鐔津文集 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1

Composed by Śramaṇa Qisong of Dongshan, Tanjin, Tengzhou

2.2

Articles in Support of the Teaching, Part Two

Preface: In the past, taking the five precepts and ten virtues as corresponding to the five constants of the Confucians, I wrote *Yuanjiao* (Tracing the Teachings to their Source), in urgent desire to resolve the contemporary Confucians' slander against the Buddha. As for our Sage's great foundation in establishing the teachings, though I presented its general outline, I lacked the leisure to speak of it exhaustively, intending to wait and write a separate work to expand upon it. Seven years after *Yuanjiao* had circulated, it happened that Changji of Danqiu sent a letter urging me to complete it. Although I drafted it, because the arguments did not attain [the desired standard], I burned it. Just recently I completed this book, coming close to capturing the mind of the Sage. When I first wrote *Yuanjiao*, taking the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* as a model, I first laid out the bodhisattva vehicle, adopting what it calls the 'approach of relying on the fundamental to give rise to the derivative.' Modeling upon the *Mahāprajñāpāramitōpadeśa* (*Dazhidulun*), I separated and combined the five precepts and ten virtues. Yet the establishing of words naturally has its own proper form; people did not understand this and rather reproached and marvelled at it, so at that time I altered it for their sake. The present book, however, first lays out the human and heavenly vehicles, also following what the *Avataṃsaka* calls the 'approach of gathering the derivative and returning to the fundamental.' How profound! As for the five precepts and ten virtues, I do not list their names and numbers again. The reason I composed these two books was that I wished to elucidate the great lineage of the former Sage's establishment of the teachings, so as to instruct those worldly Confucians who do not understand the Buddha. Therefore, its words aim for literary grace and its principles aim for simplicity; the circumstance did not allow for branched phrasing and rambling discourse. If one were to make intricate distinctions among the doctrines of the various scriptures, the verse-and-chapter exegetes are already there for that. Whether they understand me or deride me—will it not be on account of *Yuanjiao* and *Guang yuanjiao*? *Guang yuanjiao* consists of twenty-five essays in all, totaling more than eight thousand one hundred words. In this year, *bingshen*, I took up my brush at the Yong'an mountain lodge of Lingyin.

2.5

Mind alone is what is called the Way. Elucidating the Way is what is called the teaching. The teaching is the sage's trace sent down. The Way is the great foundation of sentient beings. Grave indeed is the sentient beings' aberration from their foundation, and long has it lasted! If the sage had not arisen, the myriad things would remain dark to the end. The sage is that by which the myriad things are granted great illumination. The mind has no exterior, and the Way is everywhere centered; therefore, no thing fails to partake of the Way. The sage is not selfish with the Way, and the Way does not abandon things. Wherever the Way abides, the sage participates in it. For this reason, in establishing his teachings, he penetrates the unseen and the manifest, he penetrates the worldly and the supramundane; there is nothing he does not penetrate. 'Penetrating' means unifying. Unifying them so as to rectify them, he desires that they must share the same virtue as the sage. In vastness and numinous luminosity, nothing equals the Way; in divine virtue and wondrous functioning, nothing equals the mind. In indulging delusion and binding oneself with karma, nothing is worse than straying from the foundation; in drifting through the various destinies, nothing is worse than birth and death. In knowing the faults and afflictions of sentient beings, none is more adept than the sage; in rectifying the foundation for the myriad things, nothing is better than establishing the teachings. When rectified, it is firm and bright; when bright, it is firm and wondrous; when wondrous, its Way is firmly coalesced. Therefore, the teaching is the sage's great starting point for illuminating the Way and saving the world. Now, the teaching is the sage's inconceivable great functioning that accords with the times and responds to capacities. Therefore, for those whose capacity is great, he acts suddenly; for those whose capacity is small, he acts gradually. 'Gradual' speaks of the expedient; 'sudden' speaks of the real. The real is called the Mahāyāna; the expedient is called the Hīnayāna. With the Great and Lesser Vehicles, the sage encompasses the host of capacities, and the unseen and manifest are exhausted. Partaking in the sudden, one hears the gradual; partaking in the gradual, one hears the sudden. This again is how the sage marvels above gods and humans, beyond the calculation of gods and humans. The sage displays the expedient in order to proceed toward the real; the sage reveals the real through relying upon the expedient. Therefore, the expedient and the real, the partial and the complete, never cease to take regard of one another. As for the expedient, there is the manifest expedient and the hidden expedient. When the sage makes the expedient manifest, it becomes shallow teachings and small ways, providing those who believe with a place for a brief rest. When the sage makes the expedient hidden, it becomes heterodox ways, other teachings, and sharing in the deeds of good and evil, serving as a distant condition for those who do not believe to eventually attain the Way. The manifest expedient can be seen, but the hidden expedient cannot be fathomed. The real is the ultimate real. When it is the ultimate real, then object and self are one. Because object and self are one, the sage brings them to completion through the multitude of living beings. If one speaks of the sage's expedients, they encompass the good under heaven and pervade the ways of the hundred schools—is this not the great expedient for saving the world and benefiting things? If one speaks of the sage's reality, it extends across the Dharma realm and together with all things reaches the utmost—is this not the great Way under heaven that exhausts principle and fulfills nature? The sage is the sage among sages. Because he is beyond birth and death, he manifests death and manifests birth, appearing the same as humans, yet none perceives the reason why it is so. How could this be merely a sage of old who was gifted with spirits, offering wisdom, vast, flourishing, and complete? Therefore, in establishing his teachings, there is the divine way and there is the human way; there is constant virtue and there is extraordinary virtue. One cannot seek them under a single uniform rule. They cannot be deliberated upon through worldly ways: success lies in spiritual comprehension; failure lies in comparing external traces.

