集古今佛道論衡 1.2

1.2

若夫無上佛覺。逈出樊籠超三界而獨高。截四流而稱聖。故使隄封所漸。區㝢統於大千。聲教所覃。沐道霑於八部。所以金剛御座。峙閻浮之地心。至覺據焉。布英聖之良術。遂有天人受道龍鬼歸心。挹酌不相之方。散釋無明之患。然夫聖人所作起必因時。時有邪倒之夫。故即因而陶化。天竺盛於六諦。神州重於二篇。遂使儒道互先真偽交正。自非入證登位。何由分析殊途。致令九十六道競飾澆詞。六十二見各陳名理。在緣或異。大約斯歸。莫不謂無想為泥洹指梵主為生本。故二十五諦。開計度之街衢。六大論師。立神我之真宰。居然設教億載斯年。攝統塵蒙九土崇敬。考其術也。輕生而會其源。論其行也。封固而登其信。故有四韋陀論。推理極於冥初。二有天根。尋生窮於劫始。臆度玄遠冒罔生靈。致有赴水投巖坐熱臥棘。吸風露而曰仙。祖形體而號聖。守死長迷。莫知迴覺。如來哀彼黔黎降靈赤澤。曜形丈六。金色駭於人天。敷揚四辯。慧解暢於幽顯。能使魔王列陣。十軍碎於一言。梵主來儀。三輪摧於萬惑。於是鍱腹戴爐之輩。結舌伏於道場。敬日重火之徒。洗心仰於覺路。舍衛城側大偃邪鋒。堅固林中傾倒枯穴。能事既顯獎務弘通。玉關揚正道之秋。金陵表乘權之瑞。清涼臺上圖以靈儀。顯節園中陳茲聖景。度人立寺創廣仁風。抑邪通正於斯啟轍。于斯時也。喋喋黔首無敢抗言。瑣瑣黃巾時褰異議。然其化被不及於龍勒。名位無踐於槐庭王。何達其上賢。斑馬隆其褒貶。安得與夫釋門相抗。雷同混迹者哉。斯何故耶。良以博識既寡信保常迷。今則通觀具瞻義必爽開前惑。且夫其流易曉。闞澤之對天分其理難。迴。孫盛之談海截。然猶學未經遠情弊疎通邪辯逼真能無猜貳。孔丘之在東魯。尚啟虛盈。十商之據西河。猶參疑聖。自餘恒俗無足討論。今以天竺胥徒聲華久隔。震旦張葛交論寔繁。故商確由來銓衡敘列。筆削蕪濫披圖藻鏡。總會聚之號曰佛道論衡。分為甲乙四卷。如有隱括。覽者詳焉。

Now, the unsurpassable awakening of the Buddha rises far beyond all cages and enclosures, supremely transcendent above the trailokya, and cutting off the four floods, he is called a sage. Therefore, wherever the bounds of his teaching reach, the realms of the great chiliocosm are brought under its sway; wherever his vocal teaching extends, the eight classes of beings are bathed and moistened in the Dao. Thus the adamantine throne stands firm at the center of the continent of Jambudvīpa, and the Utmost Awakened One seated upon it disseminated the fine methods of the eminent sage. Thereupon gods and humans received the Dao, and dragons and spirits turned their hearts toward him; drinking deeply of the medicine that knows no marks, they dispersed and dissolved the afflictions of avidyā. Yet what a sage initiates must depend on the times; when there were perverse and inverted men, he accommodated them so as to guide and transform them. In Tianzhu, the six principles flourished; in Shenzhou, the two chapters were esteemed. Consequently, Confucianism and Daoism vied to take precedence, and the true and the counterfeit were constantly contested. Unless one enters into realization and ascends to holy stages, by what means could one discriminate between these divergent paths? Thus the ninety-six heterodox paths competed to embellish their superficial words, and the sixty-two false views each presented their reputed principles. Though differing according to conditions, in general outline they came down to this: none failed to take the thoughtless realm as nirvāṇa, or to point to Brahmā as the source of life. Therefore, the twenty-five principles opened broad avenues for speculative calculation, and the six heterodox masters established the real sovereign master of the spiritual self (ātman). They boldly set up teachings for myriad eons, bringing the dust-bound masses under their control, and the nine regions revered them. When we examine their arts, they treat life lightly to merge with its source; when we discuss their practices, they remain obstinately attached to advance their beliefs. Thus the four Vedas carry speculative principles to the ultimate extreme of the dark primordial; the two classes of gods seek the origin of life back to the start of the eon. With their subjective speculations on the arcane and remote, they blinded and deceived living beings. Consequently, some cast themselves into waters or threw themselves from cliffs, sat in extreme heat or lay on thorns; inhaling the wind and dew, they claimed to be immortals; tracing back their physical forms, they called themselves sages. Obstinately maintaining their errors in perpetual delusion, they knew nothing of turning toward awakening. The Tathāgata, pitying those dark-haired folk, descended in spiritual radiance to the Red Marsh. His body shone sixteen feet tall, its golden color striking awe into humans and gods. Proclaiming with the four analytical knowledges, his insightful understanding penetrated both the hidden and the manifest. He caused the Demon King's battle arrays—his ten armies—to be shattered by a single word; when Brahmā came to pay homage, the three wheels crushed myriad delusions. Thereupon those who plated their bellies with copper and carried braziers on their heads held their tongues and submitted in the bodhimaṇḍa; those who revered the sun and honored fire cleansed their hearts and looked up toward the path of awakening. Beside the city of Śrāvastī, he greatly blunted the spears of heterodoxy; within the Grove of the Firm, he overturned the hollow dens. His deeds having become manifest, the work of encouraging and propagating them expanded greatly. At the Jade Gate, the autumn of the true Dao was proclaimed; in Jinling, the auspicious sign of riding on expedient means appeared. Upon the Qingliang Terrace, his spiritual appearance was depicted; in the Xianjie Garden, this sacred scene was displayed. Ordaining people and founding monasteries, the benevolent breeze was first widely spread; suppressing the heterodox and promoting the true, the path was opened from this point onward. At that time, the murmuring common folk dared not raise any contrary word; only the trivial Yellow Turbans occasionally raised divergent opinions. Yet their transformation did not reach as far as Longle, nor did their names and titles ever tread the courts of the royal academies. How could they comprehend the foremost sages, or earn the praise and blame given by Ban Gu and Sima Qian? How could they stand against the Buddhist tradition, or be confused with it as equals? Why is this so? It is truly because broad knowledge is scarce, and those who maintain their beliefs are constantly deluded. Now, by taking an all-encompassing view that is plain for all to see, its principles will surely open up and dispel past confusions. Moreover, their lineages are easy to discern: Kan Ze's responses to the emperor showed that the principles are hard to bend; Sun Sheng's discourses were as decisive as cutting through the ocean. Still, when learning is not far-reaching, understanding is blocked; when perverse eloquence seems so true, how could one not harbor doubts and suspicions? Even Confucius in eastern Lu still questioned the empty and full; when the ten disciples were stationed along the Xihe River, they still had doubts about the sage. The rest of the ordinary world is hardly worth discussing. Now, since the disciples of Tianzhu have long been separated in reputation, and in Cīnasthāna the debates involving Zhang and Ge have indeed become voluminous, I have deliberated on their origins, evaluated them, and arranged them in order, pruning away the weed-like excesses and polishing them as in a mirror. Gathering them together, I have titled the work Debates between Buddhism and Daoism. It is divided into four scrolls, designated by the cyclical characters jia and yi. If there are any abridgments or revisions, readers may examine them in detail.