Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 3
第三世慧方禪師者。潤州延陵人也。姓濮氏。投開善寺出家。及進具。洞明經論。後入牛頭山。謁巖禪師諮詢秘要。巖觀其根器堪任正法。遂示以心印。師豁然領悟。於是不出林藪僅踰十年。四方學者雲集。師一旦謂眾曰。吾欲他行隨機利物。汝宜自安也。乃以正法付法持禪師。遂歸茅山。數載將欲滅度。見有五百許人。髻髮後垂狀如菩薩。各持幡華雲。請法師講。又感山神現大蟒身至庭前如將泣別。師謂侍者洪道曰。吾去矣。汝為吾報諸門人。及門人奔至。師已入滅。時唐天冊元年八月一日。山林變白谿㵎絕流七日。道俗悲慕聲動山谷。壽六十有七。臘四十。
Third generation: Chan Master Huifang, a native of Yanling in Runzhou, surnamed Pu. He left home at Kaishan Temple. When he received full ordination, he had a penetrating understanding of the sutras and treatises. Later he entered Niutou Mountain, visited Chan Master Yan, and asked about the secret essentials. Yan saw that his capacity could bear the true Dharma and showed him the mind seal. The master suddenly understood and awakened, and without leaving the forest, after only ten years, students from all quarters gathered. One day the master said to the assembly: "I want to go elsewhere to benefit beings according to their capacities; you should settle yourselves in peace." He entrusted the true Dharma to Chan Master Fachi and then returned to Mount Mao. A few years later, as he was about to pass away, he saw about five hundred people, with hair knots hanging behind, in the form of bodhisattvas, each holding banners and flowers, saying: "Please, Dharma Master, lecture for us." Also the mountain spirit manifested in the form of a great python, coming before the courtyard as if to weep in farewell. The master said to his attendant Hongdao: "I am going. Please inform my disciples for me." When the disciples rushed there, the master had already entered extinction. It was the first day of the eighth month of the first year of Tiance in the Tang. The mountain forest turned white, the streams stopped flowing for seven days, and monks and laity grieved and yearned, their voices shaking the valleys. He died at sixty-seven, with forty years of ordination.
第四世法持禪師者。潤州江寧人也。姓張氏。幼歲出家。年三十遊黃梅忍大師坐下。聞法心開。後復遇方禪師為之印可。乃繼跡山門。作牛頭宗祖。及黃梅謝世。謂弟子玄賾曰。後傳吾法者可有十人。金陵法持是其一也。後以法眼付智威禪師。於唐長安二年九月五日。終於金陵延祚寺無常院。遺囑令露骸松下飼諸鳥獸。迎出日空中有神幡。從西而來繞山數匝。所居故院竹林變白七日而止。壽六十有八。臘四十一。
Fourth generation: Chan Master Fachi, a native of Jiangning in Runzhou, surnamed Zhang. He left home in childhood. At thirty he traveled to the seat of Great Master Ren of Huangmei and, hearing the Dharma, his mind opened. Later he met Chan Master Fang again, who affirmed him, and so he continued the traces of the mountain gate and became a patriarch of the Niutou school. When Huangmei passed away, he said to his disciple Xuanze: "Among those who will later transmit my Dharma there may be ten; Fachi of Jinling is one of them." Later he entrusted the Dharma eye to Chan Master Zhiwei. On the fifth day of the ninth month of the second year of Chang'an in the Tang, he died at the Wuchang Cloister of Yanzuo Temple in Jinling. He left instructions that his remains be exposed beneath the pines to feed the birds and beasts. On the day he was carried out, a divine banner came from the west in the sky and circled the mountain several times. At his old cloister, the bamboo grove turned white and remained so for seven days. He died at sixty-eight, with forty-one years of ordination.
第五世智威禪師者。江寧人也。姓陳氏。住迎青山。始丱歲。忽一日家中失之。莫知所往。及父母尋訪。乃知已依天寶寺統法師出家矣。年二十受具。後聞法持禪師出世。乃往禮謁傳受正法焉。自爾江左學徒皆奔走門下。其中有慧忠者目為法器。師嘗有偈示曰。
Fifth generation: Chan Master Zhiwei, a native of Jiangning, surnamed Chen. He lived at Yingqing Mountain. In early childhood, one day he suddenly disappeared from home and no one knew where he had gone. When his parents searched for him, they learned that he had already left home under the Dharma Master Tong of Tianbao Temple. He received full ordination at twenty. Later he heard that Chan Master Fachi had come forth into the world, and went to pay his respects and received the true Dharma. From then on students of Jiangzuo all hurried to his gate. Among them was Huizhong, who was regarded as a vessel of the Dharma. The master once gave a verse of instruction:
莫繫念念成生死河
Do not fix your thoughts, for thoughts become the river of birth and death.
