北山錄 7

English (machine translation) 7

Language: English

7.1 — 6 parts

7.1.1

([…] lift it through various dhyānas, the great earth shook violently, yet his sash still touched the ground. The Buddha said: "Śāri[putra]'s dhyāna is such that [Maudgalyā]yana cannot even know its name.") Pūrṇa […] was foremost in wisdom among the disciples, yet was known for expounding the Dharma. (Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra, which translates as "Son of Full Compassion," took his name from his mother, "Full Compassion" being the name of his mother.) Mahākāśyapa was the heir of the Dharma, yet was praised solely for the dhūta practices. (Mahākāśyapa of radiant drinking […] was a man of Rājagṛha. He renounced glory and wealth […], sustained himself by begging for food, and cultivated the dhūta practices.) Śāri[putra] and Maudgalyāyana […] composed the Abhidharma, yet Kātyāyana was exclusively given the title of disputation. (Abhidharma translates as "unrivaled Dharma," namely the basket of treatises [Abhidharma-piṭaka]. Both Maudgalyāyana and Śāriputra composed treatises of this kind, yet Kātyāyana was called foremost in disputation. It is also said that Kātyāyana translates as "clipping-and-shaving clan." In high antiquity there were rṣis. Having lived long in the mountains, their hair grew long and there was no one to shave it. By the rules of the Brahmans, it was deemed impure not to shave one's hair. One ṛṣi shaved the hair for them, and all the ṛṣis wished and protected him so that he attained the Way. From then on they were called the "clipping-and-shaving clan," and the Venerable One was his descendant.) This was the grand intention of the Great Sage, not that the others could not encompass them, (they were praised for what they singularly excelled in) but among them, whether encouraging or discouraging, he spoke in response to conditioned phenomena. Thus Kapphina alone exhausted the celestial calendar; (Kapphina translates as "constellation room [Anurādhā]"; because he was born through an evocative resonance with it, he was knowledgeable about the celestial calendar) Śroṇa was exceptionally energetic. (This refers to the monk Śroṇakoṭīkarṇa. From birth onward, his feet never trod upon the earth. After leaving home, he practiced the Way day and night until blood flowed from beneath his feet. The Buddha preached the parable of tuning the lute for him, requiring that he keep the strings neither too tight nor too loose according to the situation, whereby he realized the fruit.) As for the five hundred, if assessed by a single practice, every one of them would rank first rather than second. As for the three thousand disciples of Confucius' school who ascended the hall and the seventy-two who entered the inner chambers, if classified according to the four subjects and ten philosophers, even though Zeng Shen was not listed under virtuous conduct, he was celebrated for filial piety and fraternal respect. (Virtuous conduct, government affairs, literary learning, and speech are the four subjects. Yan Hui, Min Sun, Ran Yong, Yan Yan, Bu Shang, Ran Geng, Zhong You, Ran You, Zai Wo, and Zi Gong are the ten philosophers; Zeng Shen was not included among them.) The author of the Zuo Commentary was not listed under literary learning, yet his brush flourished in state history. (Not being included among the ten philosophers, Zuoqiu Ming, who composed the Zuo Commentary, was also a disciple of Confucius.) In the three hundred canons of rites and the three thousand dignified demeanours, only Gongxi Chi stood pre-eminent. (Gongxi Chi, courtesy name Zihua, had an imposing bearing. Confucius said: "Wearing his sash and standing in court, he could be employed to converse with the guests.") Thus the style and teachings of the two traditions mysteriously accord in their praises and reprimands. In the past, praising Mahākāśyapa was saying that they shared the same liberation; censuring Śāriputra was saying that it was something he could not know. (In the Lotus Sūtra: "Even if monks filling the worlds of the ten directions were all like Śāriputra, they still could not know it.") None of the lands in the ten directions is not pure, yet the Land of Immeasurable Life is uniquely extolled. All the noble Great Beings universally harbor compassion, yet Avalokiteśvara's power is uniquely displayed. The Great Being of the Snowy Mountains perceived the signs and knew the final cessation; (When the Buddha entered parinirvāṇa in Kuśinagara, Mahākāśyapa was staying on the Snowy Mountains. Seeing the great earth shake violently and beholding radiant light, he knew that this must be the Tathāgata's cessation, whereupon he came to the assembly.) the nominal bodhisattvas wept upon hearing of his permanent abiding. Indeed, if an affair is not beneficial, he would not deem it good; if his teaching should not endure long, he would not proclaim it. (Nominal refers to initial aspiration. When they heard the Buddha state that remaining long in the world brought no benefit—the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "After three months I shall enter nirvāṇa"—they burst into tears. The Lotus Sūtra says: "If the Buddha were to abide long in the world, persons of slight virtue would not plant wholesome roots.") That which transmitters of the Dharma have yet to attain—herein lies the difficulty! If one clings to the letter to determine the meaning, the meaning will end in obstruction; if one strains the meaning to violate the letter, the text will be compromised. (Extravagant interpretation detached from the text does harm to the text.) In some cases, learning is broad but reasoning cannot be refined; in others, the mind understands but the mouth cannot debate. These two conditions truly exist. (One should not demand perfection in a single person.) However, each sūtra expounded is called foremost; this certainly has an underlying intention. For Yu Fu and Bian Que treating patients, (The Records of the Grand Historian: Yu Fu and Bian Que were both good physicians of antiquity.) for dark cold, cinnamon and pepper are good remedies; (dark cold is chilly; cinnamon and pepper are hot, hence they are good) for fiery agitation, ice and snow are good remedies. (fiery agitation is hot; ice is cold, hence it is good.) The Great Physician King of the Dharma pities the common beings of the realms; (the Buddha is the Great Physician King) he shatters name and characteristic through prajñā, unites the three vehicles through the Lotus, and induces sorrowful repentance through the Golden Light. Each has its specific aim and does not occupy a secondary place. (The Diamond Sūtra is called supreme and foremost for shattering characteristics; the Lotus Sūtra is foremost for uniting the small and medium vehicles of sheep and deer carts into the great white ox cart; the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra is foremost for relying on Bodhisattva Ruci's repentance of all sinful hindrances.) When the scriptures say that if the ruler of a state loses the Way, the jade candles will not be harmonious (when the four seasons are in harmony, it is called jade candles) and the wind and rain will be unseasonable and epidemics will arise, these are words of warning and admonition. (As in the Benevolent Kings Sūtra, the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra, etc. "Jing" means to startle; "jie" means to restrain.) A king transforms those below by means of moral wind. If his wind is benighted, the people will turn to evil; when virtue is thin and calamity heavy, how can great peace be attained? Therefore, destroying his people leaves no one to protect the state; thus the loss of his position and emoluments is like the collapse of a crag. ("Jian" means to annihilate; "wang" means to have none; "Di" is the name of a mountain. If a ruler is without the Way, Heaven sends down disaster and calamity, destroying his worthy, virtuous, and loyal ministers, and the state crumbles like a collapsing mountain.) Thus the Great Sage is subtle and creates an accomplished expression. However, within the teachings there are also words that seem similar but whose intention is different. For example, during his three months of secluded dwelling, he ordered that no one should see him, except for a single attendant. (When the Buddha rested at leisure, he first ordered that casual visitors not be allowed to see him.) There was the bhikṣu Upasena who, together with sixty dhūta practitioners, (not accepting invitations, constantly begging for food, staying on mountaintops, wearing tattered robes, sitting under trees, eating one meal a day, possessing only three robes, constantly sitting and not lying down, contemplating corpses, not eating meat—such as these are all dhūta practices) went straight in to see the Buddha. The Buddha, perceiving their fewness of desires, praised them. Those who did not have few desires realized: "This is tranquil sitting; it is up to our group to lead one another to be like Upasena, and only then can we see the Buddha." (Upasena was able to see the Buddha because of few desires; those with many desires then led one another to have few desires.) In the past, the nine classes of scriptures were taught.

7.1.2

[The sūtra] praises dwelling in the conjured city, yet to dwell there is not the reality, for one must ultimately reach the jewel cache (The Buddha's teaching of the intermediate and lesser is called an expedient provision. It is like a person wishing to reach a jewel cache whose resolve falters midway. The guide then conjures up a city along the way and expediently calls it the jewel cache; once they have rested, he reveals it to be expedient and leads them onward to the jewel cache. This refers to the nine divisions of the Hinayāna teachings). In words they appear the same, yet their intention is ever different. There are cases where the words conflict while the purport harmonises: as in the Jiaojie jing (Sūtra of Admonition), where a monk does not bare his shoulder, the Great Sage rebukes him; whereas in the Chengyu jing (Sūtra of the Parable of the City), when he bared his shoulder but did not cover both shoulders, [the Buddha] again rebuked him (To bare means to expose the shoulder; covering both shoulders envelops both, which is not baring). Śāriputra, regarding correct speech, seemed [perplexed as to] the seeming contradiction of adoption and rejection, not yet having understood (not yet knowing what to uphold). The Buddha said: when making offerings one bares the shoulder; when acting as a field of merit one ought not to bare it. What is valued is fitness for the time, not the separation of hardness and whiteness (Adopting and rejecting befit the time, advancing and retreating follow expedience; is it not like 'ground down, yet not made thin, may indeed be called hard; steeped in black, yet not turned dark, may indeed be called white'?). He once told King Bimbisāra: 'Do not indulge wicked monks, causing the field of the Saṅgha to be overgrown with weeds; such guilt exceeds that of gouging out the eyes of the great trichiliocosm' (the ruler of Rājagṛha). At other times, he likened a monk who broke the precepts to a withered campaka flower: 'Kings, officials, and white-robed [layfolk] must not inflict punishment [upon him]' (The Yijiao jing says: 'Though the campaka flower is withered, it still surpasses other flowers; monks who break the precepts still surpass the heterodox.' It also says: 'If my monks violate royal law, whether executed or beaten, or if their kāṣāyas are stripped and they are forced to return to lay life, or expelled from the state—that is like flaying three hundred living oxen alive, yet its sin is still lighter'). This was because a benevolent king was excessively benevolent, allowing the foolish to indulge in wickedness (te means evil); whereas a cruel king was excessively cruel, doing violence and injustice to people. Fearing a departure from the middle, [the Buddha] established two sūtras to guard against loss. In the Prātimokṣa Sūtra, he initially commanded mutual admonition among them, yet ultimately commanded each only to observe their own body (In the Prātimokṣa Sūtra, the saṃghāvaśeṣa contains the provision for three admonitions. The Precepts of the Seven Buddhas also say: 'Only observe one's own bodily conduct, do not observe what others do or do not do'). For those who rectify themselves but cannot rectify others, he instituted that they admonish one another; for those who boast of their goodness and relish litigating the faults of others, he instituted that they withdraw and examine themselves. There are cases where the matter is concealed yet the statement is literal: as when Gavāmpati dropped a few grains of millet and was reborn as an ox for five hundred lifetimes. He surely had other karmic actions leading to rebirth as an ox, yet [the Buddha] only made manifest this single incident (This is the monk 'Ruminating Ox.' In a past life he plucked a single stalk of grain and dropped a few grains of millet, resulting in five hundred lifetimes with bovine hooves and a bovine mouth. The Buddha, fearing that worldly people would ridicule him, ordered him to dwell permanently in the Thirty-Three Heavens). Aniruddha gave a single meal of food, and for ninety-one kalpas enjoyed the bliss of humans and devas (translated as 'Unfailing'; foremost in divine vision). Because his good conditions assisted one another, they came to fruition across many kalpas; yet because it originated from a single meal, [the Buddha] concealed the branches and praised the root. It is like the world praising a wealthy man as having eaten a single gold coin; he began with a single gold coin, and later became wealthy. Now, as all equally attain the Ten Epithets, why are there strong and weak among them, and why do those who praise and bow to them receive benefits that are abundant or meager? (All equally become Buddhas with the Ten Epithets, yet those who praise and pay homage differ in the benefits they obtain according to what is perceived). This is simply citing a single time and a single action to indicate non-uniform conditions (such as the Western [Paradise] specialising in welcoming and guiding, Bhaiṣajyaguru specialising in rescuing from adversity, and so forth). There are cases where the principle is not so, yet the words are severe: as when drinking alcohol or holding jewels definitively renders one no śramaṇa (prohibitions of the Vinaya); predicting that Devadatta would enter hell for a kalpa (Devadatta committed the five heinous sins and entered hell for one kalpa); or that harming an ant with a grave mind incurs a sin graver than killing a human (as when specifically generating wrath of the highest grade to kill an ant, which is heavier than killing a person by mistake). Though in terms of the act it is slight, in terms of the underlying emotional state it is extreme: these are all the Sage's expressions of ultimate censure. Therefore the sūtra says: 'When I say that a srotaāpanna can attain Buddhahood, you do not understand my intention (referring to those who have turned their minds to cultivate practice); when I say they cannot attain Buddhahood, neither do you understand my intention' (referring to those of fixed nature who reduce the body to ashes and have not turned their minds). The August Sage illumines the spiritual capacities; his contraction and expansion have no fixed rule (bi means exclusive insistence). In some cases, the teaching arises following people: hence he first taught of humans and devas, and later diminished this with the truths and conditions (humans and devas refer to the five precepts, ten virtues, and so forth; the truths refer to the Four Truths; conditions refer to the twelvefold conditioned arising). Having first taught truths and conditions, he later diminished them with the One Vehicle (causing them to abandon the sheep and deer carts to advance toward the great white ox cart). Diminishing until there is nothing left to diminish, one returns to what is called the Great Way. In some cases, the teaching does not follow people: as in the earlier assemblies of the Avataṃsaka, where lesser sages were present in the assembly, yet their seeing and hearing were obscured and blocked (During the first eight assemblies, though lesser sages were present, they neither saw nor heard, for it was not their realm; only upon reaching the ninth assembly did they see and hear). In some cases, people do not follow the teaching: as when the wheel of the Dharma was first turned, twelve hundred million in the multitude resolved their minds upon the unsurpassed Path (When the Buddha first attained enlightenment, he preached the Dharma for Elder Trapuṣa, and twelve hundred million attained the forbearance of the non-arising of phenomena). Gathering the branches to return to the root, immeasurable humans and devas attained the purity of the Dharma eye. If it were not thus, one could not hook the depths or reach the distant. In ancient times, Confucius compiled the Spring and Autumn Annals, setting forth praise and blame, and disciples such as Zi-you and Zi-xia dared not alter a single word. Was this not because their wisdom could not reach it? As for asking about benevolence, asking about government, or 'acting upon what one has heard'—the questions asked were identical, yet what he told them differed (as in the Analects). Though the ten thousand streams are all moistened, they do not contaminate their source. Therefore it is said: 'When trust is close to righteousness, one's word can be fulfilled' (where there is righteousness one need not cling to blind trust; it may be carefully examined and repeated). In antiquity, the Great Bean Gatherer (Maudgalyāyana. In high antiquity there was an immortal living in mountain seclusion who regularly gathered mung beans to eat, whence came his family name, called 'Gatherer of Beans.' The Venerable One's mother belonged to this clan) predicted that it would rain after seven days (predicting that it would rain in seven days, yet it did not rain; this was Maudgalyāyana's observation lacking subtlety); and that a cow with a white calf would in the end prove mistaken (he also predicted that a Brahmin's cow would give birth to a calf with a white forehead and a white tail; these were all Maudgalyāyana's coarse mind). Five hundred aśaikṣas collectively used the divine eye to debate heaven and earth, and their accounts differed into two and three; when dividing principle and phenomena, discrepancies may also occur. The twelve divisions of the teaching are like day and night having their seasons, cold and heat having their months, and medicine having its proportions of flavors: if something is missing, its efficacy is meager; if there is too much, it lacks essential focus (none of the above can be lacking, and the Dharma is also like this). The Vibhāṣā speaks of it being like traversing the count of the Four Noble Truths through three circumambulations; if one does not discuss it exhaustively (the three circumambulations counting the Four Truths refers to the contemplation of reducing conditions and reducing practices)... Now, the Mahāyāna self does not obstruct lesser fruits.

7.1.3

Those Vātsīputrīya adherents (In antiquity, a seer engaged with a heifer and gave birth [to an ancestor]; hence they are called the Vātsīputrīya school) might hold to it, yet when people all claim that the dormant nature is the self, I do not believe it. Thus, when Vasubandhu composed the *Abhidharmakośa*, he relied on two traditions; he certainly did not take a single school to be the gateway of ultimate goodness (Vasubandhu originally went forth in the Sarvāstivāda school, but in expounding doctrines he mostly relied on the Sautrāntika). Dharmaśreṣṭhin composed the *Abhidharmahṛdaya*, stating: 'If afflictions arise, the Noble One calls this contaminated.' Dharmatrāta considered the word 'arise' to confound [it with] Cessation and the Path; he therefore separately composed the *Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya*, stating: 'If afflictions increase, the Noble One calls this contaminated.' Asaṅga composed a commentary on the *Prajñāpāramitā*, and Vasubandhu supplemented it with a second (Bodhisattva Asaṅga composed a commentary on the *Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā*, and Bodhisattva Vasubandhu also composed one; hence it is said he 'supplemented it with a second'). In terms of seniority, teacher-student relationship, or stage of practice, Vasubandhu was in no way ahead (Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, and Siṃhabhadra were three brothers from Puruṣapura in North India, which translates as 'Land of Heroes', the place where the Lord of Heaven fought the asuras. They all went forth in the Sarvāstivāda. Asaṅga was first to awaken to the Mahāyāna, went to the Tuṣita Palace to request Maitreya to expound the *Yogācāra*, and later urged Vasubandhu to awaken to the Mahāyāna). If it were not so, it was simply that Asaṅga's cognitive obscurations had not yet been eliminated: 'even a long whip cannot reach the horse's belly,' and 'a foot may fall short of an inch' (Cognitive obscuration refers to the jñeyāvaraṇa. The *Zuo zhuan* states: 'Though the whip is long, it cannot reach the horse's belly.' This illustrates that although Asaṅga composed treatises, there were still things he did not reach). Bhāviveka and his disciples vowed in an asura cave to await the attainment of the Way beneath the Dragon Flower tree before intending to inquire about the crossing, claiming that the present Maitreya is not yet all-knowing (Bodhisattva Bhāviveka struck an asura cave with mustard seeds and concealed himself to await the descent of Maitreya Buddha, intending to ask about unresolved matters. The present Bodhisattva Maitreya is not yet the ultimate sage). Later, Guṇaprabha, relying on Nāgasena, attained sight [of Maitreya] but did not pay homage, and further took issue with his physical form and deportment (Having arrived in Tuṣita to see Maitreya, he did not prostrate because [Maitrereya] displayed the appearance of a heavenly being). Prior to this, the central lands had no doctrine of the eternal abiding of Nirvāṇa; they spoke only of longevity and endurance. Master [Hui]yuan sighed, saying: 'The Buddha is the ultimate extremity; being the ultimate extremity, there is no change. How could the principle of changelessness ever have an end?' He thereupon composed the *Treatise on the Dharma-nature* (This is Master Huiyuan of Mount Lu). Kumārajīva saw it and said: 'People in peripheral lands have not yet received the scriptures, yet he darklingly accords with the principle—is it not marvelous?' Zhu Daosheng lectured on the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*, claiming that even icchantikas can all attain Buddhahood. Scholars of old learning considered this a heterodox teaching and banished him, casting him out to Tiger Hill; soon he went to Mount Lu. When the large edition of the scripture arrived, it indeed tallied with profound truth (The *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* [initially] stated that there is a class of icchantikas who lack the spiritual lineage and ultimately never attain Buddhahood. When the latter portion of the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* arrived, [stating that] all sentient beings can attain Buddhahood, it indeed verified Master Daosheng's doctrine). Daosheng then ascended the Dharma-seat; after debating the doctrine for several rounds, his deer-tail flywhisk dropped with a rustle, and leaning against his armrest, he passed away in harmony. Daosheng had not died previously because he was waiting (Because the large edition of the scripture had not arrived, Daosheng waited for it; now that it had arrived, he passed away. People of the time called him 'one who endured death'). Daosheng died now because his waiting was complete. Had there not been Master Daosheng's knowledge that transcended mere words, the luminous buddhadhātu would have been concealed among the ignorant crowd. At the beginning of our dynasty, when Xuanzang reached the Western Regions, he prayed with flowers before an image of Avalokiteśvara, saying: 'If all sentient beings truly possess the buddhadhātu, may the scattered flowers hang upon the Bodhisattva's neck.' It immediately fulfilled his wish. Now I say: if Xuanzang possessed Master Daosheng's knowledge, he should not have made such a supplication. If the omen had been inauspicious, would he have disbelieved it? Now, divination resolves hesitation and settles doubts; if there is no doubt, why divine? The *Book of Changes* says: 'He whose heart is in doubt will speak divergence.' Was not Xuanzang divergent? (Branches refer to scattering. Master Xuanzang ought not to have had the method of doubtful scattering). If it was done for the sake of beings, it merely led beings into doubt, thereby estranging the hearts of people (Xuanzang originally had no doubt, but feared future people would doubt, so he displayed this to guide them. 'Estranging' means dispersing; inwardly dissipating the doubts of later generations). When Tanyan composed his commentary on the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*, he worried it did not accord with the sage's intent; he placed the commentary before a relic pagoda, burned incense, and prayed for an omen. The commentary and the relic emitted light, shining uninterruptedly for three days and three nights. Yet the followers of Jingying [Huiyuan] did not concede to it; praising what they themselves had produced, they ended in equal rivalry. When the Moon Goddess drives her chariot, one needs not carry a firebrand (Wangshu is the moonlight. When the moonlight has emerged, a traveler does not need to hold a torch); when heavy clouds and thunder gather, how could one hope for private showers? (Dense calls refer to clouds and thunder. When clouds and thunder have spread, sweet moisture universally nourishes). Yet a closed-door household specially lights its floral lamp (Though the moonlight flows, the orchid lamp still illuminates), and an old man tending a garden draws water with a well-rope to irrigate on his own (Weeded vegetables cannot go without watering). Truly, it is because distant light does not illuminate deep recesses, and a sudden downpour does not nourish the root: each considers what is beneficial to oneself as fine. Commentators consider that [Jingying Hui]yuan's phrasing is fitting and apt, while Tanyan's presentation is broad and abundant. Scholars appraise their excellence, seeking comprehensiveness; they did not dismiss [Jingying] Huiyuan on account of Tanyan having attained a spiritual sign (To appraise means to evaluate. Northern Huiyuan and Tanyan both composed commentaries on the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*. Tanyan's literary phrasing was broad and abundant, while Huiyuan's statements and tenets were concise and apt. Later, Huiyuan's commentary was mostly transmitted, not using the miraculous sign of light emission from Tanyan's commentary). Therefore the ancients said: 'Though one has the bottle-carrying wisdom, what one preserves cannot be entrusted to other vessels' (Du Yu said: Carrying a bottle is small wisdom; though it is small wisdom, what one maintains cannot be entrusted to others). Such are the masters of the doctrinal Dharma. Today, in religious practice, all esteem Central India as the finest, and in Sanskrit terms, all take the new translations as standard. Upon close examination, the governmental regulations of kings in the five regions of India vary from one another, not to mention the differences between past and present eras, customs, order and chaos. In truth, the Great Sage expounded the teachings according to each land he reached and in response to particular matters; how could one make their measurements uniform or standardize their balances and weights? (Measurement refers to pecks; balance refers to steelyard scales). Thus, regarding yojana and krośa, there are varying accounts of distance (Eight krośas make one yojana; some say sixteen li, or forty li—near and far are not the same); and regarding the rain retreat and the intercalation of months, lengths and durations are of many kinds (There are seven kinds of rain retreat: the former retreat begins on the sixteenth day of the fourth month, the middle retreat on the seventeenth day until the fifteenth day of the fifth month, and the later retreat on the sixteenth day of the fifth month. They are divided into four: mind-concentration, confronting a counterpart, forgetting-completion, and boundary).

7.1.4

And in reaching the boundary there are four [variations]: one foot reaching the boundary, both feet reaching the boundary, one foot reaching the monastery, and both feet reaching the monastery. Combined with the previous ones, they make seven. For the five assemblies—bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, śikṣamāṇās, śrāmaṇeras, and śrāmaṇerikās—the earlier rains retreat has five sevens, making thirty-five [variations], and the later rains retreat also has thirty-five, making seventy. The middle rains retreat has only mental resolution and face-to-face declaration, two times two times five, making ten. Together they make eighty. Entering the rains retreat by mental resolution refers to dwelling alone without anyone [else] with whom to perform the rite. As for the face-to-face rite: as usual, if by forgetfulness it happens to be forgotten, even if one remembers only at dawn on the seventeenth day, it still constitutes an entry into the retreat. Since the middle rains retreat lasts only one month, it lacks this [provision]. 'Reaching the boundary' and so forth means that coming from outside, if one enters with even a single foot before dawn arrives at the monastery, it is also valid.) Those who went before could not have seen everything, and how could those who come after lack limited understanding? How could one wish, on the basis of a single generation in Madhyadeśa, to fix the eternal teachings of the Sage across all ten directions? The scripture says: 'Though a person live a hundred years without understanding the Dharma of arising and ceasing, it is better to live a single day and attain understanding of it.' At that time, there was a bhikṣu who followed his master's erroneous instruction and recited: 'Though a person live a hundred years without seeing the water-heron, it is better to live a single day and behold it.' Ānanda heard this and sighed. He went to correct him, but in the end the master would not allow him to alter it—such are the roots of sectarian factionalism! Indeed, among masters none is greater than the Buddha. Yet later students each take their own teacher as their master and do not acknowledge the Buddha as their master. Thus there are those who gather superficial words to suit the unliberated commoners, cast aside the scriptures and statues, and proclaim their own nature, saying: 'This is our school's doctrine' (meaning the men of mere phrases). As for the exegetical traditions, all of them verify by commentaries and treatises, formulating expressions and determining principles without ever relying on the scriptures. Fluent and practiced in their craft, they say: 'I received this from my master' (meaning the exegetical lineages). Now a teacher may be followed for learning, but one must not cling rigidly to what was learned from him (insight lies with the teacher, but adaptability rests with oneself). Commentaries and annotations may be used as fish traps and hare snares, but one must not cling to the traps and snares (a trap is an implement for catching fish; a snare is an implement for catching hares). Obstinate students who cling fast to the letter have even gone so far as to […] (not allowing the words to injure the meaning). If an officer is loyal to his feudal lord but disloyal to the Son of Heaven, then the royal transformation will be compromised. If a family elder is loyal to a grand master but disloyal to the feudal lord, then the ducal house will be endangered (this arises from abandoning the scriptural texts to grasp at commentaries and treatises). Therefore, factionalism harms the sovereign. Yet those men are not benevolent, nor do they recognize their own factionalism; they merely maintain solemn affection within it and pursue profit and fame through it. If their faction is harmed, what they gain will no longer belong to themselves. Formerly, Devadatta fell into blazing fire because of his five heterodoxies (Devadatta entered hell on account of the five deadly offenses); yet in the Western Regions there are still those who practice his teachings. Is this not like the one who suffers from terrible body odor (foul vapor under the armpits, nowadays called crow stench) yet does not live in isolation—truly there are those who are drawn to their own kind (every person has their faction)! The noble man is reverent and prudent, performing his duties with care (reverent means respectful; performing duties means being employed), whereas the petty person hates the good and hardens his factionalism to the extreme (the way of envying the good and joining with evil). Look closely! The people of this generation all conceal their inadequacies and feign their competence, detesting those who surpass them and delighting in those who fall short. Showing off before those who fall short of oneself is like boasting of dark and yellow hues before the blind, or enjoying the gong and zhi notes before the deaf: it is done completely in vain. If one were to observe with the vision of Lilou and listen with the hearing of Shi Kuang (Lilou could see an autumn down at a hundred paces; Shi Kuang could discern the rise and fall of states by listening to sounds), then what they examined closely, I would fully comprehend. Therefore, high discourse and extraordinary discussions must be like boring through the dark to open a window: they are sure to reveal something. As for praise and blame being free from flattery, so that elevation and demotion are clearly distinguished (elevation means esteeming; demotion means discarding; when praise and blame do not cater to the world, one may be called a noble person): what the whole world affirms, one may judge not to be so; what the whole world rejects, one may judge to be so (when the multitude hates someone, one must examine it; when the multitude likes someone, one must examine it). For instance, Duke Ling of Wei was benighted and wicked, yet Zhongni regarded him as a worthy ruler, because he employed the wise and assigned duties to the capable, so that the altars of soil and grain were not destroyed (benighted means dim-witted; wicked means evil; Duke Ling, though unprincipled, did not perish because Wangsun Jia managed military affairs, Priest Tuo managed the ancestral temple, and Zhongshu Yu managed guests; because he employed such men, the Master praised him). Zang Wenzhong possessed profound wisdom, yet Zhongni regarded him as unworthy, lacking both benevolence and wisdom, each to the count of three (Zang Wenzhong had three instances of lacking benevolence: demoting Zhan Qin, allowing irregular sacrifices, and making his concubines weave rushes; and three instances of lacking wisdom: abolishing the six checkpoints, sacrificing to the seabird, and manufacturing empty vessels). Guan [Zhong]'s merit lay in uniting the realm nine times, yet he was relegated to being [a man of] petty capacity (he assisted Duke Huan not to royal virtue but through the arts of hegemony, and thus was deemed petty). Zigong's assessment of the Duke of Lu's dropping the jade was dismissed as mere misfortune (in the fifteenth year of Duke Ding of Lu, Duke Yin of Zhu came for an audience holding the jade too high with his gaze turned upward, while Duke Ding received the jade with his gaze cast downward; Zigong said: 'Observed through the rites, both of these rulers will face death or exile.' In that year Duke Ding died, and in the seventh year of Duke Ai the ruler of Zhu fled into exile; all turned out just as he had said). For this reason, with the mouth serving as a garden of rhetoric and the mind as a storehouse of wisdom, smoothing the sharp angles of non-virtue (the corners and sharp angles; one who has wisdom can round them off) and bringing forth the radiant luster of submerged goodness—only then can one be called a great mirror for evaluating human character (a great sash-mirror means a looking glass). Nowadays, when one man makes an erroneous criticism, myriads echo him; when one man lavishes unwarranted praise, myriads also echo him (those who follow the current and chase after clumps of earth are many). Submissively assenting, they have no idea what is truly good or bad. As for those factions of base contention and lust for victory, they do not square their own foolishness but dash forward and clash in combat (taking what they have practiced as spears and shields, and treating their fellows as formidable foes), like catapults hurling stones (a catapult uses wood to propel stones to strike enemies, like modern well-sweeps, commonly known as stone-throwers), imagining they can overwhelm the enemy on the battlefield (pronounced yi, meaning borderlands). Lacking any restraint toward those who do not side with them, they bite and kick ferociously, appearing truly fearsome (factions and sectarians mutually bring about destruction, embodying the saying: 'Loving someone, one wishes them to live; hating them, one wishes them to die'). One who is broad in arts need not be cautious, but one of refined discernment finds it hard to conform. If one is broad, the age will not deem it essential; if one is refined, people will resent one's scrutiny (one whose conduct surpasses others is therefore slandered by the world; one whose concerns stem from solitary insight is bound to be treated with arrogance by others). Yet one must not fail to affirm what is so simply because others do not affirm it. Nowadays, fluttery students (fluttering refers to small, flitting creatures), regarding commentaries, treatises, and dhyāna methods, all disparage others and extol themselves, declaring what they themselves have not yet heard to be what no one has heard.

7.1.5

Supposing what one does not oneself know to be unknown to others, one never cross-examines the various masters to resolve one's specialty. Thus one is conversant with trivial goods, yet unversed in what is foolish; regarding one's vessel, it is full and cannot be augmented (entangling the crude and vulgar, and fanning the flames among the mediocre and foolish). Now, one who dreams knows it is a dream only upon awakening; one who is deluded knows it is delusion only upon enlightenment. Supposing one were right in the midst of delusion and dream, if someone called them deluded and dreaming, they would certainly scold and berate them (to scold and berate is to shout in anger). Examining what was composed and written in the past, rare is that which is correct in terms and principles. For instance, the *Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks* says that when a parrot died, it was called 'passing into extinction'; when Daofa passed away from the world, it was called 'sitting transformation within samādhi' (in any mind in samādhi, there is no dying or being born); the elegy for Master [Kumāra]jīva says he 'passed away' (for a Son of Heaven one says *beng*, like heaven and earth collapsing; for feudal lords one says *hong*, like the sound of a mountain crumbling; here Master Jīva is perhaps compared to a feudal lord); and Xuanzang calls the confession of great relinquishment 'relinquishment-fall' (fall is the name of an offense, referring to the thirty *naiḥsargika* offenses; for example, keeping extra robes: within ten days two persons should meet and perform a surrogate relinquishment, which is called 'relinquishment'; if ten days pass without relinquishment, then the *naiḥsargika* offense is incurred, which is called 'fall'; hence it is called 'relinquishment-fall'; now, when relinquishing wealth to repent of offenses, one should simply say 'repentance by relinquishment'). These are superficial errors of common convention, heedless discourse. Confucius said: 'A gentleman is simply not careless in his speech' (careless means remiss). Therefore, when the ruler of Wei awaited the Master to govern, the Master said, 'Must it not be the rectification of names?' (Duke Ling of Wei summoned the Master; Zilu asked, 'If the Master goes to Wei, what will he put first?' The Master said, 'First rectify the names of the myriad things. If names are not correct, then words are not in accord; if words are not in accord, then affairs cannot be completed'). Linggan lectured on the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* and performed the contemplation of the Lotus Storehouse; as his end drew near, heavenly music came to welcome him, but Gan declined and did not wish to go; in an instant, he saw great waters flooding, and he sat in a lotus flower. If that biographer did not understand, is not the heavenly palace also within the Lotus Storehouse? (The meaning of the narrator was that Linggan did not wish to be born in heaven, but sought to be born in the realms of the buddhas; yet failing to understand that the Lotus Storehouse encompasses the Dharma realm, how could it be without the heavens? It is an error of the biographer). In Tanrong's [time], there was a monk practicing the path who saw seven buddhas within light, who told him: 'This is the Buddha Samantaprabhā of the Bhadrakalpa; now, for a hundred kalpas, he is cultivating the major and minor marks.' Seeking this through the true and transformed bodies, in reality, it cannot be sustained (only after fulfilling the tenth ground and entering the vajropama-samādhi does one cultivate the marks for a hundred kalpas, learn the buddha's deportment for a thousand kalpas, and practice transformation and conduct for ten thousand kalpas; if it were the true body, how could it be seen by an ordinary being? If it were a transformation body, how could it cultivate the marks?). If an event is not worthy of record, and words do not make an enduring standard, why bother with bamboo and paper? (If an affair does not consult antiquity, how is it worthy of being compiled into a chronicle?). Therefore, great eloquence is wordless; if it speaks, it conveys meaning, and the meaning must have a resolution. Hence, one penetrates the subtle and speaks what is essential; one exhausts words while the purport remains profound; and what is spurious is not recorded (as in the preface to the *Continued Biographies*, where Fajin performed the water contemplation; when his household gathered firewood, they saw pure clear water on the rope bed and placed two stones in it; when Jin returned in the evening, he felt pain in his back, etc.; this is exceedingly erroneous; moreover, practicing contemplation is a solo mental image, a mere imaginative projection; if others are made to see it, then it belongs to the realm of real nature; this is reckless talk by Master Daoxuan). What arouses the world must be recorded; this is called the standard norm. For the Ruists and Laozi, it is also thus! If one appraises past and present and examines the good and bad, one cannot praise on account of honor and reverence, nor dismiss on account of lowliness and disgrace; one cannot take sides on account of close intimacy, nor show bias on account of enmity and grudge (for writing history: the first is talent, the second is learning, and the third is judgment; unless one is of the like of Dong Hu or the Historian of the South, none can undertake this duty). Did the knowledge of the Three Huan families of Lu (the Jusun, the Zhongsun, and the Shusun; all were descendants of Duke Huan of Lu) equal that of Yan [Hui] and Min [Ziqian]? Did the talent of the Seven Nobles of the Han (the clans of Jin and Zhang, noble and flourishing for seven generations; Zuo Si said: 'Jin and Zhang drew upon ancestral heritage, wearing the sable tails of Han for seven generations') surpass that of Yang [Xiong] and Ma [Sima Xiangru] (Yang Xiong, courtesy name Ziyun, authored the *Taixuanjing*, *Fayan*, *Fangyan*, etc.; Sima Xiangru, courtesy name Changqing, authored the *Fengshanwen*, *Wenfuti*, etc.)? Youzi, seeing the four-inch paulownia coffin, knew that in death one does not wish for rapid decay; Bu Shang cited the poet's inspirational verses, evoking the sigh: 'It is Shang who stimulates me!' (The Master said: 'Shang is the one who stimulates me'). Since the golden words gathered from afar, compositions have followed many paths. Broad editions and abridged editions differ in names and meanings; single translations and re-translations vary in omissions and additions (a single translation in the canon is called 'single'; two, three, or more are called 're-translations'). Therefore, the Great Sage instructed one to rely on the meaning and not on the words; this is the clarity of his foresight. The Buddha has eight sounds and four unhindered eloquence[s] (the eight sounds: first, pure sound; second, gentle sound; third, harmonious sound; fourth, clear and distinct sound; fifth, non-feminine sound; sixth, unerring sound; seventh, deep and distant sound; eighth, inexhaustible sound; the four unhindered eloquences: first, unhindered eloquence regarding dharmas; second, unhindered eloquence regarding phrasing; third, unhindered eloquence regarding meanings; fourth, unhindered eloquence of dhāraṇī), transcending all existence; his sagacious mind shines clearly, and his divine edicts are true and elegant. Yet translators follow personal whim and adopt superficial simplicity, their chapters and verses leaking and negligent, causing officials and scholars (those who tuck the tablet in their sash and wear wide sleeves; tucking the tablet and wearing a large belt; wide sleeves being the attire of Ruists) to look at one another and find fault in their hearts (because the phrasing was not classic and refined, as with An Shigao). Meanwhile, some gathered from classic histories and embellished words, their phrasing overly steeped in the worldly (such as the sūtras translated by Zhu Fahu, Zhi Qian, and others; the writing entirely resembles the style of independent works), their principles deviating from precision, greatly losing the aphorisms of the sage. How difficult it is! In ancient and modern proclamations and translations, all defer to the school of Master [Kumāra]jīva. Substance and ornamentation, complexity and brevity, were fittingly placed; opening the scroll and lending an ear, there is the cool breeze of ancient style. I have often directed my thoughts to the translators: was it done by adhering to the Sanskrit texts, or by polishing and pruning? As in the 'Dharmabhāṇaka' chapter of the *Lotus Sūtra*, Kumārajīva did not include its beginning; and in the 'Samantamukha' chapter, Jñāna[gupta] later supplemented its end (the text of this *Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra* was shorter, whereas the *Zheng fahua* and the *Tianpin* texts were complete). Among them, there are also those who made errors in the text: for instance, Paramārtha translated the *Abhidharmakośa*, stating that the dharma of seeing has *aprāpti*; Xuanzang published the *Vibhāṣā*, adding sixteen characters (the *Mahāvibhāṣā* was merely added upon the *Kośa* translated by the Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha).

7.1.6

added sixteen characters to his text.) From this it is known that the indelible words were what they had not yet grasped. Dao'an, by means of the three difficulties and five losses, evaluated translations in detail and exhausted their crucial subtleties. (This is because Sanskrit texts are difficult to understand, the sacred intent is profound and far-reaching, and the phrasings and purport must be refined and fitting: this constitutes the difficulties. Not being skilled in the sacred purport, omitting chapters and phrases, and having coarse and disordered language: this constitutes the losses.) Later generations were unable to investigate their purport, nor did they hold them as standards, considering that their words did not come from the center, staring blankly as if they had not heard. (Staring blankly is the appearance of looking straight ahead. Because ancient translations of sutra texts were unpolished, people subsequently failed to investigate them and were bewildered, understanding nothing, like the translations of An Shigao.) Furthermore, Ruism is the teaching of this land; from tadpole script it changed into the two seal scripts, (In antiquity there was tadpole script; later there were the great seal and small seal scripts. King Xuan of Zhou's grand scribe Zhou created the great seal script; Li Si and others of Qin created the small seal script; Cheng Miao created the clerical script.) and seal script changed into clerical script. Moreover, passing through the Qin destruction, the texts were sometimes contradictory or missing. (In the thirty-third year of the First Emperor, because various scholars debated affairs of the Qin, Prime Minister Li Si submitted a memorial, and they burned the books and buried the scholars, destroying the classical records of previous generations.) The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors have disparate accounts of selection and rejection; (Some say the Three Sovereigns refer to the Heavenly Sovereign, Earthly Sovereign, and Human Sovereign; others say Fuxi, Shennong, and Huangdi. The Five Emperors are Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Diku, Yao, and Shun.) how could the order of chapters in the Lu and Qi Lunyu be fixed? (The Lu Lun has twenty chapters, and the Qi Lun has twenty-two chapters; between them the sequence is also different.) Between the Liji and the Chunqiu, in Duke Ai's eulogy for Kong Qiu, which additions and omissions are correct? (When Kong Qiu died, Duke Ai of Lu eulogised him; the texts transmitted in the rites differ from one another.) Between the Jia yu and the Tan gong, when Zhongni played the zither earnestly and grieved, how could their texts be identical? (After the auspicious sacrifice he played the zither; the texts of the Liji and the Jia yu are not the same.) Therefore, what Mengzi and Zhuangzi grasped was to forget the words and take the meaning; (Meng Ke, courtesy name Ziyu, authored a book of fourteen chapters; Zhuang Zhou authored a book of ten scrolls; both established intent through allegories, and one cannot grasp the text to settle the meaning.) and in the commentaries of Ma Rong and Zheng Xuan, the characters were mutually altered. (Ma Rong, courtesy name Jichang, was from Beihai; Zheng Xuan, courtesy name Kangcheng, was also from Beihai; both commented on the Shijing, the rites, and the Lunyu, and each had differences.) How much more so with the disparate languages of the five Indias and the divergences among the tenets of the various schools! (There are the differences of the six tenets and eighteen schools, and the emptiness and nature of the Great and Small Vehicles are also each distinct.) Repeatedly suffering persecution, (The destructions under the Zhou and the Wei.) the clear and the turbid are hard to distinguish; when translating Sanskrit into Chinese, how could it be uniform? If one strikes a bell with a reed, (A reed is a small bamboo.) its resonance will not be exhausted; if one peers at the sky through a tube, its boundary will not be reached; and if one seeks to comprehend the sage with the common mind, how could its profundity be revealed? Yet one must rely on the strength of the reed to hear its harmony, follow the edge of the tube to observe its boundary, and exhaust the deliberation of the common mind to refine its principle. And the reason why those who transmit the Dharma abhor blunders so deeply is that they rely on those who are not earnest in the ultimate Dao. (Those who see the vastness of the texts and the differences among various editions, and become intimidated and do not investigate them: this is the defect of scholars.) They take jade-rollered scrolls bound with cords (Guan means a cord; teng means to bind; it refers to tying up scriptures.) and, because they issue from the golden mouth, consider the text fixed. Those who delight in polishing and carving consider their devotion to the scriptures an error; those who disparage discussion regard it as worldly knowledge and clever sophistry. (These are scholars who transmit the mind; they consider those who lecture to have the error of relishing the scriptures, and those who discuss to have the affliction of worldly knowledge and clever sophistry.) Zhongni said: 'The gentleman fears others because of what he himself cannot do; (Respecting those who can because he himself cannot.) the petty person disbelieves others because of what he himself cannot do.' (Because he himself lacks ability, he also does not value what others understand.) Therefore, the gentleman fosters other people's talents, while the petty person suppresses others to claim victory. Yet in the world there are those who conceal defects and hide flaws, ornament their intelligence to trap the vulgar, steal the empty reputation of a profound master, and conceal their murky minds to deceive themselves. (Not having accumulated understanding in the first place, they immediately style themselves masters; their minds are full of deception and arrogance, and they always fear being scrutinized.) They simply do not know that when thirst is extreme, drinking is abundant; when doubt is deep, awakening is profound. They are arrogant men! (What is called an arrogant and insolent man.) Someone said: 'If one points out the blemishes of past worthies, will people not find fault with the teachings?' (Dismissing past worthies on the grounds of directly explaining true principle without being obstructed by things.) I say: That is not so. Shennong distinguished the hundred herbs not to lead people into poison; Qibo discussed acupuncture and moxibustion stones not to injure people's five viscera. (The Buddha preached sutras not to cause people to fall.) Did the Southern Flower Sage's criticism of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius cause every household to lack the Six Classics? (Zhuang Zhou criticized the Duke of Zhou and Confucius; yet were the Six Classics not practiced?) Did Ban Gu's history critiquing Sima Qian's record cause every household to lack the Shiji? (Ban Gu's Han shu criticized Sima Qian's Shiji.) In the past, Vasubandhu composed the Kośa, and Saṅghabhadra wrote the Samayapradīpikā (Hail) to refute it; Vasubandhu changed its title to the Nyāyānusāra (Conforming to Correct Principles), and both treatises were propagated together, enabling those who came after to examine what was direct and dispel obscurity, discern the refined from the coarse, and make their choice. (Bodhisattva Vasubandhu composed the Kośakārikā; master Saṅghabhadra composed the Kośahail to destroy it, like hail destroying sprouts. When he went to challenge Vasubandhu, Vasubandhu avoided him; Saṅghabhadra then sent his treatise to him. Vasubandhu inspected it, saw that it completely conformed to his own meaning, and consequently changed its title to the Nyāyānusāra-śāstra.)

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北山錄 — Classical Chinese