弘明集 6.32

6.32

吾門世恭佛。舅氏奉道。道也與佛逗極無二。寂然不動。致本則同感而遂通逢迹成異。其猶樂之不治不隔五帝之祕。禮之不襲不弔三皇之聖。豈三與五。皆殊時故不同其風。異世故不一其義。安可輒駕庸愚。誣問神極。吾見道士與道人戰。儒墨道人與道士獄是非。昔有鴻飛天首。積遠難鳧。越人以為鳧。楚人以為乙。人自楚越耳。鴻常一鴻乎。夫澄本雖一吾自俱宗。其本瀉迹既分。吾已翔其所集。汝可專尊於佛迹。而無侮於道本。

My family has revered the Buddha for generations, while my maternal uncle's family served the Dao. The Dao and the Buddha reach the ultimate without duality. Tranquil and unmoving, they arrive at the root in identity; stimulated, they penetrate everywhere, producing differences when meeting with traces. It is like the music not being uniform yet not obstructing the secret of the Five Emperors, or the rituals not being inherited yet not lamenting the sages among the Three Sovereigns. How could the Three and Five be so? Because their times were different, their customs were not the same; because their ages were diverse, their significance was not identical. How could one rashly employ common foolishness to falsely question the spiritual ultimate? I see Daoists battling with śramaṇas, and Confucians, Mohists, and śramaṇas holding trials of right and wrong with Daoists. Once, a wild goose flew across the expanse of the sky; because of its great distance, it was hard to tell from a duck. A person of Yue took it for a duck, and a person of Chu took it for a swallow. The people were merely of Chu and Yue—was the wild goose ever anything other than one wild goose? Although the pure root is one, I naturally revere both; as its root has poured forth and its traces have divided, I have already soared to where it settles. You may exclusively honor the traces of the Buddha, but do not slight the root of the Dao.