佛祖統紀 16.53

16.53

法師妙雲。四明楊氏。自號慈室。遍詢教席𤀹發妙解從久無畏。詣玉几參大慧。益有省悟。無畏主清修。師與逸堂諸賢旦暮請益。及同受通相三觀之旨。紹興十九年。無畏沒眾請師為繼。淳熙初。遷慈溪永明。以所得悟意。述圓覺直解。其序有云。巨儒老衲讀此必曰。既云直解何用是曲科為。聞者為一笑。嘗閒居東湖二靈。以詩遣丐村市云。山環湖水水環山。短艇白鷗窓几間。野外更將供給至。飽參著得十僧閑。時人誦為實錄。郡請居南湖。日事講貫學者如市。居二年以疾辭。居溪口吳氏菴。一日往別吳君。歸越三日。澡身易衣。趺坐室中。謂侍人曰。吾有瓣香藏之三十年。將臨終供佛仰報大恩。今其時。吾將有行。及香煙正熾起白佛陳請求歸安養。就座合掌而化。師為學得旨尤善駕說。詩頌翰墨妙絕一時。南湖祖堂以師居位日淺不立像。耆老評之曰。昔竹菴牧菴居此皆二年。議者以道大名重不得不立。今慈室何慊於二老哉於是亦立位。嗣其法者。廣壽正皎（九月八日忌）首座睎顏。字聖徒。自號雪溪。四明奉化人。幼試經得度。教黌禪府無不咨詢。三教百家無不綜練。嘗從久無畏親受觀法。自謂造師藩籬。及無畏亡撰銘文以寄得法之意。師志氣剛正廣眾畏服。文藻高妙後進愛慕。於是聖徒之名播天下。不惑之前所寓必居記室。知命之後所至必踞座端。諸方屢舉出世。皆固辭不就。嘗步菜畦。見糞蛆毬聚。以殺物之多不復茹蔬。唯買海苔三百六十斤。日取其一以供粥飯。晚歲自省。謂文字餘習無補於道。乃住桃源厲氏菴。專志念佛。一坐十年。精進不懈。謂反人張漢卿曰。淨土之道豈有一法可得。珍臺寶網迦陵頻伽。此吾佛方便誘掖之法耳。但於修中不見一法。則寂光上品無證而證。漢卿曰。予固已信解。愧未能勇進耳。扁所居小軒曰憶佛。作詩以見志。有云。隨波逐浪去翩翩。彈指聲中七十年。豈不向來知憶佛。欲從老去更加鞭。臨終預別親友。沐浴更衣西向觀想。忽稱佛來合掌而化。師隱居之日。有司以免丁追慈室誚之曰。天下豈有讀萬卷書為高士行。猶欲以丁錢責之耶。主司嘉其言得不問。

