佛祖歷代通載 19.25

19.25

（十六）　蔣山贊元禪師。字萬宗。婺州義烏人。雙林傅大士遠孫也。三歲出家。七歲為大僧性重遲閒靖寡言。視之如鄙朴人。然於傳記無所不窺。吐為詞語多絕塵之韻。特罕作耳。年十五游方。至石霜謁慈明昉舂破薪。泯泯混十年。明移南岳。又與俱。及沒葬骨於石霜。植種八年乃去。兄事蔣山心公。心沒以元繼其席。舒王初丁太夫人憂。讀經山中。與元游如昆仲問祖師意旨。元不答。王益扣之。元曰。公般若有障三有近道之質。一兩生來恐純熟。王曰。願聞其說。元曰。受氣剛大世緣深。以剛大氣遭深世緣。必以身任天下之重。懷經濟之志用舍不能必。則心未平。以未平之心持經世之志。何時能一念萬年哉。又多怒而學問尚理。於道為所知愚。此其三也。特視名利如脫髮。甘澹泊如頭陀。此為近道。且當以教乘滋茂之可也。王再拜受教。自熙寧之初。王入對。遂大用至真拜貴震天下。無月無耗元未甞發視。客來無貴賤寒溫外無別語。即斂目如入定。客即去。甞饌僧。俄報火厨庫且以潮音堂。眾吐飯蒼黃蜂窘蟻鬧。而元啜啖自若。高視屋梁食畢無所問。又甞出郭。有狂人入寺手刃一僧即自殺。尸相枕。左右走報交武於道。自白下門群從而歸。元過尸處未甞視。登寢室危坐。聽事者側立。冀元有以處之。而斂目如平日。於是稍稍隱去。卒不問。元祐初曰吾欲還東吳。促辦嚴。

(16) Chan Master Zanyuan of Jiangshan was styled Wanzong. He was a man of Yiwu in Wuzhou, a distant descendant of the Great Being Fu of Shuanglin. At three years of age he left home, and at seven he became a fully ordained monk. By nature he was deliberate, calm, tranquil, and reserved in speech; looking at him, he seemed like an unpolished, simple man. Yet among historical records and biographies, there was nothing he had not perused. When he gave voice to phrases, they mostly bore a cadence far beyond the mundane dust, though he composed them only rarely. At the age of fifteen he traveled on pilgrimage; arriving at Shishuang, he visited Ciming [Chuyuan], pestling grain and chopping firewood. In quiet obscurity he spent ten years among the assembly. When [Ci]ming moved to Nanyue, he accompanied him again. When [Ciming] died, he buried his bones at Shishuang, and departed only after planting crops for eight years. He served Master Xin of Jiangshan as an elder brother; when Xin died, Yuan succeeded to his seat. When the Prince of Shu (Wang Anshi) first observed mourning for his mother, he read sutras in the mountains and associated with Yuan like a brother. When he asked about the ancestral masters' cardinal purport, Yuan did not answer. The Prince questioned him even more insistently. Yuan said: 'You, Sir, have three obstacles to prajñā, but you possess the natural capacity for nearing the Way. In one or two lifetimes, I fear it will ripen fully.' The Prince said: 'I wish to hear your explanation.' Yuan said: 'You are endowed with a vast, unyielding spirit, and your worldly entanglements are deep. Meeting deep worldly entanglements with a vast, unyielding spirit, you will certainly take upon yourself the heavy burdens of the world; harboring ambitions of statecraft, you cannot be certain whether you will be employed or dismissed, and thus your mind is not at peace. Holding ambitions of ordering the world with an unpeaceful mind, when will you ever be able to abide in one thought for ten thousand years? Moreover, you are prone to anger, and in your learning you prioritize rational principles; for the Way, this is the ignorance born of knowledge. These are the three. On the other hand, you view fame and profit like shed hair, and relish simplicity and austerity like a dhūta; this is what nears the Way. For now, you should nourish it with the doctrinal vehicles; that will do.' The Prince bowed twice and accepted the instruction. From the beginning of the Xining era, the Prince entered into imperial audience; he was subsequently employed in high office, attained genuine premiership, and his noble standing shook the realm. Not a month passed without tidings, yet Yuan never unfolded [the letters] to read them. When guests came, whether noble or lowly, he spoke no words beyond conventional greetings, then closed his eyes as if entering samādhi; the guests would then leave. He was once feeding the monks when suddenly a fire was reported in the kitchen storehouse, spreading toward the Chaoyin Hall. The assembly spewed their food in frantic confusion, like swarming bees and disturbed ants; yet Yuan went on sipping and eating as if nothing were happening, gazing up at the roof beams. When the meal was finished, he asked nothing about it. Another time, when he had gone outside the city walls, a madman entered the temple, slashed a monk to death with a blade, and then killed himself, their corpses lying one upon the other. Attendants ran to report it, their footsteps crossing on the road. Returning from the Baixia Gate with his followers, Yuan passed the place of the corpses without ever glancing at them. He ascended to his quarters and sat upright. The attendants stood to the side, hoping Yuan would do something to deal with it, but he kept his eyes closed as usual. Thereupon, they slipped away one by one, and in the end he never asked about it. At the beginning of Yuanyou, he said: 'I wish to return to Eastern Wu,' and urged that preparations be made.