弘明集 1.43

1.43

問曰。為道者或辟穀不食。而飲酒啖肉。亦云老氏之術也。然佛道以酒肉為上誡。而反食穀。何其乖異乎。牟子曰。眾道叢殘凡有九十六種。澹泊無為莫尚於佛。吾觀老氏上下之篇。聞其禁五味之戒。未覩其絕五穀之語。聖人制七典之文。無止糧之術。老子著五千文。無辟穀之事。聖人云。食穀者智。食草者癡。食肉者悍。食氣者壽。世人不達其事。見六禽閉氣不息秋冬不食欲効而為之。不知物類各自有性。猶礠石取鐵不能移毫毛矣。

The questioner asked: Some practitioners of the Dao abstain from grains and do not eat, yet they drink wine and consume meat, also calling it the method of Master Lao. Yet the Buddha's Dao takes wine and meat as its highest prohibition, but on the contrary eats grains. Why are they so contradictory? Mouzi said: The miscellaneous paths are fragmented and broken, totaling ninety-six kinds; in tranquility and non-action, none surpasses the Buddha. I have examined the upper and lower chapters of Master Lao: I have heard his prohibitions against the five flavors, but I have not seen any words of his cutting off the five grains. The sages established the texts of the Seven Classics, and they have no method of stopping provisions; Laozi composed his five thousand words, and there is no mention of abstaining from grains. The sages said: 'Those who eat grains are wise; those who eat grasses are foolish; those who eat meat are fierce; those who eat qi are long-lived.' Worldly people do not understand these matters; seeing the six kinds of creatures hold their breath without respiring and not eat in autumn and winter, they wish to imitate them and do so, not knowing that each kind of thing has its own nature, just as a lodestone attracts iron but cannot move a fine hair.