鐔津文集 19.26

19.26

明教大師嵩和尚。自稱藤州東山沙門。乘夙悲誓出于皇朝。始以天下縉紳先生。或未究我法大道之源。而域守所習跡佛教為夷狄之法而篾視之。至加毀滅謂無使混害中國周孔之道。和尚惜彼循枝而遺根背源而向派。非徒謂暗乎此。其學周孔之道也。可得謂能自其明而極其誠。由其誠而盡其道。以成天下大本大公。包博無外純全之妙神者耶。由於不自知。所以不知人矣。和尚博極古今儒釋教道之本。會通聖賢理事論議之跡。若振綱張網舉領提裘。目分毛斂。見者皆明。義貫理融感會神府。乃知凡聖人所出之方所示之言。特其教之跡矣。使知識之明者。由此自返所以跡所以言者。以內照之則靈于廓然。無內外無彼此。豈華夷儒釋之可辯耶。乃著之書號輔教編。以開諭縉紳先生之徒。奏之　天子。上嘉歎之。勅與班行。而名卿鉅儒至如歐陽文忠公諸豪。覽其書莫不歎服敬而禮之。復緣淺識講解輩毀其宗門。故撰正宗記定祖圖以辯其說。亦奏上行之。既而還東吳示滅。靈迹甚異。具如傳記。其牆岸法門啟迪信路。雖古高僧之雄者。不過爾耳。禪人寶智得其遺帖求跋。故援毫信手。愧不能述其萬一也。靈源叟書。

Master Mingjiao, the Venerable Song, called himself a śramaṇa of Dongshan in Tengzhou. Borne along by his past vows of compassion, he appeared under our imperial dynasty. Initially, because the gentry and scholars of the realm had not yet investigated the source of the great Dao of our Dharma, but remained confined to what they had learned, treating Buddhism as a teaching of the barbarians and looking down on it with disdain, even going so far as to destroy it, claiming that it must not be permitted to mix with and harm the Way of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius in China; the Venerable Song lamented that they followed the branches while neglecting the root, and turned their backs on the source while pursuing the streams. Not only could they be said to be blind to this [Buddhist truth], but as for their study of the Way of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, could they truly be said to bring forth their clarity, carry their sincerity to the utmost, and thereby fully realize their Way, so as to establish the great foundation and universal justice of all under Heaven, embracing all without exterior in pure, complete, and wondrous spirituality? It was because they did not know themselves that they did not know others. The Venerable Song thoroughly plumbed the source of the teachings and ways of both Confucianism and Buddhism, ancient and modern, and harmonized the traces of discourse on principle and phenomena by sages and worthies. It was just like shaking the mainline to spread the net, or lifting the collar to take up the fur coat: the meshes parted and the fur gathered together, so that all who saw it understood. The meanings were coherent, the principles harmonized, and feelings met in the spiritual storehouse; thereupon one realized that the methods brought forth and words indicated by all sages were merely the traces of their teachings. He caused those of bright discernment to turn back through this to that which gave rise to the traces and words, so that in inner reflection they became spiritually vast, with neither inner nor outer, neither this nor that—how could there be any dispute between Chinese and barbarian, Confucian and Buddhist? Thereupon he composed a book entitled Fujiao bian to enlighten and instruct the scholars and gentry, and presented it to the Son of Heaven. His Majesty praised it with admiration and decreed that it be promulgated. Renowned ministers and great scholars, such as Duke Ouyang Wenzhong and other eminent figures, upon reading his book, all sighed in admiration, respected, and honoured it. Furthermore, because shallow-minded expositors defamed his ancestral school, he composed the Chuanfa zhengzong ji and Dingzu tu to dispute their assertions, which were also presented to the throne and circulated. Afterward, he returned to Eastern Wu and manifested his passing into extinction. His miraculous traces were exceedingly extraordinary, fully recorded in his biographies. In buttressing the gate of Dharma and opening the path of faith, even the greatest among the eminent monks of antiquity did not surpass him. The Chan practitioner Baozhi obtained his surviving missive and asked for an afterword; therefore I took up the brush without hesitation, ashamed that I cannot express even one ten-thousandth of it. Written by the Old Man of Lingyuan.