[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛祖統紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035) › 8.19 # 佛祖統紀 8.19 佛祖統紀 8.19 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [8.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.8.19) 十五祖淨光尊者羲寂。字常照。永嘉胡氏。母初懷妊不喜葷血。及產有物蒙其首。若紫帽然（梁末帝貞明五年己卯生）幼白二親求出家。乃入開元。依師誦法華。朞月而徹。年十九（晉高祖天福二年）祝髮具戒。詣會稽學律深達持犯。乃造天台。學止觀於竦法師。其所領解。猶河南一遍照也（僧傳云。蒲州不聽泰。河南一遍照）嘗寓四明育王寺。夢登國清。上方有寶幢座。題曰文殊臺。欄楯外隔欲入不可。俄見觀音從堂而出。手却行馬（即叉欄也亦名拒馬）低回相接。忽覺自身與觀音體合為一。自是之後樂說無盡。初天台教迹。遠自安史挺亂（天寶末年。安祿山。史思明。相繼反逆）近從會昌焚毀（武宗會昌五年。罷僧尼毀寺院）殘編斷簡傳者無憑。師每痛念力網羅之。先於金華古藏僅得淨名一疏。吳越忠懿王。因覽永嘉集。有同除四住此處為齊。若伏無明三藏即劣之語。以問韶國師（傳燈天台德韶國師。姓陳。嗣清涼益禪師。至天台覩智者遺蹤。有若舊居。又與智者同姓。時疑其後身云）韶云。此是教義。可問天台寂師。王即召。師出金門。建講以問前義。師曰。此出智者妙玄。自唐末喪亂教籍散毀。故此諸文多在海外。於是吳越王遣使十人。往日本國求取教典。既回。王為建寺螺溪。扁曰定慧。賜號淨光法師。及清諡天台諸祖（止諡天台以十六祖）一家教學欝而復興師之力也（案二師口義云。吳越王遣使。以五十種寶。往高麗求教文。其國令諦觀來奉諸部。而智論疏。仁王疏。華嚴骨目。五百門等。不復至。據此則知。海外兩國。皆曾遣使。若論教文復還中國之寶。則必以高麗諦觀來奉教卷為正）有興教明師。年方弱冠。聽經於會下常自疑云。飲光持釋迦丈六之衣。披彌勒百尺之身。正應其量。為衣解長耶。身解短耶。時韶國師居雲居（屬天台）聚眾五百。明往問之。國師曰。座主却是汝會。明慍色拂袖而退。國師曰。我若答。汝不是。當有因果。明回螺溪。口即吐血。師聞驚曰。此新戒。觸忤菩薩人來。明舉前話。師云。汝不會國師意速去懺悔。明具威儀詣前悲泣作禮首過。國師為頌出前話云。佛佛道齊宛爾高低。釋迦彌勒如印印泥。明自此疾瘳。歸謝師曰。非師指教幾喪此生（二師口義云。玄弼山君言。國師是智者。起法堂都料螺溪。是放生會首。堂中僧眾。是所放之魚）太平興國五年（本朝太宗）自山中出居州治寺東樓。夢剎柱陷入於地。即徙居西偏。其夜春雨驟作。山頹樓傾。咸謂師有天眼。雍熙元年。永安縣請於光明寺為眾授戒。忽佛殿大像墮壞。腹中出發願文。乃唐咸通六年沙門希皎為七鄉人施戒勸造此像。願舍報為男子。童真出家傳法利生。時會觀者謂是師前身也。四年十一月四日寢疾。囑門人不許哭泣祭奠。言已即瞑目。門人累小塔。窆於方丈。壽六十九。夏五十。傳法弟子百餘人。外國十人。義通實為高第。而澄彧。寶翔。為之亞焉。天台官民先曾傳戒者。共迎師真相於開元寺。縞素致祭哀動一城。天為慘色。後徒屬謀遷塔見貌。若生人髮長餘寸。遂遷葬於國清東南隅。澄彧述銘以為識。師講三大部各二十遍。維摩光明梵網金剛錍法界觀永嘉集各數遍。述義例不二門等科節數卷（雜見高僧傳等文）。 > The fifteenth patriarch, the Venerable of Pure Light, Xiji, courtesy name Changzhao, was surnamed Hu, from Yongjia. When his mother first conceived, she took no pleasure in pungent roots or meat; when she gave birth, something covered his head like a purple cap (born in the fifth year of Zhenming, a jimao year, under the last emperor of the Later Liang). In his youth he informed his parents of his desire to renounce the world; he then entered the Kaiyuan monastery, relying on a teacher to recite the \*Lotus Sūtra\*, mastering it within a year. At the age of nineteen (the second year of Tianfu under Emperor Gaozu of the Later Jin), he shaved his head and took full ordination. He went to Huiji to study the Vinaya, deeply fathoming offenses and observances. He then went to Tiantai to study the \*Zhiguan\* under Master Song; his comprehension was comparable to 'One-sweep-illumination of Henan' (the \*Biographies of Monks\* says: 'Tai does not listen in Puzhou; Henan has One-sweep-illumination'). Once, when lodging at King Aśoka Monastery in Siming, he dreamed of ascending Mount Guoqing; high above was a jewelled banner throne inscribed 'Mañjuśrī's Terrace'. Barred by railings, he wished to enter but could not. Suddenly he saw Avalokiteśvara emerge from the hall, push aside the chevaux-de-frise with his hand, and bend down to receive him. He suddenly felt his own body merge into one with Avalokiteśvara. From that time forth, his delight in exposition was inexhaustible. Earlier, regarding the doctrinal traces of Tiantai, from afar they suffered the rebellion of An and Shi (at the end of the Tianbao era, An Lushan and Shi Siming rebelled in succession), and near at hand they suffered the incineration of Huichang (in the fifth year of Huichang under Emperor Wuzong, monks and nuns were defrocked and monasteries destroyed); with fragmented texts and broken bamboo slips, transmitters had nothing to rely on. The Master continually lamented