佛祖歷代通載 22.8

22.8

辯曰。夫自衒自媒。婦女之醜行。不矜不伐。聖人之深能。是以舜美禹功。嘉有勳而弗競。孔稱孟反（孟之反）猶退厚而居薄。由是美譽播於千秋。謙放光輝於四海。上之所引。具見列子仲尼篇中。古今通論。以謂此夫子推佛為西方大聖人之語也（唐琳法師對太宗之表。張丞相作護法論。皆引此文佛西方聖人也）未聞老子在周孔子在魯故指老子為西方聖人。竊名冒聖欺我何多。僭聖人者不仁。言乖理者非智。且道源之祖肇起黃帝。非干老子。老子師容成子演五千文縱然說聖不能赶於軒轅。既三皇五帝孔子不推為聖。返指老子而為聖人。不亦過乎。蓋我世尊功圓萬行果證十身。流光遍於剎塵。分身應於沙界。不可以人事測。不可以處所求。實三界之大師。是四生之慈父。寰中獨步。為王中之法王。出世獨尊。為聖中之大聖。故能高拱覺場威行萬國。縱使周公之制禮作樂。孔子之述易刪詩。卜偃之文章。端木之言語馬遷之辯博。葛洪之該通。輔嗣之玄談。左慈之神化。並驅馳於域內。言未涉於大方。可為善世之高流。難作出塵之聖者。案天竺聖方群賢所聚。過去諸佛共生於彼。范曄漢書云（後漢西域傳史論文）其土則殷乎中土。玉燭和暢靈聖之所降集。賢懿之所挺生。故古昔賢能時有往者。老子西昇經云。聞道竺乾（今改為開道竺乾）有古皇先生。善入無為。不始不終。永存綿綿。是以西行。又古本化胡經云。我生何以晚。泥洹一何早。不見釋迦文。心中空懊惱。此則老子自指於佛。為西方聖人也。又黃帝夢遊華胥之國。其國在弇州之西。王邵注云。此指西方天竺也。周穆王時。聞西方有大聖人出世。心甚懼之。乃使造父乘驊騮八駿。西上崑崙觀日所沒以厭其氣又西極有化人來。能返天易地。聖力無方。千變萬化。不可窮極。穆王敬之若神。築中天臺以居之。化人引穆王神遊。斯須之間已如數載。又穆王五十二年如來示滅。西方有白虹十二道。南北通貫連夜不滅。王問太史扈多。是何祥也。扈多對曰西方有大聖人。衰相現爾穆王喜曰。朕常懼於彼。今無憂矣。此則竺乾勝方聖人居彼。故得賢王西求化人東來也。又張騫奉使。西窮河源至於大夏。聞雪山南有身毒國。其人奉浮圖。不殺罰。乘象而戰。身毒即今印度也。此則仁慈之風詳於漢史明也。上之所引。咸指印度以為西方。佛生於彼。故指佛為西方聖人。豈說洛陽以為西方老子為聖人也。又云。孔子先有猶龍之歎。故此聖德指老子者。意欲將孔子一期問禮之事。便為老子弟子。孔子曰。吾無常師。主善為師。三人行必有我師焉。故學琴於師襄。問樂於萇弘。問官於郯子。入太廟每事問。有問稼曰吾不如老農。有問圃曰吾不如老圃。此明孔子虛懷納善汲汲於道爾。豈有一事便為師焉。蓋當時老子。為守藏吏。掌周公之禮典。故孔子問之若以問禮便為孔子之師。則老農老圃亦孔子之師哉。必不然矣。沽名衒世求為人師。君子不為也。

The refutation states: Now, hawking and brokering oneself are the vile conduct of women; being neither boastful nor vainglorious is the profound ability of the sage. Thus Shun praised the merits of Yu, admiring his achievements without competing; Confucius commended Meng Zhifan, who still remained humble despite his generous service. Therefore their fine reputations spread for a thousand autumns, and their modesty shone forth to the four seas. The passage quoted above is found in full in the 'Zhongni' chapter of the Liezi. General consensus throughout history has held that these were the words of the Master praising the Buddha as the Great Sage of the West (Dharma Master Falin's memorial to Emperor Taizong of the Tang and Chancellor Zhang's Treatise in Defense of the Dharma both cite this text as referring to the Buddha as the Sage of the West). One has never heard that because Laozi was in Zhou and Confucius in Lu, he therefore referred to Laozi as the Sage of the West. Usurping names and falsely claiming sagehood—how greatly you deceive us! One who usurps the position of a sage is not benevolent; one whose words deviate from principle is not wise. Moreover, the ancestral origin of the Dao began with the Yellow Emperor and had nothing to do with Laozi. Laozi took Rongchengzi as his master and expounded the five thousand words; even if he spoke of sagehood, he could not surpass Xuan Yuan. Since Confucius did not praise even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors as sages, to turn around and call Laozi a sage—is that not excessive? Our Bhagavān completed the myriad practices, and his fruition realized the ten bodies. His radiating light pervades worlds numerous as dust motes, and his manifested bodies respond across realms vast as grains of sand. He cannot be measured by human affairs, nor sought in a physical location. He is truly the Great Master of the Triple World and the Compassionate Father of the four kinds of beings. Pacing supreme within the universe, he is the Dharma King among kings; uniquely revered beyond the world, he is the Great Sage among sages. Therefore, seated peacefully at the seat of awakening, his majestic influence prevails over myriad realms. Even with the Duke of Zhou establishing rituals and creating music, Confucius expounding the Book of Changes and editing the Book of Odes, the literary compositions of Bu Yan, the speeches of Duanmu Ci, the wide learning and rhetoric of Sima Qian, the comprehensive erudition of Ge Hong, the arcane discourse of Wang Fusi, and the magical transformations of Zuo Ci—though they all galloped across this worldly domain, their words never touched the Great Way. They may be high masters who improve society, but they can hardly be sages who transcend the world. According to records, Tianzhu is a sacred realm where all the worthy gather, where the past Buddhas were all born together. Fan Ye's Book of Han (the historian's appraisal in the 'Treatise on the Western Regions' of the Hou Han shu) states that its land is more prosperous than the Central Plains, harmonized by the jade-candle weather, a place where spiritual sages descend and assemble, and where the virtuous and noble are born. Therefore, worthy and capable individuals of ancient times frequently traveled there. Laozi's Xisheng jing (Scripture of Western Ascension) says: 'I heard that in Zhugan (now changed to 'opening the Dao in Zhugan') there is an ancient sovereign teacher who is adept at entering the unconditioned, without beginning and without end, perpetually and ceaselessly enduring; therefore I travel west.' Furthermore, an old edition of the Huahu jing (Scripture of Converting the Barbarians) states: 'Why was I born so late, and nirvāṇa achieved so early? Not having seen Śākyamuni, my heart is filled with idle sorrow.' This demonstrates that Laozi himself pointed to the Buddha as the Sage of the West. Furthermore, the Yellow Emperor dreamed of wandering to the country of Huaxu, which lies west of Yanzhou. Wang Shao's commentary notes: 'This refers to Tianzhu in the west.' During the reign of King Mu of Zhou, hearing that a Great Sage had appeared in the west, his heart was very fearful. He dispatched Zaofu to ride the eight steeds of Hualiu to ascend the Kunlun Mountains in the west to view the setting sun in order to suppress that spirit. Furthermore, a transformed person came from the extreme west who could overturn heaven and alter earth, with boundless sagely power and inexhaustible myriad transformations. King Mu revered him like a deity and built the Mid-Heaven Terrace for him to dwell. The transformed person guided King Mu on a spirit journey; in an instant, it was already like several years. Furthermore, in the fifty-second year of King Mu, the Tathāgata demonstrated his extinction; in the west there were twelve white rainbows spanning south and north, persisting through the night without extinguishing. The king asked the Grand Astrologer Hu Duo: 'What omen is this?' Hu Duo replied: 'In the west there is a Great Sage; it is merely the appearance of his signs of decline.' King Mu rejoiced and said: 'I always feared him; now I have no worry.' This proves that Zhugan is a superior land where sages dwell, which is why a worthy king sought in the west and a transformed person came to the east. Furthermore, Zhang Qian was dispatched on an embassy, tracing the source of the Yellow River westwards to Daxia; he heard that south of the Snow Mountains there was the kingdom of Shendu, whose people venerate the stupa (futoo), do not kill or punish, and ride elephants into battle. Shendu is present-day India. Thus the tradition of benevolence is clearly detailed in the Han histories. All the citations above point to India as the West; since the Buddha was born there, they refer to the Buddha as the Sage of the West. How could they speak of Luoyang as the West and Laozi as the sage? It was also said: 'Confucius previously sighed about him being like a dragon, hence this sagely virtue refers to Laozi'—with the intent of turning Confucius's single instance of inquiring about ritual into becoming Laozi's disciple. Confucius said: 'I have no constant teacher; whoever is good is my teacher.' And: 'When three people walk together, there must be a teacher for me among them.' Thus he learned the zither from Music Master Xiang, asked about music from Chang Hong, asked about official titles from the Viscount of Tan, and entering the Grand Ancestral Temple, inquired about everything. When someone asked about farming, he said, 'I am not as good as an old farmer'; when someone asked about gardening, he said, 'I am not as good as an old gardener.' This shows that Confucius was open-minded, receptive to goodness, and diligently devoted to the Dao. How could asking about one matter make someone his master? At that time, Laozi was the Archivist, managing the ritual records of the Duke of Zhou, so Confucius asked him. If inquiring about ritual makes one Confucius's master, then are the old farmer and old gardener also Confucius's masters? Surely not! Courting fame, hawking oneself to the world, and seeking to be a master of others—the gentleman does not do this.