佛祖統紀 45.13

45.13

The author remarks: The Buddha's Path is the Great Path; the Buddha's body is the True Body. Speaking of the Great Path, the Dharma realm leaves nothing out, unlike Confucius and Laozi who are restricted to regions. Speaking of the True Body, it is permanently abiding and unperishing, unlike Confucius and Laozi who undergo birth and death. As for the so-called Buddha's tooth and relics, these are merely a single phenomenon of the True Body manifesting transformations in response to beings. How could the mundane water and fire destroy them? Renzong, following the reverent devotion of three reigns, specially composed the eulogy, and moreover disparaged the ancestral masters of the emperors, Ruism, and Daoism, precisely because the way of benevolence and righteousness and the transformation of pure stillness only teach people within the realm to attain the blessings of humans and devas; they do not possess the capacity of the Buddha's Path to transform beings to transcend the world. Therefore, in Ruism and Daoism, one does not depart from this body, and all may practice them; yet Buddhist learning is the foundation for future transcendence of the world. Reverently perusing the imperial composition, one knows its words are immediate while its purport is far-reaching.