佛祖統紀 49.39

49.39

明州延慶寺。世有講席。以天台觀行為宗。自法智大師行學俱高。聽徒心嚮。繼其後者又皆得人。今百有餘年矣。間有苦行精修之士。來依道場。元豐中比丘介然。修西方淨土之法。坐而不臥。以三年為期。期滿謂同修慧觀仲章宗悅曰。我輩各據一室成此勝緣。後之來者加眾。而室不增多。今寺之西隅尚有隙地。若得錢二千餘萬。構屋六十餘間。中建寶閣立丈六彌陀之身。夾以觀音勢至。環為十有六室。室各兩間。外列三聖之像。內為禪觀之所。殿臨池水水生蓮華。不離塵染之中。豁開世外之境。念處俱寂了無異緣。以堅決定之心。以顯安樂之土。所以順佛慈而報國恩者。豈獨我四人而已哉。所欲如是其可成乎。慧觀等同辭以答之曰。以無作任運之心。作有為利益之事。四明多檀信。何患乎不成。自是日營月積。更七寒暑。凡介然之所欲為無一不如其志者。初介然然手二指。誓必成此。元符二年三月落成之日。設千佛之供。復然三指以增淨誓。既成所難成。又捨所難捨。而原其用心無私己之意。於是見者聞者莫不隨喜。淨習之士踊躍欣慶。而十有六室常無虛位。期滿者去。發心者來。依勝境而獲善利者。不知其幾何人也。夫淨土之教。古佛所說。誠心之士。諦受不疑。如來之敘九品。以至誠為上上。智者之造十論。破疑心之具縛。縛解情忘。識散智現。則彌陀淨境何假他求。若臨明鏡自見面像。得者不由於識受。昧者安可以情曉。超識習而不惑。度情塵而獨造者。其唯誠乎。故曰。誠者成也。成自成他。唯此而已。譬猶清淨滿月普現諸水影像非一月體無二。攝流散而等所歸。會十方而總於一。亦如十鏡環遶中然一燈光體交參東西莫辨。然而方有定位非無西。鏡名隨相立西不自西。智與理融境將誰執。安可以在纏執方之見而測度如來無礙之境乎。慈恩有言曰。凡夫業重處處生貪。若不定指一方何以繫心專注。此善知識隨方扶教專護相宗。然論安養知足之勝劣。則以偏勸往生為最勝。乃知通人無吝。吝則多私。境強習重。蓋由觀淺心浮。易往無人。良以疑深障重。若欲盡除障垢當以決定為心。濕薪如山豆火能爇。千年闇室日照頓明。釋迦文方便至深。無量壽說法無間。觀世音如母念子。大勢至如子憶母。古聖軌轍安可不遵。幻境虛無有何可捨。解脫長者不往安樂土。普賢大士親覩無量光。親覩者初無動移。不往者如是而往。普融無礙。自然空假俱中。分別未忘。寧免權實互諍。若此則心安無日。得忍何期。乃知念念現前。然後決不退轉。故曰。若不決定成等正覺者。我誓不取菩提。於菩提心有退轉者。我誓不取正覺。此乃法藏比丘之本願。而諸上善人之所隨學也。發如是心。行如是行。起如是願。趣如是果。而不違法藏之大誓。則寓跡於茲剎。棲心於此室者。皆阿鞞跋致之士也。其為勝利。豈有窮哉。比丘介然唱一善念。四明信士應答如響。而所以利益一方者。其廣若是。可不記其事乎。今教主明智大師法智之曾孫也。行業淳實人所信服。能以誠心修淨土觀。於介然之事有助為多。故并記之。大觀元年八月一日。延平陳瓘記。

