北山錄 8.4.4

8.4.4

在聖隸乎仙寺。 居官寺者寧辭以人事處之耶。 其有仙寺。 而莫吾能適也（如卭州大邑縣霧中山。 有五百羅漢居三學山聖燈。 峨眉山普賢菩薩等。 又如感通傳。 有僧亡名至竹林仙寺等是皆）昔竺曇猷造天台。 赤城圓通往鄴東。 石鼓慧寶寓宿巖室（皆仙寺也）莫不有師長有威儀。 將欲寄形彼不我留。 故人間往往聞絕壁深林鍾聲梵響神燈奇像者。 斯可徵也。 是以僧居每於說戒。 解夏日不得不清嚴法宇。 整眾翼翼。 儼若在乎聖人之前。 入大乘論云。 賓頭盧羅睺羅等一十六人大阿羅漢。 恭承遺顧。 遂行人里（佛滅後。 罽賓國勝軍王難提蜜多羅尊者為之舉出十六大阿羅漢也）近世梓潼郡有大長老律師胡氏。 亦感通之流也。 郡南鄙有靈鷲山。 胡領徒而夏安居說戒。 夜人數則定。 籌數每過。 眾莫識其然（僧每以十五日夜及月盡夜。 令一人誦戒經必行籌。 先數僧有幾人。 沙彌幾人。 令知籌數多少）夏既末有二三胡沙門。 出山至路隅與穡人揮手相別。 律師聞而奔走。 其徒四騁挍。 其去則不遠。 然而莫得見之矣。 夫聖人之心自我人心。 鬼神之靈自我人靈（至誠感於神明也）慧璿患講居無水。 將徙其屬山神謂之吐溜（如梓州慧義寺無水。 有僧神曉。 念金剛經。 期以七日。 至期果獲迸泉出。 今見在）僧範說戒夜寓宿他寺。 觀竪義者廢其事。 靈祇怒而仆之。 斯誠與調不可僭矣。 梁慧超為大僧正好山水翼從之聲聞于數里。 居則羅列童僕。 顧王侯之不若彼豈為僧正歟。 夫僧正當正己以為政。 匪廉則何有於正乎。 道達之為南兖州僧正。 罷任唯五束故紙奚廉與濁之不相概也（概猶平也。 平斗斛者）僧旻不為大會。 謂門人弟子曰。 大會雖有一時起發之功。 吾寡乏手力。 米樵菜湯。 踐蹈澆炙。 傷害極眾。 如假官力。 使役雖眾。 彌難盡意。 故吾不為也。 議者曰。 靜者善其動。 動者善其靜。 是為周濟之士（形躁好靜質柔愛剛之道也。 又如以寬濟猛之義也）若靜而行靜。 則庶心寂寞德不光華（其跡沈隱故也）若處動而逾動。 則物理滋彰。 道德浮偽。 故賢者履動靜之間。 適有無之外。 總萬善於無為。 無善不為也。 夫大禹卑宮室而盡力乎溝洫。 菲飲食而致孝乎鬼神。 豈好手足胼胝而脛胈無毛耶（夏禹治水䠊無胈脛無毛。 韋昭云。 胈股上小毛也）蓋不私其安。 而欲以功施天下也。 長者子善德。 建大施會（維摩經說也）聖人悅而教之。 顯博施濟眾福與心遠其樂無窮也。 故西域有鉢遮于瑟（即大供會也）上智行之。 積而能散。 歸惠于我。 歸財于人。 陳錫載周實則兼慶（陳桓子豆區釜鍾重施於民而皆周遍。 終致有後於齊故也）夫大士苟益於物。 雖害於己亦所不避。 況匪害乎（菩薩修行。 身為肉山魚米。 欲行大道。 何視小徑）若以興功害物命。 則幢塔泥木儀像服饌所出孰罪耶。 舍利弗乞食。 觀空中虫。 如彼駛雨。 如器中粟。 乃多日不食。 大聖告言。 當以肉眼所見固可食也。 靈裕教誡學徒。 無貴賤無少長。 皆述己名。 稱彼仁者。 絕於呵棰。 違言必譴。 彼何施至於此歟。 茲或可傳而不可繼也。 詩曰。 予懷明德。 不大聲以色（言文王不發大聲。 以顏色也。 又云。 不識不知順帝之則也）仲尼曰。 聲色之於人末也（作威震色此乃下也）夫不刑而治。 世皆尚之。 但今之人懼威而侮德（威勝於恩也）聖人猶其疾之。 詩曰。 君子如怒。 亂庶遄沮（言君子若怒其亂眾必潰散也）又曰。 王赫斯怒。 爰整其旅。 言以威止亂也。 夫良馬必假其銜策。 好鳥必俟乎剪拂。 良材必資於剞劂。 未有捨於此而能自致其美者也。 易曰。 小人不恥不仁。 不畏不義。 不見利不勸。 不示威不懲。 小懲而大誡（懲責也。 謂責以傷害損棄之罪。

[Whether] subordinated to holy beings in temples of transcendent immortals, could those dwelling in official monasteries rather decline to handle human affairs? If there are temples of transcendent immortals, none of us are able to go to them (such as Mount Wuzhong in Dayi County of Qiongzhou, where five hundred arhats dwell, the sacred lamp of Mount Sanxue, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva on Mount Emei, and so on; or as in the Gantong zhuan, where an anonymous monk reached the bamboo grove temple of immortals, and so on—all of these). Formerly, Zhu Danyou went to Tiantai, Yuantong of Chicheng went to the east of Ye, and Huibao of Shigu stayed overnight in a rock chamber (these are all temples of immortals); in none of them were there not teachers and elders, and solemn deportment. When [the visitors] wished to lodge their physical form, [the immortals] would not allow them to stay. Therefore, among humankind one often hears of the sounds of bells, Sanskrit chanting, divine lamps, and wondrous images from sheer cliffs and deep forests: these serve as verification. For this reason, in the monastic dwelling, on each occasion of reciting the precepts and on the day of releasing the summer retreat, one cannot but purify and solemnize the Dharma hall, and respectfully align the assembly, solemn and dignified as if in the presence of the Holy One. The *Mahāyāna-avatāraka-śāstra* says that the sixteen great arhats, such as Piṇḍola and Rāhula, reverently received [the Buddha's] bequeathed entrusted care, and thereupon walked among the villages of mortals (after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, the venerable Nandimitra under King Jeta of Kaśmīra singled out the sixteen great arhats for his sake). In recent generations, in Zitong commandery there was a great elder, the Vinaya master of the Hu clan, who was also of this kind of spiritual resonance. To the south border of the commandery was Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa. Hu led his disciples in the summer retreat and recited the precepts. At night, the count of persons was settled, yet the tally sticks always exceeded [the count]; the assembly did not understand why it was so (every night of the fifteenth and the final night of the month, the monks have one person recite the prātimokṣa and must distribute tallies, first counting how many monks and how many novices there are, so as to know the total tally sticks). When the summer drew to a close, there were two or three foreign śramaṇas who emerged from the mountain to the roadside, waving their hands to bid farewell to the reapers. The Vinaya master heard of it and rushed over; his disciples galloped in all four directions to check, for their departure was not far off, yet none could see them. The mind of the holy ones originates from our human minds; the efficacy of ghosts and spirits originates from our human spiritual efficacy (utmost sincerity moves the divine and luminous). Huixuan suffered from the lack of water in his lecture dwelling; when he was about to move, the local mountain spirit gushed a flow for him (for instance, the Huiyi Monastery of Zizhou had no water; there was a monk named Shenxiao who recited the Diamond Sūtra, setting a term of seven days, and when the time arrived, a springing fountain indeed burst forth, which is visible today). Sengfan, on the night of reciting the precepts, lodged at another temple; observing that those putting forward doctrinal debates had neglected the practice, the spiritual deities grew wrathful and struck him down. Truly, sincerity and discipline must not be transgressed! When Huichao of the Liang served as Great Rector, he was fond of mountains and waters, and the sound of his retinue was heard for several miles. In his dwelling, he arrayed child servants; seeing that even princes and marquises did not rival him, how could he be deemed a Rector? Now, a Rector must rectify himself so as to govern; if he is not incorrupt, how can there be rectitude? When Daoda served as Rector of South Yanzhou, upon leaving office he had only five bundles of used paper—how could his incorruptibility and the turbidity [of others] be compared on the same level? (A level is like an equalizer, which evens out bushels and peck measures). Sengmin would not hold great assemblies. He addressed his disciples, saying: 'Although a great assembly has the merit of momentarily inspiring people, I am deficient in manual laborers. With rice, firewood, vegetables, and soup, trampling, pouring, and roasting, the harm caused to living beings is extremely great. If one borrows official power, though the laborers are numerous, it is even more difficult to fulfill one's intention. Therefore, I will not do it.' Critics say: 'Those who are quiet excel in their movement; those who are active excel in their quietude. Such are the persons of comprehensive relief (the principle where a hasty disposition cherishes quietude and a gentle nature loves firmness; also like the meaning of using leniency to temper severity). If one is quiet and merely practices quietude, then the ordinary mind will be desolate and virtue will not shine forth (because their traces are hidden and obscure). If one dwells in activity and becomes excessively active, then the physical world will become overly prominent, and the Dao and virtue will become superficial and false. Therefore, the worthy treads between movement and quietude, and reaches beyond being and non-being; they subsume the myriad goods into non-action (wuwei), yet there is no good that they do not perform. Now, Great Yu made his palace modest yet exhausted his strength on ditches and watercourses; he was frugal in food and drink yet devoted his filial piety to the ghosts and spirits. How could it be that he loved having calloused