北山錄 7.3

7.3

When one does good, Heaven sends down a hundred blessings to assist virtue ("Imperial Heaven has no favorites; it aids only the virtuous"). When one does evil, Heaven sends down a hundred calamities to punish excess ("excess" means fault; Heaven blesses the good and brings calamity upon the licentious). Therefore, when one accords with principle, even alien species give rise to love—how much more so sages and worthies (such as the submission of dragon-spirits)! When one goes against principle, even the closest kin clash in arms—how much more so ghosts and spirits! Zhuangzi says: "If one does what is not good in the open, men will find and execute him; if one does what is not good in the dark, ghosts will find and execute him." The *Book of Odes* says: "The afflictions of the common people do not descend from Heaven"—meaning they arise from oneself ("Calamity originally has no gate; only humans invite it upon themselves"). Zhongni told Duke Ai: "Survival and ruin, calamity and fortune, depend on oneself alone." The *Zhou Eulogies* say: "In awe of the majesty of Heaven, he thus preserves it." In the Western Regions, King Aśoka's grandson Puṣyamitra held court to deliberate, saying: "How may I transmit my name to immortality?" His ministers said: "You should, like the former king, build eighty-four thousand stūpas. If not, do the opposite; whether good or bad, your name will equally be immortal." The king said: "I lack the majestic virtue to succeed the former king; I shall adopt the latter proposal." Thereupon he flouted the teachings of his imperial ancestor and violated the order of regular human relations ("constant" means regular; "relations" means principles; the daily conduct and principles of emperors and kings). He burned Dharma-relic stūpas and slaughtered the followers of Śākya ("slaughtered" means killed). Heaven sorrowed and men resented, but none could withstand his cruelty. Though there were sages and worthies, they could not avert it; they climbed Mount Nanshan to seek escape from harm for themselves. Of the company of those who set their minds at rest, their blood flowed in streams (the massacre of men of the Way). Heads were exposed as rewards were sought; in the state treasury there was not an empty day, and tax revenues were exhausted because of it (bounties were awarded to those who took monks' heads). The king's fury only increased, and he further inflicted slaughter and cruelty. Leading his troops, he reached the Buddha's Tooth Relic Stūpa and died beneath a collapsing mountain. During the Han reigns of Huandi and Lingdi, metal was cast into a Buddha image; during national upheaval, it was lost and buried in the wilderness. Sun Hao of Wu sent his guards to clear the imperial pleasure park; those who found it were ordered to place it in a latrine. On the eighth day of the fourth month, he urinated on its head, saying, "I bestow the consecration upon you," and the ruler and his ministers made merry together. Soon his whole body broke out in swellings, with the hidden parts being exceedingly painful. The agony racked his five viscera, and his cries of sorrow could be heard far and wide. He had diviners cast lots, and all held that he had offended a great spirit. Hao then visited all the mountains and rivers to sacrifice, but the affliction only worsened without healing. A palace woman who believed in the Buddha said it was the Buddha. Hao then welcomed the image, bathed it, and was reverent and fearful day and night ("reverent" means respectful). Knocking his brow against the bedstead ("bedstead" is the bed-plank; "brow" is the forehead; meaning he struck the bed with his forehead), he confessed his crimes and reproached himself. When his attendants heard it, they wept with sorrow. Soon the illness abated (improved slightly). He practiced the purification rites and abstinences with devotion and purity, and subsequently recovered. Helian Bobo of the illegitimate Xia was a Xiongnu. Holding the northern wilderness, with dragon banners and imperial robes, he aggrandized his own virtue and was blind to the Way of the sages, saying: "'Bo' means Buddha; I am the Buddha!" He set sacred images behind his throne and ordered the śramaṇas to assemble at court to bow down to him. Heaven punished his crime, and he was struck dead by a sudden bolt of thunder. Indeed, thunder is a numinous thing; relying on yang qi, it displays majesty (Wang Chong's treatise says: "Thunder is the qi of yin and yang clashing and striking objects, so the climax of yang qi generates light," etc. However, thunder has a spirit; it is an emissary of Heaven that protects purity and hates evil. It acts relying on yang qi and moves in accordance with clouds and rain; in winter it hibernates because yang qi is gathered and stored). As for the qi of yin and yang: when it expands, it is peaceful and calm; when pent up, it seethes and rages. At times, hating evil, it strikes earth and trees to warn the people; when people have no fear, its harm is given free rein ("unleashed" means loose; "fear" means awe; if in all matters one has no fear, harm will surely hasten upon him). When Xie Hui of the Song dynasty was garrisoning Jingzhou, he was vexed that the śramaṇa Sengchang had erected a stūpa inside the city that was cramped and crowded up against the parapets. He personally conscripted armored soldiers, treated them generously with wine and food, and ordered them to display their martial courage. With solemn drums inspiring awe, none dared not advance. Striking and tearing it down ("collapsing" means falling down; also written as dismantle; "breaking down" means to damage deliberately; destroying it without any prior damage), the shrine and images were crushed and felled. Suddenly a violent wind arose, and clouds and mist connected to heaven brought darkness; the fierce soldiers turned pale with fear. Hui was covered with dust and dirt; when