鐔津文集 3.14

3.14

The Way of the sage takes goodness as its function; the goodness of the sage takes filial piety as its inception. To practice goodness without giving priority to its inception is to have no goodness; to practice the Way without dwelling in its function is to have no Way. Function is that by which the Way is verified; inception is that by which goodness is practiced. If one practices goodness but that goodness has not yet reached one’s parents, can it be universal goodness? If one verifies the Way but does not see that its Way is universal goodness, can it be the Way? For this reason, when the sage practices the Way, there is nothing that is not good; when the sage practices goodness, he has never abandoned his parents. Parents are the great root of bodily birth and the great debt of kindness in human relations. Only the Great Sage is able to venerate this great root and repay this great debt of kindness. Now, among those in the world who practice the Way, who can compare with the sage? The sage's Way is supremely great: towering lofty and uniquely venerated among humans and devas, neither capable of being born nor capable of dying. Yet when responding to things and demonstrating identity with humans and devas, he still necessarily conformed to the human way, not daring to forget his mother after her death, nor daring to disobey his father's summons. Thus, at the very beginning of his attainment of the Way, he ascended to heaven to first instruct his mother in his Way; after three months he returned to the world, and in response to the command returned to his native kingdom, instructing his father in the Way so that the entire kingdom was transformed. When his father died, the Sage personally carried the coffin together with the Śākyas to hasten to the burial. The Sage can indeed be said to have accorded greatly with the human way! Now, those who have just become his followers are merely latecomers and elementary students compared to the Sage. Yet they wish not to dedicate themselves to filial piety, claiming, 'I have left the household to concentrate on the Way.' How could I dare [to accept this]? How could this be understanding the mind of leaving the household? Leaving the household is meant to universalize goodness through the Way; if one universalizes goodness while failing to treat one's parents with goodness, how can that be called the Way? Not only does this fail to understand that mind, but it also isolates one from the Dharma of the Sage. The sutras state that parents are equal to a bodhisattva bound to one last birth, and therefore ought to be served and provided for. Hence the Vinaya instructs his disciples that they may reduce the provisions of their robes and bowls to sustain their parents; if the parents have correct faith, one may give to them freely, and if they lack faith, one may give to them in small measure. There is indeed an instruction for this!