輪迴六趣海無見出長波
Turning in the sea of the six destinies, seeing no way out of the long waves.
慧忠偈答曰。
Huizhong answered in a verse:
念想由來幻性自無終始
Thoughts have always been illusory, and the nature itself has no beginning or end.
若得此中意長波當自止
If one obtains the meaning in this, the long waves will stop of themselves.
師又示偈曰。
The master again gave a verse of instruction:
餘本性虛無緣妄生人我
My original nature is empty and void, and through conditions falsely arise self and others.
如何息妄情還歸空處坐
How can I rest deluded feeling and return to sit in the place of emptiness?
慧忠偈答曰。
Huizhong answered in a verse:
虛無是實體人我何所存
Emptiness is the real substance; where could self and others remain?
妄情不須息即汎般若船
Deluded feeling need not be rested; just float the boat of Prajna.
師知其了悟乃付以山門。遂隨緣化導。於唐開元十七年二月十八日。終於延祚寺。將示滅謂弟子云。將屍林中施諸鳥獸。壽七十有七。
The master knew that he had awakened and entrusted the mountain gate to him, and then taught according to conditions. On the eighteenth day of the second month of the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan in the Tang, he died at Yanzuo Temple. As he was about to show extinction, he said to his disciples: "Put my body in the forest and give it to the birds and beasts." He died at seventy-seven.
第六世慧忠禪師者。潤州上元人也。姓王氏。年二十三受業於莊嚴寺。其後聞威禪師出世乃往謁之。威才見曰。山主來也。師感悟微旨。遂給侍左右。後辭詣諸方巡禮。威於具戒院見凌霄藤。遇夏委悴人慾伐之。因謂之曰。勿剪。慧忠還時此藤更生。及師迴果如其言。即以山門付囑訖。出居延祚寺。師平生一衲不易。器用唯一鐺。嘗有供僧穀兩廩。盜者窺伺。虎為守之。縣令張遜者。至山頂謁問師。有何徒弟。師曰。有三五人。遜曰。如何得見。師敲禪床。有三虎哮吼而出。遜驚怖而退。後眾請入城居莊嚴舊寺。師欲於殿東別創法堂。先有古木。群鵲巢其上。工人將伐之。師謂鵲曰。此地建堂汝等何不速去。言訖。群鵲乃遷巢他樹。初築基有二神人定其四角。復潛資夜役。遂不日而就。繇是四方學徒雲集坐下矣。得法者有三十四人。各住一方轉化多眾。師嘗有安心偈。示眾曰。
Sixth generation: Chan Master Huizhong, a native of Shangyuan in Runzhou, surnamed Wang. At twenty-three he received instruction at Zhuangyan Temple. Later he heard that Chan Master Wei had come forth into the world and went to see him. As soon as Wei saw him he said: "The master of the mountain has come." The master was moved and awakened to the subtle meaning, and attended at his side. Later he took leave to make pilgrimages to various places. At the Precepts Cloister, Wei saw that a trumpet vine had withered in the summer heat, and people wanted to cut it down. Wei said: "Do not cut it. When Huizhong returns, this vine will revive." When the master returned, it was indeed as he had said. After he had finished entrusting the mountain gate, he moved out to live at Yanzuo Temple. All his life the master did not change his single patched robe, and his only utensil was a single pot. Once there were two granaries of grain offered to the monks, and thieves watched for a chance, but a tiger guarded them for him. The district magistrate Zhang Xun climbed to the mountaintop to ask the master: "What disciples do you have?" The master said: "Three or five." Xun said: "How can I see them?" The master knocked on his meditation bed, and three tigers came out roaring. Xun was terrified and withdrew. Later the people invited him into the city, and he lived in the old Zhuangyan Temple. He wished to build a new Dharma hall to the east of the main hall. There was an old tree there, with a flock of magpies nesting in it. When the workmen were about to cut it down, the master said to the magpies: "A hall is to be built on this ground; why do you not leave quickly?" As soon as he had spoken, the magpies moved their nests to other trees. When the foundation was first laid, two divine men fixed its four corners, and also secretly helped with night labor, so that it was completed in no time. From then on students from the four quarters gathered at his seat. Those who obtained the Dharma numbered thirty-four, each living in one place and transforming many people. The master once gave a verse for settling the mind, showing the assembly:
人法雙淨善惡兩忘真心真實
Self and dharmas both pure, good and evil both forgotten, the true mind is real,
菩提道場
The site of bodhi.
唐大歷三年。石室前掛鐺樹掛衣藤。忽盛夏枯死。四年六月十五日集僧布薩訖。命侍者淨髮浴身。至夜有瑞雲覆其精舍。空中復聞天樂之聲。詰旦怡然坐化。時風雨暴作震折林木。復有白虹貫於巖壑。五年春茶毘獲舍利不可勝計。壽八十七。
In the third year of Dali in the Tang, the tree in front of the stone chamber where the pot was hung and the vine where the robe was hung suddenly withered in high summer. On the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the fourth year, after gathering the monks for the uposatha and finishing it, he had his attendant shave his head and bathe his body. That night auspicious clouds covered the hermitage, and the sound of heavenly music was heard in the sky. The next morning he passed away peacefully in seated posture. At that time wind and rain broke out violently, snapping trees in the forest, and a white rainbow pierced the cliffs and ravines. In the spring of the fifth year he was cremated and relics were obtained beyond counting. He died at eighty-seven.
前法融禪師下三世旁出法嗣
Collateral Dharma heirs in three generations below the former Chan Master Farong
金陵鍾山曇璀禪師者。吳郡人也。姓顧氏。初謁牛頭融大師。大師目而奇之。乃告之曰。色聲為無生之鴆毒。受想是至人之坑阱。子知之乎。師默而審之大悟玄旨。尋晦跡鍾山多歷年所。茅庵瓦缶以終老焉。唐天授三年二月六日。恬然入定七日而滅。壽六十二。
Chan Master Tancui of Zhongshan in Jinling, a native of Wujun, surnamed Gu. He first visited Great Master Rong of Niutou. The Great Master looked at him, found him remarkable, and said to him: "Form and sound are the poison of the unborn, and sensation and perception are the pitfalls of the perfected person. Do you know this?" The master silently examined it and greatly awakened to the profound meaning. Soon afterward he hid his traces on Zhongshan, and for many years lived in a thatched hut with earthen pots, ending his days that way. On the sixth day of the second month of the third year of Tianshou in the Tang, he entered concentration peacefully and passed away on the seventh day. He died at sixty-two.
前智威禪師下三世旁出法嗣
Collateral Dharma heirs in three generations below the former Chan Master Zhiwei
宣州安國寺玄挺禪師者。不知何許人也。甞一日有長安講華嚴經僧來。問五祖雲。真性緣起其義云何。祖默然。時師侍立次乃謂曰。大德。正興一念問時。是真性中緣起。其僧言下大悟。又或問南宗自何而立。師曰。心宗非南北。
Chan Master Xuanting of Anguo Temple in Xuanzhou; it is not known where he was from. One day a monk who lectured on the Avatamsaka Sutra in Chang'an came and asked the Fifth Patriarch: "The conditioned arising of true nature, what is its meaning?" The Patriarch was silent. The master was then standing in attendance and said: "Virtuous one, at the very moment you raised a thought and came to ask, that is the conditioned arising within true nature." The monk greatly awakened at these words. Another asked: "From where is the Southern school established?" The master said: "The mind school is neither southern nor northern."
潤州鶴林玄素禪師者。潤州延陵人也。姓馬氏。唐如意年中受業於江寧長壽寺。晚參智威禪師遂悟真宗。後居京口鶴林寺。甞一日有屠者禮謁。願就所居辨供。師欣然而往。眾皆訝之。師曰。佛性平等賢愚一致。但可度者吾即度之。復何差別之有。或有僧問。如何是西來意。師曰。會即不會。疑即不疑。師又曰。不會不疑底。不疑不會底。又有僧扣門。師問。是什麼人曰是僧。師曰。非但是僧。佛來亦不著。曰佛來為什麼不著。師曰。無汝止泊處。天寶十一年十一月十一日。中夜無疾而滅。壽八十五。建塔於黃鶴山。勅諡大津禪師大和寶航之塔。
Chan Master Xuansu of Helin in Runzhou, a native of Yanling in Runzhou, surnamed Ma. In the Ruyi era of the Tang he received instruction at Changshou Temple in Jiangning. In his later years he studied under Chan Master Zhiwei and so awakened to the true teaching. Later he lived at Helin Temple in Jingkou. One day a butcher came to pay respects and wished to prepare an offering at his dwelling. The master gladly went, and everyone was astonished. The master said: "Buddha-nature is equal; the worthy and the foolish are one. As long as someone can be saved, I will save him; what difference is there?" A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "If you understand, you do not understand; if you doubt, you do not doubt." The master added: "Not understanding and not doubting, not doubting and not understanding." Another monk knocked at the door. The master asked: "Who is it?" He said: "A monk." The master said: "Not only a monk; even if the Buddha came, there would be no place to settle." He said: "Why, if the Buddha came, would there be no place to settle?" The master said: "There is no place for you to stop." On the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of Tianbao, at midnight, without illness, he passed away. He died at eighty-five. A stupa was built on Huanghe Mountain. By imperial decree he was given the posthumous title Chan Master Dajin, and the stupa was named the Stupa of the Boat of Great Harmony.
舒州天柱山崇慧禪師者。彭州人也。姓陳氏。唐乾元初往舒州天柱山創寺。永泰元年勅賜號天柱寺。僧問。如何是天柱境。師曰。主薄山高難見日。玉鏡峰前易曉人。問達磨未來此土時。還有佛法也無。師曰。未來時且置。即今事作麼生。曰某甲不會乞師指示。師曰。萬古長空一朝風月。良久又曰。闍黎會麼。自己分上作麼生。幹他達磨來與未來作麼。他家來大似賣卜漢相似。見汝不會。為汝錐破卦文。才生吉凶。在汝分上一切自看。僧問。如何是解卜底人。師曰。汝才出門時便不中也。問如何是天柱家風。師曰。時有白雲來閉戶。更無風月四山流。問亡僧遷化向什麼處去也。師曰。灊嶽峰高長積翠。舒江明月色光暉。問如何是大通智勝佛。師曰。曠大劫來未曾擁滯。不是大通智勝佛是什麼。曰為什麼佛法不現前。師曰。只為汝不會。所以成不現前。汝若會去。亦無佛道可成。問如何是道。師曰。白雲覆青嶂。蜂鳥步庭華。問從上諸聖有何言說。師曰。汝今見吾有何言說。問宗門中請師舉唱。師曰。石牛長吼真空外。木馬嘶時月隱山。問如何是和尚利人處。師曰。一雨普滋千山秀色。問如何是天柱山中人。師曰。獨步千峰頂。優遊九曲泉。問如何是西來意。師曰。白猿抱子來青嶂。蜂蝶銜華綠蘂間。師居山演道凡二十二載。大歷十四年七月二十二日歸寂。起塔於寺北。真身見在。
Chan Master Chonghui of Tianzhu Mountain in Shuzhou, a native of Pengzhou, surnamed Chen. In the early Qianyuan era of the Tang he went to Tianzhu Mountain in Shuzhou and founded a temple. In the first year of Yongtai it was granted the name Tianzhu Temple by imperial decree. A monk asked: "What is the realm of Tianzhu?" The master said: "The Registrar Mountain is high and hard to see the sun; before the Jade Mirror Peak it is easy to know people." He asked: "Before Bodhidharma came to this land, was there Buddhadharma?" The master said: "Set aside the time before he came. What about the present matter?" He said: "I do not understand; please instruct me." The master said: "Ten thousand ages of empty sky, one morning of wind and moon." After a long while he said again: "Do you understand, acolyte? What is it for yourself? What does Bodhidharma's coming or not coming have to do with it? His coming was rather like a fortune-teller. Seeing that you do not understand, he pierces through the divination text for you, and only then are good and ill fortune born. In your own part, look at everything yourself." A monk asked: "Who is one who understands divination?" The master said: "The moment you stepped out of the door you were already off." He asked: "What is the family style of Tianzhu?" The master said: "At times white clouds come to close the door, and no wind or moon flows over the four mountains." He asked: "Where does a deceased monk go when he passes away?" The master said: "The Qianyue peaks are high and always piled with green; the Shu River's bright moon shines with radiance." He asked: "What is the Buddha Mahabhijna-jnanabhibhu?" The master said: "Through vast kalpas he has never been obstructed; if he is not the Buddha of Great Penetrating Wisdom, what is he?" He said: "Why then does the Buddha Dharma not appear before us?" The master said: "Only because you do not understand, it does not appear. If you understood, there would be no Buddha path to accomplish either." He asked: "What is the Way?" The master said: "White clouds cover the green peaks, bees and birds step on the flowers in the courtyard." He asked: "What did the various sages of the past say?" The master said: "What do you now see me saying?" He asked: "Please, master, raise and chant the teaching of the school." The master said: "The stone ox roars long beyond true emptiness; when the wooden horse neighs, the moon hides behind the mountain." He asked: "What is the master's way of benefiting people?" The master said: "One rain moistens all, and a thousand mountains show their beauty." He asked: "What is a person in the Tianzhu mountains?" The master said: "Walking alone on the summit of a thousand peaks, wandering at ease at the nine-bend spring." He asked: "What is the meaning of the coming from the West?" The master said: "A white gibbon carries its young to the green cliffs; bees and butterflies hold flowers among the green stamens." The master taught the Way on the mountain for twenty-two years in all. On the twenty-second day of the seventh month of the fourteenth year of Dali he returned to stillness. A stupa was raised to the north of the temple. His true body is still there.
