[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [北山錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113) › 6.2.4 # 北山錄 6.2.4 北山錄 6.2.4 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [6.2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.6.2.4) 在異域無喪制（凡云異域外國皆天竺也）不封不樹（封塚土也）棄之中野（施鳥獸於寒林）或崇蘊燃之（焚之以薪）或淵流沈之。 所窆者少。 喪期無數（窆埋之也。 或棄或焚或沈。 亦無五服期限之事）若中華之前古（同上古之時也）其有欲遵此。 而罷哭泣去喪制。 為不違律者。 吾無與乎爾（身居東土。 而欲禮遵西國不可也）夫揣食嗚足。 袒肩跣趾。 圍繞却退。 皆殊俗之風也（南海寄歸傳云。 西國以手揣飯而食。 禮拜嗚足以舌舐之也。 袒肩露右膊也。 跣趾赤脚也。 圍繞退坐。 此皆西士之風。 今皆不行喪禮。 如何便欲遵之）中國則不為。 何臨喪則欲承之歟。 夫哀哭喪服且非性戒（但是遮戒制約）雖五篇則禁。 而律有隨方之義。 孰謂居喪。 必違聖意焉。 昔雙林摽擗。 佛剖棺而興。 慰而不責。 蓋憫其號慕。 篤其哀敬（佛俱尸入滅。 弟子號擗。 佛母摩耶自忉利天來。 如來從金棺起。 與母相見。 而不責弟子等悲號。 蓋欲厚其哀慕之心也）夫敬則行其志。 慕則思其教。 教立而志宣。 於摽擗之理實為有得。 涅槃為究竟之教。 於何不然。 若以去親擯俗習。 無生之法當忘情絕愛固不宜者。 則何太早（殊未行行便欲忘情一何謬也）計見卵而求時夜。 見彈而求鴞𮌉歟（時夜雞也。 有司辰之功。 今見卵便欲求雞理非也。 鴞如鳩。 綠色肉為䏑最美。 須以彈方獲。 今見彈便索鴞䏑非也。 忘情於境。 方契於道。 今情既未忘。 如何便欲擯俗也）夫始行之徒。 未階聖位。 志業沈麼。 蓋區中一細人耳。 遽則能割愛乎。 夫不愛於其親。 則移愛於他人（不愛其親。 而愛他人。 謂之悖德）而於權勢潤屋之門蘧蘧然（蘧蘧草草貌）有所親附也。 其忘情者但忘於名教禮義（今見吾門有擯名教。 謂之聲聞。 取著全便忘棄則。 又見貴門財物動容汲汲者也）而忿欲勝負衣服飲食逐逐焉何所忘也。 既情不盡忘。 愛不盡絕。 豈於喪禮而欲去耶。 或曰。 若使沙門隨方為喪亦得。 隨方致敬王者歟（既同俗禮。 何方便同拜揖）曰不然（汎答也）何則（却徵也）夫拜為外飾。 孝自內心。 抑為外飾。 損髠祖之儀。 抑其內心。 失愛敬之性。 與其兩抑不若兩縱。 縱其不拜。 成王臣之信獎。 縱其為喪。 成人倫之孝悌。 故依違異也。 詳夫外國哀亦甚矣。 故波斯匿王喪母惶惶戚戚（舍衛國波斯匿王喪母身灰塵坌等）大聖示滅。 而四眾血現。 如波羅奢花。 舍利弗灰身。 無色界天淚下如春細雨（無色界化定果色而下慰問也）豈不由生我德我。 其情篤切。 匪刑匪勸。 志發于衷。 故有昊天蓼莪之痛（哀哀父母。 生我劬勞。 欲報深恩。 昊天罔極。 蓼長大也。 莪蘿蒿也。 周幽王時。 人民久役。 不得養父母。 如見義不識也）升堂負序之哀（序東西牆也。 孝子升堂。 而背負序）不期哭而聲自號。 不盰衡而貌自苦。 安能以飾高而強抑。 恥俗而求變耶。 昔齊州三藏（義淨也）自西域還。 每事演遐舉之功。 遙情賞金方之訓。 以為披黲布而乖常式。 留長髮而異舊儀。 斯亦重結塵勞。 更嬰桎梏（韈黲長長髮未必合道者也）又云。 去釋父之聖教。 重周孔之俗禮。 特以靈裕為知道者也。 竊以。 天下沙門皆非裕也。 為裕則邯鄲之步不成（邯鄲趙郡美女能行）得無真俗兼喪焉。 古人曰。 聖達節。 次守節。 下失節（曹子臧語也）夫非達非守則非失如何。 是以居喪者。 退居勵行。 起於寒泉凱風之思修香火。 齊戒之福幽顯普賴奚則乖於道歟。 今有瑣夫居喪如無喪。 衣食安安然。 笑語晏晏然。 何其勃也（臨喪不哀。 吾何以觀之哉）有土之辟。 亦可問之。 生成何罪焉。 梁草堂約。 二親將亡。 並及臨訣。 孺慕嬰號（慕同孺子號比嬰兒）不交人世。 其德彌遠。 > In foreign regions there are no mourning regulations (in general, whenever "foreign regions" or "external realms" are mentioned, it means Tianzhu). They do not build mounds nor plant trees \[at tombs\] (a mound is the earth over a grave). They discard \[the body\] in the midst of the wilderness (donating it to birds and beasts in a charnel ground), or they heap firewood and burn it (incinerating it with firewood), or they sink it into deep waters. Those who are buried in graves are few, and the periods of mourning are uncounted (to bury means to inter; they either discard, burn, or submerge, and there is also no matter of periods for the five mourning garments), like the antiquity of the Central Florescence (identical to high antiquity). As for those who wish to follow this, doing away with weeping and abandoning mourning regulations on the pretext of not violating the Vinaya, I have no truck with them (to reside in the Eastern Land yet wish to follow Western etiquette is impermissible). Eating by balling food in the hand, kissing the feet, baring the shoulder, going barefoot, and circumambulating and stepping backward—these are all customs of distinct cultures (The Record of the South Seas says: In the Western land they ball rice with their hands to eat; in worshipful kissing of the feet they lick them with the tongue; baring the shoulder exposes the right arm; barefoot means bare feet; circumambulating and retiring to sit down—these are all customs of Westerners; nowadays none of these are practiced in funeral rites, so how could one wish to follow \[only funeral abandonment\]?). In the Central Kingdom they are not done; why then, when facing mourning, would one wish to adopt them? Moreover, lamentation, weeping, and mourning garments are not inherently proscribed offenses (they are merely restrictive monastic prohibitions); although they are forbidden in the Five Classes \[of offenses\], the Vinaya includes the principle of accommodating local customs. Who can say that observing mourning must run counter to the intention of the Sage? Formerly, when \[disciples\] beat their breasts and pounded the ground in the Twin Groves, the Buddha opened his coffin and arose; he consoled them without rebuking them, surely out of compassion