弘明集 7.15

7.15

論云。佛教文而博。道教質而精。精非麁人所信。博非精人所能。疑曰。夫博聞強識必緣照遠廣。敦修善行必因理入微。照明則理無不精。理精則明無不盡。然則精博同功相為利用。博猶精也。豈麁人所能信。精猶博也。豈弘通所獨闕。

The treatise says: "The Buddhist teaching is ornate and broad; the Daoist teaching is plain and refined. The refined is not what coarse people can believe; the broad is not what refined people are capable of." The objection says: Now, broad learning and a strong memory necessarily depend on illuminating far and wide; earnest cultivation of good deeds necessarily enters into subtlety through principle. When illumination is bright, principle is entirely refined; when principle is refined, illumination is fully realized. Thus, the refined and the broad have the same efficacy and mutually serve each other. The broad is like the refined—how could coarse people believe it? The refined is like the broad—how could it be lacking only in the all-pervading?