弘明集 8.87

8.87

釋曰。道有九十六種。佛為最尊。梵志之徒蓋是培塿爾。假使山川之神能出雲雨者。亦是有國有家之所祀焉。其云育德成國不無多少。但廣濟無邊永拔塗炭。我金剛一聖巍巍獨雄夫。太極剖判之初也已自有佛。但于時眾生因緣未動。故宜且昧名稱。何以言之。推三皇以上何容。都無禮易則乾坤兩卦。履豫二爻便當與天地俱生。雖曰俱生。而名不俱出者。良由機感不發。施用未形。其理常存其跡不著耳。中外二聖其揆一也。故立法行云。先遣三賢漸誘俗教。後以佛經革邪從正。李老之門釋氏之偏裨矣。經云。處處自說名字不同。或為儒林之宗國師道士。或寂寞無為而作佛事。金口所說合若符契。何為東西跳梁不避高下耶。嗟乎外道籍我智慧。資我神力。遂欲撓亂我經文。虔劉我教。訓人之無良一至於此也。

The response says: There are ninety-six kinds of paths; the Buddha is the most venerable. The followers of the brāhmaṇas are merely ant-hills. Even if spirits of mountains and rivers can produce clouds and rain, they are also worshipped by those who possess states and families. That their claim to "nurture virtue and establish the state" is not completely devoid of merit may be granted; but as for broadly delivering without limit and permanently pulling beings from the mire and ashes, our Adamantine Sage stands majestically as the sole hero! At the dawn of the Great Ultimate's separation, there was already the Buddha. However, at that time the causes and conditions of sentient beings had not yet stirred; hence it was appropriate that his name and title remained obscured. Why do I say this? Tracing back prior to the Three Sovereigns, how could there have been absolutely no propriety or changes? The Qian and Kun hexagrams, and the Lü and Yu lines, were born together with Heaven and Earth. Although born together, their names did not appear together, genuinely because the latent capacity and resonance had not arisen and their application had not taken shape; their principle is eternally present, yet their traces were not manifested. The two sages of China and abroad share the same measure. Therefore, the *Lifa xing* says: "First dispatch the three worthies to gradually guide through secular teachings; afterwards, use the Buddhist sūtras to transform the heterodox into the orthodox." The school of Laozi is merely an auxiliary vanguard of the Śākya clan! A sūtra says: "Everywhere I proclaim myself by different names: sometimes as the ancestral master of the Confucians, a national preceptor, or a Daoist; sometimes, in quietude and non-action, I perform the Buddha's work." What the golden mouth proclaimed fits together like tally and contract. Why do you jump about from east to west without respecting high or low? Alas! The non-Buddhists rely on our wisdom and draw upon our spiritual power, yet they proceed to confuse our scriptural texts and ravage our teachings. How could the lack of goodness in instructing people go to such an extreme as this?