佛祖歷代通載 20.33

20.33

（六）　紹興十九年。牧庵忠禪師遷化。名法忠。姓姚。四明鄞縣人。母夢異僧求寓止而娠。既誕紫帶繞身。自幼性專靜。告雙親出家。依郡中崇教院道英授經業。年十九試所業得度。即預講肆。究天台教旨。於疏義入微亦頗自負。一日暴所習於禪者。為其折困。因有疑於於禪宗。趨天童交禪師以求決焉。及於交言下知有機不發交使其南詢造閩之雪峯。與需禪師語。復不契。聞佛眼遠禪寺居淮西龍門。於是出蜀兼程至彼。造次不忘提撕其未至處。適縱步水磨歘睹牌額。書法輪常轉。師於是礙膺之疑泮然氷釋。遂說偈曰。轉大法輪。目前包裹。更問如何。水推石磨。而作圓相呈佛眼。眼曰。其中事作麼生。師曰。㵎下水長流。眼曰。必竟如何。師曰。水推石磨。眼曰。歸堂歇去。切不得舉著。後五日來。却向汝道一句子。曰。這一句子也不消得。佛眼為之解頤。師遂作禮。尋辭佛眼。度九江登廬阜。露眠草宿蛇虎為隣。山舒水緩處。會意則居焉。偶晦昏道傍有枯木數圍。經野燒之餘尚存尋尺。內空且絜。師兀然其中逾旬浹。遠邇傳觀者甚眾。師不欲顯異。留偈紀之曰。誰將三昧真空火。爇却一株煩惱薪。只有大根元不動。更無枝葉撼風塵。廼去謁湛堂準禪師於泐潭。酬酢敏捷。準大奇之。斯時黃龍法社鼎盛。預結夏制限其來者。然死心道貌德威。鮮敢櫻其鋒。甞持劍夜造室曰。聞老和上不懼生死是不。死心擬對。師以劍揮之。死心引頸。師擲劍于地作舞而退。至相西親圓悟于道林。悟深器之。既而放浪衡嶽。眷車轍靈岩之右。怪石有如臥牛。師結茅其傍。故榜牧庵。棲遲二十餘年。外形骸而自適。或連宵而不寐。或累日而忘飡。髮長不剪。衣弊不易。天下禪侶雅稱為忠道者。四方衲子不以承顏為不足。一時士夫無不聞風而欣慕。樞密柳公仲古鎮長沙。以法輪起師。從於眾望。師掉頭不顧。復以勝業虛席心欲迎致。檄諸禪勸請。師聞而宵遁。追蹤至定明蘭若。撾鼓于堂。致師于座。緇素羅拜踰時不已。師慨然說偈曰咄哉黃面老。將法付王臣。林下無心客。官差逼殺人。昔聞其言。今見其事。下座曳杖趨勝業領住持事。給事憑公濟川撰開堂疏。有曰。佛眼磨頭悟法輪之常轉。死心室內持慧劍以相揮。時為師之實錄。師既應世。以荷負宗教為己任亦不悋去留。故自勝業遷南木雲蓋公安大溈五剎。復赴豫章師李吉甫請。住黃龍。太尉邢公孝揚施金為造壽塔於寺東之薌源。纔畢工而方丈後山白光上騰。群鵲飛鳴。師顧之笑曰。吾將行矣。索筆書偈曰。六十六年。遊夢幻中。浩歌歸去。撤手長空。書畢復謂眾曰。後事可依靈源清禪師遺範。言訖瞑目而寂。

