[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛祖歷代通載](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036) › 19.38 # 佛祖歷代通載 19.38 佛祖歷代通載 19.38 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [19.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.19.38) 雲居佛印了元禪師。字覺老。生饒州浮梁林氏。世業儒。父祖皆不仕。元生二歲。琅琅誦論語諸家詩。五歲誦三千首。既長從師授五經略通大義。因讀首楞嚴經于竹林寺。愛之盡捐舊學。白父母求出家度生死。禮寶積寺沙門日用試法華受具。游廬山謁開先暹道者。暹自負其號海上橫行。俯視後進。元與問答捷給。乃稱賞。時年十九。又謁圓通訥公。訥曰。骨格已似雪竇。後來之俊也。時書記懷璉方應詔以元繼其職。江州承天虛席。又以元當選。郡將而少之。訥曰。元齒少而德壯。雖萬耆衲不可折也。於是為開先之嗣。時二十八矣。自承天遷淮之斗方。廬山之開先歸宗。潤之金山焦山。江西之大仰又住雲居。凡四十年間。德化緇素。縉紳之賢者多與之游。東坡謫黃州。廬山對岸。元居歸宗詶酢妙句。與烟雲爭麗及其在金山。東坡釋還東吳。次丹陽以書抵元曰。不必出山。當學趙州上等接人。元得書徑來。坡迎笑問之。元以偈答曰。趙州當日少謙光。不出山門見趙王。爭似金山無量相。大千都是一禪床。坡抵掌稱善。又甞謂眾曰。昔雲門說法如雲雨。絕不喜人記錄其語。見必罵逐曰。汝口不用。返記吾語異時裨販我去。今室中對機錄。皆香林明教以紙為衣。隨所聞即書之。後世學者漁獵文字語言。正如吹網欲滿。非愚即狂。時江浙叢林尚以文字為禪之謂請益。故元以是風之。高麗僧統義天航海至明州。傳云。棄王位出家。上疏乞遍歷叢林問法受道。有詔朝奉郎楊傑次公舘伴。所經吳中諸剎皆餞。如王臣禮。至金山。元床坐納其大展。次公驚問故。元曰。義天亦異國僧耳。僧至叢林規繩如是。不可易也。眾姓出家同名釋子。自非買崔盧門閥相高。安問貴種。次公曰。卑之少徇時。宜求異諸方。亦豈覺老心哉。元曰。不然。屈道隨俗。諸方先失一隻眼。何以示華夏師法乎。朝廷聞之以元為知大體。李公伯時為元寫照。元曰。必為我作笑狀。自為贊曰。李公天上石麒麟。傳得雲居道者真。不為拈花明大事。等閒開口笑何人。泥牛謾向風前嗅。枯木無端雪裏春。對現堂堂俱不識。太平時代自由身。元符元年正月初四日。聽客語有會其心者。軒渠一笑而化。其令畫笑狀。非苟然也。世壽六十七。坐五十有二夏。 > Chan Master Foyin Liaoyuan of Yunju, courtesy name Juelao, was born into the Lin family of Fuliang in Raozhou. His family had for generations pursued Confucian learning, though neither his father nor his grandfather ever held office. When Yuan was two years old, he could fluently recite the \*Analects\* and poems of various masters; at five, he could recite three thousand poems. When he grew older, he studied the \*Five Classics\* with a tutor and understood their general purport. Later, reading the \*Śūraṅgama Sūtra\* at Zhulin Temple, he loved it so much that he gave up all his former studies. He informed his parents of his desire to renounce household life to transcend birth and death. Paying homage to the śramaṇa Riyong of Baoji Temple, he passed the examination on the \*Lotus Sūtra\* and received full ordination. Travelling to Mount Lu, he visited Master Xian of Kaixian. Xian pridefully styled himself as 'Walking freely across the seas,' looking down upon younger generations. Yuan responded to his inquiries with agile brilliance, winning his high praise; he was nineteen years old at the time. He also visited the Venerable Ne of Yuantong. Ne said, 'His bone structure is already like Xuedou's; he is an outstanding man of the future.' At that time, when the scribe Huailian was answering an imperial summons, Yuan was chosen to succeed him. When the seat at Chengtian in Jiangzhou became vacant, Yuan was also selected for it. The prefectural commander considered him too young. Ne said, 'Although Yuan is young in years, his virtue is mature. Even ten thousand senior monks could not overcome him.' Thereupon he became Kaixian's dharma heir, aged twenty-eight at the time. From Chengtian he moved to Doufang in Huai; then to Kaixian and Guizong on Mount Lu; to Jinshan and Jiaoshan in Runzhou; to Da'yang in Jiangxi; and he also resided at Yunju. Over forty years, his virtue transformed both clergy and laity, and worthy scholar-officials often associated with him. When Dongpo was exiled to Huangzhou, directly opposite Mount Lu, Yuan resided at Guizong, matching wonderful verses with him that rivalled the mist and clouds in beauty. When Yuan was at Jinshan, Dongpo was pardoned and returned to Eastern Wu. Stopping at Danyang, he sent Yuan a letter saying: 'You need not come out of the mountain; you should learn from Zhaozhou's superior way of receiving people.' Receiving the letter, Yuan came straight to him. Dongpo met him with a smile and asked about it. Yuan replied with a verse: / 'Zhaozhou in his day had little modesty or grace; / Not stepping beyond the mountain