四明尊者教行錄 4.144

4.144

法智學行高妙，凡所著作，莫不立宗旨、闢僻邪，開獎人心到真實地。《指要鈔》中引圭峯後集比決幽奧。而天童凝禪師者一見喜之，但謂其所引少有參錯，欲法智改正之而已。書簡往返凡二十許，其末至有云千士諾諾不如一士諤諤，使大法流衍百世無瑕玭者也。余昔親見此帖，字劃如鍾繇、語如韓退之，真可愛也。或謂法智以此聊為改正。又聞《指要》既出，雪竇顯禪師特出山羞齋為慶，仍有茶牓具美其事，余未甞見之。甞睹廣智初主南湖法席時，顯公雖已老，亦牓煎茶。但記其高頭大麻牋，其字小古。以此知法智之時不虛也。在昔禪教一體氣味相尚，至有如此者。

Fazhi's learning and conduct were lofty and wondrous. In all of his writings, he never failed to establish the essential doctrine, refute eccentric errors, and encourage people's minds to reach the ground of truth. In the *Zhiyao chao*, he cited Guifeng's *Later Collection* to compare and determine profound subtleties. When Chan Master Ning of Tiantong first saw it, he rejoiced, but thought that what was cited contained a slight discrepancy and merely wished Fazhi to correct it. Their letters went back and forth for about twenty exchanges. Toward the end, it even said that the assent of a thousand gentlemen is not as good as the forthright criticism of one gentleman, which ensures that the Great Dharma will flow down through a hundred generations without flaw or blemish. In the past, I personally saw this letter: its calligraphy was like Zhong You's, and its language was like Han Tuizhi's—truly lovable! Some say that Fazhi made a slight correction because of this. I have also heard that after the *Zhiyao chao* appeared, Chan Master Xian of Xuedou specially came out of the mountain and prepared a vegetarian feast to celebrate, and there was still a tea placard detailing the beauty of the event, though I have not seen it. I once saw that when Guangzhi first presided over the Dharma assembly at Nanhu, even though Master Xian was already old, he also put up a placard to boil tea. I only remember its large hemp paper with a tall heading, and its small, archaic characters. From this, one knows that Fazhi's era was not in vain. In ancient times, Chan and doctrinal teachings were of one substance and esteemed each other's fellowship, even to such a degree as this.