佛祖歷代通載 15.26

15.26

（十九）　南海經略馬總。以曹溪六祖未有諡請于朝。天子賜諡曰大鑑。總乃命河東柳宗元撰賜諡碑。其詞曰。扶風公廉問。嶺南。三年以佛氏第六祖未有稱號。疏聞於上。詔諡大鑑禪師。塔曰靈照之塔。元和十年十月十三日。下尚書祠部符到都府。公命部吏洎州司功掾告于其祠。幢蓋鐘鼓增山盈谷。萬人咸會若聞鬼神。其時學者千有餘人。莫不欣。踴奮勵如師復生。則又感悼涕慕如師始亡。因言曰。自有生物則好鬪奪相賊殺喪其本實。誖乖淫流莫克返于初。孔子無大位。沒以餘言持世。更楊墨黃老益雜其術分裂。而吾浮圖說後出。推離還源合所謂生而靜者。梁氏好作。有為。師達磨譏之空術益顯。六傳至大鑑。大鑑始以能勞苦服役。一聽其言。言希以究。師用感動遂受信具。遁隱南海上。人無聞知。又十六年度其可行。乃居曹溪為人師。會學去來常數千人。其道以無為為有。以空洞為實。以廣大不蕩為歸。其教人始以性善終以性善。不假耘耡本其靜矣。中宗聞名使幸臣再徵。不能致。取其言以為心術。其說具在。今布天下。凡言禪皆本曹溪。大鑑去世百有六年。凡治廣部而以名聞者以十數莫能揭其號。今乃始告天子得大諡。豐佐吾道。其可無辭。公始立朝以儒重。刺虔州都護安南。由海中大蠻夷。連身毒之西。浮舶聽命咸被公德。受旂纛節鉞來蒞南海。屬國如林。不殺不怒而人畏無噩。允克光于有仁昭列大鑑。莫如公宜。其徒之老乃易石于宇下。使來謁辭。其辭曰。達磨乾乾傳佛語心。六承其授大鑑是臨。勞勤專默終揖于深。抱其信器行海之陰。其道爰施在溪之曹。庬合猥附。不夷其高。傳告咸陳唯道之褒。生而性善在物而具。荒流奔軼乃萬其趣。匪思愈亂匪覺滋誤。由師內鑑咸護於素。不植乎根不耘乎苗。中一外融有粹孔昭。在帝中宗聘言于朝。陰翊王度俾人逍遙越百有六祀號諡不紀。由扶風公告今天子。尚書既復大行乃誄。光于南土。其法再起。厥徒萬億同悼齊喜。惟師教所被。洎扶風公所履咸戴天子。天子休命嘉公德美。溢于海夷浮圖是視。師以仁傳公以仁理。謁辭圖堅永胤不已。

