大宋僧史略 3.58

3.58

The Buddha is called the Teacher of Gods and Humans (śāstā devamanuṣyāṇām) and proclaimed the Compassionate Father. He is the ultimate sage among sages, whose Way surpasses that of a thousand sages; he is the God among gods, whose virtue transcends all gods. Therefore heavenly sovereigns look up to and revere him, and Śakra and Brahmā welcome and escort him. Within the transformation realm of a single Buddha, across the three thousand worlds, there are none who do not revere and honour the Buddha. It is like the Son of Heaven making an imperial tour among the lands of feudal lords: how could the officials of the ranks of knights fail to pay court to the Lord of Ten Thousand Chariots? In properly establishing precedence, it is reasonable to distinguish the noble from the base. If one truly understands that the paths of the ordinary and the holy are distinct, one should properly avoid treating gold and lead as having equal value. The arts of Daoism do not extend beyond ten thousand leagues, whereas the Buddha's mind transforms dust and sand broadly. One should take one's standard from perceptive scholars and comprehensive minds, rather than obstinately clinging to narrow and foolish restricted views. Furthermore, that Buddhism comes first and Daoism second is fully recorded in numerous texts; that the Buddha is holy and Daoism is worldly has been known by all from ancient times to the present. You ought to cease illusions and return to truth, discard the perverse and turn toward the correct, direct your mind to study Buddhism, cultivate genuine practice, eliminate illusory and deceptive conditions, and become liberated from the suffering of saṃsāra. May you constantly be good companions within the Buddha's assembly, cultivate genuine practice together along the path of bodhi, transcend beyond worldly forms to emerge from the ordinary, and realise tathatā to enter the holy. Do not haughtily esteem yourself through arrogance, or perversely cling to distorted falsehoods, vainly living and meaninglessly dying, rising and sinking for vast eons, unable to save yourself. How lamentable!