四明尊者教行錄 7.117

7.117

聖人之垂文設教，所以舉綱維而示軌轍，使後世之人至乎聖賢之道也。若夫括天地、極陰陽，窮吉凶、審消長，莫尚乎《易》。而伏犧始之，仲尼述之，是垂美利於天下也。以日繫月，彰往考來，正王道、紀人倫，莫尚乎《春秋》。而夫子經之，丘明傳之，是申明誡於萬世也。敢問聖人之垂文設教，極於是乎？殊不知垂褒貶之文，不能等冤親、齊生滅；究否泰之術，不能暢妙性、括真機。其為人天之津蹊，越生死之淵奧，則大雄氏之法，莫不大乎！莫不聖乎！若夫鷲嶺之韜玉音、龍藏之傳寶典，去聖逾遠，垂裕後昆，所以廣香海之波瀾、壯大車之輪轂，又莫盛乎天台之教者。故陳隋國師智者大師，法名智顗，演一花之大旨、立八柱之華宗，以明破昏，太陽之開氣霧；以靜抳動，神龜之抃重溟。藏通別圓四教斯闡、醍醐乳酪五味相宣，傳般若之燈光、開方等之門閾，長風破浪，溺群魔於不二之門；大山出雲，茂正法於說三之圃。垂為妙典，揚我真風。由是國王大臣延首丹丘之講肆，城邑聚落傾心金地之道場，則智者之化人其利博哉，不可得而言也。傳教院者，即今淨光大師寂公住持之所。師法名羲寂，俗姓胡氏，永嘉人也。先是周顯德初，螺谿居民張彥安來詣師曰：家居寺之東南，有隙地可一里餘，陰晦之夕必有鬼魅吟嘯之聲，亦有鍾磬考擊之響。又甞夢神龍遊其地，故非愚民所可有也，願奉師以為僧事。師約之，親往閱視，歎其山水秀異，因謂眾曰：此伽藍地也。常以傳續真乘，思卜講唱之所。又天台一宗稟於龍樹，彼夢神龍之兆，豈非此耶。然而財施不供，莫能遽成其志，但納所捨而營𮒄圃耳。尋而法華巖公之門人齊公（願齊公後亦署崇法禪師，亦師傳法弟子），以其事聞于本師禪師。禪師大可其議，遂輟所得眾施錢三十萬以資經始。師雖聆喜捨，頗懼重勞，乃誡齊公曰：今之所營，蓋以學徒為念，非欲芘風雨以移冢間樹下之志。汝體乃意，當勉成之。齊公乃鑿山肇基，度木興搆，凡建法堂三間、厨屋數舍，覆茅累塊，悉尚朴素，以稱師心。乾德甲子歲秋八月堂成，乃請師居之，默然遂率學徒二十人，以之俱往。點頭之石行列翠巘，雨新之花飛颺寶几。師又覩其朴野，協彼安栖，至心之餘歡喜無量。其後登魚門宇日競充盈，放鶴園林人患襞積。師聞之，沮其說者數四。而雲居韶公禪師，以其傳燈之地未廣函丈之規，乃疏于今漢南國王：智者大師位登諸地、跡示四依，得總持門、獲無礙辯，所述教法盈數百卷。淨光大師羲寂傳而講之，如水分器（已上八句並載上書之文）。而所居精舍棟宇未豐，願許經營，用安樞衣之眾。王從之，乃命愛子襄華二師洎干宗藩，各施錢粟以助之。師以草堂之居雅得便穩，不聽命者久之。五年及丁卯歲，建剏始畢。凡重構懺堂法堂禪室經室，及隸寺宇制者，罔不畢備，中間內外總一百三十餘間。林泉相輝，金碧明媚，瓶錫所至，寒暑忘歸。其年國王復命師講法華經一座，追福干王妣恭懿太夫人吳氏。自是神龍喜於聞法，鳥獸樂於𠾑花，供飽純陀，席嚴布薩。隱几捉拂，翼翼小心；海福田衣，濟濟有眾。太平興國二年，元帥府都押衙王君承益、內知客余君德徽，同議本院建造彌陀佛殿。王復命施錢八十萬，又請師講金光明經一座，飯僧三萬人，香華旛蓋供佛之具一皆稱足。明年彤矢常參，金輪大統，教法愈盛，莊嚴益專。屬像設未周，眾望斯欝，乃遣僧重雲遠來京師請於襄師。襄師因以陳國夫人徐氏、漢南國王府別駕徐君貴安共捨錢二十萬，副以金帶。又募郡人李從遇，眾率淨財三十萬，同就厥工。於是孔雀頂螺尊臨中扆，芙蓉冠葉翊輔崇臺，環衛以之雄稜，侍從以之柔悅，沈沈金口深類無言，爛爛青眸真符不瞬。三寶既具，百楅可量。而聞師妙行孔修、慈心止足，衣惟大布、臥止一床，杖頭但掛於缾囊、庭內不施於局鑰。談女亹亹，五十席非謂該通；樂道熈熈，三重閣未為高邁。今俗年六十有八，僧臘四十有九。雖春秋已高，而誨誘無懈，實僧史之一奇士也。噫！天台教者，述覺王無說之義，包括寧遺；明眾生有趣之源，環循莫盡。由是三乘迭駕，方析假以入空；十地宏超，遂即凡而成聖。豈必指蓮華於水上，先示從權；自當悟蝴蝶於夢中，了無別體。宣此義者，孰不宗之。而師之學徒通鑑大師知廉，以師崇佛宮祠開法庠序，將求歲寒之績，請以刊勒為期。而（儼）念天台山素足名儒、繼談聖教，竽難濫吹、硯合先焚。然思句偈成因，敢以謏辭為避。所願草藩肥膩，滋善本以常新；風動毘藍，吹慧光而不滅。謹即齋戒，為之銘曰：

When the sages set down writings and instituted teachings, it was to raise the fundamental guidelines and demonstrate the tracks and ruts, leading later generations to the Way of the sages and worthies. As for encompassing Heaven and Earth, fathoming yin and yang, exhausting auspiciousness and misfortune, and discerning waxing and waning, nothing surpasses the Yijing. Fuxi began it and Zhongni (Confucius) expounded it, thereby bestowing fine benefits upon all under heaven. Correlating the days to months, illuminating the past and examining what is to come, rectifying the kingly way, and recording human relations, nothing surpasses the Chunqiu. The Master canonicalized it and Zuo Qiuming transmitted it, thereby setting forth clear admonitions for ten thousand generations. Dare one ask: do the sages' setting down writings and instituting teachings culminate merely in this? Little do they realize that writings bestowing praise and blame cannot equalize enmity and affection nor make birth and cessation uniform; methods probing adversity and prosperity cannot unfold the wondrous nature nor encompass the true mechanism. In serving as a crossing and pathway for humans and devas, and transcending the deep abyss of birth and death, can anything fail to be great, fail to be sage, in the teaching of the Great Hero? As for the concealing of the jade voice on the Vulture Peak and the transmission of the precious scriptures in the dragon treasury, the further we are from the Sage, the more abundantly the legacy blesses posterity. Thus, in widening the surging billows of the fragrant ocean and strengthening the hub of the great cart, nothing has been more flourishing than the teaching of Tiantai. Therefore, the National