前潤州鶴林寺玄素禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Xuansu of Helin Temple in Runzhou
杭州徑山道欽禪師者。蘇州崑山人也。姓朱氏。初服膺儒教。年二十八玄素禪師遇之。因謂之曰。觀子神氣溫粹真法寶也。師感悟因求為弟子。素躬與落髮。乃戒之曰。汝乘流而行。逢徑則止。師遂南行抵臨安。見東北一山。因訪於樵子。曰此徑山也。乃駐錫焉。有僧問。如何是道。師雲。山上有鯉魚。水底有蓬塵。馬祖令人送書到。書中作一圓相。師發緘於圓相中作一畫卻封迴(忠國師聞乃雲。欽師猶被馬師惑)僧問。如何是祖師西來意。師曰。汝問不當。曰如何得當。師曰。待吾滅後即向汝說。馬祖令門人智藏來問。十二時中以何為境。師曰。待汝迴去時有信。藏曰。如今便迴去。師曰。傳語卻須問取曹谿。唐大歷三年。代宗詔至闕下親加瞻禮。一日師在內庭見帝起立。帝曰。師何以起。師曰。檀越何得向四威儀中見貧道。帝悅。謂忠國師曰。欲錫欽師一名。忠欣然奉詔。乃賜號國一焉。後辭歸本山。於貞元八年十二月示疾說法而逝。壽七十有九。勅諡曰大覺禪師。
Chan Master Daoqin of Jingshan in Hangzhou, a native of Kunshan in Suzhou, surnamed Zhu. At first he devoted himself to the Confucian teaching. At twenty-eight, Chan Master Xuansu met him and said: "I see that your spirit is gentle and pure; you are truly a Dharma treasure." The master was moved and awakened, and asked to become his disciple. Su personally shaved his head and warned him: "Go with the flow, and stop when you meet a path." The master then traveled south, reached Lin'an, saw a mountain to the northeast, and asked a woodcutter, who said: "This is Jingshan." So he planted his staff there. A monk asked: "What is the Way?" The master said: "On the mountain there are carp; at the bottom of the water there is fluttering dust." Mazu sent someone to deliver a letter, in which he had drawn a circle. The master opened the seal, drew a single stroke within the circle, and sent it back sealed. (National Teacher Zhong heard of this and said: "Master Qin was still confused by Master Ma.") A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said: "Your question is not apt." He said: "What would be apt?" The master said: "Wait until after I have died and I will tell you." Mazu had his disciple Zhizang come to ask: "In the twelve periods of the day, what is taken as the realm?" The master said: "There will be news when you go back." Zang said: "I am going back right now." The master said: "To pass on the word you must ask at Caoxi." In the third year of Dali in the Tang, Emperor Daizong summoned him to the palace and personally paid his respects. One day the master stood up in the inner court when he saw the emperor. The emperor said: "Why does the master stand?" The master said: "How can the donor see this poor monk within the four deportments?" The emperor was pleased and said to National Teacher Zhong: "I wish to bestow a name on Master Qin." Zhong gladly accepted the edict, and so bestowed the title Guoyi. Later he took leave and returned to his own mountain. In the twelfth month of the eighth year of Zhenyuan he showed illness and passed away while preaching the Dharma. He died at seventy-nine. By imperial decree he was given the posthumous title Chan Master Dajue.
前杭州徑山道欽禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Daoqin of Jingshan in Hangzhou
杭州鳥窠道林禪師。本郡富陽人也。姓潘氏。母朱氏夢日光入口。因而有娠。及誕異香滿室。遂名香光焉。九歲出家。二十一於荊州果願寺受戒。後詣長安西明寺復禮法師。學華嚴經起信論。復禮示以真妄頌俾修禪那。師問曰。初云何觀。云何用心。復禮久而無言。師三禮而退。屬唐代宗詔徑山國一禪師至闕。師乃謁之遂得正法。及南歸先是孤山永福寺有辟支佛塔。時道俗共為法會。師振錫而入。有靈隱寺韜光法師。問曰。此之法會何以作聲。師曰。無聲誰知是會。後見秦望山。有長松枝葉繁茂盤屈如蓋。遂棲止其上。故時人謂之鳥窠禪師。復有鵲巢於其側自然馴狎人。亦目為鵲巢和尚。有侍者會通。忽一日欲辭去。師問曰。汝今何往。對曰。會通為法出家。以和尚不垂慈誨。今往諸方學佛法去。師曰。若是佛法。吾此間亦有少許。曰如何是和尚佛法。師於身上拈起布毛吹之。會通遂領悟玄旨。元和中白居易出守茲郡。因入山禮謁。乃問師曰。禪師住處甚危險。師曰。太守危險尤甚。曰弟子位鎮江山。何險之有。師曰。薪火相交識性不停。得非險乎。又問如何是佛法大意。師曰。諸惡莫作眾善奉行。白曰。三歲孩兒也解恁麼道。師曰。三歲孩兒雖道得。八十老人行不得。白遂作禮。師於長慶四年二月十日。告侍者曰。吾今報盡言訖坐亡。壽八十有四。臘六十三(有云師名圓修者。恐是諡號)。
Chan Master Daolin of Niaoke in Hangzhou, a native of Fuyang in the same prefecture, surnamed Pan. His mother, née Zhu, dreamed that sunlight entered her mouth, and so conceived. When he was born, a strange fragrance filled the room, and so he was named Xiangguang. He left home at nine, and at twenty-one received ordination at Guoyuan Temple in Jingzhou. Later he went to Ximing Temple in Chang'an and studied under Dharma Master Fuli the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Awakening of Faith. Fuli showed him the verse on truth and delusion and had him cultivate dhyana. The master asked: "At the beginning, how should one contemplate and how should