北山錄 5.2.10

5.2.10

晝夜不捨。 母恐其勞。 常減油滅火。 及佐梁武龍飛。 累遷尚書。 久居端揆。 有志臺司。 帝終不用。 致書徐勉。 勉為言於帝。 但加鼓吹而已。 約性不飲酒少嗜慾。 左目重瞳子。 腰有紫志。 聚書二萬卷。 為丹陽尹侍中。 卒官著晉宋齊等書）雖欲廣顯其特見。 而聖人之意或則不然。 夫因患制戒。 去損就益。 食肉之過。 凶而無謀（涅槃經云。 食肉之人眾生遠離。 楞嚴云。 是諸佛怨。 斷大慈種。 一切鬼神夜臥䑛其脣吻。 福德日消）仁智猶鄙。 況聖人乎（孟子曰。 是以君子之於禽獸也。 見其生不忍見其死。 聞其聲不忍食其肉。 是以不近庖厨）綈革資形儀服修潔世人未甞譏之（故馬勝比丘以威儀攝眾也）聖人由其美之。 故經云。 懸繒幡蓋。 又云。 柔軟繒纊以為絪褥（法華經）若酌以今所未斷由經未至者而涅槃許有憍奢耶衣（謂赤色好衣也。 又名衣上服價直千萬。 施佛及僧）何為不備哉。 但蕭陳之世。 人過乎信。 法教滋彰。 甞讀齊太子并梁陳書。 屢捨袞冕乘輿寶玉。 為諸經懺。 秉筆流辭。 以菩薩行願為童戲也。 方於周魏則愈求於風教則病矣。 賓曰。 法雲馳騖吊慶。 譏者謂之侫。 靈裕儉陋布褐。 時議謂之矯（法雲者。 周處之後。 丁母憂。 毀瘠過禮。 累曰不食。 殆不勝喪。 僧旻諫之曰。 聖人制禮。 賢者俯就。 不賢者企及毀不滅性。 尚出儒書。 況佛有旨。 近奉色養。 遠發菩提。 況恩愛之賊不可寬放。 乃割哀情。 微進粥食。 靈裕以周滅法。 乃潛形世。 瓌衣斬縗。 三升之布頭絰麻帶。 如喪考妣。 誓得佛法更始。 方襲舊儀）夫如是德行。 安得不媮乎（媮薄也）主人曰。 書云。 與人無求備。 禮云。 以義度人則難為人（不可求備也）以人望人則賢者可知已矣（以賢望不賢則知勝劣也）夫以法服趑趄。 為法則辱已。 不為法則兼辱法（為數為眾趨塵猶可庶幾。 非此則為辱也）但大士或以理通為美（違教順理亦可行也。 然教有權實矣）故黃裳元吉信在內也（坤卦六五辭也。 黃中正之色也。 裳下之飾也。 坤為臣道盡美於下任夫文理垂黃裳以獲元吉。 如法雲等。 為法趨塵也）晉文公譎而不正。 非不霸也（文公重耳也。 復晉之後。 大霸諸侯。 將朝周自嫌強盛。 遂召王使出而行覲禮。 夫子云。 以臣召君不可訓。 故春秋改云天王狩于河陽也。 是為譎而不正也）如雲者豈得不為高僧乎。 其人天縱英敏。 挺生于世。 感通靈瑞。 身死言立。 實為法之祥也（雲母吳氏生雲日。 見祥雲滿空。 故名之為法雲。 住義興莊嚴寺。 講法華淨名等經。 如疾風應變。 時人謂之幻法師）然方彼遠公影不出山。 迹不入俗。 迎送不過虎溪。 慧熙莓苔一徑三十餘載端坐榻。 心兩頭塵合固則忝矣（蜀空惠寺僧慧熙。 成都人。 幼好篇詠。 因與大石寺沙彌道徵連唱詩章遂成言。 隙乃迴意。 栖心禪觀。 及具受。 乃遍習經律究三論。 夜宿本房。 但坐床。 心兩頭塵合。 自餘房地。 唯有一蹤。 餘並莓苔也）靈裕曰。 吾縱矯世為善。 猶愈於直心為惡。 斯則言興於古人繼之在裕矣。 夫管晏皆為賢大夫也。 管僣晏陋。 前禮卒同譏之（管仲齊大夫夷吾也。 娶三國九女。 官事不攝。 以樹屏塞門。 及置反坫。 皆為僣也。 然相桓公。 九合諸侯。 尊獎王室。 責楚苞茅。 故稱賢也。 晏嬰齊大夫。 性儉䐁肩不掩豆之類。 然相景公。 一言省刑。 等皆得稱賢也。 但幾其儉）曾子曰。 國奢示人以儉。 國儉示人以禮。 晏子之然也（齊景公有馬千駟。 死之日民無德而稱焉。 故晏子示之以儉）但沈潛者不盡得魚龍之變。 處陸者不盡得飛走之功（物象不可以盡窮其性也）豈衣縫掖則盡孔門之學（縫掖大袖。 雖稱儒士。 實昧典墳。

day and night without cease. His mother, fearing he would overwork himself, often diminished his lamp-oil and put out his fire. When he assisted Emperor Wu of the Liang in his dynastic rise, he was repeatedly promoted to Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, and long occupied the position of Prime Minister. He had ambitions for ministerial office, but the Emperor never employed him. He sent a letter to Xu Mian, who spoke on his behalf to the Emperor, but the Emperor only granted him drum-and-wind musicians. Shen Yue by nature did not drink wine and had few desires. His left eye had double pupils, and his waist bore a purple birthmark. He gathered twenty thousand fascicles of books. He served as Governor of Danyang and Palace Attendant. He died in office, having authored the histories of the Jin, Song, Qi, and other dynasties.) Although [such authors] wished to broadly manifest their unique views, the intention of the sages was perhaps not so. Indeed, precepts are instituted on account of faults, abandoning harm to approach benefit. The fault of eating meat is pernicious and unthinking (The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Living beings keep distant from one who eats meat.' The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'This is the enemy of all buddhas; it severs the seed of great compassion. All ghosts and spirits lick their lips by night as they lie asleep; their merit and virtue dwindle daily'), which even the benevolent and wise look down upon, so how much more so the sages! (Mencius said: 'This is how a gentleman regards animals: having seen them alive, he cannot bear to see them die; having heard their cries, he cannot bear to eat their flesh. Therefore, he keeps far from the kitchen.') As for using silk and leather to sustain the body and making one's vestments neat and clean, worldly people have never criticized this (hence the bhikṣu Assaji captivated the multitude with his dignified demeanor), and the sages likewise praised it. Thus the sūtras say: 'Hang silk banners and canopies,' and also say: 'Using soft silk and floss as mats and cushions.' (Lotus Sūtra) If one judges according to what was not yet prohibited