gate to see the King of Zhao. / How can that compare to the immeasurable form of Jinshan, / Where the entire trichiliocosm is but a single meditation seat?' / Dongpo clapped his hands and praised it. Yuan also once said to the assembly: 'In the past, Yunmen's exposition of the Dharma was like clouds and rain, yet he intensely disliked people recording his words. Whenever he saw anyone doing so, he would surely scold and drive them away, saying, "Your own mouths are of no use, yet you turn around to record my words to hawk me about in later times!" The records of interviews in his room today were made only because Xianglin and Mingjiao wore paper robes, writing down whatever they heard. In later generations, students hunting through words and phrases are just like someone trying to blow full a fishing net—if they are not foolish, they are mad.' At that time, monasteries in Jiangzhe still treated words as Chan, calling it 'requesting instruction,' so Yuan used this to remonstrate with them. When the Korean Supreme Patriarch Ŭich'ŏn sailed across the sea to Mingzhou, tradition has it that he gave up royal status to renounce the household life. He submitted a memorial requesting permission to travel to all the monasteries to inquire about the Dharma and receive the Way. An imperial decree ordered Court Gentleman for Consultation Yang Jie, courtesy name Cigong, to accompany him as host. Wherever he passed, the monasteries in Wu all sent him off with rituals befitting a royal minister. When he reached Jinshan, Yuan remained seated on his platform to receive his full prostration. Cigong asked the reason in astonishment. Yuan said, 'Ŭich'ŏn is merely a foreign monk. When a monk arrives at a monastery, this is the standard rule; it cannot be altered. People of all surnames who leave household life share the name of Śākya. Unless we are emulating the Cui and Lu clans in boasting of pedigree, why ask about noble birth?' Cigong said, 'A lesser man might bend somewhat to the times; you sought to stand apart from other regions, but could that truly be the intention of the venerable Juelao?' Yuan said, 'Not so. To bend the Way to follow worldly customs—the other regions have already lost one eye. How could they demonstrate the standards of the masters of China?' When the imperial court heard of this, they considered Yuan to understand the overall situation. When Lord Li Boshi painted Yuan's portrait, Yuan said, 'You must depict me smiling.' He composed a panegyric for himself: / 'Lord Li, a stone qilin from the heavens, / Has captured the true likeness of the Yunju practitioner. / Not because of picking a flower to clarify the Great Matter, / But casually parting his lips—at whom is he laughing? / The mud ox snuffs idly into the wind; / The withered tree unexpectedly greets spring in the snow. / Manifest right before you in full majesty, yet none recognise it; / A body of boundless freedom in an era of peace.' / On the fourth day of the first month of the first year of Yuanfu, as he listened to a guest's words, something resonated with his mind, and with a beaming smile he passed away. His instruction to paint him smiling was certainly not accidental. He lived to the worldly age of sixty-seven and had sat for fifty-two summer retreats. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 19.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.19.37) - [Next: 19.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.19.39) - [Up: 19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.19) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036~en-mt.19.38) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.19.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.19.38) · Pramāṇa