弘明集 1.26

1.26

問曰。夫事莫過於誠。說莫過於實。老子除華飾之辭。崇質䃼之語。佛經說不指其事。徒廣取譬喻。譬喻非道之要。合異為同非事之妙。雖辭多語博。猶玉屑一車不以為寶矣。牟子曰。事甞共見者。可說以實。一人見一人不見者。難與誠言也。昔人未見麟。問甞見者麟何類乎。見者曰。麟如麟也。問者曰。若吾甞見麟。則不問子矣。而云麟如麟寧可解哉。見者曰。麟麏身牛尾鹿蹄馬背。問者虛解。孔子曰。人不知而不慍。不亦君子乎。老子云。天地之間其猶槖籥乎。又曰。譬道於天下。猶川谷與江海豈復華飾乎。論語曰。為政以德譬如北辰。引天以比人也。子夏曰。譬諸草木區以別矣。詩之三百。牽物合類。自諸子讖緯聖人祕要。莫不引譬取喻。子獨惡佛說經牽譬喻耶。

The questioner said: "Nothing surpasses sincerity in affairs; nothing surpasses reality in explanations. Laozi removed ornate expressions and exalted simple, unadorned speech. The Buddhist scriptures, when explaining things, do not point directly to the matter, but vainly employ extensive parables and metaphors. Parables and metaphors are not the essence of the Dao; bringing together differences to make them identical is not the subtlety of affairs. Although their diction is copious and their speech broad, it is still like a cartload of jade fragments, not to be regarded as a treasure." Mouzi said: "Matters that have been witnessed together can be explained according to reality; when one person has seen something and another has not, it is difficult to speak of it with sincerity. Formerly, a person who had never seen a qilin asked one who had seen it: 'What is a qilin like?' The one who had seen it said: 'A qilin is like a qilin.' The questioner said: 'If I had seen a qilin, I would not have asked you; but to say a qilin is like a qilin—how can that be understood?' The one who had seen it said: 'A qilin has the body of a water deer, the tail of an ox, the hooves of a deer, and the back of a horse.' Then the questioner understood. Confucius said: 'Is he not a gentleman, who is not provoked though others do not understand him?' Laozi said: 'The space between Heaven and Earth, is it not like a bellows?' He also said: 'To compare the Dao to all under heaven, it is like streams and valleys to rivers and oceans'—how could this be mere ornate expression? The Analects says: 'One who governs with virtue may be compared to the North Star'—drawing upon heaven to illustrate humanity. Zixia said: 'It is like grass and trees, distinguished by their species.' The Three Hundred Poems adduce objects to categorize kinds. From the diverse masters to the apocrypha and the secret essentials of the Sages, none do not draw comparisons and take up metaphors. Why do you alone detest that the Buddha, in preaching the scriptures, adduces parables and metaphors?"