English
English version: Q: If one becomes a Śrāmaṇa (Buddhist monastic), does that mean that lay practitioners have no hope of attaining a superior state? A: The Buddha teaches beings according to the time and their capacity, without fixed methods. The same Dharma may be established in one place and refuted in another; it may be considered light in one place and heavy in another. The *Contemplation Sutra* was taught for the queen, and her rank was determined solely by the superiority or inferiority of her practice. The *Larger Sutra* was taught for all people, so it universally includes both monastics and laity. Monastics are listed among the Three Jewels (Triratna, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), and from the perspective of worldly dharma, the laity should defer to the monastics. If we discuss the ultimate principle, as long as one eliminates afflictions and obstacles, that is considered abandoning the home and leaving the secular world. It is not necessary to ask whether one has shaved their head or whether they are a monastic or a layperson. Q: Regarding the Jīvaṃjīvaka (a mythical bird with shared life), the commentary says that it is incorrect to depict it with human heads. However, there are many birds with human heads in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* (*Shanhai Jing*), so why is it incorrect? A: I am not saying that there are no birds with human heads. However, if this Jīvaṃjīvaka truly had human heads, then the *Lotus Sutra* and other scriptures should have clearly stated it. But the scriptures only say two heads, not two 'human heads.' How can we fabricate this? Moreover, the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* does not even mention the name Jīvaṃjīvaka. Among the creatures with human heads and bird bodies, there is the Dùhū (蠹𩇯) with one foot, the Fúxī (凫溪) with two feet, and the Yóngyóng (颙颙) with four eyes. These all have only one head, not two. There is also the Qúrú (瞿如) with three heads, but those are bird heads, not human heads. The three heads of the Qúrú and the two heads of the Jīvaṃjīvaka are somewhat similar. We should follow the example of the Qúrú and call the Jīvaṃjīvaka's heads bird heads. How can we rely on the depictions of painters and sculptors? Questions and Answers Reply to Yu Deyuan Let's set aside the previous debates with those people. Now, let's debate anew. The previous debate was to subdue the arrogant and foolish, while this debate is to discuss and confirm with the wise and intelligent on equal footing. I hope you will not view them in the same way. I am very grateful for your love and care, and that you want to include this debate in the complete book. This debate of mine is also like your love for me, and I hope you can understand. Jīvaṃjīvaka That is not the case. It has been changed to 'probably not.' However, it must be debated. The Jīvaṃjīvaka is not exclusive to the Pure Land. It exists in the Himalayas and all of the Five Indies (Pañca-vidyāsthānāni, a collective name for five regions in ancient India). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
