廬山蓮宗寶鑑 4.39

4.39

師諱智顗，字德安，姓陳氏，頴川人。母徐氏，夢香煙五彩繞身有孕。誕生之日神光煥室，目有重瞳、眉分八彩。孩幼見像即禮、逢僧必拜。十八歲投湘州果願寺出家，誦《法華經》兼通律藏。性樂習禪，遂往大蘇山禮慧思禪師，北面事焉。思師一見乃曰：「昔日靈山同聽法華，宿緣所追今復來矣。」因授與法華三昧。三七日誦經，至於〈藥王本事品〉「是真精進，是名真法供養。」至此句時身心豁然，寂而入定，照了法華，若曦和臨於萬象；達諸法相，如清風遊於太虛。將證白師，師曰：「非汝不證，非吾莫識。汝所證者是法華三昧前方便得旋陀羅尼，汝於說法人中最為第一。後弘法鄴都屈伏時匠。晚入天台降魔進行。」化緣既息，於新昌大石像前示疾告滅。弟子請問生方，乃曰：「吾諸師友皆從觀音而來迎我。」及夜，侍人見有佛至，倍大石像。臨終說諸法門，令唱無量壽經及觀經題目，乃顧大眾合掌讚曰：「四十八願，莊嚴淨土，華池寶樹，易往無人。火車相現，一念改悔尚得往生，況戒定熏修聖行道力實不唐捐。」言訖稱三寶名奄然而滅。後有僧求知生處，乃夢觀音金容數丈，智者從後而語僧曰：「汝疑決不？」再驗，智者生西方矣。

The master's taboo name was Zhiyi, his courtesy name was De'an, and his surname was Chen, a native of Yingchuan. His mother, Lady Xu, dreamed of fragrant smoke of five colors encircling her body, whereupon she became pregnant. On the day of his birth, a divine light illuminated the room; his eyes had double pupils, and his eyebrows displayed eight colors. As a young child, upon seeing an image he would bow, and upon meeting a monk he would certainly prostrate. At the age of eighteen, he went to Guoyuan Temple in Xiangzhou to leave household life, reciting the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra and also mastering the vinaya pitaka. By nature he delighted in practicing dhyāna; thereupon he traveled to Mount Dasu to pay homage to Dhyāna Master Huisi, serving him as a master. When Master Si caught sight of him, he said: "Formerly on Vulture Peak we listened together to the Lotus; pursued by past karmic connections, you have come again today." He then transmitted the Lotus Samādhi to him. For three weeks he recited the sūtra, arriving at the "Chapter on the Ancient Deeds of the Medicine King": "This is true vigor; this is called the true offering of Dharma." Upon reaching this sentence, his body and mind opened up, and in stillness he entered samādhi, illuminating the Lotus as Xihe shining upon the myriad phenomena, and penetrating all dharmas' marks like a pure breeze wandering through the great void. When he was about to report his realization to the master, the master said: "Were it not for you, none would have realized it; were it not for me, none could recognize it. What you have realized is the preliminary expedient of the Lotus Samādhi, attaining the revolving dhāraṇī; among those who expound the Dharma, you are foremost. Later you will propagate the Dharma in the capital of Ye, subduing the masters of the time. In your later years you will enter Tiantai, subduing Māra and advancing in practice." When his converting affinities had ceased, he manifested illness and announced his passing before the Great Stone Statue in Xinchang. When his disciples inquired about the direction of his rebirth, he replied: "My various masters and friends have all come with Avalokiteśvara to welcome me." By night, his attendants saw a Buddha arrive, twice the size of the Great Stone Statue. On the verge of passing, he expounded various Dharma gates, instructed them to chant the titles of the Wuliangshou jing and the Guan jing, and looking upon the great assembly, joined his palms in praise: "The forty-eight vows adorn the Pure Land; the flower ponds and jeweled trees are easy to reach, yet no one goes. When the marks of the fire cart appear, with a single thought of remorse and reform one can still attain rebirth; how much more so for the holy practice and power of the Way cultivated and perfumed by precepts and samādhi—truly it is not in vain!" Having finished speaking, he recited the names of the Three Jewels and suddenly passed away. Later, a monk sought to know the place of his rebirth, and dreamed of Avalokiteśvara's golden form tens of feet high, with Zhizhe following behind, who said to the monk: "Have your doubts been resolved?" Confirming it again, Zhizhe had indeed been reborn in the western direction.