出三藏記集 5.11

5.11

The Dīrghāgama states: when the Buddha was about to enter nirvāṇa, he expounded the four great authorities to the bhikṣus: if one hears the teachings of the Dharma and vinaya, one must examine their authenticity against the sūtras; if it contradicts the Dharma, it is not spoken by the Buddha. Furthermore, the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra states: after my extinction, groups of bhikṣus will copy and fabricate scriptures, causing the Dharma to dwindle away. What the omniscient knowledge illuminates has been verified in our own time! Ever since the degenerate end of the Semblance Dharma period, superficial and contentious people have been many. Some fabricate falsities relying on the genuine; others embellish vacuity to confuse reality. In the past, Master Shi Dao'an singled out twenty-six apocryphal sūtras, and also pointed to the cleric Huida as a grave warning. Since it happened in antiquity, it should naturally be addressed today as well. I, Sengyou, have collated the various scriptures, broadly gathered similarities and differences, and measured them against the sūtras and vinaya, thereby coming across quite a few suspect cases. Genuine sūtras are profound and far-reaching in style and purport, while fabricated texts are shallow and disorderly in phrasing and meaning; just like jade and common stone, or vermilion and purple, their true forms cannot be concealed. Now, I distinguish what is suspect and note it in this catalogue, and also append the spurious compositions of recent generations at the end. All of them rely on miscellaneous sūtras to invent their own titles. Looking forward, one never hears of them having travelled far from foreign lands; looking backward, one never sees them having been received and translated from Western guests. The words "Thus have I heard" originate merely behind doors and windows; approvals come solely from their own minds. Deceiving and misleading later students, it is truly chilling to the heart. Having witnessed and heard this myself, how could I dare remain silent? Ah, people of future generations, examine them with caution!