Preceptor of the Chen and Sui dynasties, Great Master Zhizhe, whose Dharma name was Zhiyi, expounded the great tenet of the Single Flower and established the splendid school of the Eight Pillars. With luminosity dispelling darkness, like the sun clearing vapors and mists; with stillness checking movement, like the divine turtle clapping the deep seas. The four teachings of Storehouse, Common, Distinct, and Perfect were thereby illuminated, and the five flavors of ghee, curd, and milk were proclaimed in harmony. He transmitted the lamplight of prajñā and opened the threshold of the vaipulya teachings; riding the long winds to break through waves, he drowned the host of māras at the gate of non-duality; like great mountains sending forth clouds, he flourished the true Dharma in the orchard of expounding the three. Handed down as wondrous scriptures, they raised high our true style. Consequently, kings and ministers stretched their necks toward the lecture halls of Danqiu, and cities and settlements turned their hearts to the bodhimaṇḍas of the golden ground. The benefits of Zhizhe's transforming of people were indeed vast and cannot be fully spoken of! The Chuanjiao Cloister is the residence where Master Ji, the present Great Master Jingguang, serves as abbot. The master's Dharma name was Xiji, his secular surname was Hu, and he was a man of Yongjia. Previously, in the early Xiande era of the Zhou, Zhang Yan'an, a resident of Luoxi, came to the master and said: 'Southeast of my family's temple there is an open plot of land of over one li. On dark and overcast nights, there are always sounds of ghostly wailing and whistling, as well as the ringing resonance of striking bells and chiming stones. Furthermore, I once dreamed of a divine dragon roaming that ground; it is certainly not something ignorant folk should possess. I wish to offer it to you, Master, to serve for monastic affairs.' The master agreed, went in person to inspect it, and marveled at the extraordinary beauty of its mountains and waters. He then said to the assembly: 'This is the ground for a saṅghārāma. I have often wished to continue the True Vehicle, and pondered divining a place for lecturing and chanting. Moreover, the single school of Tiantai was received from Nāgārjuna; is not his dream of the divine dragon an omen of this?' Yet, because material donations were insufficient, he could not immediately fulfill his aspiration, but merely accepted what was given and cultivated a vegetable plot. Soon after, Venerable Qi (Venerable Yuanqi was later also styled Dhyāna Master Chongfa, and was also a disciple to whom the master transmitted the Dharma), a disciple of Venerable Yan of Fahua, reported the matter to his root master, the Dhyāna Master. The Dhyāna Master fully approved of the proposal, and thereupon gave up three hundred thousand cash from the donations he had received from the public to assist in the initial construction. Although the master heard of this joyful renunciation, he was rather apprehensive of burdensome labor, and thus admonished Venerable Qi: 'What we undertake today is out of concern for our students; it is not that I wish to shelter from wind and rain and abandon my aspiration for the charnel grounds and beneath the trees. If you grasp my intention, you must strive to bring it about.' Venerable Qi then cut into the mountain to lay the foundations, measured timber and erected the structures, building in all three bays of a Dharma hall and several