北山錄 1.9.3

1.9.3

[... 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...")