佛祖歷代通載 14.33

14.33

（二十一）　荊溪湛然禪師。臨終告其徒曰。大道無方無體。生歟死歟。其旨一貫。吾歸骨此山。報盡今夕。聊與汝等談道而決。夫一念無相謂之空。無法不備謂之假。不一不異謂之中。在凡為三因。在聖為三德。爇炷則初後同相。涉海則淺深異流。自利利人在斯而已。爾其志之。言訖而化。翰林梁肅題其碑陰曰。聖人不興。必有命世者出焉。自智者以法付灌頂。頂再世而至左溪朗。道若昧待公而發。乘此寶乘煥然中興。其受業身通者三十有九人。而縉紳先生高位崇名屈體受教者數十。師嚴道尊遐邇歸仁。自非命世亞聖。曷以臻此。

(21) Chan Master Zhanran of Jingxi, when facing his end, told his disciples, "The Great Way has neither spatial direction nor physical substance. Life or death—their principle is consistently one. I shall return my bones to this mountain; my retribution ends this evening. I shall briefly discuss the Way with you to decide [matters]. Indeed, the absence of characteristics in a single thought is called emptiness; the complete presence of all phenomena is called provisional existence; being neither one nor different is called the middle. In the ordinary person, they are the three causes; in the sage, they are the three virtues. When burning an incense stick, the beginning and end share the same characteristic; when wading the sea, shallow and deep are different streams. Benefiting oneself and benefiting others consist only in this. You must keep it in mind!" Having spoken, he passed away. Liang Su of the Hanlin Academy inscribed the reverse of his stele, saying: "When a sage does not arise, one who commands the age will certainly emerge. From Zhiyi's entrusting the Dharma to Guanding, Guanding after two generations reached Zuoxi Xuanlang. The Way seemed obscure, waiting for the Venerable to unfold it. Mounting this precious vehicle, he resplendently brought about a middle revival. Those who received his instruction and personally penetrated it were thirty-nine persons, while eminent gentlemen, scholars, and officials of high position and exalted fame who bowed their bodies and received his instruction numbered several tens. The master was revered and the Way honoured; near and far turned to his humaneness. Were he not one who commanded the age and was second only to the sages, how could he have attained this?"