hands and feet and hairless shins? (When Xia Yu regulated the waters, his feet were without hair and his shins were hairless; Wei Zhao says *ba* refers to the small hairs on the thighs). It was simply that he did not prioritize his own ease, but wished to bestow merit upon the world. The elder's son Śāntamati established a great assembly of giving (expounded in the *Vimalakīrti Sūtra*); the Sage was pleased and instructed him, revealing that when extensive giving relieves the multitude, the merit reaches far along with the mind, and its joy is boundless. Therefore in the Western Regions there is the *pañcavārṣika* (namely, the great offering assembly); those of superior wisdom practice it. Accumulating yet able to disperse, kindness returns to oneself, and wealth returns to others. When Chen Xi gave distributions all around, in reality it doubled the blessings (Chen Huanzi heavily bestowed gifts upon the people using larger bushels, qu, and measures, providing for all; ultimately this led to his descendants prospering in Qi). Now, if a Great Being genuinely benefits living beings, even if it brings harm to oneself, he does not avoid it; how much less so when it is not harmful! (When a bodhisattva practices, his body becomes mountains of flesh and fish and rice; wishing to walk the great road, why look back at small pathways?) If one considers that generating meritorious undertakings harms sentient life, then from whence would the sin arise for banners, stūpas, clay, wood, ceremonial images, robes, and provisions? When Śāriputra begged for food, he observed insects in the air, falling like driving rain, thick as millet in a vessel; thereupon he did not eat for many days. The Great Sage addressed him, saying: 'What is seen with the fleshly eye may indeed be eaten.' Lingyu instructed his students: regardless of whether they were noble or base, young or old, he always stated his own name and addressed them as 'benevolent one,' entirely doing away with scolding and beating; yet if someone spoke contrary to what is right, he was sure to reprove them. Why did his application reach such an extent? This may perhaps be recounted, but cannot be sustained as a rule. The *Odes* say: 'I cherish your illustrious virtue, not displayed in loud sounds or [wrathful] countenance' (meaning King Wen did not issue loud voices or show anger in his countenance; it also says: 'Without conscious knowledge, he accords with the patterns of the Sovereign on High'). Zhongni said: 'Voice and countenance are trivial matters in dealing with people' (displaying awe and an intimidating countenance is of the lowest order). Now, governing without punishment is esteemed by all the world. But people of today fear awe and disrespect virtue (awe overcomes kindness); even the sages abhorred this. The *Odes* say: 'If the gentleman is moved to anger, the disorder will surely be swiftly checked' (meaning if the gentleman is angry, the disorderly rabble will certainly disperse). It also says: 'The king rose in blazing wrath, and thereupon assembled his forces.' This speaks of using awe to halt disorder. A fine horse must rely on its bit and whip; a beautiful bird must await trimming and pruning; fine timber must depend on the chisel and gouge. There has never been one who cast these aside and was able to achieve beauty by himself. The *Changes* say: 'The petty person is not ashamed of non-benevolence, nor does he fear unrighteousness. If he sees no advantage, he is not encouraged; if awe is not shown, he is not chastened. Chastened in small things, he takes great warning' (chastening means reproving; that is, reproving the offenses of injury, damage, and waste).