佛祖歷代通載 20.66

20.66

（十七　辛卯）　乾道七年正月二十日。靈隱瞎堂惠遠禪師奉詔見選德殿。師奏曰（臣）生西蜀眉山。遊方逾四十年在山間。恭聞陛下即位以來。日應萬機道冠千古。覆護教法契合龍天。是謂以佛心而治天下（臣）嗣法佛果圓悟禪師。上曰。圓悟是誰。奏曰（臣）之師名克勤。太上皇帝駐蹕維楊時賜號也。上曰。恨昔不見。其杲老如何。奏曰。與（臣）同出圓悟之門。上賜坐。上問曰。如何免得生死。奏曰。不悟大乘道終不能免。上曰。如何得悟。曰本有之性。但以歲月磨之。無不悟者。上曰。悟後如何。曰悟了始知。陛下所問與（臣）所奏悉皆不是。上曰。一切處不是如何。奏曰。脫體現前。了無毫髮可見之相。上大悅。師復奏曰。古德道無所是是菩提。上曰。即心即佛如何。曰目前無法。陛下喚什麼作心。上曰。如何是心。師正身叉手而立曰。只者是。上笑。徐問德山臨濟機緣。師具奏之。復奏曰。悟後千句萬句乃至一大藏教。只是一句。上曰。是那一句。奏曰。好語不出門。上曰。不與萬法為侶可參乎。奏曰。老龐致此一問。驚天動地。驅山塞海。超古今脫是非。離言說絕依倚。如陛下至尊至貴。大道本然。上曰。得道者誰。奏曰。學道之人隨其器量淺深。驗在意表。得底人他亦自知時節。學佛者眾機緣亦廣。恐勞聖聽。不敢具奏。遂謝恩下殿。上曰。後更要說話在。奏曰。謹領聖訓（乙未正月初五入寂）帝製原道論。其文曰。朕觀韓愈原道。因言佛老之相混三教之相絀。未有能辯之者。且文繁而理迂。揆聖人之用心則未昭然矣。何則釋氏專窮性命棄外形骸不著名相。而於世事自不相關。又何與禮樂仁義。然尚立戒。曰不殺。不淫。不盜。不飲酒。不妄語。夫不殺仁也。不淫禮也。不盜義也。不飲酒智也。不妄語信也。如此於仲尼何遠乎。夫子從容中道聖人也。所為孰非仁義。又烏得而名焉。譬如天地運行陰陽循環之無端。豈有意春夏秋冬之別哉。此聖人強名之耳。亦猶禮樂仁義之別。以設教治世不得不然也。因其強名揆而求之則道也。道也者仁義禮樂之宗也。仁義禮樂固道之用也。彼楊雄謂老氏槌仁義滅禮樂。今迹老子之書。其所寶者三。曰慈。曰儉。曰不敢為天下先。孔子曰。溫良恭儉讓。又唯仁為大。老子之所謂慈豈非仁之大者耶。曰不敢為天下先。豈非遜之大者耶。至其會道則互相遍舉。所貴者清淨寧一。而於孔聖果背馳乎。蓋三教末流昧者執之自為異耳。夫佛老絕念無為。修心身而已矣。孔子教以治天下者。特所施不同耳。譬猶耒耜而織機杼而耕。後世徒紛紛而惑。固失其理。或曰當如之何去其惑哉。曰以佛修心。以老治身。以儒治世。斯可也。唯聖人為能同之。不可不論也。

