廣弘明集 11.12

11.12

Yi says: 'Within the seas, those who are diligent in serving the king are few, while those who delight in private gain are many. Outwardly they serve the barbarian Buddha, while inwardly giving birth to false views. They shave off hair and skin, change their garments, leave the gates of ministers and sons, and enter the households of monks and nuns. Standing, they are received at the royal court; sitting, they look upon those under their knees. Disloyal and unfilial, they gather in adjoining chambers. Furthermore, the Buddha was in the Western Regions; His words were bewitching and the road is far. He abandoned kin and chased wealth, feared the strong and slighted the old, valued the wealthy and powerful while looking down on the poor and weak, loved the young and fair while despising the elderly. He used illusion and bewilderment as arts and skills, and deceit and imposture as his doctrine. The Buddha was indeed a family ghost of a single surname; being a ghost, he does not encompass other clans. How can living Chinese be driven to serve a dead barbarian, despising this bright pearl and valuing that fish eye, abandoning a strict father while revering another person? Where has it ever happened that kneeling to ten mud barbarians makes one a minister, or placing a bowl of leftover rice makes one an emperor? Based on the Buddha's false doctrines, it is contrary to human sentiment. Furthermore, the Buddha was facetious; His grand words did not reach those of Dan and Meng; His extravagance and fabrications bore offenses deeper than Jie and Zhou. Entering a household, He ruined the household; entering a state, He ruined the state.' We respond: Those who leave the household inwardly bid farewell to their dear kin, and outwardly relinquish official glory; their intention seeks unsurpassed bodhi, and their vow is to emerge from the bitter sea of birth and death. Therefore they discard court robes and don the robe of the field of merit, practicing the Way to repay the four favors, and establishing virtue to assist the three modes of existence. This is its grand purpose. If it is said that the Buddha is a barbarian ghost and monks are bald fellows: examining the classics and books of Confucius and Laozi, and internal and external historical records since the Han and Wei, we briefly cite passages where Confucius and Laozi revered the Buddha as master, with textual witnesses as follows, to reply to this perverse person, hoping he will confess his crime. The Daoist Falun jing says: 'If you see a śramaṇa, reflect with boundless thought: may I quickly leave the household to practice the Buddha's truth.'