法苑珠林 55.65

55.65

The Beyond-the-Worldly One replied: "The Daoist teaching is shallow and lax, how could it comprehend the three kinds of retribution? The Confucian school is narrow and rigid, discoursing only upon a single lifetime. Thus Confucius answered Zilu: 'You do not yet understand life and human affairs; how can you serve death and the spirits?' Yuan Hong’s Hou Han shu states: 'The school of the Daoists originated from Laozi; it takes purity, emptiness, and detached tranquility as its foundation, and holding up the good and abhorring the evil as its teaching. They keep wives and children and employ talismans and registers; the retribution of fortune and misfortune occurs within a single lifetime.' These are all short-sighted proclamations of this mundane realm, not transcendent discourses reaching beyond phenomena. That is why Xun Yue had serious doubts, and Sima Qian was deeply perplexed. As for the supreme sages Yao and Shun, they fathered Danzhu and Shangjun; while Gu Sou, who was exceedingly foolish, gave birth to Shun. Yan Hui was greatly virtuous yet died young; Shangchen was exceedingly evil yet his lineage flourished. Robber Zhi indulged in violence yet died in prosperous old age; Boyi and Shuqi were supremely benevolent yet starved to death. Zhang Tang was a cruel official whose descendants wore official tassels for seven generations; Bigan was an upright minister whose own body was slaughtered. How could such examples ever be fully recounted? If ordinary people harbor doubts about this, it is merely common sentiment. Therefore our Seed of Awakening is uniquely called the Omniscient One: far-reachingly proclaiming the two lives, and broadly explaining the three retributions. Wishing to disperse the mist of persistent doubts and part the clouds of longstanding obstructions, the jade tablets are fully displayed, and the golden words are made completely manifest. Thus the sūtra says: 'There is karma that is painful at present and yields painful retribution; there is karma that is painful at present and yields pleasant retribution; there is karma that is pleasant at present and yields pleasant retribution; there is karma that is pleasant at present and yields painful retribution.' In some cases, because residual blessings are not yet exhausted, evil retribution does not immediately fall; in other cases, because past calamities still persist, virtuous conditions do not immediately sprout. Just like fire covered by ashes, how can one say it does not exist? If one tracks the sound in the dark, one must know it is certainly there. Moreover, good and evil never fail, just as a solar eclipse follows the fighting of qilin; retributions have their convergence, just as stars appear when a whale dies. One need only observe the degree of sympathetic resonance to clearly understand the signs of good and evil."