佛祖歷代通載 18.17

18.17

（三）　天台山德韶國師示寂。師處州龍泉陳氏。母夜夢白光觸體。因而有娠。及誕尤多奇異。年十五有梵僧。勉令出家。十七依本州龍歸寺落髮。十八納戒於信州開元。後梁開平中遊方。詣投子山見大同禪師。發心之始也。次謁龍牙疎山。各有機緣。歷五十四員知識皆不契。後之臨川。謁淨惠益公。一見深器之。師以遍參但隨眾而已。益上堂。僧問。如何是曹源一滴水。益云。是曹源一滴水。師於座側豁然大悟。平生疑滯渙若氷釋。遂以所悟聞于益。益曰。汝向後當為國王師。致祖道光大。吾不如也。自是諸方異唱古今玄鍵。與之決擇不留微迹尋遊天台。觀智者顗禪師遺跡若舊。復與智者同姓。時謂後身焉。初止白沙。吳越忠懿王以國王子刺台州。嚮師之名。延請問道。師謂之曰。他日為霸主無忘佛恩。後漢乾祐元年王嗣位。遣使迎之。申弟子禮。有傳天台教義寂者。屢懇于師曰。智者之教年祀浸遠慮多散落。今新羅國其本甚備。自非和尚慈力。其孰能致之乎。師於是聞于忠懿王。王遣使及齎師書往彼繕寫備足而回。迄今盛行於江南。師於般若開堂說法。十二會語具傳燈。甞有偈示眾曰。通玄峯頂不是人間。心外無法滿目青山。開寶辛未華頂四峯忽摧聲震若雷。師曰。吾非久矣。明年六月大星殞于峯頂。林木變白。師乃示寂於蓮華峯。參問如常。二十八日集眾言別。跏趺而逝。壽八十二。臘六十五。

(Year three) National Preceptor Deshao of Mount Tiantai entered quiescence. The Master was of the Chen clan of Longquan in Chuzhou. His mother dreamt at night that a white light touched her body, whereupon she became pregnant. When he was born, there were many marvelous portents. At the age of fifteen, an Indian monk urged him to enter the monastic life. At seventeen, he had his head shaved at Longgui Monastery in his home prefecture. At eighteen, he received the precepts at Kaiyuan [Monastery] in Xinzhou. During the Kaiping era of the Later Liang, he went on pilgrimage. He arrived at Mount Touzi and met Chan Master Datong; this was the beginning of his aspiration [for awakening]. Next, he called upon Longya and Shushan, encountering circumstances suited to him at each, yet after going through fifty-four spiritual friends, none brought realization. Later, he went to Linchuan and called upon Master Jinghui [Wen]yi, who at first sight regarded him as a vessel of great potential. Because the Master had traveled and studied extensively, he merely followed along with the assembly. Wenyi ascended the hall. A monk asked, "What is the single drop of water from the Cao stream?" Wenyi said, "It is the single drop of water from the Cao stream." By the side of the seat, the Master had a breakthrough and experienced great awakening; all the doubts and hindrances of his life dissolved like melting ice. He then presented his awakening to Wenyi. Wenyi said, "In the future, you will become the preceptor to kings and cause the ancestral way to flourish greatly. I am not your equal." From then on, as for the differing teachings of the various quarters and the profound keys of past and present, he resolved them without leaving the slightest trace. Soon after, he traveled to Tiantai; looking upon the traces left by Chan Master Zhizhe Zhiyi, they seemed as familiar as of old. Furthermore, he shared the same surname as Zhizhe, so people at that time called him Zhizhe's later embodiment. At first, he stayed at Baisha. King Zhongyi of Wuyue, governing Taizhou as a prince of the state, admired the Master's reputation and invited him to inquire about the Way. The Master said to him, "When you become a sovereign lord in days to come, do not forget the grace of the Buddha." In the first year of the Qianyou era of the Later Han, when the King succeeded to the throne, he dispatched an envoy to welcome him and offered the etiquette of a disciple. There was a certain Yiji who transmitted the Tiantai teachings, who repeatedly pleaded earnestly with the Master, saying, "The teachings of Zhizhe have receded into the distance over the years, and it is feared that many have been scattered and lost. At present, the texts are exceptionally complete in the kingdom of Silla. Were it not for your compassionate power, Upādhyāya, who could bring them back?" The Master thereupon reported this to King Zhongyi. The King dispatched envoys carrying the Master's letter to travel there, copy the texts fully, and return with them. To this day, they circulate widely south of the Yangtze. The Master opened a hall to preach the Dharma at Bore [Monastery]; the records of his twelve assemblies are fully recorded in the *Transmission of the Lamp*. He once instructed the assembly with a verse: / "The summit of Tongxuan Peak is not of the human realm; / Outside the mind there are no phenomena—the green mountains fill the eyes." / In the xinwei year of the Kaibao era, the four peaks of Huading suddenly collapsed with a sound shaking like thunder. The Master said, "I shall not remain long." In the sixth month of the following year, a great star fell upon the summit of the peak, and the trees of the forest turned white. The Master then manifested his quiescence at Lianhua Peak; students had come to question him as usual. On the twenty-eighth day, he gathered the assembly to bid farewell, and passed away sitting cross-legged. His worldly age was eighty-two, and his monastic age was sixty-five.