集沙門不應拜俗等事 3.39

3.39

We venture to consider that though the multitude of office-holders maintain the principle of respecting superiors, when serving as teachers, there remains the principle of declining vassalage. How much more so does the Dharma handed down by the Buddha transcend worldly bounds! Shaving the hair is akin to self-mutilation; holding the pewter staff is utterly unlike wearing hairpin and tassel. Renunciation is not a realm of physical nourishment to parents; leaving the dust behind is hardly an arena for registering one's name in state service. Deep is its merit in salvation, and supreme is its path of veneration. Why must one breach that profound gateway to drag them into the Confucian rut, having them don Śākyamuni's robes yet perform Confucius's prostrations, dwell on the worldly path yet receive Dharma honors, preserve its teachings yet destroy its Way, and seek its blessings while bending their bodies? We have scrutinized this repeatedly and consider it contrary to universal principle. Moreover, as for the teachings of the Dao, though they preserve the hair and skin, their renunciation and transcendence of the worldly return to the same principle. Furthermore, they anciently marked the heavenly framework and vastly initiated the imperial foundation; by principle they are invested with solemnity, and in model they accord with holding one's pursuit aloft. Both should follow old precedents without blemishing the constant statutes. If one must innovate changes, we fear this would not be following antiquity. Although reverence for ruler and parents deeply concerns the imperial mind, the Dharma of the Way is hard to diminish, and thus still engages the sagely contemplation. Having received the edict soliciting humble opinions, we dare to exhaust our sincere, dust-like dedication. Fearing it may not meet with your approval, we are deeply awed and trembling. Respectfully submitted.