this and exerted himself to collect them. First, from an ancient storehouse in Jinhua, he obtained only a single commentary on the \*Vimalakīrti\*. King Zhongyi of Wuyue, reading the \*Yongjia Collection\*, came across the passage: 'In sharing the elimination of the four abodes, it is on a par with this; but if subduing fundamental ignorance, the Tripiṭaka \[teaching\] is inferior.' He questioned National Preceptor Shao about it (the \*Transmission of the Lamp\* says: 'National Preceptor Deshao of Mount Tiantai was surnamed Chen; he was a Dharma heir of Chan Master Qingliang Yí. Reaching Mount Tiantai, he beheld the remaining traces of Great Master Zhiyi as if they were his former residence; furthermore, having the same surname as Zhiyi, contemporaries suspected he was his later incarnation'). Shao said: 'This is doctrinal meaning; you may ask Master Ji of Tiantai.' The King immediately summoned him; the Master came forth through the golden gate and established lectures to inquire into the previous meaning. The Master said: 'This comes from Great Master Zhiyi's \*Miaoxuan\*. Since the chaos at the end of the Tang, the doctrinal texts have been scattered and destroyed, which is why these writings mostly survive overseas.' Thereupon the King of Wuyue dispatched ten envoys to Japan to seek out and retrieve the doctrinal scriptures. When they returned, the King built Luoxi Temple for him, hung a plaque reading 'Dinghui', bestowed the title 'Dharma Master of Pure Light', and gave posthumous titles to the Tiantai patriarchs (ending the posthumous titles at the sixteenth patriarch). That the teachings of this one house flourished once again was due to the Master's efforts. (The \*Kouyi of the Two Masters\* says: 'The King of Wuyue dispatched envoys with fifty kinds of treasures to Goryeo to seek doctrinal texts. That country commanded Jiguan to come and offer the various sections, yet the \*Zhilun shu\*, \*Renwang shu\*, \*Huayan gumu\*, \*Wubai men\*, and so forth did not return.' Based on this, we know that envoys were dispatched to both overseas countries; yet if we speak of the treasure of the doctrinal texts returning to China, we must take Jiguan of Goryeo coming to offer the scrolls of teachings as correct.) There was Master Ming of Xingjiao, who, just coming of age, listened to sūtras in his assembly and was constantly puzzled, saying: 'The Drinker of Light held the sixteen-foot robe of Śākyamuni and draped it over the hundred-foot body of Maitreya, and it fitted his measure exactly. Did the robe grow longer, or did the body grow shorter?' At that time National Preceptor Shao was residing at Yunju (belonging to Tiantai), gathering an assembly of five hundred; Ming went to ask him. The National Preceptor said: 'Seat master, it is rather you who understand.' Ming departed with an angry face, brushing his sleeves. The National Preceptor said: 'If I were to answer and you were wrong, there would be karmic consequence.' When Ming returned to Luoxi, he spat blood from his mouth. Hearing this in alarm, the Master said: 'This newly ordained one must have offended a bodhisattva!' Ming recounted the earlier words. The Master said: 'You did not understand the National Preceptor's meaning; go quickly and repent.' Ming donned his solemn robes, went before him weeping, prostrated, and confessed his fault. The National Preceptor uttered a verse on the previous topic: 'Buddha and Buddha are equal in the Way, yet seemingly high and low; / Śākyamuni and Maitreya are like a seal stamped into clay.' Ming's illness was cured from that moment; returning to thank the Master, he said: 'Had it not been for the Master's instruction, I would almost have lost this life.' (The \*Kouyi of the Two Masters\* says: 'Xuanbi, the mountain spirit, said: The National Preceptor was Great Master Zhiyi; the master-builder who erected the Dharma hall at Luoxi was the leader of the animal-release society; and the monks in the hall were the released fish.') In the fifth year of Taiping Xingguo (under Taizong of the present dynasty), coming out from the mountains, he resided in the east pavilion of the monastery at the prefectural seat. He dreamed that the pillar of the stūpa sank into the ground; he immediately moved to dwell on the western side. That night, a sudden spring rain fell; the mountain collapsed and the pavilion fell. Everyone said the Master possessed the divine eye. In the first year of Yongxi, the magistrate of Yong'an invited him to Guangming Temple to confer the precepts on the assembly. Suddenly the great image in the Buddha hall fell and broke, and from its belly came a vow text, which was a donation of precepts in the sixth year of Xiantong of the Tang by the śramaṇa Xijiao for the people of seven townships, urging the making of this image, wishing to shed his karmic recompense and become a male, leave home as a boy, and transmit the Dharma to benefit sentient beings. Those present who witnessed it said this was the Master's previous life. On the fourth day of the eleventh month in the fourth year, he fell ill in bed; he instructed his disciples not to weep or make sacrificial offerings. Having finished speaking, he closed his eyes. His disciples built a small stūpa and interred him in his room. His age was sixty-nine; his monastic years were fifty. The disciples who received his transmission were more than a hundred, including ten foreigners; Yitong was truly the foremost, while Chengyu and Baoxiang were next to him. The officials and commoners of Tiantai who had previously received the precepts gathered to welcome the Master's portrait at Kaiyuan Temple; wearing unbleached white mourning, they offered sacrifices, their mourning moving the whole city, and the sky turned gloomy. Later, when his followers planned to relocate the stūpa, they saw that his countenance was like that of a living person, and his hair had grown more than an inch. Thereupon they relocated his burial to the southeast corner of Guoqing. Chengyu composed an inscription to mark it. The Master lectured on the Three Great Treatises twenty times each, and several times each on the \*Vimalakīrti\*, the \*Suvarṇaprabhāsa\*, the \*Brahmajāla\*, the \*Jingangpi\*, the \*Fajie guan\*, and the \*Yongjia ji\*. He composed outlines and structural notes for the \*Yili\*, the \*Buer men\*, and so on in several fascicles (these are seen in various works such as the \*Biographies of Eminent Monks\*). > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 8.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.8.18) - [Next: 8.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.8.20) - [Up: 8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.8) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035~en-mt.8.19) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.8.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.8.19) · Pramāṇa