北山錄 6.2.2

6.2.2

This is why when his wife died he drummed on a tub.) In ancient times, Fayun was in mourning, [and his grief] nearly brought about his demise (When his mother passed away, his emaciation and grief went beyond the rites; for several days he did not eat, almost succumbing to mourning. Sengmin said to him: 'The sages instituted the rites so that the worthy bend down to accommodate them and the unworthy strive to reach them. Grieving so as not to destroy one's nature is recorded even in Ruist texts. How much more so given that the Buddha had profound intentions: directly showing physical care, and distantly bringing forth bodhi. Furthermore, the bandits of affection and attachment must not be indulged.' Only then did he curtail his sorrowful feelings and lightly take rice gruel). When Lingyu went to visit his mother, upon hearing of her death he turned back (Lingyu was an eminent monk of the Sui, surnamed Xing, a native of Songzi in Nanjun. He lived in Xiangzhou for a long time. Suddenly hearing that his mother was sick in the capital of Ye, he went to visit her. Arriving on the road, he heard she was already dead and said: 'I originally came to visit my mother; now that she is dead, what is there to visit?' He then turned back). Noble men considered that, when imparting wise instructions, [Fa]yun erred in excess and [Ling]yu fell short. Now, regarding the rites, those who exceed them bend down to accommodate them, while those who do not reach them strive to attain them. Yun indeed possessed esteemed fame and genuine virtue, but his enmeshed feelings exceeded convention; Yu's position was exalted as an exemplar for teachers, yet his practice offered nothing to be adopted as a rule. Critics say: rather than falling short, it is better to exceed; excess is easy to restrain, but falling short is difficult to guide upward (Excessive grief can be restrained; falling short makes it difficult to guide later generations). Yet in the realm of all the Huaxia, virtue is observed through rites and etiquette. To dwell in their realm and change their customs is something a noble man does not do. Although the affairs of the world establish moral restraints, worthy persons achieve mastery over them, as in the cases of Zizang and Yuan Rang (Xinshi, son of the Duke of Cao, whose courtesy name was Zizang, was a concubine's son of Duke Xuan. When the Earl of Cao died, the feudal lords met with the King wishing to establish him. Zizang declined, saying: 'An ancient record says: the sage masters restraint, next to him guards restraint, and the lowliest loses restraint. Becoming ruler is not my restraint. Although I cannot master it, would I dare to lose what I guard?' He then fled to Song. Yuan Rang was a man of Lu, an unconventional gentleman beyond worldly affairs). When the affairs of the world disrupt the rites, worthy persons establish them, as in the cases of Zeng Shen and Zigao (Shen, courtesy name Ziyu. Gao Chai, courtesy name Zigao. For three years they wept tears of blood and were never seen to show their teeth. Both were disciples of Confucius, men of Lu). Nowadays the world mostly thinks of disorder; why then should the rites not be established? In ancient times, the Worthies of the Bamboo Grove and the fellows of Humu Fu—those who violated the rites considered themselves to be unconstrained (Ruan Ji of the Bamboo Grove lost his mother; Pei Kai went to condole with him. Ruan Ji let his hair hang loose, sat sprawled on the ground without weeping, drunk and staring blankly ahead. Pei Kai, having finished weeping, simply departed. Someone asked Pei: 'Whenever condoling, the host weeps and only then does the guest observe ritual. Since Ruan did not weep, why did you condole?' Pei said: 'Ruan is an unconventional person beyond the realm; hence he does not follow ritual regulations. The likes of us are conventional people; hence we conduct ourselves by rules and etiquette.' People of the time considered both to have attained the mean. Humu Fu was a man of Qi). If Yu also considered this to be unconstrained, then he was neither teacher nor disciple, and must be like those who were neither father nor son. Could it be that during life he did not abandon affection and sought to visit her, but in death he strictly sought his unconstrainedness? (During life, the debt of nurture had not been severed, so he naturally visited and inquired after her; in death, she was already the same as vegetation, and could only be aided in the unseen realm). Therefore, later generations who do not examine their own moral conduct and do not equal Yu will nevertheless mostly emulate Yu! (Mou means to equal. Even equaling is not proper, let alone not equaling him!) Therefore, though those who guide beings mysteriously attain