Dharma Master Miaoyun was surnamed Yang, from Siming, and styled himself Cishi. He inquired widely at lecture seats, and when he developed subtle understanding, he followed Jiu Wuwei. He went to Yuji to call upon Dahui, where he attained further awakening. When Wuwei presided over Qingsxiu, the Master, along with Yitang and other worthy colleagues, sought further instruction morning and evening, together receiving the purport of the threefold contemplation with common characteristics. In the nineteenth year of the Shaoxing reign era, Wuwei passed away, and the assembly invited the Master to succeed him. At the beginning of the Chunxi reign era, he moved to Yongming in Cixi. Using the insights he had attained, he composed the *Direct Commentary on the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment*. Its preface stated: 'Great scholars and elder monks, upon reading this, will certainly say: Since it is called a direct commentary, why use such winding sub-sections?' Those who heard this were moved to smile. Once, when dwelling in leisure at Erling on Donghu, he composed a poem to send out to beg in the village market: 'Mountains encircle the lake waters, waters encircle the mountains; / A short skiff and white gulls between the window and desk. / Let supplies further arrive from beyond the wilds, / And ten monks, having deeply meditated to their fill, can rest in ease.' People of the time recited it as a faithful account. The prefecture invited him to reside at Nanhu; daily he was engaged in lecturing and expounding, and students gathered like a market. After dwelling there for two years, he resigned due to illness. He resided at the Wu Family Hermitage at Xikou. One day he went to bid farewell to Gentleman Wu. Three days after returning, he bathed his body, changed his clothes, sat cross-legged in his room, and said to his attendant: 'I have a petal of incense, kept for thirty years, which I intended to offer to the Buddha at the verge of death to reverently repay his great benevolence. Now is the time; I am about to depart.' When the incense smoke was burning brightly, he rose, addressed the Buddha, and expressed his wish to return to the Land of Peaceful Nourishment. Returning to his seat, he joined his palms and passed away. In his learning, the Master attained the essential purport and was particularly adept at delivering expositions. His poems, verses, and calligraphic ink-work were exquisitely peerless in his time. Because the Master's tenure in the seat was brief, the Ancestral Hall at Nanhu did not erect a statue of him. The venerable elders deliberated on it, saying: 'In the past, Master Zhu'an and Master Mu'an each resided here for only two years; yet deliberators considered their Dao grand and their renown momentous, and could not but erect statues for them. Today, in what way is Cishi inferior to these two elders?' Thereupon, they erected a seat and statue for him as well. Those who succeeded to his Dharma included Guanshou Zhengjiao (whose memorial day is the eighth day of the ninth month) and Head Monk Xiyan, whose courtesy name was Shengtu, styling himself Xuexi, a native of Fenghua in Siming. Having passed an examination on the scriptures in his youth, he received tonsure. There was no school of teaching or Chan hall he did not consult; there was no part of the Three Teachings or Hundred Schools he did not master. He once studied directly under Jiu Wuwei, receiving contemplation methods, and considered himself to have reached his master’s inner gate. When Wuwei died, he composed an inscription to convey the intention of having obtained his Dharma. The Master’s spirit was upright and steadfast, inspiring awe and respect in the masses; his literary elegance was lofty and exquisite, commanding the admiration of junior scholars. Thereupon, the name of Shengtu became renowned throughout the realm. Before the age of forty, wherever he stayed he always served as recorder; after the age of fifty, wherever he arrived he was seated at the head of the assembly. The various quarters repeatedly nominated him to assume a chief abbacy, but he steadfastly declined and did not accept. Once, walking along the vegetable plots, he saw maggots gathered like a ball in dung; because of the great killing of living creatures [involved in farming], he ceased eating vegetables. He only purchased three hundred and sixty catties of dried seaweed, taking one each day to supply his gruel and rice. In his later years he reflected upon himself, considering that residual habits of literary compositions brought no benefit to the Dao. He then took up residence at the Li Family Hermitage in Taoyuan, devoting his mind exclusively to reciting the Buddha's name. In one continuous retreat of ten years, his energetic progress never flagged. He said to Zhang Hanqing of Yinfan: 'In the Dao of the Pure Land, is there even a single phenomenon to be attained? The jeweled terraces, the gemmed nets, and the kalaviṅkas—these are merely the skillful methods used by our Buddha to attract and guide us. If only within one's cultivation one perceives not a single phenomenon, then the highest grade of the Land of Quiescent Light is attained without attainment.' Hanqing said: 'I have already believed and understood this; I only feel ashamed that I have not been able to advance courageously.' He gave the small porch where he resided the plaque 'Recollecting the Buddha' and composed a poem to express his intent, which went: 'Drifting with the waves and chasing the billows, lightly fluttering away, / Seventy years have passed in the snap of a finger. / How could I not have known all along to recollect the Buddha? / Only now, as old age sets in, do I wish to apply the whip even harder.' Approaching death, he bid farewell to his relatives and friends in advance, bathed, changed his clothes, faced west in contemplation, and suddenly exclaimed that the Buddha had arrived, joined his palms, and passed away. During the days of the Master's seclusion, when officials pursued Cishi for the adult male poll tax, the Master reproached them, saying: 'Where under heaven does someone read ten thousand scrolls of books to conduct himself as a lofty scholar, and yet you still wish to hold him liable for the poll tax?' The chief official praised his words, and he was exempted from inquiry.