rooms for the kitchen. Thatching with reeds and piling sods, everything prized plain simplicity to accord with the master's mind. In the autumn, the eighth month of the jiazi year of the Qiande era (964 CE), the hall was completed. He then invited the master to dwell there; maintaining silence, the master then led twenty students to go along with him. Stones that nodded stood in rows along the green peaks; flowers that rained down fresh fluttered past the precious desk. Seeing its rustic wildness, harmonizing with their peaceful dwelling, beyond his devoted heart he rejoiced immeasurably. Thereafter, those ascending the gate of fish daily competed to fill it, and people in the garden where cranes were released were burdened by the crowding. When the master heard of this, he discouraged such talk several times. But Dhyāna Master Shaogong of Yunju, seeing that this site for transmitting the lamp had not yet expanded to standard monastic proportions, submitted a memorial to the present King of Hannan: 'Great Master Zhizhe ascended to the various stages in his status, yet his traces manifested as one of the four reliances; he attained the dhāraṇī-doors and acquired unimpeded eloquence; the doctrinal teachings he composed fill several hundred fascicles. Great Master Jingguang Xiji transmits and lectures upon them like pouring water from one vessel into another (the above eight lines are quoted from the memorial). Yet the pillars and eaves of the vihāra where he dwells are not ample. We pray you grant permission to construct it, so as to give peace to the assembly who tuck up their robes.' The king consented, and thereupon commanded his beloved sons, the two Masters Xiang and Hua, along with the royal clansmen, each to donate cash and grain to assist. Considering that dwelling in a thatched hall was elegantly fitting and restful, the master did not obey the command for a long time. In the fifth year, the dingmao year (967 CE), the construction was finally completed. The repentance hall, Dharma hall, meditation rooms, scripture rooms, and all secondary monastic structures were rebuilt without omission, totaling over one hundred and thirty bays inside and outside. Groves and springs shone together, gold and azure gleamed brightly; wherever water-jar and staff arrived, through cold and heat they forgot to return. That year, the king further commanded the master to deliver one lecture series on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, to dedicate blessings to the late Royal Mother, Grand Lady Gongyi, née Wu. From then on, divine dragons rejoiced at hearing the Dharma, birds and beasts took delight in carrying flowers, offerings satisfied like Cunda's, and the mat was solemnly set for the poṣadha. Leaning on his table and grasping his whisk, reverent and meticulously cautious; wearing the oceanic field-of-merit robes, dignified was the great assembly. In the second year of the Taiping Xingguo era (977 CE), Chief Administrator Wang Chengyi of the Marshal's Headquarters and Internal Guest Master Yu Dehui jointly resolved to build an Amitābha Hall at this cloister. The king again ordered a donation of eight hundred thousand cash, and further invited the master to give one lecture series on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra, feed thirty thousand monks, and fully provide all implements of offering to the Buddha—fragrant flowers, banners, and canopies. The following year, the red arrows were routinely offered