出三藏記集 12.53

12.53

From my youth to my maturity I dwelt in the mountains, sojourning and resting among the pure assembly. Although I lacked accomplishment despite diligent industry, my vowed intention never faltered. I have constantly wished that the way of enlightenment would spread through this Sahā realm, and that the right transformation would flourish during the semblance era. Therefore, the wondrous traces of the Three Jewels are necessarily recorded in detail, and every meritorious condition of the four assemblies is narrated and noted. The Dharma Collection I have compiled already forms seven sections. As for miscellaneous records and fragmentary texts that do not fit the categorized rubrics, I have set them apart into a distinct wrapper to preserve the affairs of the times. The stele inscriptions of mountain monasteries and the records of the conduct of the monastic assembly were written by those authors, yet their production was arranged by my humble self. Respectfully relying on ancient precedents, they are entirely incorporated into the collection. Although worldly viewers might consider them bothersome, they have nonetheless formed an enterprise born of Dharma conditions.