折疑論 5

English (machine translation) 5

Language: English

5.1

Composed and annotated by Siṃha Bhikṣu of the Western Regions, at Dacien Monastery on the Jintai Platform

5.2

19. The Concord of Words (This chapter brings together the principles of the Three Teachings in harmonious accord; hence it is called 'The Concord of Words.')

The guest said, 'As for the Way of difference and convergence between the two teachings of Confucius and the Buddha, I have perhaps grasped the general outline. ('General outline' means the broad summary. As for the Way of difference and convergence between the two teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism, I have perhaps grasped the broad summary.)

5.4

'I do not yet know: regarding the words of Laozi and the statements of Confucianism and Buddhism, may I ask if there are also commonalities between them?'

5.5

Miaoming said, 'There are. But eras vary between the pure and the frivolous, and capacities vary between the great and the small; each accords with what is appropriate. (The Book of Han says, 'The frivolous and pure, the scattered and unhewn, each accord with what is appropriate.')

5.6

'The teachings have the shallow and the deep. Although they cannot be entirely identical, there are also words that can be seen as agreeing. Confucius said: "To those of medium capacity and above, one may speak of higher things; to those below medium capacity, one may not speak of higher things." (Yu is pronounced in the falling tone. In the Analects, yu means to tell. This means that when teaching people, one should instruct according to their higher or lower level; then one's words will easily enter, without the fault of skipping over grades.)

5.7

'Laozi said: "When the superior person hears of the Way, he diligently practices it. When the middling person hears of the Way, it is as though it exists and as though it does not. When the inferior person hears of the Way, he laughs loudly at it." (The superior person has only wisdom and not folly, and diligently practices the Way. When the middling person hears of the Way, he can go up or down. The inferior person has only folly and not wisdom, and turns around to laugh at the sage's Way. Hence the superior person awakens, the middling person doubts, and the inferior person remains deluded.)

5.8

'The Buddha said: "Great roots, great stems, great branches, great leaves; middling roots, middling stems, middling branches, middling leaves; small roots, small stems, small branches, small leaves." (The Lotus Sūtra says that the three grades—upper, middling, and lower—refer to the three vehicles.)

5.9

'Bodhidharma did not speak for nine years. (The ancestral master crossed the sea and came, facing the wall for nine years at Shaolin.)

5.10

'Yan Hui seemed foolish all day long. (Confucius said, 'I talk with Hui for a whole day; he does not disagree, appearing like a fool.')

5.11

'Laozi said: "Much talk frequently leads to exhaustion; it is better to hold to the center." (Shu means frequently. The Way does not pertain to words. When words are many and frequent, vital energy is exhausted; it is better to hold to the singular Way of the center.)

5.12

'Ji Kangzi, distressed about thieves, asked Confucius. Confucius replied: "If you yourself were not covetous, even if you rewarded them for it, they would not steal." (Moreover, if the superior is not greedy and desirous, then even if he rewards the people and tells them to become thieves, the people, knowing shame, will not steal.)

5.13

'Laozi said: "Do not prize goods that are hard to obtain, so that the people will not become thieves." The Buddha said: "Do not keep gold, silver, or images of living beings." The Classic of Documents says: "Only by not boasting will no one under heaven contend with you for merit." (Fa means boasting. If one does not boast of having merit, then no one under heaven will contend with you for that merit.)

5.14

'"Only by not being proud will no one under heaven contend with you for ability." The Supreme Lord said: "He who looks only at himself is not clear-sighted. He who asserts himself is not prominent. He who boasts of himself has no merit. He who is proud of himself does not endure." (He who is attached only to his own views will certainly not be clear about the Way. He who declares himself to be right will certainly not have his Way and virtue made prominent. He who boasts of himself will certainly have no merit. He who is proud of his abilities will certainly not endure for long.)

5.15

'The Buddhist sūtra says: "Do not intentionally praise oneself and deprecate others." These belong to the same category. (The sūtra says one must not praise and boast of oneself while slandering and deprecating others.)

5.16

'Examples such as these are numerous. (Identical statements like these are many.)

5.17

'Therefore, although the sages dwelt in different lands, where they responded to spiritual capacities alike, it was as if coming from a single mouth. (Although the sages of the Three Teachings belonged to different eras and lands, where they transformed capacities alike, it was as if coming from the mouth of one person.)