one use the mind?" Fuli did not speak for a long time. The master bowed three times and withdrew. It happened that Emperor Daizong of the Tang summoned Chan Master Guoyi of Jingshan to the palace, and the master visited him and so obtained the true Dharma. When he went south again, at Yongfu Temple on Gushan there was a pagoda of a pratyekabuddha, and at that time monks and laity were holding a Dharma assembly. The master shook his staff and entered. Dharma Master Taoguang of Lingyin Temple asked: "In this Dharma assembly, why do you make a sound?" The master said: "Without sound, who would know there is an assembly?" Later he saw a tall pine on Qinwang Mountain with luxuriant branches and leaves, coiling like a canopy, and dwelt in it, and so people of the time called him Chan Master Bird's Nest. A magpie also made its nest beside him, naturally tame and familiar, and people also called him the Monk of the Magpie's Nest. He had an attendant, Huitong, who suddenly one day wanted to take his leave. The master asked: "Where are you going now?" He answered: "Huitong left home for the Dharma, but since the monk does not show compassion and instruct me, I am now going to various places to study the Buddha Dharma." The master said: "If it is Buddha Dharma, I have a little here too." He said: "What is the monk's Buddha Dharma?" The master picked a bit of cloth fluff from his robe and blew on it. Huitong then awakened to the profound meaning. In the Yuanhe era, Bai Juyi was posted as governor of this prefecture, and so went into the mountains to pay his respects, and asked the master: "The place where the Chan Master lives is very dangerous." The master said: "The governor's danger is greater still." He said: "My position guards the rivers and mountains; what danger is there?" The master said: "Firewood and fire interact, the nature of consciousness does not stop; is that not dangerous?" He asked again: "What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" The master said: "Do no evil; practice all good." Bai said: "A three-year-old child can say that." The master said: "Though a three-year-old child can say it, an eighty-year-old man cannot practice it." Bai then made obeisance. On the tenth day of the second month of the fourth year of Changqing, the master said to his attendant: "My allotted time is now over." Having said this, he passed away sitting. He died at eighty-four, with sixty-three years of ordination. (Some say the master's name was Yuanxiu; it is probably a posthumous title.)
前杭州鳥窠道林禪師法嗣
Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Daolin of Niaoke in Hangzhou
杭州招賢寺會通禪師本郡人也。姓吳氏。本名元卿。形相端嚴幼而聰敏。唐德宗時為六宮使。王族鹹美之。春時見昭陽宮華卉敷榮。翫而久之。倏聞空中有聲曰。虛幻之相開謝不停能壞善根。仁者安可嗜之。師省念稚齒崇善極生厭患。帝一日遊宮問曰。卿何不樂。對曰。臣幼不食葷羶志願從釋。曰朕視卿若昆仲。但富貴欲出於人表者不違卿。唯出家不可。既浹旬帝覩其容顇。詔王賓相之。奏曰。此人當紹隆三寶。帝謂師曰。如卿願任選日遠近奏來。師荷德致謝。尋得鄉信言母患乞歸寧省。帝厚其所賜。勅有司津遣師。至家未幾。會韜光法師勉之。謁鳥窠為檀越。與結庵創寺寺成。啟曰。弟子七歲蔬食。十一受五戒。今年二十有二為出家故休官。願和尚授與僧相。曰今時為僧鮮。有精苦者行多浮濫。師曰。本淨非琢磨。元明不隨照。曰汝若了淨智妙圓體自空寂。即真出家何假外相。汝當為在家菩薩戒施俱修如謝靈運之儔也。師曰然。理雖如此於事何益。儻垂攝受則誓遵師教。如是三請皆不諾。時韜光堅白鳥窠曰。宮使未嘗娶。亦不畜侍女。禪師若不拯接。誰其度之。鳥窠即與披剃具戒。師常卯齋晝夜精進。誦大乘經而習安般三昧。尋固辭遊方。鳥窠以布毛示之悟旨。時謂布毛侍者(鳥窠章敘訖)暨鳥窠歸寂垂二十載。武宗廢其寺。師與眾僧禮辭靈塔而邁。莫知其終。
Chan Master Huitong of Zhaoxian Monastery in Hangzhou was a native of that prefecture, surnamed Wu, with the original name Yuanqing. He was dignified in appearance and clever from childhood. In the time of Emperor Dezong of the Tang, he served as palace envoy to the six palaces, and the royal clan all praised him. In spring he saw the flowers in the Zhaoyang Palace in full bloom and admired them for a long time, when he suddenly heard a voice in the air say: "Illusory appearances open and fade without stopping, and can destroy good roots. How can you, sir, be fond of this?" The master reflected that he had revered goodness from childhood and became deeply weary of it. One day when the emperor toured the palace, he asked: "Why are you not happy?" He replied: "Your servant has not eaten meat or strong-smelling food since childhood, and