弘明集 1.12

1.12

The question was asked: "The Buddha's Dao is supreme and greatest; why did Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius not cultivate it? Its words are not found within the seven classics. You already delight in the Odes and the Documents and take pleasure in the rites and music; why do you now also take fond interest in the Buddha's Dao and delight in alien arts? How could they surpass the classics and commentaries to glorify the work of the sages? I humbly think you should not adopt it." Mouzi said: "Books need not be the words of Kong Qiu; medicine need not be the prescription of Bian Que. That which conforms to righteousness is followed; that which cures illness is good. The gentleman takes widely from all goods in order to support his person. Zigong said: 'What constant master did the Master have?' Yao served Yin Shou; Shun served Wucheng; Dan studied under Lü Wang; Qiu studied under Lao Dan. None of these are seen in the seven classics either. Although these four masters were sages, compared to the Buddha, they are like a white deer to a qilin, or a swallow to a phoenix. If even Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius still studied under them, how much more so for the Buddha, whose physical marks and signs, transformations, and spiritual powers are limitless—how could one cast him aside and not study him? The events and meanings in the Five Classics sometimes have omissions; that the Buddha is not recorded in them—what cause is there to wonder or doubt?"