國清百錄 4.30

4.30

棲霞寺眾保恭等和南。竊以瞻慕明德灰管屢遷，展覲以來炎涼甫隔，伏餐至法用稟教門，定水澹而無涯、詞峯高而不極，至如止觀方等之義、龍樹馬鳴之文，莫不殫其理窟究其冲妙。恭雖不敏，少遊講席，窺翫南北經論法師三十餘年，求其奧旨不悟，觀諸法海寄在餘生，所冀傾䗍猶欣飽腹。然道安之遇澄上人便稱北面，慧永之逢遠上首即創東林，是知得奉勝人須安勝地者也。恭雖疎薄，竊欽往彥，但所居棲霞寺者，宋代明徵君宅僧紹之所建主也。鐫山現像，疏巖敞殿，似若飛來無慚踊出。若其林泉爽麗房宇縈紆，桂嶺春芳雲窓晝歇，自昔高行是用遊憩，故寺眾齊誠請延威德，惟願傍觀曩哲爰降，彼居依經受用必垂。納處所有園田基業具在別條。謹共開府士柳顧言證成斯誓，庶金剛之域與鷲嶺而長存，法寶斯傳等雞山而不滅。謹疏。開皇十五年八月六日保恭等疏。

Baogong and others of the assembly of Qixia Monastery pay homage. We venture to reflect that as we look up in admiration to your illustrious virtue, the ashes in the tubes have repeatedly shifted; since we last paid you our respects, heat and cold have just separated us. Bowing to feed upon the supreme Dharma and receive your doctrinal gates, your samādhi water is serene and boundless, and your peak of words is lofty and limitless. As for the meanings of calming and insight and the Vaipulya sūtras, and the writings of Nāgārjuna and Aśvaghoṣa, there are none whose inner recesses of principle you have not exhausted, nor whose subtle wonders you have not plumbed. Although I, Gong, am not clever, in my youth I frequented lecture halls, studying masters of sūtras and treatises in the North and South for more than thirty years without awakening to their profound purport; regarding the ocean of all dharmas, I entrusted it to the remainder of my life, hoping that tilting a spiral shell would still bring the joy of a full belly. When Daoan met Master Cheng, he immediately turned to face north as a disciple; when Huiyong encountered the Leader Yuan, he forthwith founded the Donglin Monastery. Thus we know that to serve a superior person, one must settle them in a superior place. Although I, Gong, am distant and of slight merit, I secretly admire the worthy masters of the past. The Qixia Monastery where we reside was founded by Ming Sengshao, the Retired Scholar Ming of the Song dynasty. Sculpting the mountain to manifest images and clearing the cliffs to open wide the halls, it seems as if it flew here from elsewhere, without shame before the earth's welling forth. Its woods and springs are fresh and lovely, and its rooms and chambers wind about; with spring fragrance on the cassia ridges and clouds resting in windows by day, lofty practitioners of old used it as a place to roam and rest. Therefore, the monastic assembly with one sincere mind requests the extension of your majestic virtue, wishing only that you look upon those past philosophers and deign to descend upon this dwelling, using it in accordance with the scriptures, and that you will surely accept it. All its gardens, fields, and foundation properties are detailed in a separate list. Reverently, together with Gentleman Liu Guyan of the Opening of the Office, we attest to this pledge, in the hope that this adamantine domain will endure as long as the Vulture Peak, and that the transmission of this Dharma jewel will be imperishable like Mount Kukkuṭapāda. Reverently petitioned. Petition of Baogong and others on the sixth day of the eighth month in the fifteenth year of Kaihuang.