and the golden wheel maintained the great lineage; the doctrinal teachings flourished all the more, and the adornments grew ever more devoted. As the statues and installations were not yet complete, the hopes of the assembly were frustrated. They then dispatched the monk Chongyun from afar to the capital to petition Master Xiang. Master Xiang thereupon joined with Lady Xu, the Lady of the State of Chen, and Xu Gui'an, Vice Governor of the Princely Establishment of the King of Hannan, jointly donating two hundred thousand cash, accompanied by a golden girdle. They also solicited the prefectural native Li Congyu, and the assembly gathered three hundred thousand cash of pure wealth, together bringing the work to completion. Thereupon, the Peacock Peak Top Ushnisha Buddha presided with dignity over the central screen, and lotus-crowned attendants flanked and aided the lofty dais. The surrounding guardians were awe-inspiring and valiant; the attendants were gentle and pleasing. Deep and profound, the golden mouth closely resembled utter silence; dazzlingly bright, the dark blue eyes truly matched the unblinking gaze. With the Three Jewels complete, how could the hundreds of blessings be measured! And we hear that the master's wondrous practice was exceedingly cultivated, his compassionate mind rested in contentment, his clothing was merely coarse cloth, his resting place was but a single bed, on the tip of his staff hung only his water-jar and bag, and within his courtyard no locks were ever applied. Eloquent in discourse, fifty seats were not considered exhaustive; cheerful in taking joy in the Way, a three-storied pavilion was not considered exalted. Now his secular years are sixty-eight, and his monastic age is forty-nine. Although his years are advanced, his instruction and guidance are untiring; he is truly a rare and remarkable figure in the history of the saṅgha! Ah! The Tiantai teaching expounds the meaning of the Awakening King's non-exposition, encompassing all without omission; it illuminates the source of sentient beings' rebirths across destinies, revolving endlessly without exhaustion. Hence the Three Vehicles ride forth in turn, only then analyzing the conventional to enter emptiness; the Ten Stages are magnificently transcended, thereupon directly realizing buddhahood from the state of ordinary mortals. Why must one point to the lotus flower upon the water to first demonstrate accommodation to the provisional? One should naturally awaken to the butterfly in the dream, realizing there is no separate substance! Who that proclaims this principle would not honor it? And the master's student, Great Master Tongjian Zhilian, seeing that the master exalted the Buddha's shrines and opened schools of the Dharma, wishing to perpetuate his evergreen achievements through the cold season, requested that this be inscribed in stone. I, Qian Yan, reflect that Mount Tiantai has always been replete with renowned scholars who continued the exposition of the sage teaching; one should not play the pipes when unable, and the inkstone should rather have been burned. Yet thinking of the causal conditions established by verses and gāthās, how dare I decline with modest words? May the grass barrier be rich and fertile, nourishing the root of goodness to be ever fresh; may the wind stir the vairambha, blowing the light of wisdom so it is never extinguished. Having respectfully purified myself with fasting and precepts, I compose this inscription: