佛祖統紀 38.67

38.67

天保元年。詔高僧法常入內講涅槃經。拜為國師（國師始此）○法師曇延。長九尺六寸。帝每召入問道。會周使周弘正來聘。大臣舉師接伴。弘正恃才任氣。及見延悠然意消。求師畫象所著經疏以歸。帝益加重。進位昭玄上統○嵩山寶公向白鹿山行。忽聞鐘聲見一門。題曰靈隱之寺。有梵僧自外來。寶隨入寺坐法堂床上。仰視屋間開孔如井。有僧從孔飛下。至六十餘人。坐已各問。今日何處齋。或言豫章成都嶺南薊北五天竺。動千萬里。最後一僧至。眾問何遲。答曰。相州彼岸寺鑒禪師講會。各各竪義。有一小僧。難問蜂起。殊為可觀。不覺日暮。寶起曰。鑒禪師是我和上。諸僧直視寶。頃之遽失其寺。乃獨坐柞木上（柞音昨櫟也）出山問大統法上。上曰。此寺佛圖澄所造。賢聖居之。或隱或見。至今山行猶聞鐘聲。二年。詔稠禪師至鄴都建雲門寺以居之。師宴坐一室未嘗送迎。帝至。弟子勸之。師曰。賓頭盧迎王七步。致王失國。吾德雖不逮儀相似之。所以不敢自欺。冀致福於帝耳。帝惑左右。以師慢己欲躬加害。師旦出寺二十里拱立道旁。帝怪問之。師曰。恐血污伽藍耳。帝即悔謝。謂僕射揚遵彥曰。如此真人何可謗耶。遂同輦還宮。問曰。弟子前身何人。師曰。曾作羅剎王。今猶好殺祝盆水使視之。見群羅剎在後。帝大敬信。請受菩薩戒。永不食肉。盡停五坊鷹犬傷生之具及境內屠殺○詔置昭玄上統。以沙門法上為大統。令史員置五十餘人。所部僧尼四百餘萬。四萬餘寺。咸稟風教。帝築壇具禮。尊為國師。布髮于地令上統踐之升座。后妃重臣皆受菩薩戒○帝在晉陽。使人乘一駝。勅曰。可向寺取經函。使問所在。帝曰。任駝出城。及出奄然如夢。至山腹有寺。群沙彌見之曰。高洋駝來。便引見老僧。僧問。高洋作天子何如。使曰。聖明。僧曰。汝來何為。使曰。令取經函。僧曰。洋在寺嬾讀經。令於北行取之。使者反命。

In the first year of Tianbao, an imperial decree summoned the eminent monk Fachang into the palace to lecture on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, and he was appointed State Preceptor (the title State Preceptor began here). ○ Dharma Master Tanyan was nine chi and six cun tall. The Emperor summoned him in from time to time to inquire about the Way. It happened that Zhou Hongzheng, an envoy from the Zhou, came on an embassy, and the ministers recommended the Master to receive him as a companion. Hongzheng, relying on his talent and giving free rein to his temperament, found his haughtiness effortlessly dissolve upon seeing Yan; he requested a painted portrait of the Master and his commentaries on the scriptures to take back with him. The Emperor esteemed him even more and promoted him to Senior Controller of the Office of Clerical Affairs. ○ Master Baogong of Mount Song was traveling toward Mount Bailu when he suddenly heard the sound of a bell and saw a gate inscribed 'Monastery of Lingyin.' A foreign monk arrived from outside, and Bao followed him into the monastery, sitting upon a bench in the Dharma hall. Looking up, he saw an opening in the roof like a well, from which monks flew down, numbering over sixty. Once seated, they asked one another, 'Where did you take your meal today?' Some answered Yuzhang, Chengdu, Lingnan, Jibei, or the Five Indias—distances of thousands or tens of thousands of li. The last monk arrived, and the assembly asked why he was late. He replied, 'At the lecture assembly of Dhyāna Master Jian at Pi'an Monastery in Xiangzhou, they were establishing propositions. There was a young monk whose difficult questions swarmed up like bees, which was quite a sight to behold; I did not realize night had fallen.' Bao stood up and said, 'Dhyāna Master Jian is my preceptor (upādhyāya)!' The monks stared directly at Bao, and in an instant, the monastery suddenly vanished; he was sitting alone upon an oak tree (zuo is pronounced zuo, an oak). Coming out of the mountains, he asked the Supreme Controller Fashang, who said, 'This monastery was built by Fotucheng. Worthies and sages dwell there; it appears and vanishes by turns. Even now, those walking the mountains still hear the sound of the bell.' In the second year, an imperial decree summoned Dhyāna Master Chou to the capital Ye, where Yunmen Monastery was built for him to reside. The Master sat in meditation in a single room and never saw off or greeted anyone. When the Emperor arrived, his disciples urged him to do so, but the Master said, 'Piṇḍola greeted the king by taking seven steps, which caused the king to lose his kingdom. Though my virtue cannot match his, my deportment resembles his; I do not dare deceive myself, wishing only to bring blessings upon the Emperor.' Led astray by his attendants, the Emperor thought the Master was slighting him and intended to harm him personally. At dawn, the Master went twenty li outside the monastery and stood by the roadside with folded hands. The Emperor, astonished, asked him why. The Master said, 'I feared only that blood would defile the saṅghārāma.' The Emperor at once repented and apologized, saying to Vice Director of the Right Yang Zunyan, 'How could one slander a True Person such as this?' Thereupon, they returned to the palace in the same carriage. The Emperor asked, 'Who was this disciple in a past life?' The Master said, 'You were once a rākṣasa king, and even now you still love killing.' He chanted over a basin of water and had him look into it; the Emperor saw a host of rākṣasas behind him. The Emperor developed great reverence and faith, requested to receive the Bodhisattva Precepts, vowed never to eat meat, and halted completely the use of all instruments for harming life such as falcons and hounds in the Five Quarters, as well as all butchery within his realm. ○ An imperial decree established the Senior Controller of the Office of Clerical Affairs, appointing the monk Fashang as Supreme Controller, with an administrative staff of more than fifty persons. The more than four million monks and nuns and more than forty thousand monasteries under his jurisdiction all received his guidance and discipline. The Emperor built an altar with complete ritual propriety, honored him as State Preceptor, spread his own hair upon the ground, and had the Supreme Controller walk upon it to ascend the seat. The empress, consorts, and important ministers all received the Bodhisattva Precepts. ○ When the Emperor was in Jinyang, he ordered a man to ride a camel, commanding him: 'You may go toward the monastery to fetch the scripture case.' The messenger asked where it was. The Emperor said, 'Let the camel go outside the city as it will.' When he went out, he felt drowsy as if in a dream, and reached the midpoint of a mountain where there was a monastery. A crowd of novices saw him and said, 'Gao Yang's camel has arrived!' They led him in to see an old monk. The monk asked, 'How is Gao Yang doing as Son of Heaven?' The messenger said, 'He is sagely and luminous.' The monk said, 'Why have you come?' The messenger said, 'He ordered me to fetch the scripture case.' The monk said, 'When Yang was at the monastery, he was too lazy to read scriptures, so he ordered that they be fetched from the north.' The messenger returned to report his mission.