北山錄 1.11.6

1.11.6

When the Lao sage received the condolence of Qin Yi, it was as if he had returned to the Zhou (Zhuangzi says Qin Yi went in to offer condolences; Laozi wailed thrice and came out). Zhongni dreamed of libations placed between the two pillars (Zhongni said: "The people of the Xia lineage buried between the eastern pillar; the people of Zhou buried between the western pillar; the people of Yin buried between the two pillars. I am a descendant of the Yin people. Will I perish?" and then he died). Bending down to the myriad transformations, they perished alongside them. Their heavenly wisdom transcended the universe, yet their deaths were equal to the universe. Was it real or was it provisional? If real, then it was an image of a sage; if provisional, then they were indeed sages. If neither real nor provisional, then one merely sees a mind of arising and ceasing (the universe is heaven and earth. If a person's wisdom transcends heaven and earth, yet his birth and death are the same as heaven and earth and the myriad things, we ask: is this real or is this provisional? If it is real, then in appearance he is called a sage; if it is a provisional transformation, he also attains to being a sage. Apart from this, if it does not belong to the real or the provisional, there would be no way to comprehend the mind of birth and death).