廣弘明集 18.76

18.76

孔雖曰語上。而云聖無階級。釋維曰一合。而云物有佛性。物有佛性其道有歸。所疑者漸教。聖無階級其理可貴。所疑者殆庶。豈二聖異塗將地使之然。斥離之難始是有在辭長之論無乃角弓耶。

Although Confucius said 'tell of higher things,' he said that the sage has no stages. Although Śākyamuni spoke of a single union, he said that beings have the Buddha-nature. If beings have the Buddha-nature, their Path has that to which it returns; what is doubted is the gradual teaching. If the sage has no stages, his principle is worthy of esteem; what is doubted is 'nearly there.' Could the two sages have followed different paths? It is circumstances that made it so. The difficulty of 'divisive eloquence' is where your challenge first resides; does not your prolonged discourse resemble the composite bow of horn?