[17. Xinmao] In the seventh year of Qiandao, on the twentieth day of the first month, Chan Master Xiatang Huiyuan of Lingyin received an imperial edict to attend an audience at the Xuande Hall. The master addressed the throne, saying, "Your servant was born in Meishan in western Shu. I have wandered as a traveling monk for over forty years among the mountains. I have respectfully heard that since Your Majesty ascended the throne, you have daily attended to myriad affairs of state, your virtue topping a thousand ages; you have shielded and protected the teaching and Dharma, in harmony with dragons and devas. This is what is meant by governing all under heaven with the mind of a Buddha. Your servant is a Dharma heir of Chan Master Foguo Yuanwu." The Emperor said, "Who was Yuanwu?" He replied, "Your servant's master was named Keqin. This title was bestowed by the Retired Emperor when his carriage stayed at Weiyang." The Emperor said, "I regret that I did not meet him in the past. How about Old Gao [Dahui Zonggao]?" He replied, "He came from the same gate of Yuanwu as your servant." The Emperor granted him a seat. The Emperor asked, "How can one escape birth and death?" He replied, "If one does not awaken to the Great Vehicle's Way, one will ultimately never escape." The Emperor asked, "How can one attain awakening?" He said, "It is one's inherently existing nature; if one merely polishes it through the months and years, there is no one who does not awaken." The Emperor asked, "How is it after awakening?" He said, "Only after awakening does one realize that what Your Majesty asked and what your servant answered were all not it." The Emperor said, "If it is not it everywhere, what then?" He replied, "Stripped bare, it appears manifest before you, completely without the slightest trace of any visible mark." The Emperor was greatly pleased. The master further addressed the throne, saying, "An ancient worthy said, 'Having nothing that is right—that is bodhi.'" The Emperor said, "What about 'the mind itself is Buddha'?" He said, "Before one's eyes there are no phenomena; what does Your Majesty call the mind?" The Emperor said, "What is the mind?" The master straightened his body, folded his hands, stood, and said, "Only this is it." The Emperor laughed. He leisurely asked about the encounters of Deshan and Linji, and the master reported them in full. He further addressed the throne, saying, "After awakening, thousands and myriads of phrases, and even the entire Great Canon of teachings, are merely a single phrase." The Emperor said, "Which phrase is that?" He replied, "Good words do not go out the door." The Emperor said, "Can one investigate 'not keeping company with the myriad dharmas'?" He replied, "When Old Pang posed this single question, it shook heaven and moved the earth, drove away mountains and dammed the seas; it transcended ancient and modern, cast off right and wrong, departed from speech, and severed all reliance. Like Your Majesty's supreme honor and nobility, the Great Way is fundamentally so." The Emperor said, "Who has attained the Way?" He replied, "People who study the Way, in accordance with the depth or shallowness of their capacity, are verified beyond thought. Those who have attained it also know the season themselves. Those who study Buddhism are numerous, and their encounters are vast; fearing to weary the imperial hearing, I dare not present them in full." Thereupon he expressed thanks and descended from the hall. The Emperor said, "We shall have more to discuss later." He replied, "I respectfully accept the imperial instruction." (He entered nirvāṇa on the fifth day of the first month in the year yihai.) The Emperor composed the "Treatise on Tracing the Way" (Yuandao lun). Its text stated: "I have observed Han Yu's 'Tracing the Way' (Yuandao). When he spoke of the mutual confounding of Buddhism and Daoism and the disparagement among the Three Teachings, there was no one able to debate it. Moreover, his writing was convoluted and his reasoning circuitous; when measured against the intention of the sages, it was not yet clear. Why so? The Buddhists exclusively fathom nature and life, cast off the external bodily frame, and do not cling to names and forms, naturally having no concern with worldly affairs. What, then, does this have to do with rites, music, benevolence, and righteousness? Yet they still establish precepts, saying: do not kill, do not commit sexual misconduct, do not steal, do not drink alcohol, and do not lie. Now, not killing is benevolence; not committing sexual misconduct is propriety; not stealing is righteousness; not drinking alcohol is wisdom; not lying is trustworthiness. Being so, how is it far from Confucius? The Master was a sage who acted in accord with the Golden Mean with ease. Which of his actions was not benevolence and righteousness? Yet how could they be named? It is just as heaven and earth move and yin and yang cycle without beginning: could there be any deliberate intention to distinguish spring, summer, autumn, and winter? The sages merely forced names upon them. It is likewise with the distinctions of rites, music, benevolence, and righteousness, which were unavoidably so in order to establish teachings to govern the world. Seeking into them through these forced names, it is the Way. The Way is the source of benevolence, righteousness, rites, and music; benevolence, righteousness, rites, and music are indeed the functions of the Way. Yang Xiong said that Laozi hammered benevolence and righteousness and destroyed rites and music. Now tracing the book of Laozi, what he treasured were three things: compassion, frugality, and not daring to be first in the world. Confucius said, 'Gentle, good, respectful, frugal, and yielding,' and also that benevolence alone is great. Is not what Laozi called 'compassion' the greatest of benevolence? When he said 'not daring to be first in the world,' is it not the greatest of deference? When they converge upon the Way, they comprehensively touch upon each other; what they value is purity, tranquility, and oneness. Do they truly run counter to the Confucian sage? It is simply that later, deluded followers of the Three Teachings cling to them and make distinctions themselves. Now, the Buddha and Laozi cut off conceptual thought and abide in non-action, merely cultivating the mind and body. Confucius taught in order to govern all under heaven, merely because their applications were different. It is just like using a plow to weave and a loom to farm; later generations were merely confused and bewildered in vain, truly losing the principle. Someone may ask, 'How should one dispel their confusion?' I say, cultivate the mind with Buddhism, govern the body with Daoism, and govern the world with Confucianism; this will do. Only the sage can unify them; it cannot be left undiscussed."