佛祖歷代通載 5.49

5.49

The questioner asked: "Confucius took the Five Classics as the teaching of the Way, which one can recite with folded hands and step forth to put into practice. Now you speak of the Way as empty, non-existent, indistinct, and elusive, showing neither its meaning nor pointing out its affairs. Why does it differ so from the words of the sages?" Master Mou said: "One must not value only what one is accustomed to and disparage what is rare, being misled by external categories and losing the inner truth. Establishing an undertaking without deviating from the Way and its Virtue is like tuning strings without losing the gong and shang notes. The Heavenly Way models itself on the four seasons; the human Way models itself on the Five Constants. Laozi said: 'There was a thing formed out of chaos, born before Heaven and Earth; it may be taken as the mother of all under Heaven. I do not know its name; forced to give it a character, I call it the Way.' As for the Way as an entity: staying at home, one can serve parents with it; governing a state, one can rule the people with it; standing alone, one can cultivate oneself with it. Stepping forth to put it into practice, it fills Heaven and Earth; setting it aside and not using it, it recedes without departing. You do not understand it—what difference could there be?" The questioner asked: "Now, the utmost truth is not ornate, and the utmost speech is not adorned. Words that are concise yet profound are elegant; affairs that are few yet far-reaching are clear. Therefore, pearls and jade are rare and valuable, while tiles and gravel are abundant and cheap. The root of the Seven Classics established by the sages does not exceed thirty thousand words, yet all affairs are fully provided therein. Now the Buddhist scriptures are counted in the tens of thousands of fascicles and words in the hundreds of millions, which is not what the strength of a single person can endure. I consider it burdensome and non-essential." Master Mou said: "The reason the great rivers and the sea differ from ruts and puddles is that they are deep and wide. The reason the Five Sacred Peaks are distinguished from mounds and hills is that they are lofty and immense. If their height did not exceed that of hills and mounds, a lame sheep could mount their summits; if their depth did not exceed that of a trickling stream, a child could bathe in their deep pools. The qilin does not dwell within parks and enclosures; a fish that can swallow a boat does not swim in a creek of a few fathoms. If you crack open a three-inch clam to seek a lustrous pearl, or search a bramble nest to seek the fledgling of a fenghuang, you will certainly find it difficult to obtain. Why? Because the small cannot contain the large. The Buddhist scriptures recount the events of hundreds of millions of years in the past, and explain the essentials of myriad generations to come. Before primordial substance arose, before the great beginning was born, when Qian and Kun first emerged, its subtlety cannot be grasped, its minuteness cannot be entered. The Buddha encompassed everything beyond their vastness, and dissected everything within their profound subtleties, recording every single thing. Therefore, its scriptures are counted by the tens of thousands of fascicles, and its words by the hundreds of millions. The more numerous they are, the more complete; the more manifold, the richer. How could they be non-essential? Although it is not what one person can exhaustively endure, it is like going to a river to drink: drinking one's fill and being satisfied oneself, why should one care about the rest?" The questioner asked: "Since the Buddhist scriptures are so numerous, I wish to take their essentials and discard the rest, speaking directly of their reality and removing their ornament." Master Mou said: "No. The sun and the moon both shine, each having what it illuminates; the twenty-eight lunar lodges each have what they govern; the hundred medicinal herbs sprout together, each having what it cures. Fox furs prepare against the cold; fine and coarse linen ward off the summer heat. Boats and carriages take different routes, yet both carry travelers to their destination. Confucius did not, on account of the completeness of the Five Classics, refrain from composing the Chunqiu and the Xiaojing, because he wished to broaden the arts of the Way and accommodate human inclinations. Although the Buddhist scriptures are numerous, their convergence is one. It is just as the Seven Classics differ from one another, yet their valuing of the Way, virtue, benevolence, and righteousness is likewise one. The reason filiality is spoken of so extensively is that it is granted in accordance with people's conduct. When Zizhang and Ziyou both inquired about the same filiality, Confucius answered them differently, addressing each one's shortcoming. What is there to discard?"