2.6

For governing humans and governing heaven, nothing is better than the five precepts and ten virtues. For cultivating the lesser-lesser sages and the lesser sages, nothing is more flourishing than the four truths and twelve conditions. For cultivating the great sages to proceed toward the greatly great sages, nothing is more flourishing than the six perfections and the myriad practices. As for the five precepts and ten virtues: separating them is how heaven is attained; combining them is how human life is sustained. Speaking of their successful outcomes, there are superior and inferior; speaking of their underlying basis, the Way of the great man is one. As for the four truths and twelve conditions: separating them pertains to the lesser sages; combining them pertains to the lesser-lesser sages. Speaking of their successful outcomes, there are flourishing and diminished; speaking of the vehicles they ride, the lesser sages and the lesser-lesser sages share the same Way. As for the six perfections: they are the head of the myriad practices and expand the myriad practices. Although the vehicles ridden by the great sages and the greatly great sages are slightly differentiated, when they transcend to the ultimate through the myriad practices, they are one with the greatly great sages. 'Myriad practices' means myriad virtues. The sage's goodness is enacted through spiritual wonder; adapting to changes and mounting transformations, there is nowhere it is not present. Therefore, the sage participates in the affairs of heaven and humans, yet heaven and humans cannot fathom him. Spirit is the wondrous; affairs are the coarse. The coarse is known only to humans; the wondrous is known only to sages. The world contends over other and self, disputing right and wrong over the affairs of Confucianism and Buddhism; yet those in the world who know only the affairs of Confucianism and Buddhism—how could they know that which molds and fashions Confucianism and Buddhism? All beings that possess consciousness spread across heaven and earth, pervading the unseen and the manifest, pervading the barbarians, birds, and beasts. If not embraced comprehensively through the divine way, then from ancient times to the present there would almost certainly be abandoned creatures. The sage values possessing the same consciousness and fears leaving creatures behind; therefore, the sage acts through the divine way.

2.7

Mind must reach the utmost; reaching the utmost, it must transform. That which transforms is consciousness; that which is utmost is suchness. Suchness is that which makes the myriad things wondrous; consciousness is that which renders the myriad things turbulent and distinct. Transformation is the incipient movement; the utmost is the foundation of the wondrous. Under heaven, nothing lacks a foundation; under heaven, nothing lacks movement. Therefore, the myriad things emerge from transformation and enter into transformation; the myriad things arise from the utmost and return to the utmost. The transformations of the myriad things are manifested in the emotions; the utmost of all under heaven resides in nature. Through the emotions, one can distinguish the changes and transformations of the myriad things; through nature, one can observe the great wonder of all under heaven. Those adept with emotions and nature can discuss the sage's teaching and Way. The myriad things sharing the same numinous awareness is called the mind; that which the sage treads is called the Way. The Way has that which is great and that which is small; the mind has that which is good and that which is evil. Good and evil have the thick and the thin; greatness and smallness have the gradual and the profound. Thus there are great sages, secondary sages, and lesser sages; there are heaven, humans, asuras, ghosts and spirits, the shelled and feathered classes, and the ways of hell. The multitude of living beings emerges from the one mind; the sages diverge from the one Way. The extremities of greatness and smallness in the sage must not go unexamined; the reasons for good and evil among the multitude of living beings must not go disregarded. How could mind and the Way be different? Using the sage and the multitude of living beings, we merely mark a provisional distinction, calling it 'the Way' and calling it 'the mind.' How great and utmost is the mind! In the unseen, it surpasses ghosts and spirits; in luminosity, it surpasses the sun and moon. Its vastness encompasses heaven and earth; its subtlety penetrates neighboring space. Dark yet not dark, it is therefore supremely dark; bright yet not bright, it is therefore supremely bright. Great yet not great, it is therefore peerlessly great; subtle yet not subtle, it is therefore supremely subtle. It renders the sun and moon bright, it renders ghosts and spirits numinous, and it marvels at heaven, earth, and the three realms. Does it exist? Does it not exist? It is as if neither existent nor non-existent, as if not neither existent nor non-existent. Can this be described or reached by words? It cannot be explained through absolute, arcane comprehension. To attain it is a matter of an instant; to err from it is a matter of a hair's breadth. This can be known with those who have reached the utmost, but cannot be spoken of with mere students. Because it is difficult to illuminate and difficult to reach, the sage created various teachings: speaking of it, defining it, explaining it, rectifying it. Although they are manifold and numerous, they all desire that people do not stray; yet students remain benighted. Now, those under heaven who speak indistinctly of the mind speak of it without detail and understand it without precision; if they merely grasp conscious awareness and claim to have attained the purport and Way together with the sage, are they not far off indeed?

