釋迦譜 1.2

1.2

I have heard that bodhi is the ultimate: miraculous, tranquil, and pervasive; its perfect wisdom clear and illuminating. The Way is beyond the confines of form and consciousness; its principle ends outside the realm of arising and ceasing. When form and consciousness have long been severed, could [a buddha] truly be born in a royal palace? When arising and ceasing are already ended, could he truly perish at [Kuśinagara,] the Solid [Place]? Yet living beings sleep an eternal slumber and are all to return to the Great Awakened One. When conditions arise, transformation ensues; where resonance reaches, an response is assured. If he responded without taking birth, with whom would he awaken the common world? If he transformed without a name, how could he guide the mundane realms? For this reason, he took the name Śākya and possessed the lineage of the kṣatriya, embodying the supreme honor of the realm and topping the outstanding among humans and gods. Thereafter, he cast off his shoes in the crown prince's palace and engaged in true contemplation beneath the bodhi tree, renouncing the golden wheel to govern the trichiliocosm and brightening the jade urna to regulate the dharmadhātu. This is why he left his traces [in the world]. From his descent into the womb to the dividing of the stūpa relics, marvelous transformations were a thousandfold, and spiritual omens assumed myriad forms. All of these have their meanings illuminate the scriptures and their events fill the chronicles and biographies. Yet the accounts vary, and beginnings and endings are scattered throughout; the sequence of events is tangled and divergent, and agreements and differences are inconsistent. When beginnings and endings are scattered, there must be a unifying standard; when agreements and differences are inconsistent, they must rely on an underlying harmony. Thus we know that widely scattered sayings are difficult to master, whereas a synthesized collection is easy to review. I, Sengyou, lack intelligence, and my deeds fall short of extensive learning; yet finding leisure during an illness, I indulged in searching and reflection. Thereupon I opened the scriptures and examined the records, tracing things from their origins to their conclusions, and reverently composed the *Genealogy of Śākya(muni)*, arranging the records into five rolls. These encompass the origins of the descent and births of the lineage, the essentials of attaining the Way and delivering people, the proofs of the stūpas and images of nirvāṇa, and the omens of the decline and disappearance of the bequeathed Dharma. I gathered the various sūtras to rectify the root text and joined mundane records to append to the end, separating the holy words from secular accounts and cross-referencing ancient lore with contemporary traces. Though separated by ten thousand leagues, it is as if trodden in person; though obscured by a thousand years, it is without hindrance, as if face to face. Now, excerpting and collecting the various sūtras, I transmit without innovating, hoping to spare researchers effort and achieve double the result. Reverently offering my sincere heart, I briefly set forth my vows: