廣弘明集 13.104

13.104

The Buddhist response says: Śākya was born at the beginning of the glorious Zhou; Laozi was born at the end of the Ji lineage. In terms of years, they differ by more than two hundred; in terms of generations, by more than ten kings. The purple vapor and the green ox did not exist in the eras of Kings Zhao and Zhuang; the miraculous light and the white elephant had nothing to do with the years of Kings Huan and Jing. However, a profound fog obscures the heavens, and muddy torrents shroud the earth. When Wenzhong performed improper sacrifices, Confucius censured him as unwise; when Ziqin disparaged the Sage, Cigong ridiculed his erroneous words. A blemish in words is hard to erase; a four-horse team cannot overtake the tongue. This is truly not false! (First, refuting the foolish; next, praising the Sage.) Now, condescending with traces in response to common mortals, he lodged his body in a fragile vessel; seizing the opportune moment to transform beings, he shared a lifespan of a hundred years. Hence, because fruits are bound by causal cultivation, the bodhisattva Xinxin thereby gave rise to doubt; because his age was short while his conversions were wide, Maitreya for that reason raised questions. A colossal peak cannot be weighed by balances and weights—this illustrates that his long lifespan is yet unimaginably distant. The profound void cannot be measured by feet and rods—this compares to the kalpas being remote and limitless. How could one know that seeking immortality in a snake’s cave instead shortens one's life in the world, and awaiting medicine from a rainbow ribbon still fails to prolong one's age? This is like a rising quail striving for height alongside the roc's wings, or a galloping nag competing in distance with the steed's strides. This is the sixth inferiority of your Dao.