集沙門不應拜俗等事 1.28

1.28

中軍將軍尚書令宜陽開國侯桓謙等。惶恐死罪。奉誨。使沙門致敬王者。何庾雖論意未究盡。此是大事。宜使允中。實如雅論。然佛法與堯孔殊趣。禮教互乖。人以髮膚為重。而彼髠削不疑。出家棄親。不以色養為孝。土木形骸絕欲止競。不期一生要福萬劫。世之所貴已皆落之。禮教所重意悉絕之。資父事君天屬之至。猶離其親愛。豈得致禮萬乘。勢自應廢。彌歷三代置其絕羈。當以神明無方示不以涯檢視聽之外。或別有理。今便使其致恭。恐應革者多非唯拜起。又王者奉法出於敬。信其理而變其儀。復是情所未了。即而容之。乃是在宥之。弘王令以別答公難孔國張敞在彼想已面諮所懷道寶。諸道人並足酬對高旨。下官等不諳佛理。率情以言。愧不足覽。謙等惶恐死罪。

General of the Central Army, Prefect of the Masters of Writing, and Founding Marquis of Yiyang, Huan Qian, and others, in dread and under penalty of death: We have received your instruction concerning having the śramaṇas pay homage to the ruler. Although He and Yu debated it, their intentions were not fully exhausted. This is a momentous matter, and it should indeed be brought to a fitting mean; it is truly as your refined argument states. However, the Buddha-Dharma and Yao and Confucius have different directions; their ritual teachings diverge from one another. Ordinary people regard hair and skin as weighty, yet those monks shave and shear them without hesitation; renouncing their families and abandoning their kin, they do not regard cheerful service as filial piety. Viewing their physical bodies as earth and wood, they sever desires and cease contention; not expecting blessings in a single lifetime, they seek them across ten thousand kalpas. What the world values, they have already cast aside; what the ritual teachings esteem, their minds have entirely severed. Serving one's father and serving one's ruler are the utmost of natural ties; yet if they can detach themselves even from their own flesh and blood, how could they render ritual homage to the ruler of ten thousand chariots? By the force of circumstances, [such homage] naturally ought to be set aside. Across the span of three dynasties, they were left unbridled; this must be because the divine intelligence is without fixed direction, showing that it cannot be restrained within boundaries. Beyond what is seen and heard, there may well be another principle. If we now make them show deference, we fear that much would need to be changed, not just kneeling and rising. Furthermore, when rulers venerate the Dharma, it arises from reverence; to believe in its principles yet alter its rituals would likewise be baffling to human feelings. To accommodate them as they are is precisely the magnanimity of letting things be and tolerating them. The Director of the Imperial Secretariat has separately replied to your difficulties; Kong Guo and Zhang Chang are there, and I imagine they have already consulted you face-to-face on what they hold; Daobao and the other men of the Way are all fully capable of answering your exalted views. We subordinates do not understand Buddhist principles and have merely spoken straightforwardly according to our sentiments, ashamed that our words are unworthy of your perusal. Qian and others, in dread, under penalty of death.