鐔津文集 2.11

2.11

大信近也。小信遠也。近反遠遠反近。情蔽而然也。天下莫近乎心。天下莫遠乎物。人夫不信其心而信其物。不亦近反遠遠反近乎。不亦迷繆倒錯乎。心也者聰明叡智之源也。不得其源而所發能不繆乎。聖人所以欲人自信其心也。信其心而正之。則為誠常為誠善為誠孝為誠忠為誠仁為誠慈為誠和為誠順為誠明。誠明則感天地振鬼神。更死生變化而獨得。是不直感天地動鬼神而已矣。將又致乎聖人之大道者也。是故聖人以信其心為大也。夫聖人博說之約說之直示之巧示之。皆所以正人心而與人信也。人而不信聖人之言。乃不信其心耳。自棄也自惑也。豈謂明乎哉賢乎哉。

Great faith is near; small faith is far. The near is turned into the far, and the far is turned into the near—this is because of the obscuration of feelings. Under heaven, nothing is nearer than the mind; under heaven, nothing is farther than external things. If humans do not believe in their own minds and instead believe in external things, is that not turning the near into the far and the far into the near? Is it not being deluded, erroneous, and topsy-turvy? The mind is the source of perception, brightness, sagacity, and wisdom. If one does not attain its source, can that which issues from it avoid error? This is why the sage wishes people to have faith in their own minds. If they have faith in their minds and rectify them, they become truly constant, truly good, truly filial, truly loyal, truly humane, truly compassionate, truly harmonious, truly compliant, and truly luminous. When they are truly luminous, they move Heaven and Earth, shake the ghosts and spirits, pass through life and death and transformations, and attain this alone. This is not merely moving Heaven and Earth and stirring the ghosts and spirits; it will furthermore lead to the Great Way of the sages. For this reason, the sage takes having faith in one's mind as the greatest thing. That the sage expounds it broadly, expounds it concisely, points it out directly, and points it out skillfully—all these are means to rectify the human mind and grant people faith. If humans do not believe the sage's words, they simply do not believe their own minds. They abandon themselves and delude themselves. How could they be called luminous? How could they be called worthy?