北山錄 1.9.3

1.9.3

七年七月七日。 由漫風起吹其方所。 令時節失度穀米不成也。 至二十歲有疾疫災。 由惡鬼神損害於人七月七日也。 至十歲時有刀兵災。 于相殺害。 唯有刀杖以自莊嚴。 七日七夜而止）。 劫既壞矣（世界欲壞。 諸天變身似犀。 晝夜三宣告令令修無覺定。 最為妙樂。 於壽終之後生勝光天。 後七日輪起於空時大地須彌皆發火焰。 俱時洞燃以其熱故吸下水輪水如蘇油一切皆盡）。 火災洞乎九天（九天欲界六天并初禪三天也）。 旋嵐蕩乎三禪（旋嵐風名蕩盡也。 風災至遍淨天也）。 水則湯湯然於焉其閒矣（湯音傷。 水流貌。 水災至二禪故云其間。 七度火災一度水災。 七度水災一度風災）。 萬化既盡。 自壞之空（壞二十劫。 十九劫壞有情。 一劫壞無情也。 自此空二十劫）。 空之既成。 復為後劫始也（空已復二十劫成。 成已復二十劫住）。 經曰。 成住壞空各二十劫。 為一大劫焉（正法念處等經所明）。 夫崇篤莫大乎天地（崇高也。 篤厚也）。 久遠莫過乎今古。 偉哉大聖知天地始。 知天地終。 知天之高。 知地之厚。 知三辰之昭昭（三辰日月星也。 昭明也）。 知時年反劫。 知古之往。 知今之來。 強視莫如夫天眼（聲聞見一千世界。 緣覺見二千世界。 菩薩見三千世界。 佛見大千世界）。 強聽莫如夫天耳（所聞如天眼數）。 強念莫如夫宿命（宿住通。 憶過去無量劫事）。 有此洞鑒。 而不盡天下者無之矣。 故覆燾之所不及日月之所不照（如有頂無間等也）。 霜露之所不墜（四時不遷也）。 舟車之所不載（自然所獲。 如諸佛之界等）。 尚達之於心目（目則了之。 心則達之）。 而況一區之蝸角乎（昔魏𭭱與田侯謀約。 田侯背之。 魏瑩怒將伐之。 惠子聞之而見戴人。 戴人梁賢人也。 曰有所謂蝸角者君知乎。 然有國於蝸角之左者曰觸氏。 有國於蝸角之右者曰蠻氏。 時與相爭地而戰。 伏尸數萬。 逐北旬有五日而復返。 君曰噫其言虛。 曰臣請為君實之在四方上下有窮乎。 曰無窮。 曰知遊於無窮而返於通達之國謂往來也。 如一芥之在太山。 如一毛之附馬體。 何用爭之也）。 哀余生乎此中。 為醯雞乎（醋上小虫也）。 為蟪蛄乎（一名仙蛄。 一名螻蛄。 一名石鼠也）。 夫何能知宇宙之遼廓。 年劫之悠永但諒誠於聖人也（嗟己同於微昧。 何知天地之闊遠。 但誠信聖人之所說也）。 夫積年以為億。 安得億年不為劫乎。 積土以為邦域。 安得邦域不為世界乎。 湯問革日。 上下八方有極乎。 革曰。 無極之外復無極也（語在莊子。 意問世界有窮盡乎。 答云世界十方無窮盡也。 世界之外更有世界也。 與列子少異）。 冉有問仲尼曰。 未有天地可知乎。 仲尼曰。 古猶今也（冉求意謂問造立之前也。 答云天地壞而更成減而再興也）。 是知古先哲王洎先儒非不有知者。 但默昭而已矣。 夫登蒙山而小魯（蒙山魯邑東也）。 登太山而小天下。 況有高於太山者乎（太山東岳登之可以望天下也。 知天下之不大也。 況更高者。 故四海九州如毫末之附馬體）。 誠不虛矣。 古者黃帝（帝鴻氏也）晝寢。 夢遊華胥氏之國（有國名華胥。 在弇州之西台州之北）。 不知斯齊國幾千萬里（斯離也。 齊中也）。 蓋非舟車足力之所及。 其國無師長。 自然而智。 無惡死無夭殤。 不知親已。 不知疏物。 故無愛憎。 不知背逆。 不知向順。 故無利害。 都無所愛惜。 都無所畏忌（此皆華胥國風化之事也）。 洎黃帝寢寤。 怡然有得（夢中神遊。 及寤若有所得）。 吾考思其國。 若北欝之天下也（即北俱盧洲也。 立世阿毘曇云。 彼國無師範。 自然衣食。 定壽千歲不嫁他。 女亦不娶妻。 若有欲心。 諦瞻彼女。

[... for seven years, seven months, and seven days. Because the chaotic wind arises and blows upon their quarters, causing the seasons to lose their regular order and the grains to fail to mature. At [a life expectancy of] twenty years, there is the calamity of pestilence, due to evil ghosts and spirits harming humanity for seven months and seven days. At [a life expectancy of] ten years, there is the calamity of weapons; they slaughter one another, possessing only knives and cudgels with which to adorn themselves, ceasing after seven days and seven nights.]