my wish is to follow the Buddha." The emperor said: "I regard you as a brother. Whatever wealth and rank you want, to be above others, I will not deny you; only leaving home is not allowed." After about ten days, the emperor saw that his face was haggard and ordered Wang Bin to read his physiognomy. He reported: "This man is destined to continue and enhance the Three Jewels." The emperor said to the master: "As you wish; choose any date, near or far, and report it." The master thanked him for his kindness. Before long he received word from home that his mother was ill, and begged to return to visit her. The emperor gave generous rewards and ordered the officials to send him off. Soon after the master reached home, Dharma Master Taoguang encouraged him, and he visited Niaoke as a patron, building a hermitage and founding a monastery with him. When the monastery was completed, he said: "Your disciple has eaten vegetarian food since seven, received the five precepts at eleven, and is now twenty-two; I have resigned my post in order to leave home, and hope the Venerable will give me the monastic form." Niaoke said: "Monks nowadays rarely practice with hardship, and their conduct is mostly superficial." The master said: "The originally pure is not made by polishing, and the primordially bright does not follow illumination." Niaoke said: "If you understand that pure wisdom is wonderfully complete and its substance is itself empty and still, that is true leaving home; why borrow outward form? You should be a lay bodhisattva, cultivating precepts and giving together, like Xie Lingyun and his kind." The master said: "Though it is so, what benefit is there in practice? If you will be so kind as to accept me, I vow to follow the teacher's instruction." He asked three times in this way and was not granted. At that time Taoguang insisted to Niaoke: "The palace envoy has never married and keeps no attendants. If the Chan master does not rescue him, who will take him across?" Niaoke then shaved his head and gave him the full precepts. The master regularly kept the fast at the hour of mao, was diligent day and night, recited Mahayana sutras and practiced the anapana samadhi. Before long he firmly took his leave to travel. Niaoke showed him a tuft of cloth fiber, and he awakened to the meaning. He was then known as the Attendant of the Cloth Fiber. (The chapter on Niaoke has already been told.) When nearly twenty years had passed since Niaoke's passing into stillness, Emperor Wuzong abolished his monastery. The master took leave of the stupa with the other monks and left, and his end is unknown.
前慧忠禪師兩世旁出法嗣
Collateral Dharma heirs of the earlier Chan Master Huizhong, two generations
天台山佛窟巖惟則禪師者京兆人也。姓長孫氏。初謁牛頭忠禪師大悟玄旨。後隱於天台瀑布之西巖。唐元和中法席漸盛。始自目其巖為佛窟焉。一日示眾雲。天地無物也。我無物也。然未甞無物。斯則聖人如影百年如夢。孰為生死哉。至人以是獨照。能為萬物之主。吾知之矣。汝等知之乎。有僧問。如何是那羅延箭。師雲。中的也。忽一日告門人曰。汝當自勉。吾何言哉。後二日夜安坐示滅。壽八十。臘五十有八。
Chan Master Weize of Fokuyan on Mount Tiantai was a native of Jingzhao, surnamed Zhangsun. He first visited Chan Master Zhong of Niutou and had a great awakening to the profound meaning. Later he lived in seclusion in the western cliff by the waterfall on Mount Tiantai. During the Yuanhe era of the Tang his teaching seat gradually flourished, and only then did he call that cliff Fokuyan (Buddha Cave Cliff). One day he addressed the assembly: "Heaven and earth have no things, and I also have no things, yet there has never been a lack of things. This is why the sage is like a shadow, a hundred years like a dream; who is there to be born and to die? The perfected one therefore shines alone and can be the master of the ten thousand things. I know it. Do you know it?" A monk asked: "What is Narayana's arrow?" The master said: "It has hit the mark." Suddenly one day he told his disciples: "You should encourage yourselves; what is there for me to say?" Two days later, at night, he sat peacefully and showed his extinction. He was eighty years old, with fifty-eight monastic years.