5.18

'However, illnesses have the shallow and the deep, and medicines have different grades; yet curing suffering and seeking peace are of one and the same intent. (Summing up the meaning of the preceding text: What the Three Teachings established each have differing depths. But suffering is the illness, and the words of the three sages are the medicine. Although there are differences and diverse grades, their intent to treat painful illnesses and seek peace and joy is one and the same principle.)

5.19

'It was solely because the Warring States were rife with contention and the era lacked great vessels that the two sages did not speak of scriptures beyond the mundane world.' (They used only the Way of the Three Bonds and Five Norms, self-cultivation, ordering the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world to transform and benefit the realm; therefore they did not speak of scriptures that are supramundane and profound.)

5.20

20. The Convergence of Names (This chapter brings together the names and titles of the sages of the Three Teachings; hence it is called 'The Convergence of Names.')

5.21

The guest said, 'I have received your instruction concerning the principle of differences and similarities in how the three sages established their teachings. May I venture to ask whether the Way by which the sages traced things to their origin and returned to their end may also be heard?' (Tracing their origin to know where life comes from, and returning to their end to know where death goes—may I be permitted to hear such principles?)

5.22

Miaoming said, 'Weighty indeed is your question! (This praises the guest's inquiry.)

5.23

'I am merely of the sort that follows the hall for gruel and rice. (Modestly saying: I am merely an ordinary fellow who follows the assembly in the hall to eat gruel and rice.)

5.24

'How could I penetrate the sages' affairs of beginning and end? However, with what I know, I venture to tell you, sir. Formerly, the Buddha dwelt in Tuṣita Heaven. (The Sanskrit is Tuṣita, also called Tuṣita Heaven; here translated as 'contentment'.)

5.25

'Hence he was named Bodhisattva Prabhāpāla. (At that time, the Buddha was titled Bodhisattva Prabhāpāla, and also named the God Child Suviśuddha.)

5.26

'He descended his spirit into the palace of King Śuddhodana in Kapilavastu. On the eighth day of the fourth month in the twenty-fourth year, jiayin, of King Zhao of Zhou, beneath a plakṣa tree in the garden of Lumbinī, he was born from the right side of his mother Māyā. At nineteen he leaped over the city wall and left home. Accomplishing Buddhahood, his virtuous marks were wondrous and fine. He remained in the world for seventy-nine years, expounding scriptures in 350 assemblies. (From the Buddha's descent and birth until his entry into extinction at the twin trees was a total of seventy-nine years. After attaining the Way, he spent forty-nine years delivering teachings in over three hundred assemblies.)

5.27

'On the fifteenth day of the second month in the fifty-second year, renshen, of King Mu of Zhou, he entered parinirvāṇa. His Way was rooted in clearly analyzing form and mind. (Xi means to divide. In the Buddha's teaching of the three vehicles, his Way was fundamentally meant to distinguish the two phenomena of form and mind, which are the two truths, ultimate and conventional.)

5.28

'He pointed out causes and effects, and arranged the stages of practice. (He pointed out and expounded cause first and effect later; according to their culmination, he arranged the fifty-two hierarchical ranks of practice.)

5.29

'He broke through and escaped birth and death, crossing over the river of the four torrents. (Breaking through and liberating oneself from the matter of birth and death, crossing over the rushing river of the four torrents—that is, the torrents of desire, existence, views, and ignorance.)

5.30

'He transcended to the other shore of the three realms. (Transcending the desire realm, form realm, and formless realm. The Sanskrit pāram means 'other shore'.)

5.31

'Relinquishing the ordinary to follow the noble, he attained great bodhi. (The Sanskrit bodhi is translated here as 'awakening'; relinquishing the ordinary being to realize the great awakening of bodhi.)

5.32

'At the very end, he held up a flower and showed it to the assembly: a separate transmission outside the teachings, not establishing written words, directly pointing to the human mind to see its nature and become a Buddha. With the treasury of the true Dharma eye and the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa, he entrusted it to Kāśyapa. (The Sanskrit Kāśyapa is translated here as 'Drinker of Light'.)

5.33

'Bodhidharma moved eastward, especially to make this matter clear. (The Sanskrit Bodhidharma is translated here as 'Awakened Dharma'. In India, Kāśyapa was the first patriarch, transmitted down to Bodhidharma, who was the twenty-eighth patriarch. Moving eastward to China, he clarified the Way of tracing things to their origin and returning to their end.)

5.34

'His coming was like the moon appearing in the middle of a river. (When the ancestral master came to the eastern land, the mind seal he transmitted was like the moon appearing in the middle of a river.)