2.8

Emotions emerge from nature; nature is concealed within emotions. When nature is concealed, the Way of the ultimate reality ceases. Therefore, the sage takes nature as the teaching to instruct people. The movements of all under heaven are born from emotions; the delusions of the myriad things are rectified in nature. Can all under heaven fail to examine the good and evil of emotions and nature? To know good and evil without knowing the end and beginning of good and evil—can that be ultimate knowledge? To know its end without knowing its beginning—can that be ultimate knowledge? Only the sage's ultimate knowledge knows the beginning, knows the end, knows the subtle, and knows the vanished. Seeing that they run through birth and death, the unseen and the manifest, to form images and shapes, heaven and earth—vast though they are—originate in emotions; the universe—great though it is—is enclosed within nature. Therefore, among the myriad things, nothing is more flourishing than emotions and nature. Emotion is the beginning of existence: where there is existence, there is attachment; where there is attachment, there is craving and desire; where there is craving and desire, men and women and the myriad things are born and die therein. Under the stimulation of birth and death, good and evil transform according to their categories, beginning and ending, revolving through birth and death without ever resting. Nature is the utmost of non-existence: ultimate non-existence has never been non-existent; emerging into life and entering into death, it is neither death nor life. This is why the sage's Way is quiescent and luminous, adapting only as resonance requires. Emotion acts as falsehood and consciousness: when obtained properly, it becomes affection, kindness, love for kin, distance from the distant, sometimes good and sometimes evil; when lost, it becomes deceit, craftiness, violence, insubordination, greed, drowning in craving and desire, losing the mind, and destroying nature. Nature acts as the true, the such, the utmost, the flawless, the pure, and the tranquil: approaching it, one becomes a worthy or an upright person; going far into it, one becomes a divine sage or a greatly great sage. The sage instructs people by taking nature as the teaching and not by emotions; this is its esoteric depth. The presence of emotions and nature in things is ever so, vivid and clear: seeking it, one cannot grasp it; severing it, it cannot be cut off. Heaven and earth have an end, but the numinous nature is never exhausted; the five destinies alternate and change, but the encumbrance of emotions is not released. Therefore, regarding what is called emotions and nature, all under heaven must not fail to discriminate. Instructing people by means of emotions—does that not remain within birth and death? Instructing people by means of nature—does that not step outside birth and death? Teaching through emotion is near; teaching through nature is far. To treat what lies outside birth and death as extravagant fabrication and deny it is to be blind to the heavenly principle and to sever the source of unceasing generation. Small knowledge cannot reach great knowledge; the midge confined within a jar—is it not just like this?

2.9

The stirring of the mind is called karma. The convergence of karma is called resonance. Resonance means that which connects the internal and the external. Among the minds in the world, which does not stir? Among the actions of the myriad things, which does not resonate? Karma as a principle is dark and subtle; resonance as a force reaches far. Therefore the common people, not seeing it, do not fear it. The teaching of the sage is careful regarding karma, desiring that people be thoroughly alerted and that their minds be cautious in stirring. Internal resonance is called summoning; external resonance is called response. Summoning refers to the cause; response refers to the effect. All appearances and forms of cause and effect are prepared in advance. The stirring of the mind has the contrary and the compliant; hence feelings of good and evil arise from it. Once feelings of good and evil have been issued, the response of fortune and misfortune arrives. Feelings have shallowness and depth; retribution has lightness and gravity. What is light can be shifted; what is heavy cannot be turned back. Good and evil have earlier and later; fortune and misfortune have slowness and swiftness. Even through ten lifetimes or ten thousand lifetimes, those that resonate with one another will not slip away; how could it be a matter of one lifetime alone? To doubt good and evil because they are not verified within a single lifetime is likewise to be blind to cause and effect. If recompense and retribution were not rectified by cause and effect, how could the world encourage good people? A tree is not seen growing, yet daily it flourishes; a whetstone is not seen wearing down, yet daily it diminishes. Karma in human beings is just like this. How could one not be cautious?

