三教平心論 1.25

1.25

Yu further said: 'Ancient teachers occupied one; modern teachers occupy three.' He merely saw that from high antiquity onward there was only Confucianism, and modern Buddhism seemed to be an extraneous wart. Little did he know that the Buddha's establishment of teaching does not run contrary to Confucianism; thus the Buddha's transformation of people is also without difference from that of Confucians. Confucians expound the teaching of the Odes, Documents, rites, and righteousness, supplementing it with the authority of punishments, governance, awe, and blessings; they seek nothing more than for all under heaven to move toward goodness and keep far from crime. Yet there are certainly those who are rewarded without being encouraged, punished without being deterred, and who, though instructed face-to-face and taken by the ear, ultimately do not follow the teaching. When they hear the Buddha teach that doing good brings blessings and doing evil brings retribution, none fail to abandon evil and hasten toward goodness. How is this teaching of the Buddha different from the teaching of the Confucians? Emperor Wen of the Song said to He Shangzhi: 'I have just seen Yan Yanzhi and Zong Bing write treatises explaining the Buddha-Dharma, which are very reasonable. If all within our borders were influenced by this transformation, I could sit with folded hands and effortlessly bring about supreme peace.' Shangzhi said: 'In a township of a hundred households, if ten people uphold the five precepts, then ten people will be pure and cautious; in a city of a thousand households, if a hundred people cultivate the ten wholesome deeds, then a hundred people will be harmonious. If this custom and teaching are spread throughout the realm, among millions of registered households there will be millions of good people. If one can practice one good deed, one eliminates one evil deed; eliminating one evil deed puts an end to one criminal punishment. One punishment ceasing in a household means ten thousand punishments ceasing in the state; this is precisely what Your Majesty calls effortlessly bringing about supreme peace.' Li Jie of the Tang, in his preface to the farewell for the monk Shuyan, said: 'The teaching of the Buddha takes purity, tranquility, and emptiness as meditation, and gentle humility and yielding as patience; therefore grudges and disputes can be put to rest. It takes austerity and diligence as spiritual practice, and poverty, success, longevity, and early death as cause and effect; therefore the lowly can find contentment. When the world declines and customs become degraded, if there were no Buddhism to transform their minds, the brave would fiercely think of fighting, the wise would calmly think of plotting, and the people of the paths and fields would rise up in turmoil in droves.' Lü Xiaqing said in his 'Sūtra on Entering the Teacher': 'Petty men do not fear the criminal prisons, but they fear the hells. If all people under heaven, in matters great and small, believed in cause and effect, dared not deceive their own hearts, and were free from the winds of encroachment, usurpation, and contention, would punishments not be laid aside, creating an era of ultimate good governance?' Viewed from this perspective, Buddhism's contribution to the worldly teaching is grand indeed! Why then harbor resentment against the teachings being three?