辯正論 5.8

5.8

開士讓曰。吾聞堯舜之典。五伯不肯觀。孔墨之籍。季孟不能讀。夫夏蟲不可以語氷者。篤於時也。曲士不可與論道者。局於教也。今當為子略明斯致。夫妙色無形理融真際。大音無說體寂虛宗。不可測之於言象。不可尋之於視聽。三際推而靡得。二諦格而莫知。冲性弗遷孰能令有。至功罔墜孰能令無。然則內外湛於百非。稱謂淪於四句。暨乎無形之形。應周法界。無說之說。化洽情源。故能運大悲以鼓之。開大慈以攝之。於是著弊垢衣現生五濁。隱真實智權駕三車。考夫一米支身。本為摧伏外道。六年樹下。但欲斥破邪師（如本行經苦行品云。諸外道等或一日食。或七日食。一日一食。或七日一食。或食牛羊糞。或食藕根草枝。或常翹一脚或常舉兩臂。或四枝柱地。或五熱炙身自餓自墜塚間棘上。臥灰土中。事諸天神以求解脫。菩薩觀其邪求。乃行可畏極苦之行。住寂靜心一坐不動。如是六年。日別正食一粒鳥麻。或食粳米小豆大豆菉豆赤豆大小麥等。日唯一粒。冀得支持以活於命。身體羸瘦喘息甚弱。全無氣力手足不隨。如八九十衰朽老公。佛時說偈。菩薩既至連尼河。以清淨心岸邊坐。為諸求道不真故。欲行大苦化彼邪也）愍苦行之徒勞。傷自餓之無益（悲念外道無益苦行虛為自餓）然後食九轉乳（經史云。是時善生村主二女。聞天所告。即集千牛搆取好乳。展轉相飲至十五牛。乳著于一分淨好粳米為於菩薩煮上乳糜。當煮糜時現種種相。或現萬字之相。或現帝釋梵王之形。其乳沸涌上至半多羅樹一多羅樹。已還下無有一滴離於彼器落餘處者。於二月二十三日晨朝之時。受二牛女一鉢乳糜。食已身體平復如本。受吉祥草坐菩提樹）證三菩提。是時也。六師眷屬莫不頂鬀周羅（頂上胎髮也）千子魔王竝共歸心降伏（爾時欲界魔王。將其千子及三邪女鬼神兵眾八億。或見齊中千眼頂後八臂。口中雷震手出電光。或蛇繞左腰。或龍繞右脇。菩薩種種神變來惱菩薩。放大光明現希有相。魔王眷屬竝發善心一時稽首）邪鋒颯焉落刃。慧日赫以舒光。其汲引也如此。其威神也如彼。子所言道（九十五種之道）為彼道耶（問是九十五種道以不）為異彼乎（為非九十五也）若同彼者。即二天三仙之徒（佛未出前有摩醯首羅韋紐等二天。迦毘羅優樓迦勒沙婆等三仙。行邪三寶以化世間。如來出世竝為弟子。枝末餘者提婆菩薩後破。見智度論及百論）九十五種之裔。富蘭那等是汝之師。彼師所墮汝亦隨墮。若異彼者。即佛弟子。何得謬云。求我道故方得成佛。潘誕之言罪莫大矣。妄奏軒陛輕觸天威。理合推繩。其罪一也。眯目朝廷疑誤信心。變正為邪。其罪二也。以無上大師求域中小道。違彼經。教其罪三也。長未來之謗黷。黨見在之邪朋。自誤誤人。其罪四也。既負誷聖之愆。必入無間之獄。塵劫受苦。其罪五也。且震旦之與天竺。猶環海之比麟洲。聃乃周末始興。佛是周初前出。計其相去三十許王。論其所經三百餘載。豈有昭王世佛而退求敬王時道乎。勾虛驗實足可知也（年紀云。老子以周敬王三十二年癸丑之歲。度函谷關西入秦地。魏書云。聃與尹喜。敬王之世同出散關。至開皇五年乙巳之歲。得一千三十七載矣）儒生請曰。靈寶等經。有太上大道先天地生。欝勃洞虛之中。煒燁玉清之上是佛之師能生於佛。不言周時之老聃也。為定是耶。願聞其說。開士喻曰。五帝之前未聞有道。三王之季始有聃名。漢景帝以來方興道學。