for their wailing longing and to deepen their grief and respect (When the Buddha entered parinirvāṇa at Kuśinagara, his disciples wailed and beat their breasts; the Buddha's mother, Māyā, arrived from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, and the Tathāgata arose from the golden coffin to meet his mother, not rebuking the disciples and others for their sorrowful wailing—this was surely to enrich their feelings of grief and longing). When there is respect, one carries out their purpose; when there is longing, one reflects upon their teachings. When teachings are established and purpose is declared, there is genuine gain in the principle of beating one's breast and pounding the ground. The Nirvāṇa \[Sūtra\] is the ultimate teaching; in what way could it be otherwise? If it is said that having abandoned one's parents, renounced worldly customs, and practiced the unborn Dharma, one should forget emotions and sever affection so \[mourning\] is certainly improper, then why \[expect this\] prematurely (wishing to forget emotions before one has even undertaken cultivation—how erroneous that is!)? Is this not like seeing an egg and expecting it to crow at dawn, or seeing a pellet and expecting an owl stew (the dawn-caller is a rooster, which has the merit of keeping time; now seeing an egg and already expecting a rooster is contrary to reason; the owl is like a dove, green in color, and its meat makes the finest roast, but one must obtain it with a pellet; now seeing a pellet and immediately demanding roasted owl is perverse; only when emotions are forgotten toward objects does one accord with the Way; now that emotions are not yet forgotten, how can one wish to renounce worldly customs so hastily?)? Novices in practice have not yet mounted to holy stages; their resolve and deeds are low and slight; they are merely petty people within the worldly realm. How could they suddenly cut off affection? If one does not love one's parents, one merely shifts that love to others (not loving one's parents yet loving others is called contrary to virtue), and hangs around the gates of the powerful and wealthy with fawning eagerness (fawning eagerness means an anxious and restless demeanor), seeking attachment to them. Those who forget their emotions merely forget the orthodox moral teachings and rituals of propriety (nowadays in our order we see those who cast off orthodox teachings, call it śrāvaka-practice, grasp fully and abandon guidelines, yet when seeing the wealth and property of noble gates, their countenances are full of rapacious longing), yet toward anger, desire, rivalry, clothing, and food, they greedily chase after them—what have they forgotten? Since emotions are not fully forgotten and affection is not fully severed, why should they seek to discard only mourning rites? Someone may ask: “If śramaṇas are permitted to follow local customs for mourning, may they also follow local customs in paying homage to the ruler (since they conform to worldly rites, why not also conform in bowing and saluting)?” I say: Not so (a general reply). Why is that (a counter-inquiry)? Bowing is an external embellishment, whereas filial piety arises from the inner mind. Suppressing the external embellishment preserves the decorum of the shaven-headed ancestor; suppressing the inner mind destroys the natural inclination toward love and respect. Rather than suppressing both, it is better to allow both: allowing them not to bow accomplishes the faithful praise of the sovereign and ministers; allowing them to observe mourning accomplishes the filial piety and fraternal love of human relations. Therefore, the distinction lies in what is permitted and what is withheld. In fact, grief in foreign regions is also extreme: thus King Prasenajit mourned his mother with frantic distress and deep sorrow (King Prasenajit of Śrāvastī mourned his mother, covering his body with dust and ashes); when the Great Sage manifested his decease, the fourfold assembly wept tears of blood that appeared