勅修百丈清規 8.49

8.49

Our present Son of Heaven, initiating a decree based on his former posthumous title Dazhi Juezhao (Great Wisdom Awakened Illumination), added the title Hongzong Miaoxing (Propagating the Lineage with Wondrous Practice). The monastery's name Shousheng is its old plaque. The mountain is three hundred li from the commandery seat. Before the monastery was established there, the forests and ravines were deep and obstructed, and the cliff paths were steep and sheer; no traces of woodcutters or fodder gatherers reached it. There was a dhūta named Sima, skilled in the art of building sites and topography. Viewing the mountain's towering height and the undulations of its ridges from head to tail, he knew it to be an auspicious land. The prophetic record he left said: 'If a Dharma King resides here, he will be a model for the realm.' The Chan Master's coming verified his words. Dehui of Dongyang, as the eighteenth-generation descendant of the Chan Master, succeeded to the abbacy of this mountain. Having newly built a hall for expounding the Dharma, he further erected a two-storied building above it to enshrine the Chan Master's portrait, hanging a plaque between its pillars reading: 'Pavilion of the Model for the Realm.' Originally, when Emperor Wenzong ascended the heavenly throne, he built a monastery at his former residence in Jinling named Longxiang Jiqing. He decreed that the founder Daxin should lead his followers and use the pure rules established by the Chan Master as the rules of decorum for daily activities and bodily deportment. Considering that the book had been in circulation for a long time, later people had mostly made arbitrary additions and deletions based on their own opinions, creating contradictions without any authoritative resolution. Dehui and Daxin studied under the same master and held the Dharma authority at the ancestral court; they greatly feared that future learners would transmit doubts not knowing what to follow, with no way to unify the views and hearings of the various quarters. Thereupon [Dehui] traveled to the capital, wishing to petition for its correction and revision. The present Grand Censor Sadi was then administering the law in the Censorate, and spoke to the Emperor on his behalf, securing an audience. An imperial decree was issued ordering Dehui to compile the old records and deliver them to Daxin, to have him select those versed in the master's teachings to jointly examine and finalize them, and promulgate them as the law for monastic groves. Furthermore, he bestowed upon the Chan Master his present title, praising and encouraging him. Dehui, bearing the imperial edict, was about to return south; since the completion of the pavilion had not yet been recorded, he consulted Jin, saying: 'I wish you to recount the origins of its construction, so that I may return and carve it [on stone].' I, Jin, observe that from ancient times, sages and worthies have arisen in succession according to their times, alternately loosening and tightening, cycling without end—this is how they adapt to changes. In the Buddha's teaching, vinaya rules must come first; the doctrines of the various sections, both Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna, are fully set forth, with various permissions and prohibitions, all regarding a single matter. As we became further removed from the sages, it was confined to specialized schools; the designations and numbers grew more numerous, and the Way became increasingly obscured. Therefore, Bodhidharma did not rely on expedients and directly pointed to the mind-source; the vinaya aspects were fully apparent, yet none could hinder him. As the world declined and customs deteriorated, falsehood overcame truth, and pursuing external conditions became thoughts of pride and deviance. Therefore, Baizhang broadly established rules to assist the vinaya, protecting and maintaining, so that in matters all was principle. The Buddha's Way was illuminated through Bodhidharma; the Buddha's affairs were perfected through Baizhang. The marvel of adapting to change rests in the person. Thereafter, Bodhidharma's transmission divided into five branches, two of which came from the Chan Master. The other masters advocated different lineages and principles, each making a name for their own house; yet when it came to settling and accommodating followers, none failed to take the Chan Master as their model. Thus the saying 'a model for the realm' can truly be verified as not false. Ever since the rulers and ministers of the central realm came to revere the Buddha Dharma, its brilliance and elevation have never exceeded the present. Dehui met with this