佛祖歷代通載 20.105

20.105

明道曰。佛學大概是絕倫類。世上不容有此理。又其言待要出世。出那裏云。其迹須要出家。要脫世網。學之者不過似佛。佛一懶胡耳。他本是箇枯槁山林自私而已。若只如此不過。世上少這一箇人。却又要周遍。決無此理。彼言世網。只為些秉彛。又殄滅不得。當忠孝仁義之際。處於不得已。只和這些秉彛都消殺得盡。然後為道如人耳目口鼻。既有些氣須有此識。聲色飲食喜怒哀樂。性之自然。必盡絕為得天真。是喪天真也。又曰。若盡為佛。天下却都沒箇人去裏。

Mingdao said: "Buddhist learning generally severs natural human relations; in the world such a principle cannot be tolerated. Moreover, its teachings insist on transcending the world: where can one transcend to? Its visible conduct insists on leaving home (pravrajyā), seeking to escape the worldly net. Those who study it do no more than emulate the Buddha. The Buddha was just an idle foreigner. He was originally a withered recluse of the mountain forests, selfish and nothing more. If it were only this, it would merely mean one fewer person in the world; yet they wish to be universally pervasive—there is definitively no such principle! When they speak of the 'worldly net', it is just their inborn moral nature which they cannot completely exterminate. Facing loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness, they find themselves in an unavoidable dilemma, so they simply extinguish and wipe out all of this inborn moral nature before calling it 'the Way'. It is like a person's ears, eyes, mouth, and nose: once there is breath, there must be this consciousness. Sounds, sights, food, drink, joy, anger, grief, and pleasure are the spontaneity of nature. Insisting on cutting them all off to obtain celestial authenticity is actually destroying celestial authenticity." He also said: "If everyone became Buddhas, then under heaven there would be no people left."