樂邦文類 3.65

3.65

真常寂光本來明妙，忽然念起受此飄零。大覺聖人欲令返其妄而復乎本，設權巧而漸誘，是故釋迦現穢土俾其厭、彌陀現淨土俾其忻，或忻樂而修淨行，必生彼國。彼則境界勝妙而皆助發真常，所以聽風柯而正念成、升寶樓而三昧顯，不假方便自然得道。是故淨土法門，亦還源之徑策也。然廣淨土之道者，唯廬山遠公同奇節逸群之賢，結蓮社於爐峯之下，修念佛三昧，期生淨剎。由是後世皆宗尚之。至乎南嶽禪師始居大蘇山，傳龍樹一性之宗，別置禪室，示人修證。故天台智者初到此山，授與普賢道場，修法華三昧，因而發大總持、入佛境界。自後四方咸取則焉。有以見古人垂範雖異、歸元一也。聖宋元符間，比丘介然，續古規模，立佛化事。於延慶西隅空閑寂寞之濱，建大寶閣，環為十有六室，依經以十六觀名之。朱欄屈曲、碧沼澄明，狀樂邦清淨之境也。像刻栴檀、池栽菡萏，繼廬山蓮社之風也。懺室精嚴、禪堂深寂，遵大蘇道場之制也。唯守志奉道者居焉。晨香夕燈，無生佛事澄神內照，豁然明悟於自心寂光之境者多矣。此為四明勝絕之地，但歲月浸遠、棟宇墮損，修三昧者無以自安。紹興丁丑，有比丘（清潤）嗟勝境之將頹，念欲發硎斯事，自視力弱難以動人，遂以此事白住持覺雲法師。師曰：「事貴在誠。儻真誠一發，尚能關感諸佛，何檀信而不能動耶？況汝已能剏建妙觸宣明之室，使人咸悟水因，成佛子住。此得非誠之所致乎？」（清潤）一聞斯語，拳拳服膺，遂出于檀信，翕然從之，或捨楩楠之材、會稽之箭，使梁棟有欹斜者正之、椽箯有蠧朽者新之。飜碧瓦、整建瓴，無致乎上漏下濕。而四圍周之以句欄遮暘，戶牖窓几、甃砌階除、丹青寶閣。邊河之岸峻築高牆，俾靜室觀理之人而不知有市廛之喧紅塵之涴。則一新輪奐，宛同大廈初成之日，足可以進簾月、焚柏香，居者妙行不休，施者植福無盡。庶幾東林之風、南嶽之道，不遠而復者，功由此也。經營四載而能事畢矣，用錢三千貫、刊銜二千名，使此方人不跬步而目擊十萬億剎之外風吟寶葉、波動金渠，湛然如玉井磨秋，便覺已到故國、頓忘客塵，爰翅逃虛空者遽聞足音，豈不快哉。令一切人因此發軫，即觀安養依正，皆由此境之所引發而躍如也，較其增修之功而莫大焉。時乾道五年南至日比丘（清哲）書。

The true eternally quiescent light is originally bright and wondrous; suddenly a thought arises and one suffers this drift and fall. The Sagely One of Great Awakening, wishing to make them turn back from their delusion and return to their origin, devised provisional and skillful means to gradually entice them. Therefore Śākyamuni manifested the defiled land to make them revile it, and Amitābha manifested the pure land to make them take joy in it; or, joyfully taking delight, they cultivate pure practice and will surely be reborn in that land. There, the realm is supreme and wondrous, and all helps bring forth the true and constant; thus listening to the wind in the branches, right mindfulness is accomplished, and ascending the jeweled towers, samādhi is manifested, naturally attaining the Way without relying on expedient means. Therefore, the Pure Land gate is also a shortcut for returning to the source. However, as for those who broadly propagated the way of the Pure Land, only Master Yuan of Mount Lu, together with extraordinary and eminent worthies, formed the Lotus Society beneath Incense Burner Peak, cultivating the buddha-mindfulness samādhi and aspiring for rebirth in the pure land. From this, later generations all honored and upheld it. When it came to Dhyāna Master Nanyue, he first dwelt on Mount Dasu, transmitting Nāgārjuna’s school of the single nature, establishing separate dhyāna chambers to show people cultivation and realization. Therefore, when Tiantai Zhiyi first arrived at this mountain, he was entrusted with the Samantabhadra bodhimaṇḍa and cultivated the Lotus Samādhi, thereby bringing forth the great dhāraṇī and entering the Buddha’s realm. From then on, all within the four quarters took it as a model. This shows that although the ancients’ bequeathed models differed, their return to the source was one. During the Yuanfu era of the sacred Song, the monk Jieran continued the ancient models and established the work of the Buddha's transformation. In the vacant and secluded corner to the west of Yanqing, he built a great precious pavilion, encircled by sixteen chambers, named after the sixteen contemplations according to the sūtra. Vermilion railings wound about, and clear blue ponds glistened, portraying the pure realm of the Land of Bliss. The images were carved from sandalwood, and lotuses were planted in the ponds, continuing the style of the Lotus Society of Mount Lu. The repentance chambers were meticulous and strict, and the dhyāna halls were profoundly quiet, complying with the system of the Dasu bodhimaṇḍa. Only those who maintained their resolve and served the Way dwelt there. With morning incense and evening lamps, non-arising buddha-work cleared the spirit for internal reflection; those who opened into clear awakening to the quiescent-light realm of their own mind were many. This was a supreme and peerless site in Siming; yet as years and months grew distant, the buildings fell into ruin, and practitioners of samādhi had no way to be at peace. In the dingchou year of the Shaoxing era, there was the monk (Qingrun), who lamented that the supreme realm was about to collapse and thought to sharpen his blade on this task. Viewing his own strength as frail and hard to move people, he thereupon reported this matter to the abbot, Dharma Master Juewun. The Master said: “Affairs value sincerity. If true sincerity once comes forth, it can even move and evoke all buddhas; what donor could it fail to move? Moreover, you have already been able to initiate the chamber of ‘Wondrous Touch Clearly Manifested’, enabling people to fully awaken to the cause of water and accomplish the dwelling of a son of the Buddha. Could this not have been brought about by sincerity?” When (Qingrun) heard these words, he held them firmly in mind, and thereupon appealed to generous donors, who followed in unison. Some donated timber of phoebe and nanmu, or bamboo of Guiji, so that pillars and beams that were tilted were straightened, and rafters and lattices that were worm-eaten and rotten were made new. Overturning the green tiles and arranging the drainage gutters, they brought it about that there was no leaking from above or dampness from below. Surrounding it on all four sides were railings to block the sun, doors, windows, casements, and tables, paved stairs and steps, and a painted precious pavilion. Along the riverbank, they built high walls steep and tall, so that those in the quiet chambers contemplating principle would not know the clamor of the market streets or the staining of the red dust. Thus, renewed in scale and beauty, it was just as on the day the great mansion was first completed, sufficient to let in the curtained moon and burn cypress incense; dwellers' wondrous practice does not cease, and donors' planting of merit is inexhaustible. That the style of Donglin and the way of Nanyue are restored without going far—the achievement stems from this! Managing it for four years, the entire enterprise was completed, expending three thousand strings of cash and inscribing two thousand names, so that people of this land, without taking a single step, may witness with their own eyes beyond a hundred thousand kotis of lands the wind singing through jeweled leaves and the waves rippling in golden channels, lucid as an autumn jade well polished; they immediately feel that they have already reached their home country and suddenly forgotten the visitor's defilements. This is like one fleeing through an empty expanse who suddenly hears footsteps—how delightful is this! Causing all people to set out because of this, namely contemplating the circumstantial and primary [rewards] of Peaceful Nurture, all is stimulated and vividly enlivened by this realm; comparing the merit of its renovation, nothing could be greater. Written on the day of the winter solstice in the fifth year of the Qiandao era by the monk (Qingzhe).