廣弘明集 1.4

1.4

序曰。夫邪正糺紛愚智繁雜。自非極聖焉能兩開。所以欲主天魔猶能變為佛相。況餘色有孰可言哉。固知一洲萬國一化千王。互興廢立不足論評。是以九十六部。宗上界之天根。二十五諦。討極計之冥本。皆陳正朔。號三寶於人中。咸稱大濟。敷四等於天下。又有魯邦孔氏。導禮樂於九州。楚國李公。開虛玄於五岳。匪稱教主。皆述作於先王。贊時體國。各臣吏於機務。斯並衢分限域（謂流沙以東孔老之化及葱河以西異部之所統也）辯御乖張理路天殊。居然自別。何以明其然耶。故西宇大夏。眾計立於我神。東華儒道。大略存於身國。孰解妄想流愛纏綿於九居。倒情徙滯。祛除於七識。致令惑網覆心莫知投向。昏波漾目寧辯歸依。不可効尤。務須反本。原夫小道大道自古常談。大聖小聖由來共述。至於親承面對。曾未覺知。雷同體附相從奔競。故有剋念作聖狂哲互稱。即斯為論未契端極。昔皇覺之居舍衛。二十五年。九億編戶逆從太半。素王之在赤縣。門學三千。子夏蔑而致疑。顏回獨言莫測。以斯論道。又可惑焉。夫以會正名聖。無所不通。根塵無礙於有空。陶冶莫滯於性欲。形不可以相得。挺金姿之四八。心不可以智求。垂不共之二九。斯止一人名佛聖也。故能道濟諸有。幽顯咸所歸依。自餘鴻漸。天衢之所未陟。且自方域位殊義非叨僭。若夫天無二日國無二王。惟佛稱為大聖。光有萬億天下。故今門學日盛。無國不仰其風。教義聿修。有識皆參其席。彼孔老者名位同俗不異常人。祖述先王自無教訓。何得比佛以相抗乎。且據陰陽八殺之略。山川望祑之祠。七眾委之若遺。五戒捐而不顧。觀此一途。高尚自足投誠。況有聖種賢蹤。則為天人師表矣。是知天上天下惟佛為尊。六道四生無非苦者。身心常苦義畢驅馳。不思此懷妄存高大。大而可大則不陷於有為。既履非常固可歸於正覺。有斯事類。故敢序之云爾。

The preface says: The heterodox and orthodox are entangled, the foolish and wise densely mixed; unless one is an ultimate sage, how could one illuminate both? Therefore, the lord of desire, deva-māra, could still transform into the Buddha's likeness—how much more so can anything be said of the remaining realms of form and existence? Thus we know that in a single continent of ten thousand states, with a thousand kings under a single transformation, their mutual rise, fall, establishment, and destruction are not worth discussing. Hence, the ninety-six non-Buddhist schools venerate the heavenly roots of the upper realm; the twenty-five tattvas investigate the primordial darkness of extreme reckoning. All proclaimed their own calendars, styling themselves as the triratna among humans; all claimed great salvation, spreading the four immeasurables throughout the world. Furthermore, there was Master Kong of the state of Lu, who guided ritual and music throughout the Nine Provinces; and Lord Li of the state of Chu, who opened the vacuous and mysterious among the Five Sacred Peaks. Not styling themselves religious founders, both transmitted and composed from ancient kings, assisting the times and embodying the state, each serving as ministers and officials in governing affairs. These all parted ways into distinct domains (meaning the transformations of Confucius and Laozi east of the Moving Sands, and the administration of different schools west of the Congling River); their debate and governance differed, their paths of principle worlds apart, naturally distinct. How do we know this to be so? In Da Xia of the Western Realms, various theories were established upon a self and spirit; in Confucianism and Daoism of the Eastern Land, main outlines were preserved within body and state. Who understood that false conceptions and flowing attachments are entangling across the nine abodes, and that contrary passions and shifting attachments are expelled at the seventh consciousness? This causes the net of delusions to cover the mind, not knowing where to turn; turbid waves dazzle the eyes, how could they discern what to take refuge in? One must not follow bad examples; one must return to the root. Inquiring into the petty ways and great ways, these have been common talk from antiquity; great sages and petty sages have been described together from the beginning. Yet when facing them directly in person, people never recognized them, uncritically conforming, attaching themselves, and rushing along together. Thus, whether subjugating thoughts makes a sage, the mad and the wise were reciprocally acclaimed; but discussing along these lines does not yet accord with the ultimate truth. Formerly, when the Sovereign Enlightened One dwelled in Śrāvastī for twenty-five years, among the nine hundred million households, more than half were rebellious or compliant. When the Plain King was in the Red County, his disciples numbered three thousand; Zixia slighted him and harbored doubts, while Yan Hui alone said he was unfathomable. Discussing the Way in this light, one may again be bewildered. Now, matching the correct is called 'sagely'; there is nowhere it does not penetrate. Sense faculties and objects are unhindered in existence and emptiness; cultivation is not stalled in nature or desire. His form cannot be grasped by marks, yet he displays the golden appearance of thirty-two [marks]; his mind cannot be sought by intellect, yet he manifests the eighteen unshared [qualities]. This pertains to only one person, called the Buddha Sage. Therefore, his Way can rescue all forms of existence; the unseen and the manifest both take refuge in him. As for other wild geese rising, they have not yet ascended the heavenly path; moreover, their regions and positions being distinct, their claims are not unwarranted usurpations. If heaven has no two suns and a state has no two kings, only the Buddha is called the Great Sage, whose light encompasses myriads of worlds. Therefore, today his disciples flourish daily, and no country does not look up to his style; the teachings and doctrines are cultivated, and all who possess consciousness take part in his assembly. Those two, Confucius and Laozi, shared their names and stations with the secular, not differing from ordinary persons; transmitting the ancient kings, they lacked instructions of their own. How could they be compared with the Buddha so as to rival him? Moreover, based on the outlines of yin-yang and the eight destructions, and the sacrifices of looking toward mountains and rivers, the seven assemblies discard them as if abandoned, and the five precepts cast them aside without regard. Observing this single path, the lofty-minded are fully sufficient to surrender their sincerity; how much more so with the sacred seed and worthy traces, which serve as models for devas and humans! From this we know that in heaven above and heaven below, only the Buddha is honored; among the six realms and four forms of birth, none are not suffering. Body and mind are ever plagued by suffering, driven to the end; not pondering this concern, they falsely retain notions of greatness. If that which is great can truly be great, it does not sink into the conditioned; having walked the impermanent, one should surely take refuge in the True Enlightenment. Having matters of this sort, I therefore venture to write this preface.