集沙門不應拜俗等事 1.41

1.41

You say that those who perform practice and merit should calculate the toil of performing them, and ask how one can simply value and admire Śākyamuni and say nothing surpasses this. Let me venture to speak: I hold that the Buddha's Way is vast and its practices are exceedingly numerous; what can refine the spirit and complete the Way is not a single matter alone. As for keeping the mind tireless in practice and being able to toil in valuing and admiring the supreme ultimate, this is simply one aspect of practice and merit. The reason my former reply said "none surpasses this" meant that directing the mind to the supreme vehicle is a principle difficult to approach; it did not mean that the act of prostration is supreme above all else. But since we are still in the realm of the incomplete, we cannot help having our minds set on aspiring to penetrate it. Though as slight as a single straw, it is indispensable for the ultimate culmination.