5.35

'His passing was like the sun setting over the mountain peak. (His return and passing were like the sun sinking over the crest of the western mountains.)

5.36

'His Way surpassed Yao and Shun; his virtue transcended Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor. (As Zigong said: 'The Master is more worthy than Yao and Shun.')

5.37

'Dividing his body before primordial chaos, flowing his teaching at the origin of great voidness. (Before the Great Ultimate, primordial chaos, and the Limitless inherent to the Buddha, ancestors, and all living beings, there was already this principle; hence he flowed his teaching at the very beginning of great voidness.)

5.38

'Unborn and unceasing. (The empty, spiritual fundamental essence is originally unborn and unceasing.)

5.39

'Issuing beyond the nine-layered circular canopy of Heaven. (In the numbers of the Changes, nine is where the mature yang reaches its limit; the Way issues forth above the nine heavens.)

5.40

'Without going and without coming. (The fundamental essence is suchness itself; how could there be going or coming?)

5.41

'Transcending the eight-dimensioned, square-shaped Earth. (Transcending the physical, shaped earth of the four quarters and four corners.)

5.42

'Great indeed! Vast indeed! Expansive indeed! Broad indeed! Lofty and beyond comprehension!' (This praises the wonder of the Way of the Buddha and ancestors as an expansive ocean, and like the five sacred peaks, lofty and inconceivable.)

5.43

The Sūtra on Bodhisattvas of Great Expedient Means says: "Laozi was Bodhisattva Kāśyapa transformed to travel in Cīnasthāna." The Record of Promoting the Right says: "In the bingchen year, the second year of King Ding of Zhou, on the fifteenth day of the second month, Laozi descended in spirit at Bo." (Bo is pronounced po. Laozi was born in Renli, Lai Township, Ku County, Chen Commandery, in the state of Chu.)

5.44

His mother carried him for eighty-one years and gave birth to him beneath a plum tree, whereupon he pointed to it as his surname. (The father of Laozi was surnamed Han, named Qian, with the courtesy name Yuanbei; his mother was called Jingfu. She was pregnant through eighty-one years, and gave birth to him beneath a plum tree, so he took it as his surname and name. His courtesy name was Boyang. He was four chi and six cun tall, with a protruding forehead and thick eyebrows, an upturned lip and a broken nose, pointed buttocks and wide hips, elongated ears and disheveled hair; hence he was called Lao Dan.)

5.45

He was born with white hair. (He was born with a white head.)

5.46

He served as the Archivist under the Pillar of the Zhou. (The Archivist under the Pillar was an official in charge of ritual during the Zhou.)

5.47

When the Zhou Way had declined, the Warring States contended vertically and horizontally. (The wheel tracks of the Zhou having declined, the unadorned ways fell to the ground; the Kingly Way did not flourish, and at that time he departed the realm.)

5.48

Riding in an ox cart, he intended to travel to Western India; passing through Hangu Pass, he explained the two chapters of Dao and De for Yin Xi, the Warden of the Pass. Journeying west across the Flowing Sands, he passed away at Huaili. (Flowing Sands is the name of a place. Hangu Pass is the modern Tong Pass. Huaili is also the name of a place.)

5.49

His Way was rooted in concentrating the qi to attain suppleness, embracing the One and preserving the real, filling the belly and emptying the mind. (Laozi's Way was to focus on preserving the essential qi, preventing it from scattering and becoming disordered, so that the bodily form responds to it and accords with it; hence one is able to attain suppleness and harmony. "Embracing the One and preserving the real" refers to his Way of non-action and spontaneity. "The One" signifies the utmost, meaning that there is no second; hence one embraces the unitary qi and firmly preserves original authenticity. The Daodejing says: "Filling their bellies" means cherishing the Way, embracing the One, and preserving one's real spirit. "Emptying their minds" refers to eliminating cravings and desires, and removing afflictions.)

5.50

Having few reflections and few desires. (Being free of private obstructions and having few greedy desires.)

5.51

Looking at it, it cannot be seen. (The Daodejing says: "Looking at it, it is not seen; it is called the formless (yi)." Yi refers to being without color; its Way is therefore devoid of color to be seen.)

5.52

Listening to it, it cannot be heard. (The sūtra says: "Listening to it, it is not heard; it is called the soundless (xi)." Xi refers to being without sound; its Way is therefore devoid of sound to be heard.)