窮今討古道者為誰（丹陽余玖興撰明真論一十九篇以駁道。云夫至明者。非對暗之明也。故不可言至。靜者非對動之靜也。故不可道覆。仰尋求道經之首唱。道言者。姓氏為誰。復道阿誰言也。道若有口即具五陰。所成居在三才之內。不免無常。卒拘分段還為仙道所攝）案六書七籍三傳九流。雖為經國典謨。莫不師宗於周易也。易云。五運相生漸分清濁。兩儀既闢爰判陰陽（禮運云。太一分而為天地。轉而為陰。陽。變而為四時）所以乾元資始坤道資生。三光著象于天。乾之道也。萬物稟形于地。坤之道也（乾鑿度云。乾以象天。坤以法地。離彖云日月麗於天。百穀麗乎地）故曰。一陰一陽之謂道（說卦云。立天之道曰陰與陽。立地之道曰柔與剛。立人之道曰仁與義。兼三才而兩之。故三畫而成卦也）陰陽不測之謂神。道也者。理也。通也和也同也。言陰陽運通三才位矣。上下交泰萬物生焉。有陰陽之道理。能通生於人物。天和地同則群萌而類動也（禮月令云。天氣下降。地氣上騰。天地和同。萬物萌動也）鼓之雷霆陽動也。潤之風雨陰隨也。故知不有天地道何從生。不有陰陽道何由靈。豈得造化之前道已先出。假令有道不出天地之與陰陽（搜神契云。聖不過天地。神不過陰陽）夫天地者於事可明。陰陽者在生有驗。理數然也。不云有道先天地生。道既莫從何能生佛。昔車胤解道德云。在人為德。及物為道。殷仲文云。德者得也。道者由也。言得孝在心。故謂之德。由之而成。故謂之道。是以孝為德本。成曰。道功德彰自立之名。道有兼濟之稱。內因德而行就。外由道而化成。生之蓄之道之要也。成之熟之德之至也。故論衡云。立身之謂德。成名之謂道。道德也者為若此矣。子所言道。寧異是乎。若異是者。不足歸信。豈有頭戴金冠身披黃褐。鬢垂素髮手把玉璋。別號天尊。居大羅之上。獨名大道。治玉京之中。山海之所未詳。經史之所不載。大羅既烏有之說。玉京本亡是之談耳（案山海經云。天下名山有五千三百七十。所經五萬四千五百里崑崙最高大。其上有玄圃。蓋神仙所居。有金城石墎瓊枝玉樹寶葉金花。日月三光列于其下。雲車羽斾鳳駕龍軒玉女仙童不可勝數。次則海中三山。蓬萊方丈。孫興公名山賦云。涉海則有方壺蓬萊。登峯則有四明天台。爾雅釋山止論五嶽。玉京既是上上名山。又云。天尊所治之府。何為山經不載。廣雅無文也）子稱太上為佛師者。案往代先儒及梁承聖解五千文久有明釋言太上有四。其一曰下知有之。謂三皇至五龍。是也。其二曰次親譽之。謂伏羲與神農是也。三曰其次畏之。謂軒轅及帝嚳是也。四曰其次侮之。謂堯舜已下是也。禮記有云。太上貴德。其次務施報。謂天皇人帝為太上也。無別道神統論其教。止是訓導君民汲引浮俗。初未曾聞修萬行而趣涅槃。運四流以超生死。案道經元皇曆云。吾聞大道太上正真出於自然。是謂為佛無為之君。檢道經中。喚佛為大道為太上為自然為正真為太極為無上者。皆是佛也。又云。天竺國有古皇先生（言佛是太古元皇之先生）善入泥洹。古皇先生者。是吾師也。遊化天竺。今將返神還乎無名。絕身滅有不死不終。綿綿常存。吾今逝矣（老君知佛泥洹所以陳去化緣事了。於是告還。門人未知。今須自述云。吾師者本在西方。為此西昇申其戀慕。在文指的取證分明者也）三洞經云。佛是道父。西昇又云。天下大術佛最第一（言神通變化無窮也）化胡經云。