then because the [Mahāyāna] sūtras had not yet arrived, yet the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] permitted the kauśeya garment (meaning fine reddish clothing, also called supreme garments, worth tens of thousands, offered to the Buddha and the Saṃgha)—why should one not be fully equipped? Yet during the Xiao-Liang and Chen periods, people were excessive in their faith, and the Dharma teachings grew ever more prominent. I once read the writings of the Qi crown prince and of the Liang and Chen; they repeatedly renounced their ceremonial robes and crowns, carriages and jewels, composed repentances for various scriptures, and wielding the brush let their words flow, taking the bodhisattva vows and deeds as child's play! Compared to the Northern Zhou and Northern Wei, it was far better, but measured against moral education, it was deficient. The guest said: 'Fayun hastened to condolences and congratulations, and his detractors called him a flatterer. Lingyu was frugal and simple in coarse cloth, and contemporary opinion termed it an affectation. (As for Fayun, he was a descendant of Zhou Chu. When he suffered the loss of his mother, his emaciation exceeded ritual bounds; he went days without eating, nearly failing to survive the mourning. Monk Min admonished him, saying: 'The sages instituted the rituals so that the worthy might bend down to reach them, and the unworthy might strive to attain them; that emaciation must not destroy one's life is something stated even in the Ruist books. How much more so the Buddha's decree! Near at hand, serve one's parents with filial care; far off, give rise to bodhi. Furthermore, the bandit of affectionate attachment must not be indulged.' Only then did he curtail his grief and take a little gruel. As for Lingyu, when the Northern Zhou suppressed the Dharma, he concealed his presence in the mundane world, wearing mourning clothes of the coarsest unhemmed sackcloth, a three-sheng cloth headband, and a hemp sash, as if mourning his parents, vowing to adopt his former vestments only when the Buddha's Dharma began anew.) With such conduct, how could it not be superficial?' (Shallow and thin.) The host said: 'The Documents say: "In dealing with others, do not demand perfection." The Rites say: "If you measure others by the standard of complete righteousness, it is difficult to be a person." (One cannot demand perfection.) "If you evaluate people using human standards, then the worthy can be known." (Evaluating the unworthy against the worthy, one knows who is superior and who is inferior.) Now, to hesitate and waver in Dharma robes—if done for the Dharma, it disgraces oneself; if not for the Dharma, it also disgraces the Dharma. (If running into the dust is for the sake of the teaching or for the multitude, it may still be acceptable; otherwise, it is a disgrace.) Yet great beings sometimes take reaching comprehension through principle as beauty (going against the teaching to conform with principle is also viable, but teachings have both provisional and ultimate aspects). Thus: "A yellow lower garment brings prime good fortune," for sincerity resides within. (The line for the six in the fifth place of the Kun hexagram. Yellow is the color of the central and correct; the lower garment is the adornment of what is below. Kun represents the minister's way, fully manifesting beauty beneath and trusting to the pattern of principle, wearing a yellow lower garment to obtain prime good fortune. Like Fayun and others, running into the dust was for the sake of the Dharma.) Duke Wen of Jin was devious and not upright, yet he did not fail to become hegemon. (Duke Wen was Chong'er. After returning to Jin, he became