnu king Xieli and others led their ministers and children, bringing along their tribes, carrying infants and competing to hasten forward, arriving one after another. Gazing from afar at the palace gates, they arrived bringing their entire state; they sought an audience at the Heavenly Gates to plead for life and went to the foreign hostel to partake of harmony. Without troubling the armies of Wei and Huo, the enemy dens exhausted themselves; without needing the forces of Xuanyuan, the runaways were swept away like a mat. South of the Han there was no worry of barbarian hordes, and north of the passes the plundering of the fierce Hu was halted. The regions of the Horse Banks and the Dragon Mound were steeped in the Tang style; the shores of Jiaohu and Qinghai all became sagely soil. How peaceful! How peaceful! Together we rejoice in this day. Non-action and peace: together we celebrate in this hour. His achievement in governing heaven and establishing the supreme pole uniquely surpasses ancient times; his work in venerating the Buddha and exalting the good surpasses all past sages. The Emperor had previously experienced battlefields where naked blades opposed one another. When he ascended the throne, deep feelings arose in his heart; thus he issued an edict that monasteries be erected at all battlefields, with the authorities providing supplies to ensure complete provision. Ten sites were established within the realm, all solemn, orderly, and magnificent. Formerly, to escape the summer heat, he personally visited the Southern Mountains, divined this spiritual dwelling, and opened this magnificent structure. As for its terrain: it is girdled by the vast expanse of the Qin River and borders the verdant peaks of the Long mountains. To the east one observes the waves where the sun bathes; to the west one overlooks the inlet where the moon is suspended. Like phoenixes standing on curious rocks, jagged peaks bore into the sky; like coiling dragons on treacherous cliffs, vaulted heights pierce the Milky Way. Not only do cliffside pines brush against the sun, but mountain bamboo also sweeps across the clouds. It was truly the place where the Four Whiteheads cultivated their virtue, and the stronghold for the Three Qin. For the sake of Emperor Taiwu, it was renounced to become a monastery. Since it added beneficial omens, it was named Longtian (Dragon Field). He also presented six dry-lacquer life-size statues of Emperor Taiwu and the reigning Emperor for eternal enshrinement and offerings. Provisions for the assembly are supplied by the authorities, saving the labor of buying land without waiting for the spreading of gold. Fragrance carried on the wind and gentle breeze fills the entire courtyard in abundance; the auspicious and soft grass hangs gracefully over the steps. Furthermore, for Empress Dowager Mu, he built Cide Monastery at Qingshan Palace. Decorated with kiṃśuka jewels and Jāmbūnada gold, varied alaṃkāra adorned every part with utmost splendor. Although knowing that what was created was rare, he still felt that his filial devotion was not yet fully expressed. In the midsummer of the sixth year, within Zhen'an Ward west of the Taicheng Palace, he further built Hongfu Monastery for Empress Dowager Mu. Examining this superb location, flanked by market and court, he ordered master builders to lay the foundations and erect the structures. No sooner had the silver placard been moved than this golden garden arose. Dharma companions rubbed shoulders, and court notables stretched their necks to gaze. The site features high ramparts backing onto the outer walls, spreading across a hundred zhi in graceful curves; multi-tiered battlements link corners, soaring through nine tiers across wide expanses. Thereupon, broad jewel-precincts were opened, fully equipped with magnificent structures. Observing the stars and measuring the sun's shadow, they set up gnomic markers and leveled plumblines. Jade slippers shed brilliance, and golden door-rings shone with color. Long corridors provided shelter, and upturned eaves touched the clouds. Floating pillars and embroidered bracket-sets were painted above with cloud vapors; flying verandas and carved balustrades were encircled below by rainbows. Shadowed pagodas stood majestically facing each other, and scripture terraces rose grandly side by side. Exhausting the rules of cinnabar and malachite painting, and draining the wondrous varieties of multicolored patterns, it was sublime as if made by celestial beings, taxing the minds of spirits and ghosts. Golden dew-catching basins rivaled the Jade Tree of the Ganquan Palace; jeweled wind chimes harmonized with the breeze, resembling the jasper groves of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī. Sparse bells chimed clearly through the night, and pure Sanskrit chanting rose in the morning. Their cadences matched Fish Mountain, their sounds resonated with dragon and wood. It is a dwelling where spiritual wonders reside, and the foundation upon which samādhi and wisdom rely. Definitive meaning and the calming of the mind are found right here.