。法华诸经屡取为喻。注释者止言两头。及翻译名义俱然。曾无人身之说。即鸡头摩所传图绘。然亦无存。亦未闻何经传载此五通菩萨言是人身也。岂得以工匠所作为准凭耶。故前辩云。有经论出载则可。且极乐地平如掌。无有诸山。今装塑西方。竟作山形。安可信也。时人于古圣贤注疏。恒求其错。工匠人所作。反蹈常袭故。不敢作一语辩正。独何欤。又云蛇身亦得称帝。夫蛇身者。尚称为帝而不称为蛇。今人身者。反不称人而称鸟耶。故前辩云。既是人身。不得称鸟。愚意蛇身者。肤鳞鳞如蛇皮耳。非真蛇也。若真蛇者。将横身而称帝欤。则俨然一蛇。何以御臣民。将正身而称帝欤。则无手无足。袅袅如竹竿。何繇而立。何繇而坐。何繇指挥动作。而行政事。乃至神农牛首。亦状貌似牛。如沛公龙颜。班超虎头之类耳。若真双角指天。两耳披风。针其毛。长其喙。世所谓牛头马面者。阎罗王之部卒也。人将走而避之之不暇矣。故昔人谓外纪不可尽信。而共工头触不周。王充辩云。既不周号为天柱。共工力能触之使折。何以战而不胜。此论不徇旧说。痛快千古。今之共命。恐亦类是。 白鹤 按政和图经云。鹤有玄黄苍白。白为最良。穆天子传云。天子至巨搜二氏。二氏献白鹤之血以饮天子。如寻常白 《法华经》等诸多经典屡次以此为比喻。注释者只说是两头，包括翻译的名义也是如此，从未有人说是人身。即使是鸡头摩（Jitoumó，译者或画师的名字）所传的图画，现在也已经不存在了。也未曾听说哪部经书上记载这位五通菩萨（Wǔtōng Púsà，拥有五种神通的菩萨）说是人身啊。怎么能以工匠的制作作为依据呢？所以前面辩论说，有经论记载才可以。而且极乐世界（Jílè shìjiè，西方极乐净土）平坦如手掌，没有山。现在装塑西方，竟然做成山形，怎么能相信呢？现在的人对于古代圣贤的注释，总是想找出错误。对于工匠所作的，反而因循守旧，不敢说一句辩正的话，这是为什么呢？又说蛇身也可以称帝。蛇身尚且称为帝而不称为蛇，现在人身反而不称人而称鸟吗？所以前面辩论说，既然是人身，就不能称鸟。我的意思是蛇身的人，皮肤鳞片像蛇皮罢了，不是真蛇。如果是真蛇，将横着身子称帝吗？那就俨然是一条蛇，怎么统治臣民？将竖起身子称帝吗？那就无手无足，细长如竹竿，怎么站立？怎么坐下？怎么指挥动作，来处理政事？乃至神农（Shénnóng，中国神话中的农业和医药之神）牛首，也只是状貌像牛，如同沛公（Pèigōng，刘邦）龙颜，班超（Bān Chāo，东汉名将）虎头之类罢了。如果真是双角指天，两耳如风，针其毛，长其喙，那就是世俗所说的牛头马面（Niútóu Mǎmiàn，地狱中的狱卒），人们躲避都来不及。所以古人说外纪不可全信，而共工（Gònggōng，中国神话人物）头触不周山（Bùzhōu Shān，神话中的山名），王充（Wáng Chōng，东汉哲学家）辩论说，既然不周山号称天柱，共工有能力触之使折，为什么作战却不胜？这个论点不迁就旧说，痛快淋漓。现在的共命鸟（Gòngmìngniǎo，佛教传说中的鸟，有两个头共用一个身体），恐怕也类似这样。 白鹤 按照《政和图经》（Zhènghé Tújīng，宋代地理著作）记载，鹤有玄、黄、苍、白四种颜色，白色最好。《穆天子传》（Mù Tiānzǐ Zhuàn，记载周穆王西游的古书）记载，天子到达巨搜二氏（Jùsōu èrshì，古代部落名），二氏献上白鹤的血给天子饮用，如同寻常的白...
English
The Lotus Sutra and other scriptures frequently use this as a metaphor. Commentators only mention two heads, including the meaning of the translation, and no one has ever said it was a human body. Even the paintings transmitted by Jitoumo (Jitoumó, the name of a translator or painter) no longer exist. Nor have I ever heard of any scripture recording that this Five-Penetration Bodhisattva (Wǔtōng Púsà, a Bodhisattva with five supernatural powers) is said to be a human body. How can the creations of craftsmen be taken as a basis? Therefore, it was argued earlier that it is acceptable only if there are records in scriptures and treatises. Moreover, the Land of Ultimate Bliss (Jílè shìjiè, the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss) is as flat as a palm, without mountains. Now, when sculpting the Western Paradise, they actually make it into a mountain shape. How can this be believed? People today always try to find faults in the annotations of ancient sages. On the contrary, they follow the old ways of the craftsmen and dare not say a word of correction. Why is this? It is also said that a snake body can also be called an emperor. If a snake body is still called an emperor and not a snake, why is a human body not called a human but a bird? Therefore, it was argued earlier that since it is a human body, it should not be called a bird. My opinion is that a person with a snake body has scales on their skin like snake skin, but is not a real snake. If it were a real snake, would it lie horizontally to be called an emperor? Then it would be just a snake. How could it rule the subjects? If it stood upright to be called