佛祖歷代通載 20.121

20.121

元城曰。孔子佛之言。相為終始。孔子之言。毋意毋必。毋固毋我。佛之言曰。無我無人。無眾生無壽者。其言次第。若出一人。但孔子以三綱五常為道。故色色空空之說微開其端。令人自得爾。孔子之心佛心也。假若天下無三綱五常。則禍亂又作。人無噍類矣。豈佛之心乎。故儒釋道其心皆一。門庭施設不同耳。如州縣官不事事。郡縣大亂。禮佛誦經坐禪。以為學佛可乎。

Yuancheng said: "The words of Confucius and the Buddha serve as each other's beginning and end. Confucius's words were: 'No preconceptions, no inevitabilities, no obstinacy, and no ego.' The Buddha's words were: 'No notion of self, no notion of person, no notion of sentient beings, and no notion of an enduring life.' The progression of their words is as if spoken by one person. But Confucius took the Three Cardinal Guides and the Five Constant Virtues as the Way; hence he only subtly hinted at the teachings of form and emptiness, allowing people to grasp it on their own. The mind of Confucius is the mind of the Buddha. If the world lacked the Three Cardinal Guides and the Five Constant Virtues, disasters and chaos would arise again, and not a single living soul would be spared. How could that be the Buddha's mind? Therefore the minds of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are all one; it is only their pedagogical methods that differ. If county and prefectural officials neglected their duties, throwing prefectures and counties into great chaos, and simply bowed to the Buddha, chanted sūtras, and sat in meditation, could that be considered studying Buddhism?"