he wiped it away with his hand, skin fell off with his fingers, turning into festering sores until his body had no intact flesh. In the end, he was executed with his whole clan for rebelling (Xie Hui, styled Xuanming, was a man of Yangxia in Chen commandery. He had a fine appearance and was skilled in pleasant conversation. In the time of Emperor Wen of Song, as General of the Army and governor of Jingzhou, he rebelled; Tan Daoji was summoned to suppress him, and he was captured by the troops, sent to the capital of Ye, and beheaded in the city market. Emperor Shizong of the Later Zhou, of the Chai clan, melted down the Great Compassion Bodhisattva of Zhenzhou to mint the Zhou-tong-yuan-bao coins; later his limbs festered and he died; this is of the same kind). Therefore, for those whose crimes are great, the world does not pity them ("pity" means to commiserate); at first their strength may sustain them, but their calamity will overflow; when calamity reaches the extreme, a reckoning comes. Earlier, the śramaṇa Famin had bitterly remonstrated with him, but was ignored (he remonstrated with Xie Hui); later, on this account, he wrote the *Treatise on Visible Verifications*. Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei, as an offspring of the yurt ("yurt" means barbarian tent), took advantage of the times to encompass the Yellow River and Luo River regions (they originally lived beneath Mount Xianbei and were hereditary rulers, styled the Tuoba clan. In the time of Emperor Wu of Jin they gradually communicated with the Central Plains. By the time of Huimin, they were harmed by Liu Yao. They first had their capital at Yunzhong, then moved to Pingcheng, then to Ye; when Emperor Xiaowen moved to Heluo, they changed their surname to Yuan). When Cui Hao held the government, he slandered the black-robed [clergy] to Taiwu, saying: "Buddhist teachings are of no benefit and harm the people; it would be better to abolish them, which will be of great benefit to the state." Later, when the sinister plot had progressed, an edict first ordered the execution of the śramaṇas of Chang'an and the burning of scriptures and images, sparing only the imperial palace, while the four quarters followed Chang'an. In another year, a subsequent decree ordered that wherever there were images or śramaṇas, all were to be eliminated without exception. Before the year was out, Cui Hao had his body torn apart by chariots ("torn apart by chariots" refers to the chariot execution, explained earlier). Taiwu contracted a severe disease, and the laws were relaxed ("relaxed" means made lenient); having been severed, [the Dharma] was restored again (by Emperor Wencheng it was revived). Now, those who govern a state use great ministers as their arms and legs, and use favored ministers as their ears and eyes ("favored" refers to receiving favor by fortune). There has never been a case where the limbs and apertures were corrupt and the body was not afflicted with debilitating illness. How sad that before the great mandate collapses, they never realize it beforehand; to realize it only after it has collapsed—how is that different from being truly deluded? ("Collapsed" means ruined; "never" means not; "beforehand" means earlier; "truly" means just; to realize only at the brink of ruin, how is that different from remaining deluded when on the correct path? In the fifth year of Huichang of Emperor Wuzong of Tang, the persecution and destruction occurred; by the sixth year, he died with malignant ulcers over his entire body. Earlier, Li Deyu presented the plot; later, Emperor Xuanzong exiled him to Yazhou, where he died). Yet there are those who tread in Cui's footsteps, and Taiwu set forth the argument of "no benefit" (Du Guangting composed the *Treatise on the Non-existence of the Buddha*, and in the end died blind in both eyes). Their meaning was that hunting, drinking wine, songs, women, terraces, and pavilions can destroy the house and the state (they only consider these things to ruin the house and state, not considering destruction and abolition as ruin, and therefore deem [Buddhism] of no benefit); do they then consider these to be of benefit? Zengzi said: "When a man loves good, although good fortune has not yet arrived, calamity is far away from him. When a man does evil, although misfortune has not yet arrived, calamity is close to him." King of Dongping of the Han said: "Doing good is the greatest joy." Yue Guang of the Jin said: "Within the teachings of names there is naturally joyful business." All these utmost words are never without benefit, but they are not what inferior scholars can understand. Alas, there were no worthy and upright men in the world, which allowed Cui [Hao] to give free rein [to evil]! Hao's wife, Lady Guo, recited the *Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra*; Hao took the scripture and burned it to ashes in the latrine. When he was about to be executed, he was sent to the south of the city in a barred cart. Ten guards urinated upon him as they walked ("urinated" means passed water); he wailed and howled, saying, "This is the retribution for throwing the scripture into the latrine!" (From Lu Qiu's *Experiences of the Diamond Sūtra*). The treatise says: For those whose wrong views are light, as death approaches their good [roots] resume, and thus the good resumes (the "good" refers to pure faith; faith is the source of the Way and the mother of merit, nurturing all good dharmas; those who sever good roots through external conditions resume them when born in hell; those who sever them through internal causes resume them when dying in hell). In the Western Regions, the master of treatises Vimalamitra came before the stūpa of Saṅghabhadra and declared to the spirit of the deceased, swearing to destroy the Mahāyāna ("swearing" means vowing) and refute Vasubandhu's treatises. As soon as he finished speaking, his mind