禪林寶訓 4.57

4.57

簡堂淳熙五年四月。自天台景星巖再赴隱靜。給事吳公（芾）佚老于休休堂。和淵明詩十三篇送行。其一曰。我自歸林下。已與世相疎。賴有善知識。時能過吾廬。伴我說道話。愛我讀佛書。既為巖上去。我亦為膏車。便欲展我鉢。隨師同飯蔬。脫此塵俗累。長與巖石居。此巖固高矣。卓出山海圖。若比吾師高。此巖還不如（二）我生山窟裏。四面是孱顏。有巖號景星。欲到知幾年。今始信奇絕。一覽小眾山。更得師為主。二妙未易言（三）我家湖山上。觸目是林丘。若比茲山秀。培塿固難儔。雲山千里見。石泉四時流。我今纔一到。已勝五湖遊（四）我年七十五。木末掛殘陽。縱使身未逝。亦能豈久長。尚冀林間住。與師共末光。孤雲俄暫出。遠近駭蒼黃（五）愛山端有素。拘俗亦可憐。昨守當塗郡。不識隱靜山。羨師來又去。愧我復何言。尚期無久住。歸送我殘年（六）師心如死灰。形亦如槁木。胡為衲子歸。似響答空谷。顧我塵垢身。正待醍醐浴。更願張佛燈。為我代明燭（七）扶疎巖上樹。入夏總成陰。幾年荊棘地。一旦成叢林。我方與衲子。共聽海潮音。人生多聚散。離別忽驚心（八）我與師來往。歲月雖未長。相看成二老。風流亦異常。師宴坐巖上。我方為聚糧。倘師能早歸。此樂猶未央。（九）紛紛學禪者腰包競奔走。纔能說葛藤。癡意便自負。求其道德尊。如師蓋稀有。願傳上乘人。永光臨濟後（十）吾邑多緇徒。浩浩若雲海。大機久已亡。賴有小機在。仍更與一岑。純全兩無悔。堂堂二老禪。海內共期待（十一）古無住持事。但只傳法旨。有能悟色空。便可超生死。庸僧昧本來。豈識西歸履。買帖坐禪床。佛法將何恃（十二）僧中有高僧。士亦有高士。我雖不為高。心麁能知止。師是箇中人。特患不為爾。何幸我與師。俱是隣家子（十三）師本窮和尚。我亦窮秀才。忍窮俱已徹。老肯不歸來。今師雖暫別。泉石莫相猜。應緣聊復爾。師豈有心哉（景星石刻）。

In the fourth month of the fifth year of the Chunxi reign era, Jiantang set out again from Jingxing Rock in Tiantai to go to Yinjing. Supervising Secretary Master Wu (Fei), who had retired in old age at Xiuxiu Hall, harmonized with thirteen of Tao Yuanming's poems to see him off. The first says: / 'Since I returned beneath the forest, / I have long grown distant from the world. / Relying on the presence of a kalyāṇamitra, / Who could at times visit my cottage, / To accompany me in speaking words of the Way, / And cherish me as I read Buddhist scriptures. / Now that you are going up to the rocks, / I too shall grease my cart's axles. / I would like to spread my alms-bowl, / And follow the Master in sharing vegetable meals, / Shedding these burdens of the dusty world, / To dwell forever with the crags and boulders. / This rock is indeed high, / Standing pre-eminent beyond any map of mountains and seas. / Yet if compared to my Master's height, / Even this rock is still not its equal.' / (2) 'I was born within a mountain cavern; / On all four sides are jagged peaks. / There is a rock called Jingxing; / How many years have I wished to reach it? / Only now do I believe in its wondrous marvel: / At a single glance, the host of mountains looks small. / Furthermore, having the Master as its host, / The two splendors cannot easily be expressed.' / (3) 'My home is upon lakes and mountains; / Everywhere the eye meets are woods and hills. / Yet if compared to the elegance of this mountain, / Low mounds are indeed hard to match. / Cloud-veiled mountains can be seen for a thousand li; / Stone springs flow through all four seasons. / Having just arrived for the first time, / It already surpasses wandering through the Five Lakes.' / (4) 'I am seventy-five years old; / The setting sun hangs upon the treetops. / Even though my body has not yet departed, / How could it last for long? / I still hope to dwell amidst the forest, / To share with the Master our remaining radiance. / A solitary cloud suddenly emerges for a while, / Startling near and far into flurry and haste.' / (5) 'My love for the mountains is truly deep-rooted, / Yet being bound by worldly ways is also pitiable. / Yesterday I governed the commandery of Dangtu, / But did not know Mount Yinjing. / I admire the Master who comes and goes again; / Ashamed, what more can I say? / I only hope you will not stay there long, / But return to see me through my remaining years.' / (6) 'The Master's mind is like dead ashes, / His form is also like withered wood. / Why do monks turn to him, / Like an echo answering an empty valley? / Looking upon my body of dust and defilement, / I am just awaiting the bath of clarified butter. / I wish further that you raise the lamp of the Buddha, / To serve as a bright candle in my stead.' / (7) 'Branching and spreading, the trees upon the rock / All form shade upon entering summer. / What for years was a tract of thorns and brambles / In a single day has become a monastic grove. / Just as I, along with the monks, / Am listening together to the sound of the ocean tide, / In human life there are many gatherings and partings— / This farewell suddenly startles the heart.' / (8) 'Though the months and years of my association with the Master / Have not yet been long, / Looking upon each other we have become two old men, / Whose refined spirit is also extraordinary. / The Master sits in quiet meditation upon the rock, / While I am just gathering provisions for him. / If the Master can return early, / This joy will not yet come to an end.' / (9) 'The bustling students of Chan / Compete in rushing about with their bags at their waists. / No sooner can they utter some entangling words / Than their foolish minds become arrogant and self-satisfied. / To seek one whose Way and virtue are revered / Like the Master is rare indeed! / May you transmit it to one of the Supreme Vehicle, / To illuminate forever the lineage of Linji.' / (10) 'In my county there are many monks, / Vast and surging like a sea of clouds. / Daji has long since passed away; / Fortunately, Xiaoji remains. / Furthermore, there is Yicen; / Both are pure, complete, and without regret. / Dignified and grand, the two old Chan masters / Are jointly looked up to by all within the seas.' / (11) 'In ancient times there was no such thing as being an abbot; / They only transmitted the Dharma's intent. / If one can awaken to form and emptiness, / One can immediately transcend saṃsāra. / Mediocre monks are blind to what is original; / How could they know the shoe that returned to the west? / Purchasing certificates to sit on Chan platforms, / What will the Buddha's Dharma rely upon?' / (12) 'Among monks there are eminent monks; / Among scholars there are also eminent scholars. / Although I do not consider myself eminent, / My coarse mind can know where to stop. / The Master is a man within this realm; / My only concern is that you might not remain so. / What good fortune that the Master and I / Are both sons of neighboring households!' / (13) 'The Master is originally an impoverished monk, / And I too am an impoverished scholar. / Enduring poverty, we have both gone through it thoroughly; / In old age, how could we be unwilling to return? / Though the Master now parts [from me] for a while, / Let the springs and rocks not be suspicious. / Responding to conditions, it is merely like this for a time; / How could the Master have any deliberate intent?' (Rock Inscription of Jingxing).