佛祖歷代通載 16.10

16.10

（四）　澧州藥山禪師惟儼卒。大儒唐伸為之碑曰。上嗣位明年。澧陽郡藥山釋氏大師。以十二月六日終于修心之所。後八年門人狀先師之行。西來京師告于崇敬寺大德。求所以發揮先師之耿光垂於不朽。崇敬大德於余為從母兄也。嘗參徑山得其心要。自興善寬敬示寂之後。四方從道之人質疑傳妙。罔不詣崇敬者。嘗謂伸曰。吾道之明於藥山。猶爾教之聞於洙泗。智炬雖滅法雷猶響。豈可使明德不照至行堙沒哉。惟大師生南康信豐。自為童時未嘗處群兒戲弄中。往往獨坐如念如思。年十七即南度大庾抵潮之西山得惠照禪師。乃落髮服緇執禮以事。大曆中受具於衡岳希琛律師。釋禮矩儀動如夙習。一朝乃言曰。大丈夫當離法自靜。焉能屑屑事細行於衣巾耶。是時南嶽有遷。江西有寂。中岳有洪。皆悟心契。乃知大圭之質豈俟磨礱。照乘之珍難晦符彩。自是寂以大乘法聞四方。學徒至於指心傳要。眾所不能達者。師必默識懸解。不違如愚。居寂之室垂二十年。寂曰。汝之所得。可謂浹於心術布於四體。欲益而無所益。欲知而無所知。渾然天和合於本無。吾無有以教矣。佛以開示群盲為大功。度滅眾惡為大德。爾當以功德普濟群迷。宜作梯航無久滯此。由是陟羅浮涉清涼。歷三峽遊九江。貞元初因憩藥山喟然嘆曰。吾生寄世若萍蓬耳。又何効其飄轉耶。既披蓁結菴才疪趺座。鄉人知者因齎携飲食奔走而往。師曰。吾無德於人。何以勞人乎哉。並謝而不受。鄉人跪曰。願聞日費之具。曰米一升足矣。自是嘗以山蔬數本佐食。一食訖就座轉法華華嚴涅槃。晝夜若一。終始如是殆三十年矣。遊方求益之徒。知教之在此。後數歲而僧徒葺居禪室梁棟鱗差。其眾不可勝數。至於沃煩正覆道源成流。有以見寂公先知之明矣。忽一旦謂其徒曰。乘郵而行。及莫而息。未有久行而不息者。吾至所詣矣。吾將有息矣。靈源自清。混之者相。能滅諸相是無有色。窮本絕外汝其悉之。語畢隱几而化。春秋八十四。僧臘六十夏。入室弟子冲虛等遷座。建塔于禪居之東。遵本教也。始師嘗以大綀布為衣。以竹器為蹻。自薙其髮自具其食。雖門人數百童侍甚廣。未嘗易其力。珍羞百品鮮果駢羅。未嘗易其食。冬裘重燠夏服輕疎。未嘗易其衣。華室靖深香榻嚴潔。未嘗易其處。麋鹿環繞猛獸伏前。未嘗易其觀。貴賤迭來頂謁床下。未嘗易其禮。非夫罄萬有契真空離攀緣之病本性清淨乎物表。焉能遺形骸忘嗜欲久而如一者耶。其他碩臣重官歸依修禮於師之道。未有及其門閫者。故不列之於篇。銘曰。一物在中。觸境而搖。我示其源。不境不跳。西方聖人。實言其要。其要既得。可言其妙。我源自濟。我真自靈。大包萬有。細出無形。曹溪所傳。徒藏于密。身世俱空。曾何有物。自見曰明。是為至精。出沒在我。誰曰死生。刻之琬琰。立之岩岫。作碑者伸。期於不朽。

(4) [The Chan Master] Weiyan of Yaoshan in Lizhou passed away. The great Confucian Tang Shen composed a stele inscription for him, which said: In the year after the Emperor acceded to the throne, on the sixth day of the twelfth month, the great master of the Śākya clan of Yaoshan in Liyang commandery passed away at his place of mental cultivation. Eight years later, his disciples wrote an account of their late master's conduct, came west to the capital, and informed the Great Worthy of Chongjing Monastery, seeking a way to display their late master's bright radiance and transmit it into immortality. The Great Worthy of Chongjing was my maternal cousin. He had formerly studied with Jingshan and obtained his essential mind. After [the Master] Kuanjing of Xingshan entered nirvāṇa, people from all four quarters who followed the Way, seeking clarification on doubts and the transmission of the profound, all went to Chongjing. He once said to Shen: 'Our Way's brilliance in Yaoshan is like your teaching's renown at the Zhu and Si Rivers. Although the torch of wisdom has been extinguished, the thunder of the Dharma still resounds. How could we allow his radiant virtue to remain unilluminated and his supreme practice to be buried in oblivion?' The Great Master was born in Xinfeng, Nankang. From his childhood, he never engaged in playing among crowds of children; he frequently sat alone as if meditating or contemplating. At the age of seventeen, he went south across Dayu and reached Mount Xishan in Chaozhou, where he met Chan Master Huizhao. He then shaved his head, donned black robes, and served him with propriety. During the Dali reign era, he received the full precepts (upasampadā) under Vinaya Master Xichen of Mount Heng. In the Buddhist etiquette and monastic rules, his movements were as if practiced in past lives. One morning, he said: 'A great man should detach from phenomena and become tranquil of himself; how could he painstakingly attend to trivial conduct concerning robes and cloths?' At that time, there was [Shitou Xi]qian at Nanyue, [Mazu Dao]ji in Jiangxi, and [Tianhuang Dao]hong at Zhongyue, all of whom had realized the mind and attained accord. Thus one knows that the quality of a great jade tablet need not wait for polishing, and the radiance of a chariot-illuminating jewel can hardly conceal its markings and brilliance. From then on, [Mazu] Ji became renowned in all four quarters for the Mahāyāna teaching. When disciples came to point directly to the mind and transmit the essential, what the crowd could not comprehend, the Master inevitably retained in silence and understood thoroughly; he did not disagree, appearing as if foolish. He resided in Ji's chamber for nearly twenty years. Ji said: 'What you have attained can be said to have permeated your mind and spread to your four limbs. Wishing to add more, there is nothing to add; wishing to know more, there is nothing to know. Purely harmonious with nature, it unites with the original non-being. I have nothing left to teach you. The Buddha took opening and displaying the truth to the blind masses as great work, and crossing over and eliminating all evils as great virtue. You ought to widely deliver the deluded masses through this merit and virtue. You should become a ladder and a raft; do not linger here long.' Thereupon he climbed Luofu, traversed Wutai Shan, passed through the Three Gorges, and traveled around the Nine Rivers. At the beginning of the Zhenyuan reign era, he rested at Yaoshan and sighed: 'My life's lodging in the world is merely like duckweed and tumbleweed; why should I emulate their drifting and turning?' Having cleared the weeds and built a hut just large enough to shelter his cross-legged seat, local villagers who learned of this carried food and drink and rushed thither. The Master said: 'I have no virtue toward men; how could I trouble others?' He declined them all and would not accept. The villagers knelt and said: 'We wish to hear what provisions you need daily.' He replied: 'One sheng of rice is enough.' From then on, he usually took several wild vegetables to accompany his food. After a single meal, he would approach his seat and recite the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Avataṃsaka, and Nirvāṇa sūtras, day and night as one. From beginning to end, it was like this for nearly thirty years. Disciples traveling in search of benefit came to know that the teaching was here. Several years later, the monastic assembly repaired and built dwellings, and the beams and ridgepoles of the meditation halls stood dense as fish scales. The assembly became beyond count. As for moistening afflictions and correcting the overturned, the source of the Way formed a stream, wherein one could see the prior knowledge and clarity of Master Ji. Suddenly, one morning, he said to his disciples: 'Traveling by relay-post, one rests when evening comes; no one travels forever without resting. I have arrived at my destination; I am about to rest. The spiritual source is naturally pure; what confounds it are marks. Being able to eliminate all marks is to be devoid of physical form. Fathom the source and sever external objects—may you completely understand this!' Having finished speaking, he leaned on his armrest and transformed. His worldly age was eighty-four; his monastic age was sixty summers. His personal disciples Chongxu and others moved his seat and erected a stupa to the east of the meditation dwelling, in accordance with the original teaching. Formerly, the Master had always used coarse linen cloth for his robes and bamboo utensils for his sandals. He shaved his own head and prepared his own food. Although his disciples numbered several hundreds and his youthful attendants were numerous, he never changed his own labor. Though hundreds of fine delicacies and fresh fruits were laid out in rows, he never changed his food. Though winter furs were doubly warm and summer garments were light and coarse, he never changed his robes. Though luxurious rooms were tranquil and deep and fragrant couches were adorned and clean, he never changed his dwelling. Though deer surrounded him and fierce beasts lay prostrate before him, he never changed his gaze. Though the noble and base came in succession to pay obeisance below his seat, he never changed his demeanor. Were he not one who had exhausted all existence, accorded with true emptiness, left behind the sickness of grasping at conditions, and possessed an original nature pure beyond material things, how could he have cast off his bodily form, forgotten cravings and desires, and remained unchanging for so long? As for other eminent ministers and high officials who took refuge and paid homage to the Master's Way, none had reached his inner threshold, so they are not listed in this text. The inscription reads: A single thing is in the center; / stirred when touching objects. / I reveal its source: / without objects, without leaping. / The sage of the western regions / truly spoke its essential. / Once its essential is attained, / its profundity can be spoken. / Our source saves itself; / our true nature is spiritual of itself. / Greatly, it envelops all existence; / subtly, it emerges without form. / What Caoxi transmitted / was vainly hidden in secrecy. / Body and world are both empty; / how could there ever have been a thing? / Seeing oneself is called illumination; / this is the supreme essence. / Emerging and vanishing rests with me; / who speaks of death and life? / Carving this on fine jade, / erecting it upon the mountain crag, / the one who composed the stele is Shen, / who aspires to immortality.