5.53

Silent and boundless! (Silent means having neither note nor voice. Boundless means having no form and being empty. As the Classic of Poetry says: "The operations of Heaven above have neither sound nor smell"—reaching the utmost!)

5.54

Standing alone without change. ("Standing alone" means the Way has no second. "Without change" means its constant transformation is constant.)

5.55

Operating everywhere without peril. (Having clarified this Way that has neither form nor shadow, one operates everywhere throughout the realm without danger or peril.)

5.56

Then he set forth the transformation of non-action. (Clarifying the Way of concentrating the qi and embracing the One, one may thereafter be spoken of as undertaking the teaching and transformation of non-action.)

5.57

He practiced the teaching without words. (Having clarified the subtleties of the Way, one can practice the teaching that has neither word nor speech.)

5.58

It is sufficient to reverse the years and ward off aging. (It can verify the principle of returning from old age to youth.)

5.59

Taking a feathered carriage to long life. (Riding luan birds and straddling cranes is called the feathered carriage. Its fundamental substance being unperishing is called the Way of long life and everlasting vision.)

5.60

Sharing darkness and brightness with the yin and yang. (Yin and yang refers to the sun and moon, sharing darkness and sharing brightness with the yin and yang.)

5.61

Enduring through the distant ages along with Heaven and Earth. Unless one harbors harmony, amasses purity, forgets concerns, and keeps to the feminine, one is not fit to discuss this Way with. (If one does not nurture central harmony, amass pure authenticity, forget affective desires, and preserve the One like a hen brooding over eggs, diligently practicing for the sake of the Way, one is not fit to discuss this Dao and De.)

5.62

Master Mou says: "The Sūtra on the Pure Practice of the Dharma says: 'The people of the country of Cīnasthāna are difficult to transform; send three sages first to go and teach them.'" (This passage appears in the Treatise on Refuting Heresy, in the first fascicle of the ji box in the Tripiṭaka.)

5.63

Bodhisattva Mahākāśyapa was known as Laozi; the Youth Bodhisattva Prabhāpāla was known as Zhongni; and the Youth Bodhisattva Mānavaka was known as Yan Hui. (The Sūtra of the Inquiries of Śūnyatā-śānta and the Sūtra of Heaven and Earth both say: "My Kāśyapa is over there as Laozi, titled the Unsurpassed Way; Prabhāpāla is over there titled Zhongni, acting as the Master to gradually teach and transform; Mānavaka is over there titled Yan Hui." The Sūtra of Śoṇa says: "A thousand years after my entering extinction, the teaching will flow to the Eastern Land; among the kings and common people, those who uphold the precepts and cultivate good will be many." This comes from the ming box in the Tripiṭaka.)

5.64

The Record of Promoting the Right says: "Confucius was born on the fourth day of the eleventh month in the twenty-first year of King Ling of Zhou." The Chronological Record says: "Confucius was born in Quedangli, Ping Township, Zou Village, Yanzhou, on the fourth day of the eleventh month in the twenty-first year of King Ling, the twenty-second lord of Zhou." (The Record of Gathering Events: King Ling was on the throne for twenty-seven years; in the gengxu year, his twenty-first year, on the fourth day of the eleventh month—at which time Laozi was fifty-five years old—Confucius was born in Jinchangli, Ping Township, Zou Village, Yanzhou, in the state of Lu. When born, he had a beard. He was nine chi and six cun tall, his waist ten spans in circumference, and his hands hung past his knees. He had river-like eyes and a sea-like mouth, a dragon face and square forehead, a phoenix-like demeanor and swallow-like neck, a tiger's gaze and a thunderous voice, possessing the virtue of central harmony. His attire was grave and solemn, his countenance warm yet austere, as related in the Hereditary Houses.)

5.65

His father was Shuliang He; his mother was Lady Yan Zhengzai. (The Hereditary Houses in the Records of the Grand Historian says: "His ancestors were people of Song.")

5.66

He met with the decline of the Zhou Way and the falling of unadorned customs to the ground, so he traveled throughout the realm. (He traveled throughout the realm to carry out transformations and offer guidance.)

5.67

Exalted, yet without position. (The Master possessed the virtue of a ruler and teacher, but lacked the position of a ruler and teacher.)

5.68

A tree was felled over him in Song. (Confucius once spoke on the Way beneath a tree in the state of Song, and the people of Song felled the tree.)

5.69

His tracks were erased in Wei. (Confucius passed through Wei, and the people of the state erased his footprints.)