前天台山佛窟巖惟則和尚法嗣
Dharma heirs of the earlier Venerable Weize of Fokuyan on Mount Tiantai
天台山雲居智禪師。嘗有華嚴院僧繼宗。問見性成佛其義云何。師曰。清淨之性本來湛然無有動搖。不屬有無淨穢長短取捨體自翛然。如是明見乃名見性。性即佛佛即性。故云見性成佛。曰性既清淨不屬有無。因何有見。師曰。見無所見。曰無所見因何更有見。師曰見處亦無。曰如是見時是誰之見。師曰。無有能見者。曰究竟其理如何。師曰。汝知否。妄計為有即有。能所乃得名迷。隨見生解便墮生死。明見之人即不然。終日見未嘗見。求見處體相不可得。能所俱絕。名為見性。曰此性遍一切處否。師曰。無處不遍。曰凡夫具否。師曰。上言無處不遍。豈凡夫而不具乎。曰因何諸佛菩薩不被生死所拘。而凡夫獨縈此苦。何曾得遍。師曰。凡夫於清淨性中。計有能所即墮生死。諸佛大士善知清淨性中不屬有無。即能所不立。曰若如是說。即有了不了人。師曰。了尚不可得。豈有能了人乎。曰至理如何。師曰。我以要言之。汝即應念。清淨性中無有凡聖。亦無了人不了人。凡之與聖二俱是名。若隨名生解即墮生死。若知假名不實。即無有當名者。又曰。此是極究竟處。若雲我能了彼不能了即是大病。見有淨穢凡聖亦是大病。作無凡聖解又屬撥無因果。見有清淨性可棲止亦大病。作不棲止解亦大病。然清淨性中雖無動搖。具不壞方便應用。及興慈運悲。如是興運之處。即全清淨之性。可謂見性成佛矣。繼宗踴躍。禮謝而退。
Chan Master Zhi of Yunju on Mount Tiantai. Once the monk Jizong of Huayan Cloister asked: "Seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha: what is its meaning?" The master said: "The pure nature is originally clear and still, without any movement, not belonging to existence or non-existence, purity or defilement, long or short, taking or abandoning, its substance naturally free. To see it clearly in this way is called seeing the nature. The nature is the Buddha and the Buddha is the nature, and so it is said that seeing the nature one becomes a Buddha." He asked: "If the nature is pure and does not belong to existence or non-existence, why is there seeing?" The master said: "Seeing without anything seen." He asked: "If there is nothing seen, why is there further seeing?" The master said: "There is no place of seeing either." He asked: "When one sees thus, whose seeing is it?" The master said: "There is no one who sees." He asked: "What is the ultimate principle?" The master said: "Do you know? What is falsely reckoned to exist exists. Once subject and object are established, one is called deluded. Giving rise to understanding according to what is seen, one falls into birth and death. One who sees clearly is not like this. Seeing all day long, he has never seen. Seeking the place of seeing, its substance and marks cannot be found. When subject and object are both cut off, it is called seeing the nature." He asked: "Does this nature pervade all places?" The master said: "There is no place it does not pervade." He asked: "Do ordinary people have it?" The master said: "I said above that there is no place it does not pervade; how could ordinary people not have it?" He asked: "Why are the Buddhas and bodhisattvas not bound by birth and death, while ordinary people alone are entangled in this suffering? How can it be pervasive?" The master said: "Ordinary people, within the pure nature, reckon subject and object and so fall into birth and death. The Buddhas and great beings know well that within the pure nature nothing belongs to existence or non-existence, and so subject and object are not established." He asked: "If so, then there are those who understand and those who do not." The master said: "Even understanding cannot be found; how could there be anyone who understands?" He asked: "What is the ultimate principle?" The master said: "I will say it in essential words, and you should keep it in mind. In the pure nature there is neither ordinary person nor sage, and neither one who understands nor one who does not. 'Ordinary' and 'sage' are both only names. If one gives rise to understanding following names, one falls into birth and death. If one knows that provisional names are not real, there is nothing that bears that name." He added: "This is the utterly ultimate point. If one says I can understand and others cannot, that is a great sickness. To see purity and defilement, ordinary and sage, is also a great sickness. To take it as meaning there is no ordinary or sage is also to fall into denying cause and effect. To see a pure nature where one can dwell is also a great sickness. To take it as not dwelling is also a great sickness. Yet although in the pure nature there is no movement, it fully has indestructible skillful means to respond and use, and to arouse compassion and carry it out. The very places where this arousing and carrying out occur are wholly the pure nature, and one may say that one has seen the nature and become a Buddha." Jizong leapt for joy, bowed in thanks and withdrew.
第三十二祖忍大師。第一世旁出法嗣(第一世)
Collateral Dharma heirs of the Thirty-second Patriarch, Great Master Hongren, first generation (first generation)