佛祖歷代通載 8.26

8.26

The commentary states: Worldly wisdom and eloquent cleverness are what human feelings admire and take to be spiritual brilliance; yet the Buddha, the Bhagavān, regarded them as one of the eight difficulties. Why is this? Lingyun relied on his talent and looked down on the world, and was executed for treason. Huilin altered his appearance, wore the saṃghāṭī, and surreptitiously meddled in court affairs; having already betrayed the teaching, he further proceeded to slander the Buddha, and consequently suffered an evil retribution unto death. Alas, that worldly wisdom is indeed a difficulty is evident! The two men, Huiguan and Huiyan, presumptuously applied worldly sentiments to lightly criticize the sacred scriptures; had they not encountered the divine being's rebuke, they too would scarcely have escaped the calamity of worldly wisdom. How great were the replies to the throne given by Guṇavarman and He Shangzhi! It can be said that their purport fully plumbed the general principles and their understanding exhausted the refined subtleties; they are truly universally valid discourses under Heaven.