佛祖統紀 29.10

29.10

四祖道信。蘄州司馬氏。初為沙彌遇三祖。問曰。願和上與解脫法門。祖曰。是誰縛汝。曰無縛。祖曰。何為更求解脫。師言下大悟。既具戒。三祖授以衣法。武德中居破頭山。正觀中太宗三詔令赴京師。並以疾辭。帝命使者曰。若果不起即取其首。使諭旨師引頸受刃。使回以聞。帝彌加敬重。就賜珍繒以遂其志。師已傳法弘忍永徽二年九月安坐而化。塔於東山黃梅寺。唐代宗朝追諡大醫禪師。

The Fourth Patriarch was Daoxin, of the Sima clan from Qizhou. When he was still a śrāmaṇera, he encountered the Third Patriarch and asked: 'I pray that the upādhyāya will grant me the Dharma gate of liberation.' The Patriarch said: 'Who has bound you?' He replied: 'No one has bound me.' The Patriarch said: 'Why then seek liberation further?' The Master was greatly enlightened at these words. Having fully received the precepts, the Third Patriarch conferred the robe and Dharma upon him. During the Wude era, he lived on Mount Potou. In the Zhenguan era, Emperor Taizong summoned him to the capital three times with imperial edicts, but each time he declined on account of illness. The Emperor ordered his messenger: 'If he indeed does not arise, then take his head.' The messenger proclaimed the decree, and the Master stretched out his neck to receive the blade. The messenger returned and reported this, and the Emperor revered him all the more, sending him precious silks to fulfill his aspiration. The Master, having already transmitted the Dharma to Hongren, sat peacefully and passed away in the ninth month of the second year of the Yonghui era. His pagoda was erected at Huangmei Monastery on the East Mountain. In the reign of Emperor Daizong of the Tang, he was posthumously granted the title Zen Master Dayi.