2.10

Creatures have nature; creatures have life. Creatures love life and hate death; all that possess blood and breath are like this. This is why the sage wishes to preserve life and does not wish to kill. Now, living and killing have cause and effect; good and evil have resonance and response. If the cause is good, the effect is good; if the cause is evil, the effect is evil. The mind that loves life is good; the mind that loves killing is evil. How could one not be cautious regarding the resonance of good and evil? Humans eat animals, and animals provide for humans: in the past they incurred debts to one another, and in secret they repay one another. Karma brings this about. Humans and creatures remain unaware, saying that creatures are naturally born of Heaven to nourish humans. How could Heaven be so partial? To harm natures and lives in order to nurture natures and lives—how could the Way of Heaven, being supremely humane, be like that? The principle of mutual repayment is dark and hard to speak of; the momentum of slaughter accumulates and is difficult to halt. Therefore the laws of antiquity ensured that people did not treat creatures violently, did not close the circle of a hunt, and did not wipe out whole flocks. The Master angled but did not use a net; he shot at birds but not at those roosting. Was this not a gradual step toward stopping killing? The Buddhist teachings instruct people that one may foster life but must not kill. Should one not reflect on this? Indeed it is true!

2.11

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?

2.12

What is the Sūtra Piṭaka called? It tallies with the principle; it is the scriptures. 'Scripture' means constant, threading, and encompassing. Revealing that what was spoken by earlier sages and later sages is universally so: nothing is better than constancy. Maintaining doctrinal principles without losing them: nothing is better than threading. Gathering all living beings and teaching them: nothing is better than encompassing. What is the Abhidharma Piṭaka called? It is the facing of phenomena; it is the treatises. 'Treatise' means judging and discerning. Clarifying the central purpose of the sages: nothing is better than discerning. Indicating the shallowness and depth of their Way: nothing is better than judging. What is the Vinaya Piṭaka called? It is the precepts; it is the monastic regulations. 'Regulation' means restraint. Opening up all goods and blocking all evils: nothing is better than restraint. What is the vehicle of humans and gods called? It is the gradual of the gradual. In guiding the secular world, nothing is more effective than supreme gradualness. What is the Śrāvaka Vehicle called? It is expedient, gradual, and a lesser path. What is the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle called? It is likewise a lesser path. Adapting appropriately to their capacities: nothing is more effective than expedience. Endorsing their advancement and not their retreat: nothing is more effective than gradualness. What is the Bodhisattva Vehicle called? It is real, sudden, and the Great Path. Directly conferring the Great Path on the human mind: nothing is more effective than the Bodhisattva Vehicle. Its vehicle connects with wondrous enlightenment; it is almost there. What are the four discs called? They are the wind disc, the water disc, the gold disc, and the earth disc. The four discs are that by which Heaven and Earth take form. Observing the four discs, the beginning and end of Heaven and Earth can be known. What are the three realms called? They are the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. The three realms are what sentient beings rely upon. Observing the three realms, the inside and outside of the universe can be examined without doubt. What are the six destinies called? They are hells, animals, hungry ghosts, asuras, humans, and gods. The six destinies are what minds of good and evil resonate with. Observing the six destinies, one can be cautious in how one uses the mind. What are the four types of birth called? They are womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born. The four types of birth are what feelings bring about. Observing the four types of birth, one can know the reasons for physical form and life. What school is without teachings? What text is without a path? If a path addresses the near but not the far, how can the world know the far? If one teaches humans but does not teach other species, would creatures not be left out? The dark and the distant are indeed beyond the reach of human ears and eyes. The fleeting and indistinct, the flying and the diving, are indeed beyond the capacity of human strength to care for. What humans cannot reach, the sage should properly reach; what humans cannot care for, the sage should properly care for. If the sage could not reach the world, would it forever remain blind to the dark and distant? If the sage could not care for sentient beings, would they sink without anything to rescue them? Therefore the sage's teaching is applied to and manifests in the far and the near, the dark and the bright, leaving nothing uncovered. Among all that is broad, vast, and fully complete under heaven, what can compare to the teaching of our sage?

2.13

Heaven is supremely high; Earth is supremely vast; ghosts and spirits are supremely dark and subtle. When one cultivates the Dharma of our sage, Heaven and Earth respond to it; when one puts forth the words of our sage, ghosts and spirits comply with it. Heaven and Earth share the same mind with the sage; ghosts and spirits share the same numinous awareness with the sage. This is surely because they resonate with one another according to their kind. When feelings are not the same, people become estranged; when kinds are not the same, creatures turn contrary. If it is not their proper way, even a child will not follow. Now, moving Heaven and Earth, shaking ghosts and spirits, gaining the acceptance of the common people and the foreign tribes, and passing through past and present without their minds parting from it—thus the great pervasiveness and supreme attainment of our sage's Way can conclusively be seen.

2.14

What is the Buddha called? One who rectifies the One. What are humans called? Those who participate in the One. The Buddha and humans are just one. What the myriad things are called is names; what the ultimate principle is called is reality. Clinging to names while remaining blind to reality, how could the world know what is ultimate? When the Way is in humans, it is called the cause; when the Way is in the Buddha, it is called the fruit. 'Cause' speaks of not yet having reached it; 'fruit' speaks of having reached it. Once reached, then it is rectified; once rectified, there is no place where one abides without being self-fulfilled. As for the Buddha, how could he be confined to his physical form or his traces? Physical forms and traces merely preserve his teaching. The teaching is the resource for rectifying them. In distinguishing the myriad things, nothing is greater than names; in unifying the myriad things, nothing is greater than reality. The sage teaches people through reality, wishing for people's great unification; the sage encourages people by discarding names, guarding against people's great divergence. If one examines that by which the sage teaches, the culmination of name and reality can conclusively be seen.

2.15

What person is without a mind? What person is without the wondrous? What teaching is without a path? What path is without the Mean? If one speaks of the Mean only in general terms, the world will not hasten toward its supreme path; if one speaks of the wondrous indiscriminately, the world will not seek its supreme mind. If one does not fully fathom the supreme mind and supreme path, then the false, the reckless, the arrogant, and the insolent will fail to cultivate because of this. The living and the dying, following routines and transformations, will fail to be alerted because of this. The wondrous has the wondrous and the Great Wondrous; the Mean has the Mean of phenomena and the Mean of principle. The Mean of phenomena is the regulation of the Mean in myriad affairs; the Mean of principle is the supreme rectitude of the principle of nature. The wondrous is that which makes things wondrous; the Great Wondrous is that which is wondrous beyond the wondrous. As for the wondrous, the hundred schools all speak of it, yet they have never reached its Great Wondrous. As for the Great Wondrous, only our sage has pursued it, taking all wonders to their ultimate. As for the Mean of phenomena, the hundred schools are all like this, and we are likewise so. As for the Mean of principle, although the hundred schools touch upon the Mean, they have never reached the supreme Mean; only our sage has rectified its Mean to verify that there is nothing that does not hit the Mean. The mind and the Way are merely names. The Mean and the wondrous are merely words. Although names and words differ, the supreme numinous awareness is one. One is ten thousand; ten thousand are one. One returns to one; ten thousand return to ten thousand. Rolling out and unfolding, mutually blending and encompassing without boundless exhaustion: the Great Wondrous and double mystery are just like this! Therefore, hurling the great trichiliocosm outside the realm of direction and putting Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed, the ultimate person does not doubt it, saying that it is merely the wondrous, it is merely the Mean—what more could be added to it? It is said that the ocean is indeed deep, but the nine abysses are deeper than the ocean. How could a child of Yixi understand this? Alas!

2.16

The teachings must not be clung to; the Way must not be disregarded. Clinging to the teachings leads to excessive preoccupation with traces; disregarding the Way leads to abandoning the root. Clinging is excess; disregarding is falling short. Excess and falling short are alike in being harmful. Therefore, in what the sage does for the fundamental principle, he is inevitably sincere; in what he does for practical affairs, he is inevitably expedient; and both practical affairs and the fundamental principle are attained through the Great Mean. Practical affairs have what is appropriate; the fundamental principle has its ultimate. Following what is appropriate and treating it as appropriate is how the sage establishes his teachings. Approaching its ultimate and treating it as ultimate is how the sage establishes his Way. Did not the two emperors of the Liang and the Qi (Emperor Wu of the Liang and Emperor Wenxuan of the Northern Qi) act contrary to what was appropriate in serving the teachings, and was this not clinging? Did not the two rulers of the Wei and the Zhou (Emperor Wu of the Northern Wei and Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou) obliterate its ultimate in treating the Way, and was this not disregarding? The teachings of the sage are simply goodness. The Way of the sage is simply correctness. Correct the person with what is correct; treat affairs well with what is good. One need not insist on the Sangha, nor insist on the literati; one need not insist on that, nor insist on this. That and this are matters of emotion; the Sangha and the literati are traces. The sage leaves traces behind in order to preserve the root; the sage acts with human emotion in order to accord with nature. Preserving the root without being impeded by traces is what may be called expediency. According with nature without drowning in emotion is what may be called reality. In former times, when Shi Hu, through holding the reins of the state with executions and punishments, doubted within himself whether his serving the Buddha brought no protection, Fotudeng said to Shi Hu: 'A sovereign should internally embody great accordance and in his movements harmonize with the Three Jewels. If the fierce and foolish cannot be transformed by moral instruction, how could they not be executed? Only punish those who may properly be punished, and penalize those who may properly be penalized. If executions and punishments do not hit the mark, even if one spends wealth freely to revere the Buddha, how could it be of any benefit?' Emperor Wen of the Song said to Guṇavarman: 'I am ashamed that, dedicating my person to the affairs of state, though I wish to maintain the vegetarian fast and precepts, how can my non-killing conform to the Dharma?' Guṇavarman said: 'What is cultivated by an emperor and what is cultivated by an ordinary man should be different. An emperor need only rectify the decrees he issues and the commands he gives, causing humans and spirits to be pleased and harmonious. When humans and spirits are pleased and harmonious, the wind and rain are seasonal; when the wind and rain are seasonal, the myriad things achieve their growth. By this means to uphold the fast is fasting in its ultimate. By this means not to kill makes one's virtue great indeed. Why must one abandon half a day's meal or preserve the life of a single fowl to practice it?' The emperor stroked his table and praised him, saying: 'The worldly are confused by distant principles; monks are constrained by immediate teachings. Words such as yours are truly what the world calls the universal Way, capable of discussing the boundary between Heaven and man.' Fotudeng and Guṇavarman were consummate persons of antiquity; can they not be said to have understood expediency?

2.17

When the sage guides the worldly with the five precepts, he teaches people to cultivate humanity in order to plant humanity. Cultivating it resides in one's person; planting it resides in one's spirit. Undertaking one action yields both results; therefore, it moves the minds of people and the world is transformed. Befriending people and according with principle is called goodness; following goodness without leaving traces is called transformation. Because it is good, people admire it and encourage themselves; because it is transformation, it resides within people without being overt. Hence the world cannot tally its merit; the world cannot reckon its virtue. Yet when evil is rare in the world, who knows that it was not reduced because of this? When goodness is abundant in the world, who knows that it was not increased because of this? Those who say the Buddha offered no assistance to a sovereign's governing of the world are simply those who have not perceived the principle.

2.18

If goodness is not cultivated, the human way will be cut off; if one's nature is not clarified, the spiritual way will be extinguished. That which moves incessantly between Heaven and Earth is the spiritual; that which is the most numinous tribe among the myriad things is man. If their spirit is benighted in birth, the living will become alienated; if their humanity loses its numinous kind, it will decline. The sage emphasizes the human way; therefore he promotes goodness to augment it. The sage emphasizes the spiritual way; therefore he promotes the nature to carry it on. Man, Heaven, and the sage—which of them does not emerge from the nature? The sage, Heaven, and man—which of them is not accomplished through goodness? That from which they emerge is indeed their root; that through which they are accomplished is indeed their teaching. It is the greatest achievement among all achievements, the greatest root among ten thousand roots. That the sage carries it on through the nature is precisely to enrich this great root together with the world. That the sage augments it through goodness is precisely to pursue this great achievement together with the world. The root from one's parents is a secondary root; the accomplishment from one's parents is a secondary accomplishment. The secondary root and secondary accomplishment can give form to a human, but cannot ensure that he will necessarily be fully human. To ensure that one is human and to ensure that one is spiritual, one must put the great root and great achievement first, and only then attend to one's secondary root and secondary accomplishment—this is what is called knowing the root. When the world takes father and son, husband and wife, as the human way, this is seeing the conditions of the human way while failing to see its cause. Conditions are proximate; causes are remote. When the world takes natural transformation as the spiritual way, this is seeing what is so while failing to see that by which it is so. What is so is manifest; that by which it is so is hidden. For this reason, the sage investigates that by which it is so to fathom the hidden and manifest of the spiritual way, and investigates what is remote while putting aside what is proximate to verify the causes and effects of the human way. Does not the sage share the beginning and end with the world? The sage does not continue his lineage for himself; he takes the human race and continues it—does his lineage not constitute a great lineage? The sage does not perpetuate an heir for himself; he takes the root of the nature and perpetuates it along with the world—does his perpetuation not constitute a great perpetuation?

2.19

What is meant by the teaching speaking of giving (dāna)? Although I discussed giving in 'An Inquiry into the Teaching' (Yuanjiao), I did not exhaust it; here I exhaust it. Giving is the sage's wish for people to generate good fortune. Does good fortune have any physical form? It resides merely in whether the mind is good or not good. Greed and stinginess are the mind's non-goodness; helping people and benefiting creatures are the mind's goodness. When a good mind evokes a response, it becomes good fortune; when an un-good mind evokes a response, it becomes the ultimate ill. The principle of good fortune and ultimate ill is found in the 'Grand Norm' (Huangji) of the Confucians; the Grand Norm sets it forth without debating it. What is spoken of as giving is the sage's wish for people to bring forth the mind that evokes good fortune. When bringing it forth, there are superior and inferior qualities; hence in the response, there are greater and lesser magnitudes. Bringing forth one's mind of giving for Buddhist matters is superior; bringing forth one's mind of giving for worldly affairs is inferior. The sage wishes people's good fortune to be bountiful, so he places the superior first and the inferior second. The inferior is called base; the superior is called excellent. The Confucians say: 'Good fortune means complete preparedness. Complete preparedness is the name for a hundred accords.' Having nothing that is not in accord is called complete preparedness. This describes its conditions, but does not describe its cause; without the cause, the world will not know that by which it becomes good fortune. If the ground one plants in is barren, the things produced will not be luxuriant; if the ground one plants in is fertile, the things produced will surely be bountiful. Therefore, when the sage reveals the excellent and the inferior to people, how could there be any carelessness? If one gives to people with material wealth, the good fortune can be measured; if one gives to people with the Dharma, the good fortune cannot be measured. That which can be measured is spoken of in terms of the worldly; that which cannot be measured is spoken of in terms of the world-transcending.

2.20

What is meant by the teaching requiring reverence for monks? The monk takes the Buddha as his surname, the Tathāgata as his household, the Dharma as his body, wisdom as his life, and the joy of meditation as his food. Therefore he does not rely on worldly clans, does not manage secular estates, does not cultivate the physical frame, does not covet life or fear death, and is not mired in the five flavors. To guard his person he has morality (śīla); to collect his mind he has concentration (samādhi); to discern clearly he has wisdom (prajñā). Speaking of his morality: it purifies the three delusions and remains unstained to the end of his life. Speaking of his concentration: it calms thoughts, rectifies the spiritual faculties, and remains undistracted through the entire day. Speaking of his wisdom: it exalts virtue, discerns delusion, and hits the mark with certainty. Cultivating through these is called the cause; accomplishing through these is called the fruit. Toward living creatures, he has loving-kindness, compassion, great vows, and great beneficence. Loving-kindness is constantly wishing to bring peace to all things; compassion is constantly wishing to rescue all from suffering; the vow is vowing that the whole world may see the ultimate truth; beneficence is bestowing the true Dharma upon all living beings. When he exercises spiritual penetrations, Heaven and Earth cannot conceal him; when he acts esoterically, ghosts and spirits cannot fathom him. When expounding the Dharma, his eloquence is unhindered; when protecting the Dharma, he acts vigorously without regard for his own life. He can endure what other people cannot endure; he can practice what other people cannot practice. In his right livelihood, he begs for food and eats without considering it a disgrace; in his few desires, he wears rag robes and pieces together his bowl without considering it poverty. In his absence of dispute, he may be insulted but cannot be belittled; in his absence of resentment, he may be assimilated but cannot be diminished. He treats creatures with the true reality and cultivates himself with utmost loving-kindness; therefore toward the world, he is always harmonious and universally reverent. His speech is free of falsehood; thus his trustworthiness is ultimate. His Dharma is without self; thus his deferential yielding is sincere. He possesses a majesty worthy of reverence and a deportment worthy of emulation; gods and humans look up to him with solemnity. He can bring good fortune to the world and guide worldly society. In forgetting his physical form, he yields it to beasts and birds without hesitation; in his chanting and recitation, he braves the cold and heat without cessation. Going forth for the sake of the Dharma, he roams among humans, traversing hamlets and villages, viewing fame like an echo in a valley, profit like floating dust, and material forms like a mirage; warming the poor and sick, mingling with commoners and servants without deeming it lowly. Dwelling for the sake of the Way, even in deep mountains and desolate ravines, wearing clothes of grass and eating of trees, he is at ease and content with himself; he cannot be enticed by profit, nor bent by force; declining emperors and princes without deeming himself aloof. Standing alone, he triumphs through the Way; though his body and shadow console one another, he does not deem himself solitary. Living in a community, he takes the Dharma as his kin, gathering people from the four seas without becoming disordered. In what he can study, whether it be the three baskets (Tripiṭaka), the twelve divisions of scripture, or the books of the hundred schools and heterodox paths, there is nothing he does not know; the languages of other lands and distinct customs, there is nothing he does not comprehend. In carrying forth his Dharma, he has elegance and pattern; in practicing its Middle Way, he is neither empty nor existent. In his mastery beyond learning, he is detached from thought, pure, genuine, and of one suchness, no longer making any discriminations. The monk—his humanity is ultimate, his mind is universal, his virtue is complete, and his Way is great. His worthiness is not what the world calls worthy; his holiness is not what the world calls holy. He is an extraordinary worthy and sage of the world-transcending realm. Since a monk is like this, can he not be revered?

