鐔津文集 9.13

9.13

月日沙門某謹北嚮伏揖。獻書昭文相公閣下。某聞昔有野人。或以美食芹。或以九九之算獻其國君者。夫食芹與九九之算鄙事。烏足使王侯資焉。然其心善務其君也。適某不遠千里而來進其說於吾相君。誠與乎食芹九九之算不殊。而其心志亦幸閣下詳之而不忽也。某佛氏也。其法業能與人正心洗濯其煩亂。持本而寧中。今故欲以此待閣下論道經邦之遑。潔靜以頤養其聰明之源。乃安其極也。夫所謂正心者非世之所謂正也。蓋事外清淨至正者也。心至正則神明。神明則氣和。氣和則體靜順。是四者以治其身。而心益治也。太史公曰。不先定其神。而曰我有以治天下何由哉。此言近之矣。然其道又能與生人原始而要終。示其神爽往來。根萬物之所因。而決施報之所果。然是又深且遠矣。閣下大賢卓識。謂此果可以留神已乎。若今儒者曰。性命之說吾中庸存焉。老者曰。吾道德存焉。而奚必曰佛耶。而謭謭自執矣。然是佛者。皆聖人之謂也。宜有漸之深之邇之遠之者也。焉可概論。請為閣下詳之。夫中庸者。乃聖人與性命之造端也。道德者。是聖人與性命之指深也。吾道者。其聖人與性命盡其圓極也。造端聖人欲人知性命也。指深聖人欲人詣性命也。圓極聖人欲人究其性命。會于天地萬物古今變化。無不妙於性命也。然其使人覩道真盡化本。覺其外物之為妄。休息其精神之勞弊者。而佛氏其道尤驗也。其為道乎既博。而其說亦汗漫。故世之學者益隨亦謾之而不探其要。嗟乎學道者不審也。昔楊司徒綰在唐。號為賢相。嘗以此著王開先生傳。以推廣於天下。蓋知其道之統要而然也。今閣下輔相之道德器過於楊公遠矣。苟不以佛為無謂。而稍取之。乃天下之幸也。然其道復能使人去惡而為善。今天下翕然而與儒並勸。是不惟內有益於聖賢之道德。亦將外有助於國家之教化。此又宜閣下之垂意也。方今其教甚衰。其徒不擇譏而毀之者紛然。某竊憂其道自是而微且息矣。燈燭不繼。其然其明亦遂滅矣。溪㵎江河不疏導。其源其流亦遂絕矣。聖人之教道亦猶是矣。不扶救則遂亡矣。故竊嘗著書曰輔教編。以發明扶持其道。凡三萬餘言。始欲奏之天子。而微誠不能上達。又欲進之閣下。又不克通之。已而乃因人姑布之京國。亦意其欲傳聞於閣下聽覽。又逾年而浮沈不決其所憂之心。若在水火忽欲其援。以成就其生平之志。乃不避其忝冒之誅。輒以其書塵浼大丞相尊嚴。萬一幸閣下憫其勤勞為教與道。非敢如常流者屑屑苟榮其身與名而已。謹以其所著輔教編一部三冊印者。又以皇極論一首寫本者。然此論乃少時行道之餘暇所屬。雖其文字淺俗。而粗明乎治世聖賢之法。仰託關主簿投諸下執事者。不任瞻望台慈皇恐悚越之至。不宣。某謹白。