(19) Ma Zong, Surveillance Commissioner of Nanhai, petitioned the imperial court because the Sixth Patriarch of Caoxi had not yet received a posthumous title. The Son of Heaven conferred the posthumous title Dajian ('Great Mirror'). Zong then commanded Liu Zongyuan of Hedong to compose the stele inscription on the conferral of the posthumous title. His text reads: "The Duke of Fufeng, during his three years inspecting Lingnan, memorialized the Emperor that the Sixth Patriarch of the Buddhists had as yet no posthumous title. An edict bestowed the posthumous title Chan Master Dajian, and his stūpa was named the Stūpa of Lingzhao ('Spiritual Radiance'). On the thirteenth day of the tenth month of the tenth year of the Yuanhe era (815 CE), the tally from the Bureau of Sacrifices of the Ministry of Rites arrived at the metropolitan prefecture. The Duke commanded his departmental clerks and the prefectural director of personnel to announce it at the patriarch's shrine. Banners and canopies, bells and drums filled the mountains and valleys. Ten thousand people gathered, as though hearing the spirits. At that time, there were more than a thousand students; none failed to leap for joy and rouse their spirits, as if the Master had been reborn, yet they also wept in mournful longing, as if the Master had only just passed away. Thereupon they said: 'Ever since living beings came into existence, they have loved to struggle and plunder, killing and injuring one another, losing their original reality. Perverse and licentious, none could return to the beginning. Confucius held no high office; when he died, he preserved the world with his remaining words. Then the methods of Yang, Mo, Huangdi, and Laozi grew increasingly mixed and fragmented. Later, the teachings of our Buddhist arose, pushing back alienation to return to the source, matching what is called "born quiet." The Liang dynasty was fond of creating conditioned works; Master Bodhidharma censured them, and the method of emptiness became all the more apparent. Six transmissions down, it reached Dajian. Dajian began by being able to perform toil and servitude; upon hearing a single utterance, his words were few yet thorough. His master was moved and thus handed down the vessel of faith. He hid in seclusion by the Southern Sea, unknown to men. After another sixteen years, judging that it was feasible to act, he resided at Caoxi and became a teacher of men. Those gathering to study came and went, continually numbering several thousands. His Way took non-action as existence, emptiness as reality, and greatness without dissipation as its refuge. His teaching of people began with the goodness of their nature and ended with the goodness of their nature; without relying on weeding or plowing, it was rooted in their stillness. Emperor Zhongzong heard his name and sent favored ministers to summon him twice, but could not bring him to court; he took his words as his mental method. These teachings are fully preserved and now spread throughout the empire. All who speak of Chan trace their roots to Caoxi. One hundred and six years have passed since Dajian's departure. Among those who have governed the Canton region with renowned distinction, several tens of men could not proclaim his title. Now at last, reporting to the Son of Heaven, a great posthumous title has been obtained, generously aiding our Way. How could we lack words for it? When the Duke first stood at court, he was revered for his Confucian learning. He served as Governor of Qianzhou and Protector-General of Annam; from the great barbarians in the sea reaching to the west of Shendu, ships sailed under his orders and all were covered by the Duke's virtue. Receiving the banners, halberds, and battle-axes, he came to preside over Nanhai. The vassal states were like a forest; without killing or anger, the people stood in awe without terror. Truly able to illumine benevolence and brightly manifest Dajian, none was as fitting as the Duke. The senior members of the disciples therefore replaced the stone beneath the eaves and sent someone to request an inscription. The verse reads: Bodhidharma worked with earnest devotion, / Transmitting the Buddha's mind-speech. / Six times received, the transmission / Came to rest with Dajian. / Diligent, concentrated, and silent, / He bowed at last into the profound depths. / Embracing the vessel of faith, / He journeyed to the shaded side of the sea. / His Way was then applied / At the creek of Cao. / Multitudes joined and crowds adhered, / Without bringing low his height. / Transmissions and proclamations were all set forth, / Praising only the Way. / By nature good from birth, / It is complete within all beings. / Wildly drifting and running astray, / They split into myriad directions. / Without thinking, confusion increases; / Without awakening, errors multiply. / Through the Master's inner mirror, / All were guarded in pristine simplicity. / Neither planting the roots / Nor weeding the sprouts, / Unified within and harmonized without, / It possesses pure, shining brilliance. / In the time of Emperor Zhongzong, / Words were invited to the court; / Silently aiding the royal norms, / Causing the people to wander free. / More than one hundred and six years passed, / His title and epithet unrecorded. / Due to the Duke of Fufeng's / Report to the present Son of Heaven, / The Ministry of Rites having replied, / The great conduct was eulogized. / Shining over the southern land, / His Dharma arose once more. / His disciples in their myriads / Mourned together and rejoiced as one. / The Master's teaching where it reached, / And the Duke of Fufeng where he tread, / Both held high the Son of Heaven. / The Son of Heaven issued a splendid decree, / Praising the beauty of the Duke's virtue; / Overflowing to the island barbarians, / It was seen as the Buddhist Dharma. / The Master transmitted through benevolence; / The Duke governed through benevolence. / Inscribing these words to seek durability, / May their succession never cease.'"