2.21

What is meant by registering monks under secular law? Registering monks is not ancient practice; it was merely the design of the tyrannical Northern Zhou. Monks leave the dust and transcend the mundane; fundamentally they abide outside the four classes of common people. To register monks is for the common populace to domesticate monks. In the era of our Sage, when the state had monks, it governed them with the monastic law; when it had laypeople, it governed them with secular law. Each was governed according to its own law. One had never heard of inspecting monks using secular law. Is it not that, after the Sage had passed away, his Way greatly declined, his followers became excessively polluted and mixed, and those who supported the Dharma could not overcome such people, so that this came about? Yu Jia produced the Ying Dragon, the Ying Dragon produced the Phoenix, and the Phoenix produced the multitude of birds. Things change only after a long time; this is the natural course of events. Once they have changed, they cannot but be regulated. Regulation lies in distinguishing them and discriminating them, the heterodox from the orthodox, the crooked from the upright; they cannot be viewed indiscriminately. Stones contain jade; grasses contain orchids. Can one say of humanity that it lacks its sages and worthies? If you commend a single good deed, all under Heaven will be encouraged to do good. If you treat a single worthy with propriety, all under Heaven will admire worthiness. When eminent monks of recent antiquity met the Son of Heaven, they were not addressed by their personal names; when imperial decrees were drafted, they were called “Master” or “Lord.” Sengyuan of Mount Zhong remained seated upon his bed and did not welcome the imperial carriage when it arrived at his gate. When the Son of Heaven visited Xunyang, he decreed that Huiyuan of Tiger Brook need not emerge from the mountain. In those days, people treated such men with reverence and honored their virtue. For this reason, the Way of their Sage flourished, and his followers esteemed virtue. When the Confucians say, “Honor virtue,” why do they say so? Because it is close to the Way. How could Confucianism be otherwise? Yet those of later generations who admire eminent monks, when associating with ministers and grand masters, do not even receive the courtesy accorded to low-ranking officers. In emerging into the world or dwelling in seclusion, they are not as self-content as ordinary men. How much less could they see the Son of Heaven as Sengyuan did? How much less could they be as composed and self-possessed as Huiyuan? Can we hope for the revival of our Way and the cultivation of our people? To preserve the teaching without requiring the proper people—what benefit is there in preserving it? Reflecting on this, I have never failed to shed tears.

2.22

What is meant by the teaching's term “abbot” (zhuchi)? An abbot refers to relying on a person to uphold his Dharma, causing it to abide forever without perishing. Precepts, samādhi, and wisdom are the tools for upholding the Dharma. The monastic grounds and material affairs are the resources for upholding the Dharma. The Dharma is the Way of the Great Sage. Resources and tools must await the right person before they can be maintained. It will not do to be good at the tools but not good at the resources; it will not do to be good at the resources but not good at the tools. When both are handled well, one can uphold the Dharma and cause it to abide. In ancient times, the abbot of Vulture Peak was overseen by Mahākāśyapa; the abbot of the Bamboo Grove was presided over by Śāriputra. Therefore the Sage's teaching flourished, and the Sage's Dharma endured for long. Since the Sage passed away, the succession of generations has drifted aimlessly and been lost for a long time. Our people opportunistically make the abbotship a matter of prestige, power, and profit. All under Heaven have become accustomed to this, rushing headlong in turmoil, until it has almost become the prevailing custom. The Sage will not appear again; who will rectify this? Those who provide external protection neither observe nor choose. To desire that the spirit of our Sage does not decline and to hope that the Sage's Dharma becomes ever more prosperous is impossible. Alas! What hope do I have?

2.23

Monastic Rectors were established with a rank equal to Palace Attendants. What does this mean? Establishing Rectors was not ancient practice; it began with the Yao Qin. Establishing Rectors is permissible, but establishing an official rank is not permissible. Monks are those who cast aside honor and profit to surpass the world through superior virtue; how could they take part in imperial favors and stipends? In giving monks official ranks, does one not initiate and lead later generations into competing for power? Daoxie was not enlightened and did not know how to nip this development in the bud; this was Daoxie's fault. Now, monks are those who arise from precepts, samādhi, and wisdom. Rectors are those who arise from sincerity and illumination. If a monk is not sincere and illuminated, who can be truly firm in precepts, truly firm in samādhi, and truly firm in wisdom? If one is not sincere in precepts, samādhi, and wisdom, then I do not know how he can serve as a Rector. The four dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen also followed Qin in establishing Rectors. The Two Wei, Northern Qi, and Later Zhou reformed the Qin system and established Directors (tong). The Sui succeeded the Zhou and likewise established Directors. The Tang reformed the Sui, abolishing Directors and establishing Registrars (lu). Our current dynasty followed the Tang system: in the two capitals it established Registrars, and in the various commanderies it established Rectors. Although the continuations and reforms of ancient and modern times differ, that which they preside over is one. It is difficult to find the right people throughout the world, and this has been so in both ancient and modern times. If one truly obtains those who are upright, then our people will be virtually free of corruption. Be prudent! Be prudent! How difficult to find the right people!

2.24

Form emerges from the formless; the formless emerges from form. Therefore, the most wondrous Way cannot be sought through being, nor can it be measured through nonbeing; it cannot be lost through motion, nor can it be attained through stillness. If the Way of the Sage were empty, whence would continuous life come? If the Way of the Sage were not empty, what living being would not perish? Those who skillfully embody the empty and the non-empty are close to the Way of the Sage. Now, to verify emptiness, nothing is better than examining form; to examine form, nothing is better than knowing the formless. Knowing the formless, one can then peer into spiritual illumination; peering into spiritual illumination, one can begin to speak of the Way. The Way is the storehouse of the spirit, that from which consciousness arises. Consciousness is the source of great calamity. To say that the Way of the Sage is empty is to drown in the emptiness of chaos and confusion. The illness becomes ever more severe; who in the world can cure it?

First 24 of 31 passages. Read on

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鐔津文集 — Classical Chinese