佛祖統紀 18.43

18.43

法師宗曉。字達先。石芝其自號。四明王氏子。十八受具戒。先從具菴強公。遊次謁雲菴洪公。理觀密契遂分半座。未幾主昌國翠蘿。學者奔赴。越二年退隱西山日課妙經。適齊尚書扁所居曰閑靜。攻媿樓大參以詩美之。復遊浙西諸剎大參說偈以相其行。歷三歲而還。大府丞汪公與其季檢詳命主參秀。久之謝去居延慶第一座。講演之餘編法華顯應錄樂邦文類教行錄三教出興頌諸祖贊振祖集光明照解施食通覽。又集儒釋孝紀明良崇釋志明教編。箋註要旨血書法華墨書華嚴寶積般若涅槃諸經。又為中林居士張宗義書真宗皇帝御注四十二章經。鑿義井於城南櫟社曰法華泉。以飲行者。作亭其上施以湯茗無問道俗。結屋數楹創為接待。得魏文節公常樂舊額。中林張公為繢聖像建藏輪鑄鐘架樓增闢田土輪奐一新。且為誓辭以誡諸徒。使不志建立之意。弘傳教觀四十餘年。晚益韜晦。嘉定甲戌八月二十日示疾。索紙書偈曰。清淨本來不動。六根四大紛飛。掃却雲霞霧露。一輪秋月光輝。闍維於寺之南。齒牙不壞舍利甚夥。巽齊戶曹見之述文贊歎。塔于上方六殊勝地。僧臘四十七。世壽六十四。

Dharma Master Zongxiao, styled Daxian, gave himself the appellation Shizhi. He was a son of the Wang family of Siming. At eighteen, he received full ordination. First, he studied under Master Qiang of Ju'an; subsequently, he visited Master Hong of Yun'an, deeply harmonizing with contemplation of principle, whereupon he was granted half the lecture seat. Soon afterward, he presided over Cuiluo in Changguo, and scholars hastened thither. Two years later, he retired to Xishan to make a daily recitation of the Wonderful Sūtra. It happened that Minister Qi hung a plaque on his dwelling reading 'Tranquil and Quiet', and Vice Grand Councilor Lou of Gongkui praised him in verse. He traveled again to various monasteries in Western Zhejiang, and the Vice Grand Councilor spoke a gāthā to see him off on his journey. After three years, he returned; Lord Wang, the Vice Prefectural Administrator, together with his younger brother, the Examiner, appointed him to preside over Shenxiu. After a long time, he declined and took the post of first seat at Yanqing. In the leisure after lecturing, he compiled the Records of the Manifest Responses of the Lotus Sūtra, Categorized Writings on the Land of Bliss, Records of Teaching and Practice, Eulogies on the Arising of the Three Teachings, Praises of the Patriarchs, Collection for Revitalizing the Patriarchs, Elucidation of the Suvarṇaprabhāsa, and Comprehensive Overview of the Distribution of Food. He also compiled the Records of Filial Piety in Confucianism and Buddhism, Records of Sagacious Ministers Upholding Buddhism, and Compilation for Clarifying the Teaching. He annotated essential doctrines, wrote the Lotus Sūtra in his own blood, and copied the Avataṃsaka, Ratnakūṭa, Prajñāpāramitā, and Nirvāṇa sūtras in ink. He also copied the Sūtra of Forty-two Chapters with the Imperial Commentary of Emperor Zhenzong for Layman Zhang Zongyi of Zhonglin. He dug a charitable well at Lieshe south of the city called the Lotus Spring to provide drink to travelers, built a pavilion above it, and distributed hot water and tea regardless of whether visitors were monastics or laypeople. He built several rooms of cottages, newly founding a guest house, and obtained the old plaque 'Changle' bestowed by Duke Wei Wenjie. Duke Zhang of Zhonglin painted holy images, built a scriptural revolving repository, cast a bell, erected a bell tower, and expanded the land holdings, making it completely renewed and magnificent; he also drafted an oath to admonish all disciples never to forget the intention behind its establishment. He propagated the teachings and contemplation for over forty years, becoming even more reclusive in his later years. On the twentieth day of the eighth month in the jiaxu year of the Jiading era, he showed illness; demanding paper, he wrote a gāthā: 'The pure is originally unmoving; / The six faculties and four great elements fly in tumult. / Sweep away the clouds, mist, fog, and dew: / A single disk of the autumn moon shines bright.' He was cremated to the south of the monastery; his teeth were indestructible and his relics were exceedingly numerous. When Xunqi of the Revenue Bureau saw this, he composed a text in praise. His stūpa was placed at the Six Superlative Grounds of the Upper Monastery. His monastic age was forty-seven, and his worldly age was sixty-four.