佛祖統紀 35.50

35.50

述曰。漢世人間建佛祠行佛事者。始見之笮氏。嘗與一儒老共觀此文。笑之曰。為士夫而使後世書為學佛。豈不恥哉。磐應之曰。學佛者豈不是為善之人乎。為士夫而使作史者指為姦佞貪酷甚至於不忠不孝者。斯可為恥。學佛為善尚何恥哉。儒老笑頷之。

A commentary says: In the Han era, the building of Buddhist shrines and the practice of Buddhist rites among the common people began with this Master Ze. I once read this passage together with an elderly Confucian scholar, who laughed and said, 'For a gentleman-scholar to have later generations record that he studied Buddhism—is that not disgraceful?' I, Zhipan, replied, 'Is not one who studies Buddhism a person who does good? If a gentleman-scholar causes historians to designate him as treacherous, flattering, rapacious, cruel, or even disloyal and unfilial—that indeed should be considered disgraceful! What disgrace can there be in studying Buddhism and doing good?' The elderly Confucian smiled and nodded in agreement.