弘明集 4.36

4.36

釋曰。慈護之主計亦久聞。其人責以誰子。將以文殊釋氏知謂報應之說皆是權教。權道隱深非聖不盡。雖子通識慮亦未見其極。吾疲於推求。而足下逸於獨了。良有恧然。若權教所言皆為欺妄。則自然之中無復報應。吾懦於擊決。足下列於專斷。亦又懼焉。神高聽卑。庸可誣哉。想云聖言者。必姬孔之語。今之所談皆其信順之事。而謂曾不析之。復是未經詳思來論立姬廢釋。故吾引釋符姬。答不越問。未覺多採。由余日磾不生華壤。何限九服之外不有窮理之人。內外為判誠亦難乎。若自信其度獨師。耳目習識之表皆為譎怪。則吾亦已矣。

[Zheng Daozi] explains: The lord who is the Protector with Loving-kindness—I assume you have also long heard of him. Yet you demand to know whose son he was, as if to say that Mañjuśrī and Śākya[muni] are known [merely as ordinary mortals]! You claim that the doctrine of retribution is altogether a provisional teaching. Yet the provisional Dao is profound and hidden; none but a sage can fathom it completely. Although your broad understanding considers it, you have not yet seen its utmost reaches. I wear myself out in seeking it through deduction, while you easily grasp it all on your own—I am truly humbled. If what the provisional teachings say is entirely deceitful and false, then within nature there would be no retribution at all. I am timid when it comes to rendering definitive verdicts, while you place yourself among those who make arbitrary decisions; this too makes me fearful. The spirit looks down from on high and listens to the lowly; how could one deceive it? I assume the “words of the sages” you speak of must refer to the sayings of King Wen, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius. What we are discussing now are all matters of faithfulness and obedience [taught by them]. Yet you say I have never analyzed them; this is once again a lack of careful reflection. In your argument you establish the Duke of Zhou and Confucius while discarding the Śākya[muni Buddha]; hence I cite the Śākya to tally with the Duke of Zhou. My replies do not stray from your inquiries, nor do I perceive that I have drawn overly upon [the bizarre]. Youyu and Jin Midi were not born in the Central Land, yet how could the realms beyond the Nine Zones be barred from producing those who exhaust principle? To draw a boundary between internal and external is indeed difficult! If you rely solely on your own measure and take yourself alone as teacher, deeming everything beyond your familiar sensory experience to be bizarre and extraordinary, then I have nothing more to say.