高僧傳 6.24

6.24

先是，中土未有泥洹常住之說，但言壽命長遠而已。遠乃歎曰：「佛是至極，至極則無變；無變之理，豈有窮耶！」因著〈法性論〉曰：「至極以不變為性，得性以體極為宗。」羅什見論而歎曰：「邊國人未有經，便闇與理合，豈不妙哉！」

Prior to this, the Central Lands did not yet have the doctrine of the eternal abiding of nirvāṇa, but spoke only of long life. Huiyuan thereupon sighed and said: "The Buddha is the ultimate; the ultimate is unchanging. How could the principle of the unchanging ever be exhausted!" He then composed the *Treatise on the Dharma-nature*, saying: "The ultimate takes non-change as its nature; attaining this nature takes realizing the ultimate as its principle." When Kumārajīva saw the treatise, he praised it, saying: "A person of a border country, before even having the scriptures, has secretly chimed with the principle! Is this not wonderful!"