老子知佛欲入涅槃。復迴在世。號曰迦葉。於娑羅林為眾發問。轉神入定經云。思念一切。關令傳云。老子曰。吾師號佛覺。一切民也。菜食誦經稱無上正真之道承佛威神號佛為世尊。形與神遊。受高上大聖十方至真已得佛道。檢道經處處皆稱佛為師也。吾今為子釋茲在茲。子當念茲在茲。頂受而奉行也。佛也者蓋絕稱之大宗。至妙之幽宅。不可以無取。不可以有求。果有其所以不有。故不可得而有。有其所以不無。故不可得而無。何者。若本之有境則大患永滅。推之無鄉則大悲不竭。常理不可原。自然之體也。無心以成化。大道之宗也。三五莫能始。古皇之先也。不嚴以正俗。無為之君也。混沌不可測。無名之主也。綿綿其若存。眾妙之本也。其降靈也。則為大道之師。其開化也。則為太上之父。焉得閉目以觀天地。塞耳而聽雷霆。所以佛號法王世之調御。下凡上聖靡不歸依。豈有稱五老之神。佩三皇之籙。而能為釋氏之師乎（案出官儀云。無上三天。玄元始氣太上老君。太上文人無上玄老。朝夕朝禮儀云。太上玄元五靈老君。當召功曹使者。左右龍虎君。驛龍騎吏。侍香玉童。侍香玉女。玉帝直符。然老者長也。尊也。言五老君居眾仙之尊。萬神之長。五靈五帝也。即靈威仰神。三皇者天地人也。頃峻始學篇云。天地初立有天皇。十三頭。在治一萬八千歲。括地象云。天皇九翼飛以往來。老子所事三皇五嶽。六甲符圖皆皇靈所制。老子佩之以防身也。然三皇符錄五老真文。皆丹錄五彩天文火字。言佩之長生不死。已至神仙。所敘官屬將軍吏兵。與俗無異顏光祿王斌等云。道者練形法在仙化。佛者持心教在濟物。論道所宗。三皇及與五龍也）故涅槃云。諸佛所師。所謂法也。以法常故諸佛亦常。吾更為子重明斯義。案佛說空寂所問經及天地經。皆云。吾令迦葉在彼為老子號無上道。儒童在彼號曰孔丘。漸漸教化令其孝順。須那經云。吾後千歲法當東流。王及人民奉戒修善（古錄云。周惠王時已漸佛教。一百餘年之後。老子方說五千文也。劉向序云。吾檢藏書。每見佛經。當知佛化流此久矣也）竊以三代將末六國就興。遊說之徒心存苟得。未患誇誕靡弊肉。穿鼓舌而騁奇謀。搖脣而談廣利。曹劌以之請戰屈完。於是如師感被髮之哭。伊川痛窮車之填。濟水三河震竭四夷。交侵天闇飛蛬鎬遊舞兔。彭生為豕啼之怪。杜伯見折脊之徵。假令任處阿衡身居台輔。莫不扇飄風凍雨之暴。烈迴天轉日之威。是以褒女獻王。延烽火之寇。楚人問鼎。漸滔天之逆。日者天地版蕩禮樂崩壞。名辱身殘曾無顧恥。顛家覆國安忍忘歸。詎知世界之何辜。罔念蒼生之塗炭。所以佛遣三聖權化一方。布治國之儀。敘修身之術。庶令其代邢用禮。變薄還淳。並是抑物本情。非出要之大道也。若放心於三達之境。寂慮於四德之場。功被生靈澤均彼此者。則他方大士動喻恒沙。此土發心亦如塵算。諒非文字之所稱。傳略舉六人以開慕仰。文殊屈迹於當世。彌勒補處於未來。觀音普現色身。惠覃遐劫。地藏護持震旦。化洽無窮。馬鳴兼三方於東夏。猶朝陽之啟晨暉。而使六合俱照。龍樹跨萬里於神州。若明月之燭幽夜。能令八表同光。自斯已外。或耆年而弘道。或童孺而宣法。男女異形胡漢殊類。莫不就緣施化隨處誘凡。玄功利於百王。至教流於九有。名言茲在茲。允出茲在茲。無以子夏竊仲尼之名。蝸角擬崑崙之大也。儒生肉袒叩頭矯手而舐足曰。余請罪矣。余請罪矣。

The Bodhisattva demurred, saying: “I have heard that the five hegemons would not deign to read the canons of Yao and Shun, and the Ji and Meng families could not study the texts of Confucius and Mozi. Summer insects cannot be spoken to of ice because they are bound by their season; parochial scholars cannot converse on the Dao because they are restricted by their doctrines. Now I shall briefly clarify this principle for you.

“The marvelous form is formless, its principle coalescing in the ultimate reality. The great sound has no utterance, its substance quiescent within the void principle. It cannot be fathomed through speech or image; it cannot be sought through seeing or hearing. Investigating it through the three temporal divisions, nothing is found; measuring it by the two truths, it remains unknowable. Its subtle nature does not alter—who could cause it to exist? Its supreme efficacy never fails—who could cause it to be non-existent? Thus, internally and externally it remains serene beyond the hundred negations; appellations and designations dissolve within the four extremes. Yet when its formless form manifests, its response pervades the Dharma realm; when its unuttered utterance speaks, its conversion saturates the source of sentient minds. Therefore it wields great compassion to stir them, and unfolds great loving-kindness to gather them in.

“Thereupon, donning soiled garments, he manifested birth in the five turbidities; concealing true wisdom, he provisionally drove the three carts. When we examine his subsisting on a single grain of rice, it was originally to subdue the non-Buddhists; his six years beneath the tree were solely to refute and shatter false teachers (as the ‘Chapter on Ascetic Practices’ of the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra states: ‘The non-Buddhists would eat once a day, or once every seven days; eat one meal a day, or one meal every seven days; or eat the dung of cattle and sheep; or eat lotus roots and grass stalks; or perpetually stand on one foot, or perpetually raise both arms; or support the ground with four limbs; or scorch their bodies with five fires, starve themselves, cast themselves down amid graves and onto brambles, or lie in ashes and dust, serving heavenly deities to seek liberation. The Bodhisattva, observing their errant quests, undertook terrifying and extreme ascetic practices, dwelling with a tranquil mind, unmoving in a single sitting. For six years, he ate daily only a single sesame seed, or ate non-glutinous rice, small beans, soybeans, mung beans, red beans, barley, wheat, and so forth, merely a single grain each day, hoping thereby to sustain life. His body grew emaciated and feeble, his breathing faint; devoid of all strength, his hands and feet became unresponsive, like an eighty- or ninety-year-old decrepit elder. The Buddha then spoke a verse: ‘When the Bodhisattva arrived at the Nairañjanā River, with a pure mind he sat by the bank; because those seeking the path were not true, he wished to undertake great austerity to convert those errant ones.’). Pitying the futile toil of asceticism and lamenting the uselessness of self-starvation (he sorrowed over the non-Buddhists’ useless asceticism and futile self-starvation), he thereafter partook of the ninefold-churned milk (the scriptures and histories state: At that time, the two daughters of the village headman Sujāta, having heard the announcement of the gods, gathered a thousand cows and milked them for fine milk, progressively feeding it until fifteen cows remained. The milk was cooked with a portion of pure, fine non-glutinous rice into supreme milk-rice for the Bodhisattva. While cooking the gruel, various signs appeared—either the svastika sign, or the forms of Śakra and Brahmā. The milk boiled and surged upwards to half a tāla tree or a full tāla tree in height, then returned downward without a single drop leaving the vessel or spilling elsewhere. On the morning of the twenty-third day of the second month, he received the bowl of milk-rice from the two cowherdesses; having eaten it, his body was restored as before, and receiving auspicious grass, he sat beneath the Bodhi tree) and realized supreme enlightenment (saṃbodhi).

“At that time, every follower among the retinues of the six masters had their topknots shaved (the birth-hair on top of the head), and the Demon King with his thousand sons all turned their minds and surrendered (at that time, the Demon King of the desire realm, leading his thousand sons, three errant daughters, and eight hundred million spirit troops—some with a thousand eyes in their navels, eight arms behind their crowns, thunder roaring from their mouths and lightning issuing from their hands, or snakes coiling about their left waists and dragons wrapping their right flanks—beset the Bodhisattva with various supernatural transformations; the Bodhisattva radiated vast light, displaying rare signs, and the Demon King’s retinue all gave rise to wholesome minds and simultaneously bowed their heads). The blades of error dropped instantly, and the sun of wisdom blazed, radiating light. Such was his guiding and drawing forth; such was his majestic spiritual power!

“The Dao of which you speak (the paths of the ninety-five schools)—is it that Dao (asking whether it is the ninety-five schools or not), or is it distinct from that? If it is the same as that, it belongs to the cohort of the two gods and three sages (before the Buddha appeared, there were the two gods Maheśvara and Viṣṇu, and the three sages Kapila, Ulūka, and Ṛṣabha, who practiced the false three jewels to convert the world; when the Tathāgata appeared in the world, they all became his disciples, and the remaining branches were later refuted by Āryadeva Bodhisattva, as seen in the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa and Śataśāstra), the descendants of the ninety-five schools. Pūraṇa and his cohort are your teachers; wherever those teachers fall, you too will fall. If it is distinct from that, then it is that of a disciple of the Buddha; how could one falsely claim, ‘Because he sought my Dao, he was then able to become a Buddha’?

“The culpability of Pan Dan’s words could not be greater! Wildly submitting memorials to the imperial court and flippantly offending celestial majesty, it is proper that he be disciplined by law: this is his first crime. Blinding the eyes of the court, confusing faithful minds, and turning the correct into the perverse: this is his second crime. Making the unsurpassable great teacher seek a minor local path, defying the scriptures and teachings: this is his third crime. Abetting future slander and factionalizing with present heterodox cohorts, deceiving himself and deceiving others: this is his fourth crime. Having committed the sin of deceiving the holy, he must fall into the Avīci hell, suffering torment for dust-speck kalpas: this is his fifth crime.

“Furthermore, China compared to India is like the surrounding sea compared to Linzhou. Laozi only arose at the end of the Zhou, whereas the Buddha appeared before the beginning of the Zhou. Calculating their interval, it spans some thirty kings; reckoned in years, it exceeds three hundred. How could the Buddha of King Zhao’s reign regressively seek the Dao of King Jing’s era? By eliminating falsehood and verifying facts, this is readily known (the Annals record: ‘In the thirty-second year of King Jing of the Zhou, a guichou year, Laozi crossed the Hangu Pass, entering the land of Qin to the west.’ The Book of Wei states: ‘Dan and Yin Xi exited the San Pass together during King Jing's reign; down to the fifth year of the Kaihuang era [585 CE], a yisi year, it has been 1,037 years.’).

“The Confucian scholar petitioned: ‘The Lingbao and other scriptures state that the Great Highest Dao was born before heaven and earth, surging amid the cavernous void, resplendent atop the Jade Clarity; it is the Buddha’s teacher, capable of giving birth to the Buddha, and does not refer to Lao Dan of the Zhou period. Is this definitively so? I wish to hear your explanation.’

“The Bodhisattva instructed: ‘Before the Five Thearchs, no “Dao” had been heard of; only at the end of the Three Kings did Dan’s name first appear. From the reign of Emperor Jing of Han onward did Daoist studies begin to flourish. Exhausting the present and investigating antiquity, who is this Dao? (Yu Jiuxing of Danyang composed nineteen chapters of the Treatise on Illuminating Truth to refute Daoism, stating: ‘Supreme illumination is not an illumination opposed to darkness, hence it cannot be called supreme. Ultimate stillness is not a stillness opposed to movement, hence it cannot be termed the Dao. Looking up and down to examine the opening statement of the Daoist scriptures: when the Dao speaks, what is its surname and personal name? Furthermore, whom does the Dao speak to? If the Dao has a mouth, it possesses the five aggregates; being constituted of them, it resides within the Three Powers, cannot escape impermanence, is ultimately constrained by portioned rebirth, and reverts to being subsumed under the path of immortals.’)

“Examining the Six Scripts, Seven Classics, Three Commentaries, and Nine Streams, although they serve as canons and models for governing the state, there is none that does not take the Zhouyi as its ancestral source. The Yijing states: ‘The five cosmic movements generate one another, gradually distinguishing the clear and the turbid; once the two principles are opened, yin and yang are separated’ (the Liyun says: ‘The Great One divided into heaven and earth, revolved into yin and yang, and transformed into the four seasons’). Therefore, the Qian origin supplies the beginning, and the Kun way supplies generation. The three luminaries displaying forms in heaven is the way of Qian; the myriad things receiving physical form on earth is the way of Kun (the Qianzuodu says: ‘Qian emulates heaven; Kun models after earth.’ The Tuan of Li says: ‘The sun and moon cling to heaven; the hundred grains cling to the earth.’). Hence it is said: ‘One yin and one yang are called the Dao’ (the Shuogua says: ‘Establishing the way of heaven is called yin and yang; establishing the way of earth is called soft and hard; establishing the way of man is called benevolence and righteousness. Combining the Three Powers and doubling them, therefore three strokes form a hexagram.’). ‘That which is unfathomable in yin and yang is called the spirit.’

“The Dao is principle; it is permeability, harmony, and congruence. It means that yin and yang revolve and permeate, and the Three Powers assume their positions. When the upper and lower interact harmoniously, the myriad things are born. With the principle of the Dao of yin and yang, it can permeatingly generate persons and things. When heaven harmonizes and earth concurs, the sprouts and diverse species stir (the ‘Monthly Ordinances’ of the Liji states: ‘The heavenly qi descends, the earthly qi ascends; heaven and earth harmonize, and the myriad things sprout and stir.’). Stirred by thunder, the yang moves; moistened by wind and rain, the yin follows. Thus we know that if there were no heaven and earth, from whence would the Dao arise? If there were no yin and yang, how could the Dao possess efficacy? How could the Dao have emerged prior to creation? Even supposing a Dao exists, it does not transcend heaven, earth, yin, and yang (the Soushen qi says: ‘Sages do not surpass heaven and earth; spirits do not surpass yin and yang.’)

“Heaven and earth are clearly verifiable in affairs; yin and yang are proven in life—this is the natural necessity of principle and number. It does not state that there is a Dao born before heaven and earth. Since the Dao has no prior origin, how could it give birth to the Buddha? Formerly, Che Yin explained virtue and Dao: ‘In man it is virtue; extending to things it is Dao.’ Yin Zhongwen stated: ‘Virtue (de) means attainment (de); Dao means that by which things proceed (you). This means that having attained filial piety in the heart is called virtue; proceeding according to it to completion is called Dao.’ Thus filial piety is the root of virtue; its completion is called Dao. Efficacy and virtue being manifest is a designation established of itself; Dao has the reputation of benefiting all. Internally, action is achieved through virtue; externally, transformation is accomplished through the Dao. Giving birth to and nurturing them is the essential of the Dao; completing and maturing them is the perfection of virtue. Therefore the Lunheng states: ‘Establishing oneself is called virtue; accomplishing one's reputation is called the Dao.’ Virtue and Dao are like this. Is the Dao you speak of different from this? If it differs, it is not worthy of belief.

“Could there really be one wearing a golden crown on his head, draped in yellow coarse wool on his body, with white hair hanging at his temples and holding a jade tablet in hand, separately titled Celestial Worthy, dwelling atop Great Daluo, singularly named the Great Dao, governing within the Jade Capital? The Shanhai jing does not detail it, and scriptures and histories do not record it. Great Daluo is merely an unfounded claim, and the Jade Capital is fundamentally a fictitious tale (examining the Shanhai jing: ‘The world’s famous mountains number 5,370, spanning 54,500 li. Mount Kunlun is the highest and greatest; atop it is the Xuanpu, presumably the dwelling of immortals, with golden walls, stone parapets, jasper branches, jade trees, precious leaves, and golden flowers; the sun, moon, and three luminaries are ranged beneath it; cloud chariots, feathered pennants, phoenix carriages, dragon conveyances, jade maidens, and immortal youths are countless. Next are the three mountains in the sea: Penglai and Fangzhang.’ Sun Xinggong’s ‘Rhapsody on Famous Mountains’ states: ‘Crossing the sea there are Fanghu and Penglai; climbing peaks there are Siming and Tiantai.’ The Erya’s explanation of mountains discusses only the Five Sacred Peaks. Since the Jade Capital is said to be the supreme famous mountain and the seat governed by the Celestial Worthy, why is it unrecorded in the Mountain Scripture and absent from the Guangya?).

“As for your addressing the Highest One as the Buddha’s teacher: when examining the former scholars of past dynasties and Liang Emperor Yuandong’s commentary on the five-thousand-word text, there has long been a clear explanation. It states that there are four kinds of ‘Highest’: the first is ‘those below only knew they existed,’ which refers to the era from the Three Sovereigns down to the Five Dragons; the second is ‘next, they loved and praised them,’ which refers to Fuxi and Shennong; the third is ‘next, they feared them,’ which refers to Xuanyuan and Diku; the fourth is ‘next, they reviled them,’ which refers to those from Yao and Shun downward. The Liji states: ‘The highest valued virtue; next, they exerted themselves in bestowing and requiting,’ meaning the Heavenly Sovereign and Human Sovereign were the ‘highest.’ There is no separate Dao spirit. Comprehensively examining their teachings, they merely instruct rulers and subjects, guiding mundane customs; never have we heard of them practicing the myriad deeds to advance toward nirvāṇa, or traversing the four floods to transcend saṃsāra.

“Examining the Daoist scripture Yuanhuang li: ‘I have heard that the Great Dao, the Highest True One, emerges from spontaneity; he is called the Buddha, the Lord of Wuwei.’ Checking through the Daoist scriptures, wherever they call someone the Great Dao, the Highest One, Spontaneity, the Truly Real, the Supreme Ultimate, or the Unsurpassable, all refer to the Buddha. It also says: ‘In the country of Tianzhu there was the Ancient Sovereign Master (meaning the Buddha is the master of the most ancient Yuanhuang), skilled in entering nirvāṇa. The Ancient Sovereign Master is my teacher; he traveled and transformed Tianzhu, and is now about to return his spirit to the Nameless, severing the physical and extinguishing existence, neither dying nor ending, continuously and eternally abiding. I shall now depart.’ (Laojun knew the Buddha was entering nirvāṇa, so he stated his departure, the conditions for transformation being finished; he then announced his return. His disciples did not yet know, so he had to relate himself: ‘My teacher was originally in the west.’ For this reason he ascended westward to express his longing; the text clearly cites evidence for this.)

“The Sandong jing states: ‘The Buddha is the father of the Dao.’ The Xisheng jing further says: ‘Among the great arts under heaven, the Buddha is supreme’ (meaning his supernatural powers and transformations are limitless). The Huahu jing states: ‘Laozi, knowing the Buddha wished to enter nirvāṇa, returned to the world under the name Kāśyapa, asking questions for the assembly in the Śāla grove.’ The Zhuanshen ruzding jing says: ‘Contemplating all.’ The Guanling zhuan says: ‘Laozi stated: “My teacher is named Buddha, who awakens all people.” Eating vegetables and reciting scriptures, he praised the unsurpassable, true, and authentic Dao, relied on the Buddha’s majestic spirit, and addressed the Buddha as the World-Honoured One. His physical form roamed with his spirit; receiving the exalted, great sage, the most true of the ten directions, he had already attained the Buddha-way.’ Examining Daoist scriptures, everywhere they address the Buddha as their master! I now explain this to you right here; you should keep it in mind right here, receive it upon your crown, and practice it.

“The Buddha is the great ancestor transcending designations, the profound abode of supreme marvel. He cannot be grasped through non-existence, nor sought through existence. Having that whereby he does not exist, he cannot be grasped as existing; possessing that whereby he is not non-existent, he cannot be grasped as non-existing. Why so? If based on the realm of existence, great calamity is forever extinguished; if traced to the source of non-existence, great compassion is never exhausted. His constant principle cannot be fully plumbed: this is the substance of spontaneity. Transforming without contrivance: this is the ancestor of the Great Dao. The Three and the Five could not begin him: this is the elder of the Ancient Sovereigns. Governing customs without severity: this is the Lord of Wuwei. Indiscernible and unfathomable: this is the Master of the Nameless. Continuous as if abiding: this is the root of myriad wonders. In descending his spirit, he is the teacher of the Great Dao; in opening conversion, he is the father of the Highest One. How could one shut one's eyes to observe heaven and earth, or stop one’s ears to hear thunder? Therefore the Buddha is called the Dharma King, the Tamer of the World, relied upon by ordinary beings below and exalted sages above. How could one who claims the spirits of the Five Elders and wears the tallies of the Three Sovereigns serve as the teacher of Śākya? (Examining the Chuguan yi: ‘The Unsurpassable Three Heavens, the Primal Primordial Qi, the Highest Lord Lao, the Highest Man of Letters, the Unsurpassable Primordial Elder.’ The Ritual for Morning and Evening Audiences states: ‘The Highest Primordial Five Spirits Lord Lao shall summon the Merit Officers, the Left and Right Dragon and Tiger Lords, the courier dragon-riding clerks, the incense-attendant jade youths, the incense-attendant jade maidens, and the Jade Emperor’s duty officers.’ ‘Old’ means elder and revered, meaning the Five Old Lords dwell as the most revered among the immortals, the chiefs of the myriad gods. The Five Spirits are the Five Thearchs, namely the spirit Lingwei’yang. The Three Sovereigns are Heaven, Earth, and Man. Yan Junping’s Shixue pian says: ‘When heaven and earth were first established, there was the Heavenly Sovereign, with thirteen heads, who reigned for 18,000 years.’ The Kuodi xiang says: ‘The Heavenly Sovereign had nine wings and flew back and forth.’ The Three Sovereigns, Five Sacred Peaks, and Liujia talismans served by Laozi were all instituted by sovereign spirits; Laozi wore them to protect his person. The Three Sovereigns’ tallies and registers and the Five Elders’ true texts are all written in vermilion and five colors with celestial characters of fire, claiming that wearing them grants longevity without death, elevating one to an immortal. The official retinues, generals, and troops described are no different from the secular world. Minister Yan Guanglu and Wang Bin stated: ‘Daoists refine the physical form, their method residing in immortal transformation; Buddhists discipline the mind, their teaching residing in delivering beings. Discussing what the Dao reveres, it is the Three Sovereigns and the Five Dragons.’)

