諸經要集 19.75

19.75

竊聞金玉異珍。在人共寶。玄儒別義。遐邇同遵。豈必死生自國。便欲師之。佛處遠邦。有心捐棄。不勝事切。輒陳愚見是非之理。不敢自專。昔孔丘辭逝廟。千載之規模。釋迦言往寺。萬代之靈塔。欲使見形剋念。面像歸心。敬師忠主。其義一也。至如丁蘭束帶。孝事木母之形。無盡解瓔。奉承多寶佛塔。眇尋曠古。邈想清塵。既踵成林。於理不越。又案禮經云。天子七廟。諸侯五廟。大夫卿士各有階級。故天曰神。祭天於圓丘。地曰祇。祭地於方澤。人曰鬼。祭之於宗廟。龍鬼降雨之勞。牛畜挽犁之効。由或立形村市樹像城門。豈況天上天下三界大師。此方他方四生慈父。威德為萬億所遵。風化為百靈之範。故善人迴向。若群流之歸溟壑。大光攝受。如兩曜之伴眾星。自月支遺影。那竭灰身。舍利遍流。祇桓遂造。乃聖乃賢。憑茲景福。或尊或貴。冀此獲安者矣。

I have heard that gold and jade, though rare and distinct treasures, are universally prized by men; the profound [Daoist] and Confucian teachings, though separate in principle, are revered alike far and near. How could it be that because one is born and dies in one's own realm, one must emulate only its teachers, while because the Buddha dwells in a distant land, one should intend to discard him? Overwhelmed by the urgency of this matter, I venture to set forth my humble views on the principles of right and wrong, not daring to rely solely on my own authority. Formerly, Kong Qiu departed this life, and his shrine became the pattern for a thousand years; Śākyamuni spoke of passing away, and his monastery holds the sacred pagoda for myriad generations. The intention is to cause beings to focus their mindfulness upon seeing the form, and to take refuge with their whole heart upon facing the image. Honoring teachers and being loyal to sovereigns: the principle is the same. Take Ding Lan binding his girdle, dutifully serving the wooden likeness of his mother; and Akṣayamati untying his jeweled necklace, reverently offering it to the pagoda of the Buddha Prabhūtaratna. Reaching back into remote antiquity, or contemplating from afar the pure traces: since these customs have followed on each other like a forest, in principle there is no transgression. Furthermore, examining the Book of Rites, it says: The Son of Heaven has seven ancestral temples, the feudal lords have five, and the grand masters and gentlemen each have their ranked gradations. Thus the celestial are called gods (shen), sacrificed to at the Round Mound; the terrestrial are called spirits of the earth (qi), sacrificed to at the Square Marsh; the human are called ghosts (gui), sacrificed to in the ancestral temple. The dragon-spirits have the merit of causing rain to fall, and cattle have the utility of pulling plows; therefore their likenesses are sometimes erected in villages and marketplaces, and their images set up at city gates. How much more so the Great Master of the three realms above heaven and below heaven, the compassionate father of the four modes of birth in this world and in other worlds, whose awe-inspiring virtue is revered by ten thousands of millions, and whose transformative influence is the model for all spirits! Therefore, good people dedicate their merits to him just as the many streams return to the ocean abyss; his great radiance embraces them just as the two luminaries accompany the myriad stars. Since the shadow left behind in the Yuezhi lands and the cremation of the body at Nagarahāra, relics have circulated everywhere and Jetavana was subsequently built. Sages and worthies have relied upon this immense blessing; the noble and the honored have hoped thereby to attain peace.