鐔津文集 13.23

13.23

道必有所驗。非驗孰見乎道之至哉不邪。佛之舍利蓋其道之驗也。夫道之大至者。固貫乎人神死生而妙之。聖人以其妙則在幽而能興。在明而能無。是故聖人方其生也。善世而無善。方其死也。潛神而用神。舍利者亘百世而儼然。效其靈則天下莫測。豈非其神之為乎。今夫九流百子以其道而為之者天下紛然。謂之道則與佛未始異也。稽其驗則天下無有也。競尊其師則謂佛不足。與其聖賢校其人之死也。不終日而形腐。不終年而骨朽。其神則漠然。烏有乎忽恍。豈其道亦有所未臻於佛者乎。昔者佛法始傳於漢而漢人不詳。始傳於吳而吳人不諒。皆專儒老而拒我。故摩騰僧會命舍利以驗佛世。自是翕然而嚮之。夫道遠也。驗近也。觀近也者。發之也。觀遠也者至之也。至之者聖人也。以驗觀道則麁妙可審也。以道觀聖人而大小可見也。人亦有言曰。其教有大不可思議之事。益知佛為大聖人。不其然乎。然舍利之見乎天下者古今多矣。有盤空而翔者。無端而至者。發光而明並日月者。不可焚者。不可碎者。若此行道之舍利晝夜振之而不息者。天下未始見也。捧其塔敬之則金鐸益轉。若與人意而相應異乎。美哉至神之物不必大也。至道之驗不必多也。考其始致則曰得之於吳越。故國師韶公蓋得乎梁之岳陽。王蕭察之所傳者也。既而錢氏之先王內於金鐸以小銅塔而緘之寘諸靈光寺（今寺之舊名）殆百年矣。韶公至人也。號其舍利。一曰行道。一曰入定。入定者祕而不可見。行道者益塔而張之。是豈不以後世僧不軌道而俗薄寡信。將亦有所勸而發之者乎。故述其意命吾徒以揚之。

The Way must have its verifications. Without verifications, who could see the culmination of the Way? Indeed! The Buddha's śarīra are precisely the verification of his Way. Now, that which is supremely great in the Way intrinsically permeates both humans and spirits, life and death, rendering them subtle and wondrous. Because the sage possesses this subtle wonder, when in obscurity he can flourish, and when in brightness he can be as nothing. Therefore, when the sage is alive, he brings goodness to the world while remaining free of attachment to goodness; when he dies, he withdraws his spirit while his spirit remains efficacious. As for śarīra, extending across a hundred generations they remain dignified; when they display their numinous efficacy, no one in the world can fathom them. Is this not the working of his spirit? Nowadays, those among the nine schools of thought and the hundred masters who cultivate in their own ways crowd the realm. In calling it 'the Way,' they do not initially differ from the Buddha, but when one checks their verifications, there are none in the world. Competing to honor their own masters, they claim the Buddha is inadequate. Yet comparing their dead with the Buddhist sages: before a single day is done, the physical form decays; before a single year is out, the bones rot away. Their spirit is utterly silent; where is any trace of fleeting wonder? Could it be that their Way still has that which does not reach up to the Buddha? Formerly, when the Buddhadharma was first transmitted to the Han, the people of Han did not examine it closely; when it was first transmitted to Wu, the people of Wu did not trust it. Both exclusively held to Confucianism and Laozi and rejected us. Therefore Kāśyapa Mātanga and Sengui summoned śarīra to verify the Buddha's world, whereupon people turned toward them in unison. Now, the Way is far, while verifications are near. To observe what is near initiates it; to observe what is far attains it. He who attains it is a sage. By means of verifications one observes the Way, and thus the coarse and the subtle can be discerned; by means of the Way one observes the sage, and thus the great and the small can be seen. People have also said: 'His teachings contain great, inconceivable matters; this makes it ever more known that the Buddha is a great sage.' Is this not so? Moreover, śarīra manifested throughout the world have been numerous from ancient times to the present. Some hover and soar in the sky; some arrive without any cause; some emit rays of light whose brightness rivals the sun and moon; some cannot be burned; some cannot be crushed. But as for this 'circumambulating' śarīra, which vibrates day and night without ceasing, the world had never yet seen such a thing. When one holds its stūpa and pays reverent respect, the golden bells turn even more, as if wonderfully responding in harmony with the person's thoughts! How exquisite! A thing of supreme spirit need not be large; the verification of the supreme Way need not be manifold. Examining how it first came, it is said that it was obtained in Wuyue. The late National Preceptor Shaogong obtained it in Yueyang of the Liang, handed down by Prince Xiao Cha. Thereafter, the former king of the Qian clan placed it inside a golden bell, enclosed it within a small bronze stūpa, and housed it at Lingguang Temple (the former name of the present temple), where it has remained for nearly a hundred years. Shaogong was a perfected person; he designated these śarīra, calling one 'circumambulating' and the other 'entering samādhi.' The one entering samādhi is kept secret and cannot be seen; the one circumambulating has its stūpa opened and is displayed. Is this not because in later generations monks do not keep to the Way while the common people are shallow and lack faith, so that he wished to encourage and inspire them? Therefore, I have recounted his intention and commanded my followers to make it known.