an emperor, it would have no hands or feet, slender like a bamboo pole. How could it stand? How could it sit? How could it command actions to handle political affairs? Even Shennong (Shénnóng, the Chinese mythological god of agriculture and medicine) with a bull's head only had an appearance like a bull, like Duke Pei (Pèigōng, Liu Bang) with a dragon face, or Ban Chao (Bān Chāo, a famous general of the Eastern Han Dynasty) with a tiger's head. If it really had two horns pointing to the sky, two ears like the wind, needles for hair, and a long beak, then it would be what the world calls Ox-Head and Horse-Face (Niútóu Mǎmiàn, jailers in hell), whom people would run away from as quickly as possible. Therefore, the ancients said that external records cannot be fully believed, and when Gonggong (Gònggōng, a figure in Chinese mythology) struck Buzhou Mountain (Bùzhōu Shān, a mountain in mythology) with his head, Wang Chong (Wáng Chōng, a philosopher of the Eastern Han Dynasty) argued that since Buzhou Mountain was known as the pillar of heaven, and Gonggong had the power to strike it and break it, why did he not win the battle? This argument does not conform to old sayings and is thoroughly satisfying. The Jivaka bird (Gòngmìngniǎo, a bird in Buddhist legend with two heads sharing one body) of today is probably similar to this. White Crane According to the 'Zhenghe Illustrated Classic' (Zhènghé Tújīng, a geographical work of the Song Dynasty), cranes come in four colors: black, yellow, blue, and white, with white being the best. The 'Biography of King Mu' (Mù Tiānzǐ Zhuàn, an ancient book recording King Mu of Zhou's travels to the west) records that when the Son of Heaven arrived at the Jousou tribe (Jùsōu èrshì, the name of an ancient tribe), the tribe offered the blood of white cranes for the Son of Heaven to drink, just like ordinary white... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
鹤。畜者颇众。何必以献至尊。若其献者。必珍贵异常。世所希有故也。稍有黑毛。非真白鹤。若真白鹤。毛羽纯白。不肖儿童时。闻一博古老人所说。高瑞南亦闻之可证。又引鹅鹭亦白。然此等原不以白为贵。不可以例。如鹤白。鹦鹉白。龟白。鹿白。兔白。象白。皆以白为贵。世所希有。鹤之纯白。正是此类。请更详之。 耳所未闻目所未见 经云。尚无恶道之名。即耳不闻此名也。不过极言其决无恶道耳。若云亦必谈及恶道。当有闻者。则彼土目中且实见鹤雀。宁止耳闻。据此。应改文云尚有恶道之实。何况有名耶。前以彼怪行文倒说。不知其意若此。 居士奇卓之才。淹博之学。震旦国中等埒无几。今在禅门。正儒释二家望以为赤帜。而随之转移者也。不宜反为拘名滞相者所惑。宜以大方之论。折其小见。圆通之旨。破其偏枯。使正法大明于世。以报佛恩。乃分内事。柰何塞毗耶不二之门。较东西于曲径。撤灯王师子之座。争尺寸于绳床。非所望于后身之金粟也。如不肖者。不希法师之位。不慕善知识之名。不贪求四众归仰。即谤满天下。甚而覆瓿代薪。亦任之而已矣。 现代汉语译本 关于鹤。饲养鹤的人很多，何必一定要进献给至尊呢？如果一定要进献，那必定是极其珍贵异常，世间罕有的东西。稍微带点黑毛，就不是真正的白鹤。真正的白鹤，羽毛应该是纯白的。我小时候听一位博古的老人说过，高瑞南也听过，可以作证。又有人说鹅和鹭也是白的，然而这些原本不以白色为贵，不可以相提并论。像鹤的白色，鹦鹉的白色，龟的白色，鹿的白色，兔的白色，象的白色，都是以白色为贵，世间罕有的。鹤的纯白，正是属于这一类。请您再详细考虑一下。 耳所未闻，目所未见 经书上说，‘尚且没有恶道的名称’，就是耳朵都没有听过这个名称。这不过是极力说明那里绝对没有恶道罢了。如果说也一定会谈及恶道，应当有听过的人，那么那个地方的眼中恐怕还实际见到鹤雀呢，哪里仅仅是耳朵听到。根据这个，应该修改文字说‘尚且有恶道的事实，何况有名呢？’之前认为他们奇怪的行文是倒着说的，不知道他们的意思原来是这样。 居士您有奇特的才能，渊博的学识，在震旦国（中国）中能与您相比的人没有几个。现在您身在禅门，正是儒家和释家都希望您成为旗帜。而跟随您转变的人也很多。不应该反而被拘泥于名相的人所迷惑。应该用大方的理论，驳斥他们狭隘的见解；用圆融通达的宗旨，破除他们的偏颇固执，使正法在世间大放光明，来报答佛恩，这才是您分内的事情。怎么能在塞毗耶（Sarvasti，舍卫城）不二之门，比较东西于弯曲的小路；撤去燃灯佛（Dipamkara Buddha）授记师子之座，争夺绳床上的尺寸之地呢？这不是我所期望于您这位后身的金粟（指宋代名僧，曾转世为宰相）的。像我这样不才的人，不希望得到法师的地位，不羡慕善知识的名声，不贪求四众弟子的归仰，即使谤议满天下，甚至用破瓦罐代替柴薪，也任凭他们罢了。