On [such] a month and [such] a day, the śramaṇa [Qisong] respectfully bows prostrate facing north, offering this letter to the Chancellor of the Zhaowen [Hall], His Excellency. I have heard that in antiquity there was a rustic peasant who offered water-celery as a fine delicacy, and another who offered the multiplication table to his ruler. Now, eating celery and the multiplication table are lowly matters; how could they be sufficient to benefit lords and princes? Yet their intentions were devoted to doing good for their ruler. It happens that I have come from a thousand li away to present my discourse before our Lord Chancellor; truly, it is no different from the eating of celery and the multiplication table. May Your Excellency also examine my intention and resolve without overlooking them. I belong to the Buddhist school. The endeavor of its Dharma can rectify the mind for people, wash away their troubles and disorders, uphold the root, and tranquilize the interior. I now wish to offer this in the leisure of Your Excellency’s discussing the Way and governing the state, so that in cleanliness and quietude you may nourish the wellspring of your perspicacity and bring peace to your ultimate nature. What is called 'rectifying the mind' is not what the world calls upright; rather, it is what is transcendent, pure, and supremely upright outside worldly affairs. When the mind is supremely upright, the spirit is luminous; when the spirit is luminous, the qi is harmonious; when the qi is harmonious, the bodily form is tranquil and compliant. When one regulates the person with these four, the mind is even more well-governed. The Grand Historian said: 'If one does not first settle one’s spirit, yet claims, "I have the means to govern the realm," whence could that arise?' These words come close to it. Furthermore, its Way can trace the origins and anticipate the ends for living beings, show the coming and going of their spiritual awareness, root what causes the myriad phenomena, and determine what results from karmic retribution. Yet this is even more profound and far-reaching. Your Excellency is a great worthy of eminent discernment; could you say that this is indeed worthy of your focused attention? If contemporary Confucians say, 'As for the teachings on nature and destiny, our Doctrine of the Mean possesses them,' and Daoists say, 'Our Daodejing possesses them; why must one speak of the Buddha?' they cling petty-mindedly to their own views. Yet the Buddha is also what is called a sage. It is natural that there are degrees of gradual and deep, near and far; how can they be spoken of uniformly? I beg to explain it in detail for Your Excellency. The Doctrine of the Mean marks the beginning of the sage’s work with nature and destiny. The Daodejing indicates the sage’s profundity regarding nature and destiny. Our Way is the sage’s complete and consummate exhaustion of nature and destiny. In marking the beginning, the sage wished people to know nature and destiny. In indicating the profundity, the sage wished people to reach nature and destiny. In the consummate perfection, the sage wished people to exhaust their nature and destiny, converging with heaven, earth, the myriad things, and the transformations of past and present, wherein none is not wondrously joined to nature and destiny. However, in making people behold the truth of the Way, exhaust the root of transformation, awaken to external objects as illusory, and rest their weary and exhausted spirits, the Buddhist Way is especially efficacious. Its Way is vast, and its discourses are boundless; therefore, scholars of the world follow along with them superficially and dismiss them, failing to probe its essentials. Alas, those who study the Way are not discerning! In the past, Minister of Education Yang Wan of the Tang was celebrated as a worthy chancellor; he once composed the Biography of Master Wang Kai using this [teaching] to propagate it throughout the empire, because he understood the essential unity of its Way. Today, Your Excellency’s virtue, character, and capacity as a assisting minister far exceed Lord Yang’s. If you do not deem the Buddha meaningless but slightly draw upon him, it will indeed be the good fortune of the empire. Furthermore, this Way can cause people to discard evil and perform good. Today the empire harmoniously encourages this alongside Confucianism. This not only inwardly benefits the morality of sages and worthies, but will also outwardly assist the state’s moral transformation. This again deserves Your Excellency’s attention. At present, this teaching is greatly in decline; its followers are indiscriminate, and those who revile and disparage it are numerous. I privately worry that its Way will henceforth dwindle and cease. If a lamp’s wick is not maintained, its flame and light will immediately be extinguished. If mountain streams, brooks, rivers, and streams are not dredged, their source and flow will immediately be cut off. The teaching and Way of the sages are also like this: if not supported and rescued, they will perish. Thus I have privately composed a book called the Compilation Assisting the Teaching (Fujiao bian) to elucidate and uphold this Way, totaling more than thirty thousand characters. At first, I wished to memorialize it to the Son of Heaven, but my meager sincerity could not reach the throne. I also wished to present it to Your Excellency, but was unable to gain access. Afterward, relying on others, I temporarily circulated it in the capital, also intending that word of it might reach Your Excellency’s ears and view. More than a year passed, drifting and unsettled; the anxiety in my heart was like being in fire and water, suddenly longing for rescue to fulfill my lifelong aspiration. Thus, not shrinking from the punishment for presumption, I have rashly defiled the august presence of the Grand Chancellor with this book. If, by some fortune, Your Excellency takes pity on my diligent labor for the teaching and the Way—it is not that I would dare, like the common run of men, to fussily seek glory for my own person and reputation. I respectfully present one set of three printed fascicles of the Compilation Assisting the Teaching that I composed, as well as one handwritten copy of the Treatise on the Imperial Ultimate (Huangji lun). This treatise was drafted during leisure hours when practicing the Way in my youth; though its wording is shallow and vulgar, it roughly clarifies the methods of sages and worthies for governing the world. I humbly entrust it to Director Guan to present to the attendants. Unable to bear my extreme trepidation and reverence as I look up toward Your Excellency’s compassion, I say no more. [I], so-and-so, respectfully state [this].