went mad and his tongue protruded; at the place where he perished, a pit suddenly sank open. To this day, those who see it tremble with fear; who could fail to be grieved? The śramaṇa Huitiao thoroughly investigated Hīnayāna learning and his fame spread across the Jiang and Han rivers. Hearing Master Xiangwang Zhe lecture on the Three Treatises, he slandered them, saying, "The Three Treatises expound emptiness; the lecturer is attached to emptiness." Immediately his tongue extended three feet, and blood spurted from his ears and nose. Sincerity and weeping repentance for seven days restored him. There was also Anhui: in the Yongjia reign of the Jin, in Luoyang, he personally copied one copy of the *Larger Prajñāpāramitā* on yellow silk into one scroll, ten copies in all. Zhou Zhongzhi's wife, Lady Humu (a compound surname), carried one copy across Jiangling; caught in a fire from a neighboring house, she had no time to save the scripture and could only weep bitterly. When the raging fire died down, she found the scripture amidst the ashes, without a single character damaged. Those who venerated heterodoxy touched their foreheads to the ground and believed. This scripture was still preserved in the imperial pavilions during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Liang; in the rebellion of Hou Jing it was lost. When the northern edition of the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* of the Song (translated by Juqu Mengxun) first circulated in the southern lands, Huiyan, Huiguan, and Xie Lingyun, considering its chapters disjointed and its phrasing unrefined, polished it together based on the *Nihuans* text, editing out redundancies (this is the southern edition of the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*). Yan dreamed at night of a spirit in armor, brandishing weapons with a fierce expression and a stern voice, about to punish his crime. He woke up startled, trembling with sweat and in a daze. Gathering the assembly to discuss it, he wished to restore the former version. A knowledgeable person stopped him, saying: "This was probably meant as a warning for future generations; if it were truly an infraction, how could the response have waited until now?" On another day, Yan dreamed again [that the spirit] said: "Because you promoted the scripture with utmost devotion, you will surely see the Buddha in the future." At the end of the Jin, Hongyu cast a sixteen-foot image. Before he could open the mold, copper prohibitions became very strict; when Emperor Wu of Song was the Chancellor of State, Yu was implicated and imprisoned in the Chancellor's office, where he recited the *Avalokiteśvara Sūtra*. In a dream, the image rubbed his crown and asked if he was afraid. Yu said: "Thinking that I will surely die, how could I not be afraid?" He saw on the chest of the image the color of copper scorched and bubbling. When the execution was imminent, the supervising official's ox bolted and the carriage broke down, so another day was set; an order then arrived from Pengcheng pardoning Yu's crime (Pengcheng refers to Emperor Wu of Song; "pardoned" means amnestied). When the mold was opened, the image's chest was just as in the dream ("when" means reaching the time; scorched and bubbling). When Gao Huan of the Eastern Wei was Chancellor of State, there was a man named Sun Jingde, a military servant who was garrisoned at a frontier outpost. He made a stone image of Avalokiteśvara with wholehearted devotion. Later, Jingde was implicated in someone else's crime and sentenced to death. As the execution date approached, at dawn a monk told him: "I will impart a scripture to you; if you recite it a full thousand times by midday, you will be spared." After reciting it orally, he lost sight of the monk. Jingde, mindful of the disaster threatening his life, recited it sincerely without slacking. Just as he finished the count, the executioner swung his blade, which shattered completely, only a ringing sound being heard, as if striking stone. When interrogated ("interrogated" means thoroughly questioned), Jingde said: "Could it not be the response of the image?" The Duke sent someone to verify it, and on its neck there were indeed several blade marks. The Gao clan recorded its text and titled it the *Gao Wang Guanshiyin jing*. Xunzi said: "The force of retribution arrives according to its kind." His words are indeed trustworthy! Therefore, the ancients manifested virtue to discourage evil, and proclaimed calamity to propagate good, so that people would not fail to abandon evil thinking it harmless, nor fail to practice good thinking it of no benefit. It is only that the principle of karma may be slow or swift (accords with next life or subsequent lives is slow; accords with present life is swift); karmic retribution is destined for the distant or the near; thoughts arise from depth or shallowness; loss and benefit differ in weight. Yet the tallies of fortune and misfortune follow each other like shadows and echoes. Therefore, the net of Heaven is wide, yet nothing escapes; the unseen realm is obscure, yet brilliantly clear. Lord Yu heightened his gate to await enfiefment (Lord Yu Dingguo, when retiring, heightened his gate and told people: "I once administered justice impartially; my descendants will surely attain distinction"); Mother Yan swept the tombs to await execution (Yan Yannian was Governor of Henan and was cruel with the law; his mother swept the tombs daily, saying: "My son is cruel with the law; I shall await his execution"). How could this be false? People also have a saying: "In planting, one does not see the growth, yet in time it becomes great; on the whetstone, one does not see the wear, yet in the end it wears away its thickness"—this is precisely it ("whetstone" is a sharpening stone; in what a person does, there must naturally be retribution; good and evil correspond just like shadow and echo).