like palāśa blossoms; and when Śāriputra reduced his body to ashes, the devas of the formless realm shed tears like a fine spring rain (the formless realm manifested colors born of meditation to descend and offer solace). Is this not because those who gave us life and bestowed grace upon us evoke feelings that are deep and ardent? Neither constrained by punishment nor encouraged by exhortation, the resolve issues from the core of one's heart. Hence there is the grief of the "vast heaven and towering thorn-ferns" (Sorrowful, sorrowful parents, / Giving me birth with toil and pain; / Wishing to repay their deep grace, / Like vast heaven boundless. Towering means large; thorn-ferns are bitter herbs. In the time of King You of Zhou, the people were long burdened with corvée and could not care for their parents, as though failing to recognize what was righteous), and the sorrow of "ascending the hall and leaning against the partition wall" (The partition walls are the east and west walls; the filial son ascends the hall and leans his back against the partition wall). Without awaiting an appointed time for weeping, cries wail forth on their own; without glaring or frowning, one's countenance is naturally afflicted. How could one, to feign high aloofness, forcibly suppress it, or from shame of worldly ways, seek to alter it? Formerly, the Tripiṭaka Master of Qizhou (Yijing), upon returning from the Western Regions, constantly expounded the merits of that distant journey and with remote sentiment prized the instructions of the golden quarter, considering that putting on coarse black hemp cloth ran contrary to standard rules, and keeping long hair was a departure from old decorum; that this was also to re-tie the knots of defiling toil and become further entangled in shackles (wearing dark clothes and growing long hair may not necessarily accord with the Way). He also said that this was to cast aside the holy teachings of our father Śākya and to elevate the worldly rites of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, singling out Lingyu as one who understood the Way. In my humble view, the world's śramaṇas are not all Lingyu. Attempting to be Lingyu, one fails even at the Handan gait (the beautiful women of Handan in Zhao commandery walked with elegance); will one not end up losing both the ultimate and the conventional? The ancients said: "The sage transcends conventions; next, one maintains conventions; at lowest, one loses conventions" (the words of Zicang of Cao). If one neither transcends nor maintains them, what is it if not losing them? Therefore, those who observe mourning should retire to solitude to cultivate their practice, arising with the longing of "chilly springs and gentle breezes" to cultivate the incense and lamp-offerings, so that the hidden and manifest may universally rely on the blessings of pure abstinence—how could this be contrary to the Way? Nowadays, there are petty men who observe mourning as if there were no mourning at all; their clothing and food are easy and leisurely, their laughter and talk merry and bright. How perverse they are ("If in mourning there is no grief, how can I observe them?")! Even the ruler of the realm could question them: What crime did the giving of life and upbringing commit? Shen Yue of Caotang under the Liang, when both his parents were nearing their end, rushed to bid them farewell, weeping and wailing like a child (longing like a young child, wailing like an infant); he severed contact with the human world, and his virtue grew ever more far-reaching. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 6.2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.6.2.3) - [Next: 6.2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.6.2.5) - [Up: 6.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.6.2) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113~en-mt.6.2.4) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.6.2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.6.2.4) · Pramāṇa