觀彌勒上生兜率天經贊 1.15

1.15

問：彌勒、釋迦誰初發意，今者成道前後乃然？答：《佛藏經》云「彌勒發心先四十劫，釋迦方發心。」《佛本行經》第一卷云「昔有如來號曰善思，彌勒菩薩於彼佛所最初發心，在於我前四十餘劫，然後我發無上道心。有佛名示誨幢如來，我於彼國作轉輪王名曰罕弓，初發道心。」此中皆說後時發心。彌勒發心因彌勒佛，釋迦發心因釋迦佛，故彼非初，但以捨身苦行修業不同，所以彌勒成道終後。

Question: Between Maitreya and Śākyamuni, who first generated the aspiration [for awakening], such that the order of their present attainment of the Way is thus? Answer: The Fo zang jing says: "Maitreya generated the aspiration forty kalpas earlier; only then did Śākyamuni generate the aspiration." Fascicle one of the Fo benxing jing says: "In the past there was a Tathāgata named Shansi (Kuśalacintī). Bodhisattva Maitreya first generated the aspiration in the presence of that Buddha, more than forty kalpas before me, and only afterwards did I generate the aspiration for unexcelled awakening. There was a Buddha named Shihuizhuang (Upadeśadhvaja) Tathāgata; in that country, I was a wheel-turning king named Hangong and first generated the aspiration for the Way." Both [texts] speak here of generating the aspiration at a later time. Maitreya's generating the aspiration was occasioned by a Maitreya Buddha, and Śākyamuni's generating the aspiration was occasioned by a Śākyamuni Buddha; hence neither of them was first. It is merely because their giving up the body, their austerities, and the actions they cultivated differed that Maitreya's attainment of the Way was ultimately later.