When the kalpa has been destroyed—(When the world is about to be destroyed, the devas transform their bodies to resemble rhinoceroses, proclaiming three times day and night, ordering [beings] to cultivate the samādhi without thought-conception, which is the most sublime joy. After life ends, they are reborn in the Heaven of Abhāsvara. Later, when the disks of seven suns arise in the sky, the great earth and Mount Sumeru all burst into flames; burning simultaneously and intensely, their heat sucks dry the water-disk below, like ghee or oil, completely consuming everything)—the disaster of fire blazes through the nine heavens (the nine heavens are the six heavens of the desire realm together with the three heavens of the first dhyāna);
the whirling gale sweeps away the third dhyāna (the whirling gale is the name of a wind; "sweeps away" means completely devastates; the disaster of wind reaches the Heaven of Śubhakṛtsna);
and the water rushes violently in their midst (the pronunciation of *tang* [湯] is *shang*; it describes the rushing flow of water. The disaster of water reaches the second dhyāna, hence it is said to be "in their midst." There are seven calamities of fire and one calamity of water; seven calamities of water and one calamity of wind).
Once the myriad transformations have ended, there is the emptiness following destruction (destruction lasts twenty kalpas: nineteen kalpas destroy sentient beings, and one kalpa destroys the insentient. From here, emptiness lasts twenty kalpas).
Once this emptiness is complete, it marks the beginning of the subsequent kalpa (after emptiness, there are again twenty kalpas of formation; after formation, there are again twenty kalpas of abiding).
The sūtra says: Formation, abiding, destruction, and emptiness each last twenty kalpas, making up one great kalpa (as explained in sūtras such as the *Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra*).
Indeed, for loftiness and solidity, nothing is greater than heaven and earth ("lofty" means high; "solid" means thick);
for long endurance, nothing surpasses antiquity and the present.
How magnificent is the Great Sage! He knows the beginning of heaven and earth; he knows the end of heaven and earth. He knows the height of heaven; he knows the thickness of earth. He knows the brilliance of the three luminaries (the three luminaries are the sun, moon, and stars; "brilliance" means brightness);
he knows the cycles of years, seasons, and kalpas; he knows the passing of antiquity; he knows the coming of the present.
For penetrating vision, nothing compares to the divine eye (śrāvakas see one thousand worlds; pratyekabuddhas see two thousand worlds; bodhisattvas see three thousand worlds; the Buddha sees the great trichiliocosm);
for acute hearing, nothing compares to the divine ear (what is heard corresponds to the numbers for the divine eye);
for powerful recollection, nothing compares to [the knowledge of] past lives (the supernormal knowledge of past lives: recollecting events of immeasurable past kalpas).
Possessing such penetrating insight, there is nothing in the realm that is not fully comprehended. Therefore, that which is beyond the reach of heaven's canopy and unillumined by the sun and moon (such as the Peak of Existence, Avīci, etc.),
where frost and dew do not fall (where the four seasons do not shift),
and where boats and carriages cannot carry (what is attained spontaneously, such as the realms of the Buddhas),
are yet fully reached by his mind and eye (the eye clearly sees them; the mind thoroughly reaches them).
