法苑珠林 55.76

55.76

The commentary says: What has been listed above all cites canonical records; the heterodox and orthodox are distinct, their ascent and descent following different paths. How can the glow of a torch compete with the light of the sun and moon? How can an atom of space-adjacent dust equal the height of the Great Mount Tai? Thus we know that the Buddha's Dharma is profound and beyond the measure of ordinary beings; the saṃgha is lofty and far beyond the peers of the yellow-capped [Daoists]. Those who renounce household life inwardly bid farewell to their dear relatives and outwardly relinquish official honors; they aspire to seek unexcelled bodhi and vow to transcend the painful sea of birth and death. Therefore, abandoning the robes of court assembly, they don the robes of the field of merit (puṇyakṣetra); they practice the Way to repay the four kindnesses and establish virtue to benefit the beings of the three realms of existence (tridhātu). This is their grand purpose. We truly know that the position of the Three Jewels is exalted; how could it be comparable to the two teachings of Confucius and Laozi? Therefore, examining the texts of Confucius and Laozi, as well as inner and outer historical records since the Han and Wei, I briefly cite passages from heterodox texts that revere the Buddha and saṃgha, setting them out in full below. Since they already revere the sūtras, they should accord with the Dharma and follow the Buddha, hoping thereby to subdue the heterodox and foolish, and to rely upon and uphold the orthodox scriptures (briefly citing twenty-two texts commanding reverence for the Three Jewels).