明覺禪師語錄 6.315

6.315

師辭往池州景德寺為首座，為眾解肇法師般若論，知州曾公會，以果子抵于地曰：「古人云：『不離當處常湛然』，即今在何許？」師指景德長老曰：「只此長老亦不知落處。」曾公云：「上座知也不得無過。」師曰：「明眼人難瞞。」師南遊杭州，住持蘇州洞庭翠峯，嗣智門也。未幾曾公出守明州，手疏請師，住持雪竇資聖，蘇人固留不可，師曰：「出家人止如孤鶴翹松，去若片雲過頂，何彼此之有？」雪竇本智覺禪師道場，智覺亦雪峯五世孫，備傳琛，琛傳益，益傳韶，而壽繼之，智覺其號也，一法同源，而地有盈虛，師之至猶家焉。決潢汗變清泚，掖躄偃爭迅馳，州邦遠近輻輳座下，駙馬都尉和文李公，表錫紫方袍，侍中賈公又奏，加明覺之號。師住持三十一載，度僧七十八人，先是門弟子建壽塔於寺之西南五百餘步，一日命侍者，灑掃塔亭，行至山椒，歷覽久之曰：「自今過此，何日復至？」左右皆大驚，眾迎師還，師堅指塔所，眾皆號泣，隨至塔前，或曰：「師無頌辭世耶？」師曰：「吾平生患語之多矣。」翌日出杖屨衣盂，散遺其徒，有問疾者，留食殷勤與之約曰：「七月七日復來相見。」其夜盥浴整衣側臥而滅，時皇祐四年六月十日，俗壽七十三，僧臘五十夏，以七月初六日入塔，如師之約。

The Master took his leave and went to Jingde Monastery in Chizhou to serve as head monk, explaining Master Zhao's Treatise on Prajñā for the assembly. The prefect, Master Zeng Hui, threw a piece of fruit to the ground and said, 'The ancients said: "Not leaving this very place, it is ever tranquil." Where is it right now?' The Master pointed to the Elder of Jingde and said, 'Even this Elder does not know where it fell.' Master Zeng said, 'Even if the elder monk knows, he cannot be without fault.' The Master said, 'It is difficult to deceive a person with clear eyes.' The Master traveled south to Hangzhou and served as abbot at Cuifeng on Mount Dongting in Suzhou, succeeding to Zhimen. Before long, Master Zeng was sent out to govern Mingzhou, and he wrote a personal letter inviting the Master to serve as abbot of Zisheng on Mount Xuedou. The people of Suzhou firmly detained him to no avail; the Master said, 'A renunciant's stopping is like a lone crane perched on a pine; his going is like a wisp of cloud passing over the summit—what is there of here or there?' Xuedou was originally the bodhimaṇḍa of Chan Master Zhijue. Zhijue was also a fifth-generation descendant of Xuefeng: Bei transmitted to Chen, Chen transmitted to Yi, Yi transmitted to Shao, and Shou succeeded him; Zhijue was his title. The one Dharma has the same source, yet places have fullness and emptiness; the Master's arrival was just like coming home. Clearing away mud and silt to make the water clear, supporting the lame and crippled to strive in rapid running, people converged beneath his seat like spokes at a hub from near and far throughout the commanderies. Li Hewen, the Commandant of the Imperial Guards, petitioned to bestow a purple rectangular robe, and Minister Jia also submitted a memorial to add the title 'Mingjue'. The Master served as abbot for thirty-one years and ordained seventy-eight monks. Prior to this, his disciples had constructed a life-tomb more than five hundred paces southwest of the temple. One day, he ordered his attendant to sprinkle and sweep the stūpa pavilion; walking to the mountain crest, he gazed around for a long time and said, 'After passing from here today, on what day shall I return?' Those at his side were all greatly shocked. The assembly welcomed the Master back, but the Master firmly pointed to the place of the stūpa, and the assembly all wailed and wept, following him to the front of the stūpa. Someone asked, 'Master, do you not have a gāthā to take leave of the world?' The Master said, 'Throughout my life, I have been troubled by excessive words!' The next day, he brought out his staff, sandals, robe, and bowl, distributing them among his disciples. When someone asked after his illness, he detained them for a meal, affectionately made an appointment with them, and said, 'Come back to see me on the seventh day of the seventh month.' That night, having washed and bathed, he adjusted his robes and passed away lying on his side. It was the tenth day of the sixth month in the fourth year of the Huangyou era; his secular age was seventy-three, and his monastic age was fifty summers. On the sixth day of the seventh month, he was placed in the stūpa, in accord with the Master's appointment.