佛祖統紀 18.39

18.39

Dharma Master Shanyue, styled Guangyuan, was from the Fang family of Dinghai in Siming. His father, Wei, was a celebrated Confucian scholar in the district. His mother dreamed that the moon's disk fell into her bosom, and soon afterward became pregnant. On the night of his birth, white light filled the room. When he first learned to speak, he would often press his palms together and say the words 'dharma-realm' (dharmadhātu). Barely a youth, his father compiled the Six Classics to teach him; he recited and studied them in sequence, as though reviewing familiar works from the past. At twelve, he understood the profound purport of the Spring and Autumn Annals. His mother took him to Zhengjue Monastery to make offerings. Circling the pillars of the hall several times, the abbot Daobing said to his mother, 'Last night I dreamed of a white dragon coiling around this pillar; does it presage this child?' Thereupon, his parents finally permitted him to leave household life, naming him Shanyue to match the earlier dream. (Shanyue and Guangyuan are both names of ancient Buddhas.) At fifteen, he received full ordination. Three months later, Master Bing passed away, so he went to Nanhu to rely on Cao'an. He was often wearied by the tedious complexity of categorical outlines, so Cao'an instructed him, 'When you read a family letter in broad daylight, what is difficult to understand?' The master instantly had an awakening. He served the retreat attentively, standing respectfully in the corner day after day with increasing diligence. Cao'an said, 'In future times, the one who proclaims and upholds our school will surely be you!' When Zian lectured on the Way at Yuebo, he went to visit him; hearing the doctrine of the permanent abiding of mundane characteristics, he gained even further awakening. He then returned to Nanhu to see Yuetang and asked about the teaching that the Tathāgata does not sever inherent evil. His body and mind opened up clearly, like throwing open locks and keys to behold a treasury. When he reported what he had awakened to, Yuetang further expounded its meaning for him. The master bowed, received it, and withdrew. When Yuetang showed signs of entering nirvāṇa, the master served as a special envoy to Danghu to invite Zhu'an. The following year, [Zhu'an] ordered the master to share the preaching; his deportment was serene and gentle, and his discourse was elegant and correct. Zhu'an praised him, saying, 'In my head monk, I have truly found the right man; I only regret having no one to succeed him.' In his dwelling stood an ancient cypress that flourished singularly, so he styled himself Boting ('Cypress Courtyard'). In the gengzi year of the Chunxi era, he first presided over Bianli in Donghu, and then moved to Baoyan in Cixi. Before long, Grand Preceptor Shi Zhenyin invited him to reside at Yuebo; when scholars flocked thither, the grain stores were insufficient. Hearing of this with delight, Zhenyin sent an envoy to inform the master: 'You, Master, invite assemblies for the sake of the Way; if you need food, come take it, I shall not be begrudging.' In the second year of the Shaoxing [read: Shaoxi] era, Prefect Lord He Dan, seeing the vacant seat at Nanhu, personally drafted an invitation to urge him. He preached the Way with method and directed the assembly with discipline, not altering his integrity for thirteen years; monastics and laypeople trusted him on this account. In the fourth year of the Jiatai era, he retired to Yanqing Hermitage; resting for ten years, he dreamed of an old man whispering in his ear, 'Sixty-five, seventy-one.' In the sixth year of the Jiading era, Commander Chen Qing, seeing the yearning people felt for him after his departure from Nanhu, prevailed upon him again; [the master] declined, but could not refuse. Rain of flowers was renewed, and old disciples gathered around him once more. Within a month, he was summoned to Shangzhu by an imperial decree. The master considered that hastening thither would resemble pursuing fame, so he remained steadfastly unmoved. But when the assembly said that an imperial command must not be disrespected, he finally relented and went; that year was indeed the fulfillment of the number sixty-five. In the summer of the eighth year, there was a drought; an imperial edict was issued to welcome the Mahāsattva [Avalokiteśvara] at Mingqing. The imperial carriage visited in person to pay homage, ordering the master to pray reverently; rain poured in the morning and drenched the land by evening. The Emperor was exceedingly pleased, specially appointing him Controller of Monks of the Left Street. In the autumn of the twelfth year, he shook out his robes and returned east, taking his rest at the ancestral gate south of the city. That year he was seventy-one, and thus understood how the previous dream had been fulfilled. In the autumn of the following year, the prefecture used Zijiao at Xishan as an easy place for the master to retire in old age. In the spring of the fifth year of the Shaoding era, an imperial decree commanded him to take charge of Shangzhu a second time. Everyone congratulated him using the line by the Immortal Su Shi: 'The master departed and suddenly returns again; birds sing and the mountain’s countenance opens up.' In the third year of the Duanping era, he suffered an eye ailment and requested to retire to Dong'an. One day he manifested illness; sitting on his bed, he appeared to be conversing with someone. His Dharma grandson Xiulin asked what he was doing; he replied, 'I am merely speaking about the ancestral Way face-to-face with the Venerable of Jingxi.' When about to enter nirvāṇa, he looked at his attendants and said, 'What people should fear is having no real virtue to be praised by later generations. If it were merely to promote empty fame, I would have no leisure for it. If, a thousand years from now, people refer to me as the Old Man of Cypress Courtyard, my dry bones will have no cause for shame. Please do not request a posthumous title, which would defile my pristine lifelong vocation.' Having spoken, he crossed his legs and passed away. It was truly on the nineteenth day of the first month in the first year of the Chunyou era. His casket was kept for seven days; his countenance remained fresh and white, and both his heart and the crown of his head were warm. His whole-body stūpa was enshrined to the east of the monastery. His lifespan was ninety-three, and his monastic age was seventy-eight. Prior to this, the head monk Zhijue had submitted a petition to the court, saying, 'The master's Way illuminates the former sages, and the fourfold assembly relies upon him. Having reached the age of ninety, he draws near to returning to the Real. We request to erect a stūpa on the mountain in anticipation of his burial.' The Emperor granted the request; thus, this authorized command was now put into effect. His remaining robes, hair, and commentaries on four scriptures were interred together beside the ancestral stūpa at Nanhu. The master's writings include: The Profound Overview of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Collected Explanations of the Diamond Sūtra, Brief Exposition of the Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra, General Meaning of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, Treatise on Continuities and Changes, Ten Strategies for Discerning the Object, Maxims of the Three Treatises, Meaning and Explanation of the Gold Cleaver, Profound Discourse on the Lineage and Teaching, Subcommentary and Notes to the Benevolent King Sūtra, and Essential Appended Commentary, all of which circulate in the world. His other miscellaneous writings were titled Residue. In the leisure after lecturing, when facing guests, he never touched upon worldly affairs, discussing only the past deeds of ancients and the words of canonical texts. Someone asked how to pacify the mind; he said, 'The mind is originally unmoving.' Asked about the Lotus Sūtra treasury, he said, 'It is fully manifested right here.' His admonitions were all of this kind. Among those who inherited his Way, Xianglin Qinci was the foremost.