a great hegemon over the feudal lords. When he was about to pay court to Zhou, he disliked appearing too powerful, so he summoned the king to come forth and perform the audience ritual. Confucius said: 'For a subject to summon his lord cannot serve as an example.' Hence the Spring and Autumn Annals revised it to say, 'The Heavenly King went hunting at Heyang.' This was being devious and not upright.) How could one like Fayun fail to be an eminent monk? He was naturally brilliant and sharp, exceptionally endowed at birth. Responsive to spiritual omens, his words stood firm after his death; he was truly an auspicious portent for the Dharma! (On the day Fayun's mother, Lady Wu, gave birth to him, auspicious clouds filled the sky; hence he was named Fayun. He resided at Zhuangyan Monastery in Yixing, lecturing on sūtras such as the Lotus and Vimalakīrti like a swift wind adapting to circumstances. Contemporaries called him the Magical Dharma Master.) Yet compared to Master Huiyuan, whose shadow never left the mountain, whose footsteps never entered the worldly dust, and who never saw guests off past Tiger Creek; or to Huixi, along whose mossy path for over thirty years he sat erect on the couch, while at both ends dust gathered—Fayun certainly falls short. (The monk Huixi of Konghui Monastery in Shu was a native of Chengdu. In his youth he was fond of composing poetry. Because he exchanged verses with the śrāmaṇera Daocheng of Dashi Monastery, a dispute arose. Thereupon he turned his mind away and set his heart on dhyāna contemplation. When he received full ordination, he studied the sūtras and vinaya thoroughly and investigated the Three Treatises. At night he lodged in his own room, only sitting on his bed, so that dust gathered at both ends of it. On the floor of the rest of his room, there was only a single footprint, and the rest was all overgrown with moss.) Lingyu said: 'Even if I affect virtue to correct the world, it is still better than doing evil with a straightforward mind.' This saying originated with the ancients, and Lingyu was the one to continue it. Now Guan Zhong and Yanzi were both worthy grandees. Guan was extravagant, and Yan was frugal; yet later ritualists criticized them both. (Guan Zhong was the Qi grandee Yiwu. He married nine women from three states. In official duties he did not double up responsibilities; he set up a screen to block his gate and erected a cup-stand—all of which were extravagant. Yet he served Duke Huan as chancellor, assembled the feudal lords nine times, honored the royal house, and reproached Chu for its tribute of wrapped thatch; hence he was praised as worthy. Yan Ying was a grandee of Qi, frugal by nature, such that a pig's shoulder did not cover his platter, and the like. Yet he served Duke Jing as chancellor, and with a single word reduced punishments; he likewise was praised as worthy, but criticized for his frugality.) Zengzi said: 'When the state is extravagant, show the people frugality; when the state is frugal, show the people ritual.' This was true of Master Yan. (Duke Jing of Qi possessed a thousand teams of four horses, yet on the day he died, the people found no virtue in him to praise; hence Master Yan showed them frugality.) But those submerged in deep water do not fully fathom the transformations of fish and dragons, and those dwelling on dry land do not fully grasp the capabilities of flying and running beasts. (The nature of things and phenomena cannot be completely exhausted.) How could wearing wide-sleeved robes mean one has exhausted the learning of Confucius's school? (Wide sleeves denote large sleeves. Though called Ruist scholars, they are in fact ignorant of the classical canons.)