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Eulogy of the Buddha
The
Eulogy
says: Great is the King of the Dharma, who appeared in the world
with his spiritual edification working secretly and his divine Way leading to
emptiness. His form and mentality disappeared in as many worlds as there
are grains of sand in the Ganges River, and he ceased to rise and fall for
kalpa
s as innumerable as atoms in the world. As his form and mentality have
disappeared his birth has no reality of birth, because as he has ceased to rise
and fall his extinction has nothing of extinction. Could his birth in Kapilavastu
have been a real fact? His passing away between the
śāla
trees was merely
a means of his secret edification. We should know that he manifested his
traces in the world at opportune moments in accordance with circumstances
to show the effect of his spirituality.
He was born in a Śākya family of the
kṣatriya
caste. He should have suc-
ceeded to the throne of his native country but he devoted his life to religious
activities. He gave up the prospect of being a universal monarch of the golden
wheel and preferred to rule over the world of the Dharma; from the white
curl between his eyebrows he emitted a light to comfort all living beings.
His Way prevails in the ten directions and his wisdom comprehends every-
thing. Even though he is from the unknowable universe he provides shelter
to those who are in the discernible world. He turned the wheel of the Dharma
of the three classifications in the great chiliocosm and expounded his doctrine
in one and the same voice to teach the masses. His teachings are classified
into eighty-four thousand gates, the essence of which is summed up in the
twelve divisions of the scriptures. Therefore, wherever they are under the
protection of his teachings the people can move about freely in the field of
blessedness, and wherever they are inspired by his morals and discipline all
people live in the land of longevity. Glorious are his saintly and sagacious
deeds and perfect is his goodness toward human and heavenly beings! He
gave up both mobility and immobility in the grove of
śāla
trees and nullified
the conception of coming and going in illusory existence, and no one could
succeed him to glorify his doctrine of emptiness.
In order to repay the kindness of the Buddha, Venerable Mahākāśyapa
selected a group of arhats to collect the precious Dharma, consisting of the
four Āgamas explaining its origin and ramifications and the Tripiṭaka, which
344
946a
Fascicle XII
gives its essential theories. Although various schools and sects have arisen
the essence of the great Dharma remains unchanged. From his birth up to
his demise [the Buddha] showed a thousand transformations of his holy traces
and manifested propitious omens in ten thousand ways. His limitless spiri-
tuality became more and more apparent and his teachings of nonaction were
always pure and fresh. All these have been preserved in the scriptures and
written down in the records and commentaries. Different opinions became
confused and tangled, however, and dissidents spread their own diverse
views. The original and fundamental theories are rarely interpreted in the
correct way. There are many variant views even in the writings that are based
on concrete facts, let alone in the texts that deal with the abstruse and profound
right Dharma and that delve into the deep meanings of the abstract and rec-
ondite principles, where there are many incomplete points in exposition. This
is because previous sages of virtue remained only in the track of translation
and brilliant scholars of later times followed the course shown by incomplete
texts. Thus the great doctrine was hidden in obscurity and the subtle sayings
were missing and unknown to the world.
The teachings of the Dharma have been spreading for many years. Begin-
ning with the Han dynasty and up to the present reign of the Tang, the glorious
task of translation has been carried on in a fluent and graceful manner, as
splendidly as the conjoined shining of the sun and moon. Tthe abstruse Way
was not revealed in its entirety, however, and the true essence was still obscure.
This was not because the holy teachings were sometimes active and other
times inactive but simply due to untimely royal patronage.
Since the Great Tang has held sway over the empire it has won the con-
fidence of foreign countries. The old rules formulated by the saints have been
scrutinized and the outdated codes laid down by former monarchs amended.
The teachings of the image period of Buddhism are exuberantly expounded
as great instructions. The Way does not exist in vain but its propagation
depends on the illustration of virtue. This is why the abstruse doctrines of
the three vehicles were buried in oblivion for the last thousand years, and
the spiritual efficacy of the Buddha’s ten powers of wisdom were shut out
ten thousand
li
away. It is true that the divine Way has no directional limitations
in its spread, but the holy teachings have to depend on circumstances for
their appearance.
345
The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions
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