(6) In the nineteenth year of the Shaoxing reign period, Chan Master Mu'an Zhong passed away. His name was Fazhong, surnamed Yao, a native of Yinxian in Siming. His mother dreamt of an unusual monk asking to lodge with her, whereupon she became pregnant. When he was born, purple bands encircled his body. From childhood, he was inherently composed and quiet. He asked permission from both parents to enter the monastic life, and relied on Daoying of the Chongjiao Cloister in his home commandery to receive instruction in scriptural studies. At age nineteen, he was tested on his studies and ordained. He immediately joined lecture halls to investigate the doctrinal tenets of the Tiantai school. Entering deeply into the subtleties of the commentaries, he was rather proud of himself. One day, he displayed his learning to a Chan practitioner, who broke his arguments down and confounded him. Consequently, he developed doubts regarding the Chan school. He went to Chan Master Jiao of Tiantong to seek resolution. When Jiao spoke, seeing that the Master's capacity remained dormant, Jiao had him go south to make inquiries and visit Xuefeng in Min. He spoke with Chan Master Xu, but again there was no accord. Hearing that Chan Master Foyan Yuan was residing at Longmen in Huaixi, he departed from Shu and traveled at double speed to reach him. Even in hurried moments, he never forgot to examine where he had not yet attained. Strolling by a watermill, he suddenly caught sight of a signboard inscribed: 'The wheel of the Dharma turns constantly.' At this, the doubts blocking the Master's breast thawed like melting ice. He then uttered a gāthā, saying: / 'Turning the great wheel of the Dharma, / Everything before the eyes is enveloped. / Should you ask further what it is like? / The water pushes the millstone.' / He then drew a circle and presented it to Foyan. Foyan said: 'What is the matter within it?' The Master said: 'The water beneath the mountain stream flows constantly.' Foyan said: 'What is it ultimately?' The Master said: 'The water pushes the millstone.' Foyan said: 'Return to the hall and rest. Under no circumstances are you to bring this up again. Five days from now, come, and I will say a phrase to you.' The Master said: 'Even this one phrase is unnecessary.' Foyan beamed with a smile for him. The Master then made prostrations. Soon he took leave of Foyan, crossed the Jiujiang, and climbed Mount Lu. Sleeping in the open and resting in the grass, snakes and tigers were his neighbors. Wherever the mountains broadened and the waters ran slow, if his heart resonated, he would reside there. Once, as dusk grew dark beside the road, there was a withered tree several fathoms around. Surviving after a wild fire, a few feet of it still remained, hollow within and clean. The Master sat upright and motionless inside it for over ten days. Those who came from near and far to see him were very numerous. Not wishing to display anything extraordinary, the Master left a gāthā recording it, saying: / 'Who took the fire of the true emptiness of samādhi, / And burned down this single log of firewood of afflictions? / Only the great root remains fundamentally unmoved; / No longer are there branches and leaves to shake in the wind and dust.' / He then went to call upon Chan Master Zhantang Zhun at Letan. His exchanges were sharp and swift, and Zhun regarded him as extraordinary. At that time, the Huanglong dharma assembly was at its height, and summer retreats were instituted with limits placed on those coming to join. Yet Sixin's spiritual demeanor and moral majesty were such that few dared to cross his blade. Once, the Master took up a sword, entered his room at night, and said: 'I have heard that the venerable preceptor has no fear of birth and death; is this true?' Sixin made to respond; the Master brandished the sword toward him. Sixin stretched out his neck; the Master threw the sword to the ground, danced, and withdrew. Proceeding to the west of Xiang, he became close to Yuanwu at Daolin, who regarded him as a great vessel. Afterwards, he wandered freely around the Heng mountains, favoring the right side of the chariot tracks on Lingyan, where strange rocks looked like a crouching ox. The Master thatched a hut beside them, naming it Mu'an ('Hut for Herding'), and remained there for over twenty years. Leaving behind his bodily form, he went at ease, sometimes spending successive nights without sleep, or multiple days forgetting to eat. His hair grew long and he did not cut it; his robes became ragged and he did not replace them. Chan practitioners throughout the realm respectfully referred to him as Master of the Path Zhong. Patch-robed monks from all directions did not consider looking upon his face to be an insufficient reward. At the time, there were no scholar-officials who did not rejoice in admiration upon hearing of his repute. Privy Councillor Lord Liu Zhonggu, stationed in Changsha, invited the Master to head the Falun Monastery to fulfill the public's wishes. The Master shook his head and paid no heed. Lord Liu then left the abbot's seat at Shengye vacant, wishing in his heart to welcome and install him, and sent notices to the Chan communities to urge and invite him. When the Master heard of this, he fled by night. They tracked his footprints to Dingming Hermitage, struck the drums in the hall, and installed the Master upon the seat. Clergy and laity bowed in lines, not stopping for hours. The Master sighed deeply and uttered a gāthā: / 'Alas, you yellow-faced old fellow, / You entrusted the Dharma to the ruler's ministers! / For a carefree guest beneath the forest trees, / An official summons presses a man to death.' / He said: 'In the past I heard these words; today I see this very thing.' He descended from the seat, dragged his staff, and hurried to Shengye to assume the duties of abbot. Supervising Secretary Lord Feng Jichuan composed the dedication text for opening the hall, which read: 'At Foyan's millstone he awakened to the constant turning of the Dharma wheel; within Sixin's chamber he brandished the sword of wisdom.' This served at the time as the true record of the Master. After the Master answered the needs of the world, he took carrying the burden of the school of the ancestors as his personal duty, and was never begrudging about whether he stayed or left. Thus from Shengye he moved sequentially to the five monasteries of Nanmu, Yungai, Gong'an, and Dahui. Later, accepting the invitation of the preceptor Li Jifu of Yuzhang, he resided at Huanglong. Grand Defender Lord Xing Xiaoyang donated gold to construct a longevity stūpa for him at Xiangyuan, to the east of the monastery. Just as the work was completed, a white light ascended from the mountain behind the abbot's quarters, and flocks of magpies flew about, chattering. The Master looked at it, smiled, and said: 'I am about to depart.' Calling for a brush, he wrote a gāthā: / 'Sixty-six years / Wandering in a dream and illusion; / With a loud song I return, / Letting go my hands into the vast expanse of sky.' / Having finished writing, he said again to the assembly: 'My funeral affairs may follow the model left by Chan Master Lingyuan Qing.' Having spoken these words, he closed his eyes and entered quiescence.