佛祖歷代通載 18.79

18.79

（三十三　庚寅）　皇祐二年正月。詔大覺懷璉禪師住東都淨因。本漳州陳氏子。嗣泐潭澄公。甞燕坐室中。見金蛇從地而出。須臾隱去。識者贊為吉徵。師甞於廬山圓通掌記室。初仁宗聞圓通訥公名。詔住淨因。訥稱目疾不能奉詔。有旨令舉自代。遂舉師。先是仁廟閱投子語。至僧問如何是露地白牛投子連叱。乃有省製釋典頌十四章。其首篇曰。若問主人公。真寂合太空。三頭并六臂。臈月正春風。尋以賜璉。璉和曰。若問主人公。澄澄類碧空。雲雷時鼓動。天地盡和風。既進經乙夜之覽。宣賜龍腦鉢。璉謝恩罷捧鉢曰。吾法以壞色。以瓦鐵食。此鉢非法。遂焚之。中使回奏。皇情大悅。久之奏頌乞歸山曰。六載皇都唱道機。兩曾金殿奉天威。青山隱去欣何得。滿篋唯將御頌歸。上和曰。佛祖明明了上機。上機全得始全威。青山般若如如體。御頌收將什處歸。再進頌謝曰。中使宣傳出禁闈。再令臣住此禪扉。青山未許藏千拙。白髮將何補萬機。霄露息輝方湛湛。林泉情味苦依依。堯仁況是如天闊。應任孤雲自在飛。至治平中復上疏丐歸山。獻偈曰。千簇雲山萬壑流。歸心終老此峯頭。餘生願祝無疆壽。一炷清香滿石樓。英廟付以劄子曰。大覺禪師懷璉受先帝聖眷累錫宸章。屢貢欵誠乞歸林下。今從所請。俾遂閑心凡。經過小可菴院隨性住持。或十方禪林不得逼抑堅請璉。携之東歸鮮。有知者蘇翰林軾知杭州。以書問之曰。承要作宸奎閣碑。謹已撰成。衰朽廢學不知堪上石不。見參寥說。禪師出京日。英廟賜手詔。其略云。任性住持。不知果有不切請錄示全文。欲添入此一節。璉終藏不出。逮委順後。獲於篋笥。其不暴曜若此。

(Thirty-three; gengyin) In the first month of the second year of the Huangyou reign era, Chan Master Dajue Huailian was summoned by imperial decree to reside at Jingyin in the Eastern Capital. He was originally a son of the Chen clan of Zhangzhou, and the heir of Venerable Cheng of Letan. Once, while sitting in quiet meditation in his chamber, he saw a golden snake emerge from the ground and vanish after an instant. Discerning observers praised it as an auspicious omen. The master once served as the recording secretary at Yuantong on Mount Lu. Earlier, when Emperor Renzong heard of the fame of Venerable Ne of Yuantong, he issued an edict summoning him to reside at Jingyin. Ne claimed eye disease prevented him from complying with the imperial summons, and an imperial order instructed him to recommend someone in his stead; he then recommended the master. Prior to this, Renzong had read the sayings of Touzi; when he reached the point where a monk asked, 'What is the white ox on the open ground?' and Touzi repeatedly shouted, [the Emperor] attained an awakening and composed fourteen verses of eulogies on Buddhist scriptures. The first poem said: / 'If you ask about the Master, / True stillness unites with the great void. / Three heads and six arms; / In the twelfth month, truly a spring breeze.' / Soon he bestowed it upon Lian. Lian harmonized with it, saying: / 'If you ask about the Master, / Limpid and clear, like the azure void. / Clouds and thunder stir at times; / Heaven and earth are entirely a gentle breeze.' / After it was submitted and perused by the Emperor late into the night, an imperial gift of a borneol bowl was bestowed. Having expressed his gratitude, Lian held the bowl and said, 'Our Dharma uses decaying colors, and eats from earthenware and iron; this bowl is not in accordance with the Dharma.' He thereupon burned it. When the imperial envoy reported back, the Emperor was greatly pleased. After some time, he presented a poem begging to return to the mountains, saying: / 'For six years in the imperial capital I proclaimed the dynamic of the Way; / Twice in the golden palace I served the celestial majesty. / Hiding away in the green mountains, what joy do I gain? / With my basket full, I return carrying only imperial verses.' / The Emperor harmonized with it, saying: / 'The Buddhas and Patriarchs clearly comprehended the supreme capacity; / Only when the supreme capacity is fully attained is the full majesty realized. / The green mountains are the suchness-body of prajñā; / Where could the imperial verses be taken to return?' / He again presented a poem of thanks, saying: / 'The imperial envoy proclaimed the summons from the inner palace, / Ordering your subject once more to reside at this Chan door. / The green mountains do not yet permit concealing my thousand clumsinesses; / How can white hair assist the myriad affairs of state? / The celestial dew calms its radiance, just now limpid and deep; / The flavor of the forests and springs is deeply yearned for. / How much more is Yao's benevolence vast as heaven; / It should allow the solitary cloud to fly freely.' / Coming to the Zhiping reign era, he again submitted a memorial begging to return to the mountains, presenting a gāthā: / 'A thousand clusters of cloudy mountains, ten thousand flowing ravines; / With my heart set on returning, I shall live out my years on this peak. / For the rest of my life I wish to pray for your boundless longevity; / A single stick of pure incense fills the stone chamber.' / Emperor Yingzong granted him an imperial missive, which read: 'Chan Master Dajue Huailian received the holy favor of the late emperor and was repeatedly bestowed imperial writings. He has frequently submitted sincere requests begging to return to the forests and retreats. Now We grant his request so that he may fulfill his leisurely aspiration. Wherever he passes through ordinary hermitages and monasteries, he may reside and manage them as he pleases; nor may the Chan monasteries of the ten directions forcibly compel or insist on his stay.' Lian carried it with him and returned east, with scarcely anyone knowing of it. Su Shi, Hanlin Academician and Prefect of Hangzhou, sent a letter inquiring of him, saying: 'I was asked to compose the stele for the Chenkui Pavilion, and have reverently drafted it. Decayed and having neglected my learning, I do not know if it is worthy of being carved in stone. I saw Canliao say that on the day the Chan master departed the capital, Emperor Yingzong granted an autographed imperial decree, the summary of which said: