[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [止觀輔行傳弘決](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912) › 1.41 # 止觀輔行傳弘決 1.41 止觀輔行傳弘決 1.41 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912.1.41) 「陳隋二國」等者，陳家因姓號國，自武帝霸先受梁禪來，至少主叔寶方始入隋。陳凡五主，第四宣帝是文帝之弟，名頊，字紹世。初思謂智者曰：「吾久羨南岳，恨法無所付。汝可傳燈設化，莫作最後斷佛種人也。汝於陳國有緣，宜往利益。」既奉嚴訓，乃共法喜等二十七人同至陳都。儀同沈君理請住瓦官。開法華經題，勅一日停朝事，公卿畢集。停瓦官八年，講《大智度論》、說次第禪門，蒙語默之益者略難稱紀。爾後徒眾轉多、得法轉少，妨我自行化道可知。群賢各隨所安，吾欲從吾志也。吾聞天台地記稱有仙宮，若息心茲嶺，展生平之志。陳主有勅留連，徐僕射潸涕勸請。勅云：「京師三藏雖弘佛法，皆一途偏顯，兼之者寡。朕聞瓦官濟濟，深用慰懷。宜停訓物，豈遑獨善！」匪從物議直指東川，于時陳太建七年秋九月，從茲始入天台。宣帝勅曰：「禪師佛法雄傑、時匠所宗，訓兼道俗國之望也。宜割始豐縣調以充眾費，蠲兩戶民用給薪水。」爾後勅賜寺額，云「具左僕射徐陵啟，知禪師創立天台、宴坐名岳，宜號修禪。」陳破入隋，隋主敬重。陳主并諸王書疏凡十二道，隋主并諸王勅及書疏近五十道，所施信物並在《國清百錄》。「安禪而化至五品」等者，此出臨終行位也。不出禪定端坐取滅，故云安禪而化。開皇十五年自荊下鄴，至十六年重入天台，至十七年晉王敦請出至石城，謂徒眾曰：「大王欲使吾來，吾不負言而來。吾知命在此，故不前進。」於石像前口授遺書云：「蓮華香爐、犀節如意留別大王，願芳香不窮，常保如意。」索三衣，命掃洒，令唱《法華》、《觀無量壽》二部經題，兼讚歎竟。時吳州侍官等二十五人，見石像倍大、光明滿山。又索香湯漱口竟，說十如、四不生、十法界、四教、三觀、四悉、四諦、六度、十二緣，一一法門攝一切法。吾今最後策觀譚玄，最後善寂吾今當入。時智朗請云：「伏願慈悲賜釋餘疑。不審何位？沒此何生？誰可宗仰？」報曰：「汝嬾種善根問他功德，如盲問乳、蹷者訪路，告實何益？雖然，吾當為汝破除疑惑。吾不領眾，必淨六根。以損己益他，但位居五品。生何處者，吾諸師友並從觀音皆來迎我。問誰可宗仰者，汝不聞耶？波羅提木叉是汝大師，四種三昧是汝明導。教汝捨重擔、教汝降三毒、教汝治四大、教汝解業縛、教汝破魔軍、教汝調禪味、教汝遠邪濟、教汝折幔幢、教汝出無為坑、教汝離大悲難，唯此大師可作依止。從捨擔下即是十境，故知若不示人境觀不任依止。」於是教維那曰：「人命將終，聞鐘磬聲增其正念，唯長唯久氣盡為期。云何身冷方復響磬？哭泣著服皆不應為。」言已跏趺，唱三寶名而入三昧，即其年十一月二十四日未時端坐入滅。滅後祥瑞等，具如《別傳》。即是住觀行位首楞嚴定而入滅也。五品之言，彌可信也。然大師生存常願生兜率，臨終乃云觀音來迎，當知軌物隨機、順緣設化，不可一准。 > Regarding "the two states of Chen and Sui" and so forth: The Chen dynasty took its dynastic title from a surname. From the time Emperor Wu, Baxian, received the abdication from the Liang down to the young ruler Shubao, it was only then absorbed into the Sui. Chen had five rulers in all; the fourth, Emperor Xuan, was Emperor Wen's younger brother, named Xu, with the courtesy name Shaoshi. Initially, \[Hui\]si said to Zhizhe: "I have long yearned for Mount Nanyue, and I regret having no one to whom to entrust the Dharma. You may pass on the lamp and set up teaching; do not become the final person who cuts off the seed of the Buddha! You have karmic affinity with the state of Chen; you should go and benefit it." Having received this strict admonition, he went together with Faxi and others, twenty-seven people in all, to the Chen capital. Shen Junli, Specially Advanced with Equal Rank to the Three Excellencies, invited him to reside at Waguan \[Monastery\]. When he expounded the title of the Lotus Sūtra, an imperial decree halted court affairs for a day, and the ministers and nobles all assembled. He remained at Waguan for eight years, lecturing on the Dazhidulun and explaining the Ci di chan men; those who received the benefit of his speech and silence can scarcely be recorded. Thereafter, disciples grew increasingly numerous, while those attaining the Dharma grew fewer. That this impeded his own practice and the path of teaching can well be understood. "Let the worthy crowd each follow where they are at ease; I wish to pursue my own aspiration. I have heard that the local record of Tiantai says there are immortal palaces; if I set my mind to rest on this peak, I can fulfill my lifelong aspiration." The Chen ruler issued imperial decrees pleading with him to linger, and Vice Director of the Left Xu \[Ling\] shed tears as he urged him to stay. The imperial decree stated: "Although the Tripiṭaka masters of the capital propagate the Buddha's Dharma, each highlights a single path in a one-sided manner, and those who combine them are few. We hear that Waguan is flourishing, which brings deep solace to our heart. You should remain to instruct beings; how can you have leisure only to perfect yourself?" Not following the common view, he headed straight for Dongchuan; it was then the autumn, ninth month of the seventh year of the Taijian era of the Chen \[575 CE\], and from this point he first entered Tiantai. Emperor Xuan's imperial decree stated: "The Dhyāna Master is a hero of the Buddha's Dharma, revered by the artisans of our time; instructing both monastics and laity, he is the hope of the state. Let the taxes of Shifeng County be divided to cover the assembly's expenses, and let two households of commoners be exempted to supply firewood and water." Later, an imperial plaque was bestowed for the monastery, stating: "Having fully received the memorial from Vice Director of the Left Xu Ling, and knowing that the Dhyāna Master has founded \[a monastery at\] Tiantai and sits in tranquil meditation on this famed peak, it is fittingly titled Xiuchan." When Chen fell and was absorbed into Sui, the Sui ruler held him in high esteem. There were twelve letters and memorials in all from the Chen ruler and princes, and nearly fifty imperial decrees and letters from the Sui ruler and princes; the offerings of pledged articles are all recorded in the Guoqing bai lu. Regarding "passing away in serene meditation... reaching the five stages" and so forth: This indicates the stage of practice at his death. Passing into extinction while sitting upright without emerging from meditative absorption, it is therefore called "passing away in serene meditation." In the fifteenth year of the Kaihuang era \[595 CE\], he traveled from Jing down to Ye; in the sixteenth year, he re-entered Tiantai; in the seventeenth year, at the Prince of Jin's earnest request, he came out to Shicheng and addressed the disciples: "The Great King wished me to come, and not breaking my word, I came. I know my life ends here, so I will advance no further." Before the stone statue, he dictated his final letter: "A lotus censer and a rhinoceros-horn ruyi sceptre are left in farewell to the Great King; may your fragrant virtue never cease, and may you forever maintain fulfillment of your wishes." He asked for the three robes, ordered the place swept and sprinkled, and had the titles of the two sūtras—the Lotus and the Contemplation of Immeasurable Life—chanted, along with verses of praise. At that time, twenty-five attendants and officials from Wuzhou saw the stone statue double in size and light fill the mountain. He then asked for fragrant water, rinsed his mouth, and expounded the ten suchnesses, the four kinds of non-arising, the ten realms, the four teachings, the three contemplations, the four siddhāntas, the four noble truths, the six perfections, and the twelve links of dependent origination—each and every teaching encompassing all phenomena. "I now apply contemplation and discuss the profound for the final time; I shall now enter the ultimate serene cessation." Then Zhilang requested: "We bow and pray that out of compassion you will resolve our remaining doubts. We do not know at what stage \[you dwell\], where you will be born upon passing from here, and whom we should take as our guide." He replied: "You are lazy in planting good roots yet ask about another's attainments; like a blind person asking about milk, or a lame person inquiring about the road, what benefit is there in telling you the truth? Nevertheless, I shall dispel doubts for you. Had I not led the assembly, I would surely have purified the six sense faculties. Because I diminished myself to benefit others, my stage is merely the five stages. As for where I am to be born, my masters and companions, following Avalokiteśvara, have all come to welcome me. When you ask whom you should take as your guide, have you not heard? The Prātimokṣa is your great master, and the four kinds of samādhi are your clear guides. They teach you to cast off the heavy burden, teach you to subdue the three poisons, teach you to treat the four great elements, teach you to untie the bonds of karma, teach you to break the demonic armies, teach you to regulate meditative taste, teach you to stay far from false fords, teach you to bring down the banner of conceit, teach you to emerge from the pit of the unconditioned, and teach you to avoid the disaster of \[deficient\] great compassion—only this great master may serve as your refuge! From 'cast off the burden' downward are the ten objects; hence we know that if one does not reveal the objects and contemplations to others, they cannot serve as a refuge." Thereupon he instructed the karmadāna: "When a person's life is about to end, hearing the sound of the bell and chime increases their right mindfulness; let it be long and sustained, ending only when breath is extinguished. Why wait until the body is cold to ring the chime again? Wailing and donning mourning clothes should not be done." Having spoken, he sat cross-legged, chanted the names of the Three Jewels, and entered samādhi; on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of that year, at the hour of wei \[1–3 p.m.\], he sat upright and passed into extinction. The auspicious omens after his extinction are fully detailed in the Bie zhuan. This is passing into extinction while dwelling in the stage of contemplative practice within the Śūraṅgama samādhi. The statement regarding the five stages is all the more credible. However, while alive the Great Master constantly aspired to be born in Tuṣita, yet at his end he said Avalokiteśvara came to welcome him; one should know that guiding beings follows their capacities and setting up teaching conforms to conditions, and cannot be judged by a single standard. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912.1.40) - [Next: 1.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912.1.42) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912~en-mt.1.41) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912.1.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1912.1.41) · Pramāṇa