At Yanqing Monastery in Mingzhou, there have been lecture seats across generations, taking the Tiantai contemplation practices as their core lineage. Since the Great Master Fazhi was exalted in both practice and learning, students turned their hearts toward him in yearning, and his successors were also all capable men; more than a hundred years have now passed since then. Occasionally, people of ascetic tapas and refined cultivation came to rely on this bodhimaṇḍa. In the Yuanfeng era, the monk Jieran cultivated the method of the Western Pure Land: he sat without lying down, setting three years as his term. When his term was complete, he said to his fellow cultivators Huiguan, Zhongzhang, and Zongyue: 'We each occupied one room to accomplish this supreme condition. Those who come later will be more numerous, but the rooms do not increase. Now on the western corner of the monastery there is still vacant ground. If we could obtain more than twenty million cash, construct more than sixty bays of rooms, erect a precious pavilion in the middle housing a sixteen-foot image of Amitābha flanked by Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta, encircled by sixteen rooms, each of two bays, with images of the Three Sages arranged outside and places for dhyāna contemplation inside; if the hall faces the pond's water and the water brings forth lotus blossoms, then without departing from the midst of dusty defilements, a realm beyond the world will open wide; places of mindfulness will be entirely serene with not a single extraneous condition, so that by a firm and resolute mind the Land of Peace and Joy may be revealed. How could following the Buddha's compassion and repaying the debt to the state be for just the four of us alone? Such is my wish—can it be accomplished?' Huiguan and the others replied with one voice: 'With a mind that functions effortlessly without contrivance, doing things of purposeful benefit, Siming has many faithful donors; what worry is there that it will not be accomplished?' From then on, managing day by day and accumulating month by month, seven winters and summers passed, and among all that Jieran wished to do, not one failed to accord with his aspiration. At the beginning, Jieran burned two fingers of his hand, vowing that he would surely accomplish this. On the day of its completion in the third month of the second year of the Yuanfu era, he arranged an offering to the thousand Buddhas, and again burned three fingers to increase his pure vow. Having accomplished what was difficult to accomplish, and having given up what was difficult to give up, when one traces back his intention, he had no selfish thought. Thereupon, among those who saw or heard of it, there was none who did not rejoice in accord; practitioners of pure cultivation leaped for joy, and the sixteen rooms were never left vacant. Those whose terms were completed departed, and those who brought forth the resolve arrived; as for those who relied upon this supreme realm and attained wholesome benefits, one knows not how many people there were. Now the teaching of the Pure Land was spoken by the ancient Buddhas; sincere practitioners receive it faithfully without doubt. When the Tathāgata narrated the nine grades [of rebirth], he took utmost sincerity as the highest of the high. When Zhiyi composed the Ten Treatises, he destroyed the complete bonds of doubting minds. When the bonds are untied and emotional defilements are forgotten, when consciousness disperses and wisdom appears, then why should one falsely seek the pure realm of Amitābha elsewhere? It is like facing a bright mirror and seeing one's own facial reflection. Those who attain it do not do so through conscious reception; how could those who are benighted comprehend it through emotional attachment? Those who transcend habituated consciousness without delusion, and cross beyond the dust of passions to attain it alone—is it not solely through sincerity? Thus it is said: 'Sincerity is accomplishment'; to accomplish oneself and to accomplish others is solely this. It is like the pure full moon appearing everywhere in all waters: its reflections are not one, yet the substance of the moon is not two; it gathers what is dispersed and unifies where it returns, converging the ten directions and collecting them into one. It is also like ten mirrors surrounding a single lamp burning in the middle: the bodies of light interpenetrate so that east and west cannot be distinguished. However, directions have fixed positions, so there is not no west; the name of the mirror is established according to its characteristic, yet west does not make itself west. When wisdom and principle blend, who can grasp at any objective realm? How can one, with views grasping at directions while still in bondage, measure the unimpeded realm of the Tathāgata? Master Cien has said: 'Sentient beings have heavy karma and give rise to greed everywhere; if one does not determinately point to one direction, how can they tie their minds in concentrated focus?' This good friend supported the teaching according to direction, specifically protecting the Dharma-characteristic school. Yet when discussing the superiority or inferiority of Peace and Sustenance (Sukhāvatī) versus the Tuṣita [Heaven] of Contentment, he considered specifically exhorting rebirth [in the Pure Land] to be the most supreme. One thus knows that a comprehensive person has no stinginess; if one is stingy, there is much selfishness. That realms are overwhelming and habits heavy is because one's contemplation is shallow and one's mind is flighty; that 'it is easy to go, yet no one is there' is truly because doubts are deep and hindrances heavy. If one wishes to completely eliminate hindrances and defilements, one must take resoluteness as one's mind. Wet firewood piled like a mountain can be burned by a bean-sized flame; a room dark for a thousand years is instantly illuminated when the sun shines in. Śākyamuni's skillful means are profound to the utmost; Amitāyus expounds the Dharma without interruption; Avalokiteśvara is like a mother mindful of her child; Mahāsthāmaprāpta is like a child remembering its mother. How could one not follow the tracks of the ancient sages? Illusory realms are empty and non-existent; what is there to abandon? The Elder Vimokṣa did not go to the Land of Peace and Joy; the Great Being Samantabhadra personally beheld Amitābha. He who personally beheld [Him] initially did not move; he who did not go went in just this way. Universally merging without obstruction, naturally emptiness and provisionality are both the Middle. If distinctions are not forgotten, how can one avoid disputing provisional and real with one another? If it is like this, there will never be a day of peace of mind; when could one attain endurance? One thus knows that thought after thought must be manifest before one's eyes; only then will one decidedly never regress. Therefore it is said: 'If I do not determinately attain equal and right awakening, I vow not to take bodhi; if I have regression regarding the bodhicitta, I vow not to take right awakening.' This was the original vow of the monk Dharmākara, and that which all superior good persons follow and learn. To bring forth such a mind, practice such practice, raise such a vow, and advance toward such a fruit, without violating the great vow of Dharmākara—then those who lodge their traces in this monastery and rest their minds in these rooms are all people of avaivartika. How could their supreme benefits ever end? The monk Jieran sounded a single wholesome thought, and the faithful of Siming responded like an echo; and the extent to which he benefited this entire region is as vast as this—could his deeds not be recorded? The current head of the teachings, Great Master Mingzhi, is the great-grandson [in Dharma] of Fazhi. His practice and karmic deeds are pure and solid, convincing to all; he is able to cultivate the Pure Land contemplation with a sincere mind, and has assisted greatly in Jieran's undertakings. Therefore I record it alongside. Recorded by Chen Guan of Yanping on the first day of the eighth month in the first year of the Daguan era.