“Therefore the Nirvāṇa Sūtra states: ‘That which is the teacher of all Buddhas is the Dharma. Because the Dharma is eternal, the Buddhas are also eternal.’ I shall further clarify this meaning for you: examining the Kongji suo wen jing and the Tiandi jing spoken by the Buddha, both say: ‘I dispatched Kāśyapa to that place to be Laozi, named the Unsurpassable Dao; and the Youth of Confucianism to be Kong Qiu, gradually converting them and making them filial and obedient.’ The Xuna jing states: ‘A thousand years after me, my Dharma will flow eastward; kings and peoples will uphold the precepts and cultivate good.’ (The Ancient Catalog says: ‘During the reign of King Hui of the Zhou, Buddhism was already gradually spreading; over a hundred years later, Laozi only then spoke the five-thousand-word text.’ Liu Xiang’s preface states: ‘Whenever I examined the palace archives, I always saw Buddhist scriptures; from this, know that the Buddha’s conversion flowed here long ago.’)

“I observe that when the Three Dynasties drew to a close and the Six States were rising, itinerant persuaders aimed solely at opportunistic gains, unconcerned with grandiose fabrications or the slaughter of people. Brandishing tongues to gallop bizarre plots, fluttering lips to discuss vast profits: Cao Gui thereby requested battle, and Qu Wan thereby marshaled troops. The weeping of disheveled hair stirred sorrow, and the congestion of destitute carts at the Yi River brought grief. The Ji River and Three Rivers dried up in tremor; the four barbarian tribes invaded one another; swarming locusts darkened the sky, and dancing hares romped across Hao. Pengsheng manifested the monstrosity of a crying boar; Du Bo showed the omen of a broken back. Even if one held office as a Prime Minister or sat as a Grand Chancellor, they invariably fanned the violence of gale winds and freezing rain, unleashing a ferocity that shook heaven and turned the sun. Thus the maiden of Bao was presented to the king, inviting the banditry of beacon fires; the men of Chu questioned the cauldrons, gradually mounting a treason that flooded heaven. In those days, heaven and earth were in upheaval; rites and music decayed and collapsed. With names disgraced and bodies mutilated, they felt no shame; overthrowing families and destroying states, they were callous and unreflective. How could they know the innocence of the world, or care for the misery of the common folk?

“Therefore the Buddha dispatched the three sages to provisionally transform that region, laying out rites for governing the state and describing arts for cultivating the person, hoping to replace punishment with ritual and transform shallowness back to simplicity. These were all accommodations to the fundamental dispositions of worldly beings, not the great Dao for escaping saṃsāra. But if one lets the mind roam within the realm of the three masteries, and stills contemplation in the sphere of the four virtues, with merit benefiting living beings and grace equally bestowed on self and other: then great beings from other realms outnumber the sands of the Ganges, and those giving rise to the aspiration in this land are countless as specks of dust, truly beyond the praise of written words! The biographies briefly cite six persons to inspire admiration: Mañjuśrī accommodated himself to that age; Maitreya will take the succession in the future; Avalokiteśvara universally manifests his physical body, his grace extending to distant kalpas; Kṣitigarbha protects China, his conversion pervading boundlessly; Aśvaghoṣa spanned three directions in the eastern summer land, like the morning sun unfolding its dawn brilliance to illuminate all six directions; Nāgārjuna strode ten thousand li across the divine continent, like the bright moon illuminating the dark night, causing the eight quarters to shine together. Beyond these, whether elderly in propagating the Dao, or youthful in expounding the Dharma, appearing in different forms as male or female, Hu or Han, all adapted to conditions to dispense conversion, guiding the common folk wherever they went. Their profound efficacy benefited a hundred kings; their supreme teaching flowed across the nine realms. The name and words reside right here; their authentic origin resides right here! Do not let Zi Xia steal the name of Zhongni, or compare the horns of a snail to the greatness of Mount Kunlun!’

“The Confucian scholar bared his shoulder, knocked his head on the ground, raised his hands, licked his feet, and said: ‘I beg pardon for my fault! I beg pardon for my fault!’”