5.70

He was humiliated by Yang Huo. (Yang Huo said to Confucius: "Can one who conceals his jewel and leads his state astray be called humane? Can one who is eager to engage in affairs but constantly misses the right moment be called wise?")

5.71

He was ridiculed by Jieyu. (Jieyu, the madman of Chu, sang upon seeing Confucius: "O Phoenix, O Phoenix, how your virtue has declined! What is past cannot be corrected, but what is to come may still be pursued. Cease, cease! Those who engage in government today are in peril!")

5.72

He was endangered by the men of Kuang. (The Master traveled to Kuang, and the men of Song surrounded him several layers deep. The Master continued to play the zither without stopping. Zilu entered to see him and said, "Why is the Master enjoying himself? The men of Song wish to kill the Master!" The Master pushed aside his zither and said to Zilu, "Come, You, let me tell you. I have long shunned destitution, yet have not escaped it; this is fate. I have long sought prominence, yet have not attained it; this is timing. In the time of Yao and Shun, none in the realm were destitute, but this was not due to wisdom. In the time of Jie and Zhou, none in the realm attained prominence, but this was not due to a lack of wisdom. The times were simply such. To travel the waters without avoiding flood dragons is the courage of a fisherman. To walk the land without avoiding rhinoceroses and tigers is the courage of a hunter. When naked blades cross before oneself, to view death as life is the courage of a resolute warrior. To know that destitution is of fate, to know that prominence is of timing, and to face great calamity without fear is the courage of a sage. Therefore, though I am in difficulty here today, I am not afraid, and thus play the zither and make music." The Analects says: "Heaven produced virtue in me; what can the men of Kuang do to me?")

5.73

He was trapped between Chen and Cai. (The Analects: The Master was in Chen and his provisions ran out; his followers were sick and none could rise.)

5.74

He was reduced to speechlessness by Robber Zhi, and suffered malice from Huan Tui. (Huan Tui was the Minister of War of Song; he wished to harm Confucius. The Master said: "Since Heaven has endowed me with such virtue, what can Huan Tui do to me?")

5.75

At the age of seventy-three, he passed away in Lu. (Confucius died in Lu at the age of seventy-three, and was buried north of the city wall; this is the present Confucius Cemetery.)

5.76

His Way was rooted in Dao and De, humaneness, righteousness, ritual, and music. (When the Master practiced his Way, it was rooted in the Dao and De of non-action and spontaneity of Yao and Shun. Humaneness is the virtue of the mind and the ritual of love. Righteousness is the wisdom of the mind and the fittingness of affairs. Ritual is the regulation and pattern of heavenly principle and the model of human affairs. Music shifts customs and transforms habits, being governed by harmony.)

5.77

Respectful, frugal, warm, benign, compassionate, and deferent. (Respectful means grave and reverent; frugal means moderate; warm means gentle and kind; benign means straightforward; compassionate means humane and extending love to others; deferent means humble and yielding.)

5.78

Cultured accomplishment, conduct, loyalty, and trustworthiness. (The Master taught four things: cultured accomplishment, conduct, loyalty, and trustworthiness. He taught people to study culture, cultivate conduct, and preserve loyalty and trustworthiness. Loyalty and trustworthiness are the basis of being human.)

5.79

Transmitting the legacy of Yao and Shun as his forebears. (Looking back to take the Way of Yao and Shun as his ancestral source.)

5.80

Modeling himself on the institutions of Wen and Wu. (Adhering in recent times to the laws of Kings Wen and Wu.)

5.81

He edited the Classic of Poetry and the Classic of Documents. (To edit means to excise and prune. In the first year of Duke Ding, the Ji clan was strong and usurped authority, while Yang Hu made trouble and monopolized the government; the Master withdrew and pruned away superfluous writing and aberrant words in the Classic of Poetry, as well as the Three Graves and Five Canons in the Classic of Documents.)

5.82

He settled the rites and music. (In the chapter "The Master's Inquiry," he inquired about ritual from Lao Dan and consulted about music with Chang Hong, after which he settled the rites and music.)

5.83

He praised the Way of the Classic of Changes. (He praised the Zhou Changes and expounded the heavenly Way, as well as the "Explaining the Trigrams," the "Commentary on the Words of the Text," and the "Appended Phrases.")

5.84

He supplemented the Spring and Autumn Annals. (Han Xuanzi went to Lu, met Confucius, and said: "The images of the Changes and the Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu are old canonical texts of the Zhou. Why not edit them?" Taking the written texts of the Lu annals, he applied his brush to excise and add; that which he supplemented made the human way expansive and the Kingly Way complete.)

