鐔津文集 1.10.1

1.10.1

萬物有性情。 古今有死生。 然而死生性情。 未始不相因而有之。 死固因於生。 生固因於情。 情固因於性。 使萬物而浮沈於生死者。 情為其累也。 有聖人者大觀。 乃推其因於生之前。 示其所以來也。 指其成於死之後。 教其所以修也。 故以其道導天下。 排情偽于方今。 資必成乎將來。 夫生也。 既有前後而以今相與不亦為三世乎。 以將來之善成。 由今之所以修。 則方今窮通。 由其已往之所習。 斷可見矣。 情也者發於性。 皆情也。 苟情習有善惡。 方其化也則冥然。 與其類相感而成。 其所成情習有薄者焉。 有篤者焉。 機器有大者焉。 有小者焉。 聖人宜之。 故陳其法為五乘者。 為三藏者。 別乎五乘又岐出。 其繁然殆不可勝數。 上極成其聖道。 下極世俗之為農者商者技者醫者百工之鄙事。 皆示其所以然。 然與五乘者皆統之於三藏。 舉其大者則五乘首之。 其一曰人乘。 次二曰天乘。 次三曰聲聞乘。 次四曰緣覺乘。 次五曰菩薩乘。 後之三乘云者。 蓋導其徒超然之出世者也。 使其大潔清污直趣乎真際。 神而通之。 世不可得而窺之。 前之二乘云者。 以世情膠甚而其欲不可輒去。 就其情而制之。 曰人乘者五戒之謂也。 一曰不殺。 謂當愛生不可以己輒暴一物。 不止不食其肉也。 二曰不盜。 謂不義不取。 不止不攘他物也。 三曰不邪淫。 謂不亂非其匹偶也。 四曰不妄語。 謂不以言欺人。 五曰不飲酒。 謂不以醉亂其修心。 曰天乘者。 廣於五戒謂之十善也。 一曰不殺。 二曰不盜。 三曰不邪淫。 四曰不妄語。 是四者其義與五戒同也。 五曰不綺語。 謂不為飾非言。 六曰不兩舌。 謂語人不背面。 七曰不惡口。 謂不罵亦曰不道不義。 八曰不嫉。 謂無所妬忌。 九曰不恚。 謂不以忿恨宿於心。 十曰不癡。 謂不昧善惡。 然謂兼修其十者。 報之所以生天也。 修前五者。 資之所以為人也。 脫天下皆以此各修。 假令非生天而人人足成善。 人人皆善而世不治未之有也。 昔宋文帝謂其臣何尚之曰。 適見顏延之宗炳著論。 發明佛法甚為明理。 並是開獎人意。 若使率土之濱皆感此化。 朕則垂拱坐致太平矣。 夫復何事。 尚之因進曰。 夫百家之鄉。 十人持五戒即十人淳謹。 千室之邑。 百人修十善則百人和睦。 持此風教以周寰區。 編戶億千則仁人百萬。 夫能行一善則去一惡。 去一惡則息一刑。 一刑息於家萬刑息於國。 則陛下之言坐致太平是也。 斯言得之矣。 以儒校之。 則與其所謂五常仁義者。 異號而一體耳。 夫仁義者先王一世之治迹也。 以迹議之。 而未始不異也。 以理推之。 而未始不同也。 迹出於理。 而理祖乎迹。 迹末也理本也。 君子求本而措末可也。 語曰。 視其所以。 觀其所由。 察其所安。 人焉廋哉。 人焉廋哉。 孟子曰。 不揣其本而齊其末。 方寸之木可使高於岑樓。 謂事必揣量其本而齊等其未而後語之。 苟以其一世之迹而責其三世之謂。 何異乎以十步之履而詰其百步之履曰而何其迹之紛紛也曷不為我之鮮乎。 是豈知其所適之遠近所步之多少也。 然聖人為教而恢張異宜。 言乎一世也。 則當順其人情為治其形生之間。 言乎三世也。 則當正其人神指緣業乎死生之外。 神農誌百藥雖異。 而同於療病也。 后稷標百穀雖殊。 而同於膳人也。 聖人為教不同。 而同於為善也。 曰佛之道其治三世。 非耳目之所接。 子何以而明之。 曰吾謂人死而其神不死。 此其驗矣。 神之在人猶火之在薪也。 前薪雖與火相燼。 今所以火者曷嘗燼乎。 曰神理冥眇。 其形既謝。 而孰能御其所適。 果為人邪。 果為飛潛異類乎。 曰斯可通也。 苟以其情習之業推之。 則其報也不差。