How much more so a mere snail's horn of a corner! (Of old, King Ying of Wei made a covenant with the Lord of Tian. The Lord of Tian betrayed it. King Ying was enraged and about to attack him. Master Hui heard of this and went to see Dai Jinren. Dai Jinren was a worthy of Liang. He said: "Is Your Majesty aware of what is called a snail's horn?" He said, "Yes. On the left horn of the snail there is a state called the Chu clan, and on the right horn of the snail there is a state called the Man clan. From time to time they contend for territory and wage war, leaving tens of thousands of corpses, pursuing the routed for fifteen days before returning." The king said: "Alas! Such words are fictitious!" [Dai Jinren] said: "Allow your servant to demonstrate its reality to Your Majesty. In the four directions, above and below, is there a limit?" He said: "There is no limit." He said: "Knowing that one roams in the limitless, when one returns to accessible states—referring to the coming and going—is it not like a mustard seed on Mount Tai, or a single hair on a horse's body? What is the use of contending over it?")
Alas, living in this midst, am I a vinegar-gnat (a tiny insect on vinegar),
or a cicada? (Also named *xiangu*, also named mole cricket, also named stone rat.)
How could I know the vast expanse of the cosmos and the eternal duration of years and kalpas? I merely trust sincerely in the Sage (lamenting that one is oneself identical to what is minute and dim, how could one know the vastness and distance of heaven and earth? One merely places sincere trust in what the Sage has spoken).
Indeed, if years accumulate to make millions, how could millions of years not make a kalpa? If earth accumulates to make states and domains, how could states and domains not make a world? Tang questioned Ge, saying: "Do the zenith, the nadir, and the eight directions have an extremity?" Ge said: "Beyond the limitless there is again the limitless" (these words are in the *Zhuangzi*. The intent was to ask whether worlds have an end. The reply was that worlds in the ten directions are limitless and endless; outside of this world there are yet other worlds. This differs slightly from *Liezi*). Ran You questioned Zhongni, saying: "Can the time before heaven and earth existed be known?" Zhongni said: "Antiquity is just like the present" (Ran Qiu's intent was to ask about before creation. The reply was that heaven and earth are destroyed and form anew, diminish and rise again). From this we know that the ancient wise kings and the former Ruists were not without knowledge; they merely understood it in silence.
Indeed, climbing Mount Meng, Lu appears small (Mount Meng is east of the district of Lu);
climbing Mount Tai, the world appears small. How much more so for what is higher than Mount Tai! (Mount Tai is the Eastern Peak; climbing it one can gaze upon all under heaven. One knows that all under heaven is not vast; how much more so for what is still higher! Hence the four seas and the nine provinces are like the tip of a fine hair attached to a horse's body.)
It is truly not in vain! Anciently, the Yellow Emperor (of the Dihong clan) napped by day and dreamed of traveling to the realm of the Huaxu clan (there is a state named Huaxu, west of Yanzhou and north of Taizhou).
He did not know how many tens of millions of li this realm was separated from his own capital ("this" means separated; "capital" means the center),
for it was beyond the reach of boats, carriages, and foot-power. That realm had no teachers or leaders; people were spontaneously wise. They had no dread of death, no premature demise; they knew neither attachment to self nor detachment from objects, and thus harbored neither love nor hatred. They knew neither rebellion nor compliance, and thus had neither profit nor harm. They treasured nothing whatsoever and feared nothing whatsoever (these are all matters of the customs and morals of the Huaxu realm).
When the Yellow Emperor awoke from his slumber, he was pleased as if he had gained something (his spirit roamed in the dream, and upon waking he felt as if he had gained something).
When I investigate and consider that realm, it resembles the continent of Uttarakuru! (That is the Northern Continent, Uttarakuru. The *Abhidharmasaṃgītisaṅgīti-śāstra* says: "In that realm there are no instructors. Food and clothing arise naturally. Their lifespan is fixed at a thousand years. Women are not given in marriage, nor do men take wives. If lustful desire arises, they gaze intently upon that woman...")