高僧傳 8.88

8.88

論曰：夫至理無言，玄致幽寂。幽寂故心行處斷，無言故言語路絕。言語路絕，則有言傷其旨；心行處斷，則作意失其真。所以淨名杜口於方丈，釋迦緘默於雙樹。將知理致淵寂，故聖為無言。但悠悠夢境，去理殊隔；蠢蠢之徒，非教孰啟？是以聖人資靈妙以應物，體冥寂以通神，借微言以津道，託形像以傳真。故曰：兵者不祥之器，不獲已而用之；言者不真之物，不獲已而陳之。故始自鹿苑，以四諦為言初；終至鵠林，以三點為圓極。其間散說流文，數過八億。象馱負而弗窮，龍宮溢而未盡。將令乘蹄以得兔，藉指以知月。知月則廢指，得兔則忘蹄。經云：「依義莫依語。」此之謂也。而滯教者謂至道極於篇章，存形者謂法身定於丈六。故須窮達幽旨，妙得言外，四辯莊嚴，為人廣說，示教利憙，其在法師乎！

The appraisal states: The supreme truth is without words; its profound import is tranquil and solitary. Because it is tranquil and solitary, the path of mental operation is cut off; because it is without words, the way of language is severed. When the way of language is severed, words harm its purport; when the path of mental operation is cut off, mental conceptualization loses its reality. This is why Vimalakīrti closed his mouth in his one-zhang room, and Śākyamuni kept silence between the twin trees. One may know that because the principle and its purport are abyssal and quiet, the sage was silent. But the lingering realm of dreams is utterly removed from the truth; without teachings, who could awaken the teeming masses? Therefore, relying on spiritual wonder, the sage responds to things; embodying dark quietude, he penetrates the spirit; borrowing subtle words, he ferries people across to the Way; and entrusting to forms and images, he transmits the true. Hence it is said: 'Weapons are instruments of ill omen; they are used only when there is no choice. Words are things that are not the truth; they are set forth only when there is no choice.' Thus, starting from the Deer Park, the Four Noble Truths were the first words spoken; reaching at last the Crane Grove, the three dots formed the ultimate perfection. In between, his discourses and flowing texts numbered over eight hundred million. Elephants carrying them could not exhaust them, and the dragon palace overflowed without containing them all. He intended that people should use the snare to catch the hare, and rely on the finger to perceive the moon. When the moon is perceived, the finger is abandoned; when the hare is caught, the snare is forgotten. The sūtra says: 'Rely on the meaning, not on the words.' This is what it means. Yet those attached to the teaching say that the ultimate Way is exhausted in texts, and those clinging to form say that the Dharmakāya is fixed at sixteen feet. Therefore, one must plumb and penetrate the hidden purports, marvelously apprehending what lies beyond words; adorned with the four unhindered eloquence, one explains them broadly to others, instructing, benefiting, and gladdening them. Does this not rest with the Dharma master?