All things have nature and emotion. From antiquity to the present there are death and life. Yet death, life, nature, and emotion have never failed to exist by depending upon one another. Death indeed depends on life; life indeed depends on emotion; emotion indeed depends on nature. That all things drift and sink in birth and death is because emotion burdens them. A sage had a grand vision: he traced their causes prior to birth, showing whence they come; he pointed out their consummation after death, teaching how they should cultivate themselves. Therefore, using his Way to guide the world, he expelled passion and falsity in the present, so that their necessary consummation in the future would be aided. Now, as for life, since there are a 'before' and an 'after' which interact with the 'present', does this not make the three times? Seeing that future good consummations stem from cultivation in the present, one can certainly see that failure and success in the present stem from what was practiced in the past. Emotion is that which arises from nature; all are emotions. If the habits of emotion have good and bad, at the moment of their transformation, they interact darkly with their own kind and are formed. Among the emotional habits thus formed, some are slight and some are deep; the vessel and capacity are in some cases great and in some cases small. The sage treated them appropriately; therefore he set forth his teaching as the five vehicles and as the three baskets (Tripiṭaka). Diverging from the five vehicles, there are yet further branchings, so multitudinous that they can scarcely be numbered. At the highest, they fully consummate his sagely Way; at the lowest, they reach the humble tasks of worldly farmers, merchants, artisans, physicians, and the hundred crafts: to all he showed why they are so. Yet both these and the five vehicles are all subsumed within the three baskets. To cite the principal ones, the five vehicles head them. The first is called the human vehicle; the second is called the heavenly vehicle; the third is called the śrāvaka vehicle; the fourth is called the pratyekabuddha vehicle; the fifth is called the bodhisattva vehicle. What are called the latter three vehicles guide their followers to transcendently leave the world, causing them to be purely cleansed of defilement and proceed directly to the true reality, acting spiritually and penetrating it, so that the world cannot pry into it. What are called the former two vehicles, because worldly feelings are so tightly bound and desires cannot be dismissed at once, regulate them according to their feelings. What is called the human vehicle refers to the five precepts. The first is not killing, which means one ought to love life and must not violently harm a single creature on one's own whim, not merely not eating their meat. The second is not stealing, which means not taking what is not right, not merely not seizing another's goods. The third is not engaging in sexual misconduct, which means not disordering oneself with anyone who is not one's spouse. The fourth is not lying, which means not deceiving others with words. The fifth is not drinking alcohol, which means not disordering one's cultivated mind with intoxication. What is called the heavenly vehicle broadens the five precepts and is called the ten virtues. The first is not killing; the second is not stealing; the third is not engaging in sexual misconduct; the fourth is not lying: these four have the same meaning as in the five precepts. The fifth is not engaging in frivolous speech, which means not speaking words that embellish wrongdoing. The sixth is not engaging in double-tongued speech, which means not saying one thing to a person's face and another behind their back. The seventh is not engaging in harsh speech, which means not cursing and also not uttering unrighteous words. The eighth is not envying, which means not bearing jealousy. The ninth is not harboring resentment, which means not letting wrath and malice lodge in the heart. The tenth is not being deluded, which means not being blind to good and evil. Now, cultivating all ten of these is the recompense whereby one is born in heaven; cultivating the former five is the provision whereby one becomes human. If all under Heaven were to cultivate themselves respectively with these, even supposing they were not born in heaven, each person would still become thoroughly good; and that everyone should be good while the world is not well ordered has never occurred. Formerly, Emperor Wen of Song said to his minister He Shangzhi: 'I have just read the treatises written by Yan Yanzhi and Zong Bing, which elucidate the Buddha's Dharma with extreme clarity and reason, and both serve to open and encourage people's minds. If all within our borders were influenced by this transformation, I could let my robes hang down, fold my hands, and bring about Great Peace while sitting still. What further business would there be?' Shangzhi then advanced and said: 'In a village of a hundred families, if ten people uphold the five precepts, then ten people will be honest and cautious. In a town of a thousand households, if a hundred people cultivate the ten virtues, then a hundred people will live in harmony. If this customary teaching is maintained throughout the realm, then among millions of registered households there will be millions of benevolent people. If one can practice one good deed, one eliminates one evil deed; if one eliminates one evil deed, one puts an end to one punishment. When one punishment ceases in the family, ten thousand punishments cease in the state. Then Your Majesty's words about bringing about Great Peace while sitting still are indeed correct.' These words hit the mark. If we compare them with Confucianism, then with its so-called five constants of benevolence and righteousness, they differ in name but are one in essence. Now, benevolence and righteousness were the traces of governance for a single lifetime by the ancient kings. Discussing them in terms of traces, they have never failed to be different; tracing them back in terms of principle, they have never failed to be identical. Traces issue from principle, while principle is the ancestor of traces; traces are the branch, while principle is the root. It is fitting for the gentleman to seek the root and put aside the branch. The saying goes: 'Look at what he does; observe his motives; examine what gives him peace. How can a man conceal himself? How can a man conceal himself?' Mencius said: 'If you do not measure their base but only level their tops, a piece of wood an inch square could be made to stand higher than a pointed tower.' This means that one must measure their base and balance their tops before speaking of them. If one holds a single lifetime's traces to account for what is meant by the three times, how is that different from someone walking ten paces interrogating someone walking a hundred paces, saying: 'Why are your footprints so numerous? Why are they not as few as mine?' How could such a person know the distance of where the other was going or how many paces he had taken? Thus when sages establish teachings, their expansions have different suitabilities. Speaking of a single lifetime, one ought to follow human feelings to govern between physical form and life. Speaking of the three times, one ought to rectify the human spirit, pointing to conditions and karma beyond life and death. Although Shennong's records of the hundred medicinal herbs differed, they were identical in curing disease; although Houji's designations of the hundred grains varied, they were identical in nourishing people. Sages' establishment of teachings is different, yet they are identical in doing good. It may be asked: 'The Buddha's Way governs the three times, which is not something reached by ear and eye. By what do you know it clearly?' I answer: 'I say that when a person dies, their spirit does not die; this is the proof of it. The spirit being in a person is like fire being in firewood. Although the former firewood is reduced to ashes along with the fire, how could that by which the fire now burns ever be reduced to ashes?' It may be asked: 'The principle of the spirit is dark and subtle. Once its physical form has perished, who can control where it goes? Does it turn out to be a human, or does it turn out to be a flying, diving, different kind of creature?' I answer: 'This can be understood. If one infers it from the karma of their emotional habits, then its retribution does not err.'