集古今佛道論衡 4.41

4.41

維唐龍朔元年。京師西華觀道士朝散大夫郭行真所造。惟夫。一國朝宗一人稱聖。一土陶化一佛稱覺。故使唐虞殷夏五運推遷。過現未來三際循復。代代異材。豈惟一老。劫劫開濟。是稱多佛。無識敘稱。已形葛洪之誚。有情通議。早見周顒之說。是以李聃葬於槐里。秦失哭而不迷。馬遷演於流沙。尹喜變而垂迹。未若釋氏大聖。湜封周於環海。教義弘明。誠濟會於真俗。遂投誠欽仰奉尊歸戒。造像書經。式表虔敬。當使幽明叶讚心用之道。日隆現未。智開冥津之尊。將曉永垂弘範貽則英賢。

In the first year of the Longshuo era of the Tang, made by Guo Xingzhen, Grand Master for Court Discussion and Daoist priest of Xihua Abbey in the capital. Indeed, when a whole state pays court, one person is declared sage; when a single land is transformed, one Buddha is declared awakened. Thus Tang and Yu, Yin and Xia underwent the transitions of the five cyclic phases; past, present, and future cycle through the three periods. Different talents arise in each age; how could there be only one Lao[zi]? Across kalpas after kalpas there are deliverances; thus are many Buddhas acclaimed. The ignorant descriptions have already incurred Ge Hong's ridicule; the penetrating discussions of discerning men early appeared in Zhou Yong's discourses. Therefore, when Li Dan was buried in Huaili, Qin Shi wept without bewilderment; when Sima Qian described his departure to the flowing sands, Yin Xi transformed and left traces. Yet none can compare with the Great Sage of the Śākya clan, whose clear investiture encompassed the encircling oceans, and whose doctrine is vast and illuminating, truly reconciling the ultimate and the conventional. Thereupon, devoting his sincerity with deep reverence, he honored the venerable [teacher] and took refuge in the precepts, crafting images and copying scriptures to express his devout respect. May the unseen and the seen harmonize in praise, and the path of the mind's function daily flourish in the present and the future; may the venerable one of wisdom open the dark crossings, about to dawn, perpetually conferring a grand exemplar and bequeathing a model to the outstanding and worthy.