佛祖統紀 6.19.2

6.19.2

二觀為方便得入中道也。 陀羅尼。 翻為總持。 今言初旋。 即空持也。 大師初入定者。 是前方便。 即五品觀行位。 所發持者。 旋陀羅尼。 即十信相似位。 依因此定得發空持。 是為由五品之功轉入十信也。 昔人以五品不應獲初旋為言者。 蓋未思持因靜發耳。 玄籤有云。 故獲陀羅尼由三昧之力。 正是此義。 至於臨終自說秖是五品。 蓋欲寄誡生徒以自行為急故。 託謙辭示居觀行也。 大師責弟子曰。 汝等懶種善根問他功德。 告實何益。 蓋此意也。 當知大師若本若迹。 皆不可知。 等覺與妙覺與。 梁氏讚之若此。 今復何論）縱令文字之師千群萬眾。 尋汝之辯不可窮矣。 當於說法人中最為第一。 有慧邈禪師。 謂門人曰。 我所敷弘真師子吼。 他人之說是野干鳴。 師引經覈問。 邈為之屈。 夜夢三層樓閣。 己坐上邈立下。 一人怒目謂曰。 何忽邈耶。 何疑法耶。 宜當問我。 師設難數關。 怒人結舌。 師因誡之曰。 除諸法實相餘皆魔事。 南岳造金字般若。 命師代講。 唯三三昧及三觀智。 用以咨審。 餘悉自裁。 南岳手持如意。 臨席讚之曰。 可謂法付法臣法王無事。 復謂師曰。 吾久羨南岳。 恨法無所委。 汝粗得其門。 當傳燈化物。 莫作最後斷種人也（最後謂末法也）師既奉訓。 不獲從往南岳。 以陳光大元年。 同法喜等二十七人初至金陵（此陳廢帝時。 師年三十。 楚曰金陵。 晉曰建康。 今為建康府）有法濟者。 自矜禪學倚臥而問曰。 有人入定。 聞攝山地動。 知僧銓鍊無常此何禪也（攝山在建康七里。 銓公止觀寺。 練無常。 文出禪祕要經。 有三十六觀門。 於地水火風入空觀察。 次第當證四果）答曰。 邊定不深邪乘闇入。 若取若說定壞無礙。 濟驚起謝曰。 老僧嘗得此定。 向靈曜則公說。 因此永失。 已而朝野聞風。 咸來請益。 大建元年（陳宣帝）儀同沈君理。 請居瓦官（晉哀帝。 以官瓦窯地。 賜沙門慧力。 建寺因名。 在城西面江。 號昇元寺）開法華經題。 帝勅停朝一日。 令群臣往聽。 時僕射徐陵。 光祿王固。 侍中孔煥。 尚書毛喜。 僕射周弘正等。 俱稟戒法同聞妙旨。 仍於一夏開釋大義。 時白馬敬韶。 定林法歲。 禪眾智令。 奉誠法安。 皆金陵上匠。 咸盡北面之敬。 師自此常與眾講大智度論。 說次第禪門（法慎私記三十卷。 章安治定為十卷。 即禪波羅蜜漸次止觀也）又為毛喜出六妙門（即不定止觀也）師止瓦官前後八載。 七年謝遣門人曰。 吾初年共坐者。 四十人得法。 次年百餘人。 得法者不滿十人。 其後徒眾轉多得法轉少。 吾聞天台幽勝昔人見稱。 將息緣茲嶺以展平生之志。 夏四月宣帝勅留訓物。 徐陵泣勸勿往。 師勉留度夏。 秋九月遂入天台（輔行謂此年三十八歲）嘗宿石橋。 見一老僧曰。 禪師若欲造寺。 山下有皇太子寺基。 用以仰給。 三國成一（三國。 謂南朝陳。 北朝周齊也。 成一者隋也）當有大勢力造此寺（指太子晉王也）寺若成國即清。 時三方鼎峙。 雖聞此言何由成寺。 既出谷見佛隴南峯（百錄序。 遊山者。 多見佛像。 故得此名）即裴回留意此山。 先是神僧定光菴居三十載。 師至光謂之曰。 頗憶招手相引時否。 師即悟禮像之微。 夜聞空中鍾磬之聲。 光曰。 此犍稚集僧得住之相（犍稚音䖍地。 此云竹木銅鐵聲）此處金地吾已居之。 北山銀地汝宜居焉。 乃於北峯創立伽藍。 植松引流宛若昔夢。 寺北別峯名華頂。 獨往頭陀。 忽於後夜大風雷震。 魑魅千群狀極可畏。 安心空寂自然退散。 復作父母師僧之形。 乍枕乍抱悲哽流涕。 深念實相體達本無。 尋復消殞。 強軟二緣所不能動（此皆天子魔所為之狀。 此土諸師修行。

[The two contemplations of emptiness and conventionality serve as expedient means to enter the middle way. Dhāraṇī is translated as 'holding all' (dhāraṇa). Now, when we speak of the 'initial revolving' [dhāraṇī], it is the retention of emptiness. When the Great Master first entered samādhi, that was the preparatory expedient, which corresponds to the stage of contemplative practice of the five ranks. That which was initiated and retained was the revolving dhāraṇī, which corresponds to the stage of semblance [awakening] of the ten faiths. Relying upon and taking this samādhi as the cause, he was able to develop the retention of emptiness; this was a transition from the efficacy of the five ranks into the ten faiths. As for those in the past who claimed that one at the five ranks should not attain the initial revolving [dhāraṇī], they simply failed to consider that retention arises from stillness. The Xuanqian states: 'Therefore, the attainment of the dhāraṇī is due to the power of samādhi'—this is precisely the meaning. As for his stating at his death that he was only at the five ranks, he wished to convey a warning to his disciples that one's own practice is urgent; thus, adopting humble words, he declared himself to abide at the stage of contemplative practice. The Great Master reproached his disciples, saying: 'You are lazy in planting roots of goodness yet ask about another's merits. What benefit is there in telling you the truth?' This was indeed his meaning. One should know that whether in his fundamental ground or his trace manifestation, the Great Master cannot be fathomed. Was he at equal awakening or wondrous awakening? Liangsu praised him in this way; what need is there to debate it now?] 'Even if masters of the written word in their thousands and myriads were to interrogate your eloquence, they could not exhaust it. You should be foremost among those who preach the Dharma.' There was a Dhyāna Master Huimiao who said to his disciples, 'What I expound is the true lion's roar; what others preach is the howling of jackals.' The Master cited the scriptures and examined him with questions, and Miao yielded to him. At night [the Master] dreamed of a three-storied pavilion: he sat on the upper story while Miao stood below. A person with glaring eyes said to him, 'Why do you slight Miao? Why do you doubt the Dharma? You ought to question me.' The Master set several barriers of difficult questions, and the angry person was struck dumb. The Master thereupon admonished him, saying, 'Except for the true reality of all phenomena, everything else is the work of Māra.' When Nanyue produced a golden-lettered Prajñā[-pāramitā Sūtra], he instructed the Master to lecture in his place. Only with regard to the three samādhis and the wisdom of the three contemplations did [the Master] consult him; all the rest he judged for himself. Holding a ruyi sceptre in his hand, Nanyue came to the assembly and praised him, saying, 'It may be said that the Dharma has been entrusted to a minister of the Dharma, and the Dharma King has no more cares!' He further said to the Master, 'For a long time I have longed for Mount Nanyue, regretting that I had no one to entrust the Dharma to. You have roughly gained its portal. You must transmit the lamp and transform beings; do not become the final person who cuts off the lineage!' ('The final' refers to the end of the Dharma.) Having received these instructions, the Master was unable to accompany him to Nanyue. In the first year of the Guangda reign of the Chen dynasty, together with Faxi and others, twenty-seven in all, he first arrived in Jinling. (This was during the reign of the Deposed Emperor of Chen, when the Master was thirty years old. In Chu it was called Jinling; under the Jin it was Jiankang; it is now Jiankang Prefecture.) There was a man named Faji who boasted of his Dhyāna learning. Leaning back as he lay down, he asked, 'A person enters samādhi, hears the earth shake at Mount She, and knows that the monk Quan is refining impermanence. What kind of dhyāna is this?' (Mount She is seven li from Jiankang. The Venerable Quan was at Zhiguan Temple. 'Refining impermanence' comes from the Chanmiyao Jing. There are thirty-six contemplative portals; one enters emptiness and contemplates earth, water, fire, and wind, and in sequence ought to realise the four fruits.) [The Master] replied, 'A marginal samādhi is not deep; evils enter through the dark. If one grasps it or speaks of it, the samādhi is broken without hindrance.' Faji sprang up in alarm, apologised, and said, 'This old monk once attained this samādhi and told it to the Venerable Ze of Lingyao; because of this, I lost it forever.' Soon after, both court and commoners heard of his renown, and all came to request instruction. In the first year of the Dajian reign (under Emperor Xuan of Chen), the Specially Advanced Official Shen Junli invited him to reside at Waguan Temple. (Emperor Ai of Jin had bestowed the land of the official tile kilns upon the monk Huili to build a temple, which was named after it. It lies west of the city facing the river and is called Shengyuan Temple.) [There the Master] explained the title of the Lotus Sūtra. The emperor decreed the court to suspend its session for a day and commanded all the ministers to go and listen. At that time, Vice Director Xu Ling, Grand Master of the Palace Jin Wang Gu, Attendant Officer Kong Huan, Minister of the Department of State Affairs Mao Xi, Vice Director Zhou Hongzheng, and others all received the monastic precepts and together heard the wondrous tenets. Furthermore, throughout one summer retreat, he explained and expounded the great meaning. At that time, Jingshao of Baima Temple, Fashui of Dinglin Temple, Zhiling of Chanzhong Temple, and Fa'an of Fengcheng Temple—all foremost masters of Jinling—fully rendered the respect due to a teacher. From this time on, the Master regularly lectured on the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa to the assembly and expounded the Sequential Gate of Dhyāna. (Fashen's private record in thirty fascicles, which Zhang'an edited into ten fascicles, namely the Gradual Calming and Contemplation on Dhyāna-pāramitā.) He also expounded the Six Wondrous Gates for Mao Xi. (That is the Indeterminate Calming and Contemplation.) The Master resided at Waguan for eight years in total. In the seventh year, he dismissed his disciples, saying, 'In my first year, of those who sat with me, forty people attained the Dharma. In the next year, of over a hundred people, fewer than ten attained the Dharma. Thereafter, disciples grew ever more numerous, but those who attained the Dharma grew fewer. I have heard that Mount Tiantai is secluded and superb, praised by men of old. I intend to cease worldly involvements on that ridge to unfold the aspiration of my life.' In the fourth month, summer, Emperor Xuan issued an edict to retain him and instruct living beings. Xu Ling wept and urged him not to go. The Master reluctantly stayed to pass the summer. In the ninth month, autumn, he finally entered Mount Tiantai. (The Fuxing states that he was thirty-eight years old this year.) He once stayed overnight at the Stone Bridge, where he saw an old monk who said, 'If you, Dhyāna Master, wish to build a temple, there are the foundations of the Crown Prince's Temple at the foot of the mountain, which can supply your needs. When the three states become one, (The 'three states' refers to Chen in the south, and Zhou and Qi in the north. 'Becoming one' refers to the Sui.) there will be a person of great power who will build this temple. (This points to the Crown Prince, the Prince of Jin.) If the temple is completed, the country will become pure.' At that time, the three realms stood like the feet of a tripod; although he heard these words, by what means could a temple be built? When he came out of the ravine, he saw the southern peak of Folong. (The preface to the Bailu notes that mountain travelers often saw Buddha images, hence it obtained this name.) He then lingered, his mind set upon this mountain. Before this, the miraculous monk Dingguang had lived in a hermitage there for thirty years. When the Master arrived, Guang said to him, 'Do you somewhat recall the time when I waved my hand to guide you?' The Master at once understood the subtle omen of his worshipping the image. At night, he heard the sound of bells and sounding stones in the sky. Guang said, 'This is a gaṇḍī gathering the monks—a sign that you will be able to dwell here. (Gaṇḍī is pronounced qiandi; here it means the sound of bamboo, wood, copper, or iron.) This place of golden ground, I already dwell in; you should dwell in the northern mountain of silver ground.' Thereupon he founded a monastery on the northern peak, planting pines and channelling streams, just as in his former dream. North of the temple was a distinct peak named Huading; he went there alone to practice dhūta. Suddenly, in the latter part of the night, a great wind and thunder shook the mountain; thousands of packs of chimi monsters, exceedingly terrifying in form, appeared. He settled his mind in emptiness and stillness, and they naturally retreated and dispersed. Then they took on the forms of his parents, teachers, and monks, now resting on his pillow, now embracing him, sobbing and shedding tears. He deeply contemplated true reality, fully understanding that they were fundamentally non-existent, and immediately they vanished again. Neither the adverse nor the pleasant conditions could move him. (These are all the forms manifested by the Māra of the Sons of Heaven. When various masters in this land practice...)