5.85

He composed the Classic of Filial Piety. (What he spoke of with Zengzi is this.)

5.86

He straightened the tilting vessel. (Confucius visited the ancestral temple of Duke Huan of Lu, where there was a tilting vessel. He asked the temple keeper, "What is this vessel called?" He replied, "This is a vessel placed beside the seat." The Master said, "I have heard that the vessel placed beside the seat tilts when empty, stands upright when moderately full, and overturns when completely full. The sages took it as utmost sincerity, and therefore always placed it beside their seats." Turning to his disciples, he said, "Try pouring water into it." They poured it, and indeed it stood upright when moderately full and overturned when completely full. The Master sighed and said, "Alas, how could anything be completely full and not overturn?" Zilu stepped forward and said, "May I venture to ask if there is a way to maintain fullness?" The Master said: "One who possesses intelligence and sage wisdom preserves it with foolishness; one whose merits cover the realm preserves them with deference; one whose courage and strength shake the age preserves them with timidity; one whose wealth encompasses the four seas preserves it with caution. This is what is meant by the way of diminishing and yet diminishing it.")

5.87

He received the Way from the Fisherman. (The matter is as related in the chapter "The Fisherman" in Zhuangzi.)

5.88

He inquired about ritual from Lao Dan, and set right the Three Bonds. (The Three Bonds are father and son, ruler and minister, and husband and wife.)

5.89

He clarified the Five Norms. (The Five Norms are humaneness, righteousness, ritual propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.)

5.90

Pairing with Heaven to sacrifice to the Thearch, and making offerings to the ancestors to honor parents. (The matter comes from the Classic of Filial Piety.)

5.91

Servants and concubines exhaust their joyful hearts. (The Classic of Filial Piety: "One who governs a household does not dare to neglect his male and female servants, much less his wife and children; thus he wins the joyful hearts of people.")

5.92

Ministers and sons fulfill their loyalty and filial piety. (Serving one's parents, one is able to exert one's full strength; serving ruler and ministers, one is able to dedicate one's life.)

5.93

Managing the home with order, the elder and younger accord and comply. (The Classic of Filial Piety: "Because the household is well-managed, that order can be transferred to the ruler; because one serves one's elder brothers, that compliance can be transferred to one's elders.")

5.94

His person held aloft the brightness of the sun and moon. ("Held aloft" means shouldering; this means his person shouldered the Way, sharing the brightness of the sun and moon.)

5.95

His Way endured through the firmness of Qian and Kun. (The Master's Dao and De received enfeoffments and posthumous titles through successive dynasties, as enduringly firm as Heaven and Earth.)

5.96

This is a brief summary of his actual deeds. (This is to briefly state the Master's actual deeds.)

5.97

Yet regarding the sage's Way: "Looking up to it, it is ever loftier." (The Analects: Yanzi sighed and said: "Looking up to the sage's Way, it is ever loftier and cannot be reached.")

5.98

"Boring into it, it is ever harder." (Boring into it, it is ever harder and cannot be penetrated.)

5.99

"Gazing at it, it is in front; suddenly it is behind." (Being in front and behind, it is fleeting and indistinct, unable to be formed into an image. Here Yanzi deeply realized that the Master's Way is boundless, endless, formless, and bodiless, and thus sighed in praise of it.)

5.100

"In dwelling, be good at choosing the ground; in heart-mind, be good at being profound. Meeting it, one sees no front; following it, one sees no back" (the substance of Laozi's Way is profound and subtle, beyond reach).

5.101

"Arising yet unborn; ceasing yet unceasing" (this is the Buddhist Way, which is unborn and unceasing).

5.102

"Free from marks and quiescent, cutting off all prapañca" (this describes how the substance of the Buddhist Way is profound, subtle, and beyond reach).

5.103

And who can truly know their Way of rising and falling, concealing and manifesting, tracing things to their origin and returning to their end? (This concludes by summarizing the subtlety of the Three Teachings, speaking with modest words: "And now, who would dare claim to completely know its heights and depths, brightness and darkness, tracing its initial arising and exhausting its Way of returning to the end?").

5.104

The guest bowed his head to the ground, prostrating twice, and said: "Were it not for your explanation, I would never have heard that the ultimate Way of the sages is vast to such an extent!"

5.105

Treatise on Resolving Doubts, Fascicle Five (End)

Linked texts (1)

折疑論 — Classical Chinese