佛祖統紀 16.37

16.37

法師與咸。字虛中。黃巖章氏。賜號明祖。母夢故白蓮惠師遺黃柑令食之。及寤齒頰猶香。生七歲依香積出家。首謁智涌。涌奇之曰。祖位再來也。學成以妙年居第一座。涌沒證悟為繼。已而悟遷上竺。乃舉師以代。聚徒既多歲復大歉。及分衛吳中。施者唯恐自後。倍委王孟公問十六觀義。師曰。佛國在十萬億剎外。而提封不越方寸。若克循觀道。則往彼非遙也。資政鄭公問楞嚴八還。師曰。迷心為境。八法瞀亂。達大觀者。一念自反。二公皆感悟。歲歲為遣供（瞀音茂目不明）郡太守入山。見池中紅蓮。問曰。既是白蓮。因甚却開紅華。師曰。山中并喜君侯至任是無情亦改容。又指看經羅漢曰。既是無學。如何看經。師撫羅漢背云。何不祇對。師倦於酬應。歸間受業。會赤城益師亡。郡以為請。萬年一禪師來訪。見床上小冊記。回買常住物。一錢不遺。歎曰。我於道無媿行不及師。嘗於法輪寺施戒。當請聖師。眾覩寶光下燭有梵僧立空表。禪宴之餘常諷空品。至本性空寂則入定數日。至生死無際則大慟不已。其體法真切若此。隆興元年五月。別眾端坐念佛而亡。瘞龕於寺之東岡。乾道三年夏復從荼毘。五色舍利無算。所著菩薩戒疏注三卷。金剛辨惑一卷。復宗二卷。法華撮要一卷。素精於易折衷諸解。以自名本取諸咸因號澤山叟。

Dharma Master Yuxian, whose courtesy name was Xuzhong, was of the Zhang family of Huangyan; he was granted the title Mingzu. His mother dreamt that the late Master Hui of Bailian gave her yellow tangerines to eat; upon waking, her teeth and cheeks were still fragrant. At the age of seven, he left home at Xiangji. He first went to pay respects to Zhiyong, who marveled at him and said, “A patriarch has returned!” Having completed his studies, he occupied the first seat in his prime of youth. When Yong passed away, Zhengwu succeeded him; soon after, Wu relocated to Shangzhu and recommended the master to take his place. As the disciples gathered in great numbers, a severe famine occurred. When he went to beg for alms in the Wu region, donors vied with one another to give, fearing only to be left behind. Wang Menggong of Beiwei asked about the meaning of the sixteen contemplations. The master said, “The Buddha-land lies beyond a hundred thousand billion realms, yet its domain does not exceed a single square inch [of the mind]. If you can truly follow the path of contemplation, going there is not far.” Lord Zheng, the Consultant, asked about the eight returns of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. The master said, “When the mind is confused into believing it is the objective realm, the eight phenomena become dark and chaotic. One who reaches the great contemplation turns back upon oneself in a single thought.” Both lords were inspired to awakening and sent offerings year after year. (Mao is pronounced mao, meaning dimness of the eyes.) When the commandery prefect entered the mountain and saw red lotuses in the pond, he asked, “Since this is White Lotus [Monastery], why do red flowers bloom instead?” The master said, “In these mountains we are so delighted by your lordship’s arrival that even insentient things have changed their countenance.” He further pointed to an arhat reading a sūtra and said, “Since he is an adept beyond study, why does he read sūtras?” The master patted the arhat’s back and said, “Why do you not reply?” Weary of social engagements, the master returned to spend his leisure at his home monastery. Just then Master Yi of Chicheng passed away, and the commandery invited him to take charge. Chan Master Yi of Wannian visited him and saw a small notebook on the bed recording the repurchase of communal property without omitting a single coin; he sighed and said, “I have no shame regarding the Way, but my conduct does not match that of the master.” He once bestowed the precepts at Falun Temple; when they invoked the holy teachers, the assembly beheld a precious light shining downward, with an Indian monk standing in the open sky. Beyond his quietude in meditation, he often chanted the chapter on emptiness; when he came to ‘original nature is empty and tranquil’, he would enter samādhi for several days; when he reached ‘birth and death are boundless’, he would weep bitterly without cease. Such was his genuine and penetrating realization of the Dharma. In the fifth month of the first year of the Longxing era, he bid farewell to the assembly, sat upright chanting the Buddha’s name, and passed away. His shrine was interred on the eastern ridge of the monastery. In the summer of the third year of the Qiandao era, he was cremated; countless five-colored relics were obtained. He authored three scrolls of Commentary on the Bodhisattva Precepts, one scroll of Resolving Doubts on the Diamond Sūtra, two scrolls of Restoring the Lineage, and one scroll of Essentials of the Lotus Sūtra. He was always proficient in the Book of Changes, synthesizing various interpretations; because his own name Xian was originally taken from the hexagram Xian, he styled himself Old Man of the Lake and Mountain.