profound realization, they maintain constancy for the sake of beings. The ancients said: 'Among humans, be capable of humaneness; under Heaven, be capable of heavenly nature.' This refers to those who possess the Way: they do not hold an attitude of defying the nature of beings. In the past, Maudgalyāyana wept while offering food (Maudgalyāyana's mother was Qingti of the Long-Nails Brāhmaṇa clan; due to stinginess, greed, and lack of faith, she sank into evil destinies. When Maudgalyāyana attained the Way, he took food and went to deliver her), and Śākyamuni supported the coffin (When King Śuddhodana passed away, the Buddha supported the coffin at his funeral. Moreover, when the Buddha's maternal aunt, the bhikṣuṇī Mahāprajāpatī, entered nirvāṇa on the same day with five hundred nuns, at that time upāsakas who had attained the right path lifted the coffins of the five hundred nuns, and the Four Heavenly Kings carried the bier of the Buddha's foster mother Mahāprajāpatī. The Buddha himself walked before holding an incense burner, burning incense and making offerings. He said to the monks: 'All of you help me make offerings to the body of my foster mother.' At that time, each of the arhat monks went by supernatural power to Mount Marīci, fetched ox-head sandalwood incense, and assisted the Buddha in preparing the pyre); these display to humanity the traces of gratitude and longing. Indeed, being able to abide in these traces without being attached to them may be called ultimate! (Mourning has four regulations: based on affection, on principle, on restraint, and on adaptation to circumstances; it is proper to adapt to what is appropriate). A sūtra says: 'Filial piety is called the precepts.' What does this mean? Filial piety takes reverence and compassion as its root. Through reverence, one honors one's parents; through compassion, one loves others. Honoring parents, one does not despise the myriad beings; loving others, one does not harm living kinds. In preventing harm and putting an end to transgression, nothing is greater than this. If one does not proceed from filial piety, being able to uphold the precepts is impossible (Precepts take compassion as root and reverence as support). Why is this? If one is unfilial, one has no parents; having no parents, one will not revere superiors. Revering superiors not, yet being able to be compassionate to inferiors—such has never occurred. The Vinaya says: 'Should one bear one's parents on one's shoulders while they defecate and urinate upon oneself through continuous kalpas, one still could not repay a single day of their giving life and nurture.' Since the Great Sage caused people to repay them with effort during life, why should there be no grief in death? Therefore, diverging from Yu may be worthy, but admiring Yu is base (For later followers whose elevated conduct falls short of Lingyu to wish to imitate him is not merely a matter of following the norm). Do not let those who uphold the moral teachings accuse sons and grandsons who enter the Way of violating filial piety and fraternal duty, for critical arguments would multiply from this! The disciples said: 'We have respectfully heard your instruction regarding mourning for one's parents (Mourning for parents has now been discussed). How should one mourn one's teacher?' He replied: 'The Rites say: In serving one's parents, there is concealment and no confrontation (A son concealing for his father, uprightness lies within this); one's attendance and nurture on both sides have no fixed manner (On both sides refers to holding and supporting, which have no fixed constancy); one renders diligent service until death, and observes three years of formal mourning (For a father's death, three years of unhemmed sackcloth; for a mother's death, three years of hemmed sackcloth. If the father is alive, it is only for one full year, out of deference to the father's honor. Unhemmed sackcloth means leaving the edges unfinished; hemmed sackcloth means hemming them as usual). In serving one's ruler, there is confrontation and no concealment (A minister considers remonstrance to be loyalty); one's attendance and nurture on both sides have fixed manner; one renders diligent service until death, and observes mourning for three years by analogy (Honoring the duty between ruler and minister, one compares him by analogy to a father). In serving one's teacher, there is neither confrontation nor concealment; one's attendance and nurture on both sides have no fixed manner; one renders diligent service until death, and observes three years of mourning in the heart (For a teacher's mourning, there are originally no garments; the demeanor of restraint is held in the heart).' It also says: 'Brothers weep in the ancestral temple.'