法苑珠林 55.37

55.37

Thus, historical records state: The Grand Chancellor Pi asked Confucius, 'Is the Master a sage?' He replied, 'I am broadly learned and have a strong memory; I am no sage.' He asked again, 'Were the Three Kings sages?' He replied, 'The Three Kings were good at using wisdom and courage; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.' He asked again, 'Were the Five Thearchs sages?' He replied, 'The Five Thearchs were good at using benevolence and righteousness; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.' He asked again, 'Were the Three Sovereigns sages?' He replied, 'The Three Sovereigns were good at using seasonal governance; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.' The Grand Chancellor, greatly astonished, said, 'Then who is a sage?' The Master's expression changed, and he replied, 'Qiu has heard that in the western regions there is a sage. Without ruling, there is no disorder; without speaking, he is naturally trusted; without transforming, [the teaching] is naturally practiced. So vast is he that the people cannot find a name for him!' Judging from this, Confucius well knew that the Buddha was the Great Sage. Because the conditions of the times had not yet matured, he silently kept it in mind; when there was an opportune occasion, he raised it, yet he could not openly proclaim its full purport. Furthermore, in the Later Han, the discerning scholar Fu Yi opened up and manifested the Buddha's conversion. The Neizhuan on the Origin of the Dharma says: In the third year of the Yongping reign of Emperor Ming of the Han, the Sovereign dreamt of a divine person, sixteen feet in golden body, with a halo of sunlight behind his neck. Upon awakening, he questioned his ministers. Fu Yi responded to the imperial query: 'There is a Buddha who appeared in India.' Thereupon messengers were dispatched to seek him, and they obtained scriptures, images, and two monks. The Emperor then established a Buddhist monastery for them and painted murals. A thousand chariots and ten thousand cavalry circled the stūpa three times. In addition, standing images of the Buddha were painted on the Qingliang Terrace of the Southern Palace and above the Gaoyang Gate at the Xianjie Tomb, and the Scripture in Forty-Two Sections was stored in the stone chamber of the Orchid Terrace, as detailed fully in the previous chapter on 'Revering the Three Jewels'. The biography says: At that time, there were the śramaṇas Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna, whose spiritual stages and practices were difficult to fathom, and whose aim was to enlighten and convert. When Cai Yin's mission arrived, he invited Mātaṅga to travel east. Not confined to one region, they accompanied him to Luoyang, making clear the sentiments of beings and honouring the basis of faith. The Emperor asked Mātaṅga, 'When the Dharma King appeared in the world, why did his conversion not reach this place?' He replied, 'Kapilavastu is the centre of the three thousand great thousand worlds, of a hundred million suns and moons. All Buddhas of the three periods are born there. Even heavenly dragons, ghosts, and spirits who possess vows and practices are all born there, receive the Buddha's correct conversion, and all attain awakening to the Way. Sentient beings in other places have not the karmic conditions to move the Buddha; thus the Buddha does not go there. Although the Buddha does not go there, wherever his radiant light reaches—whether in five hundred years, or one thousand years, or beyond one thousand years—there are always sages who transmit the Buddha's voice and teachings to convert and guide them.'