佛祖歷代通載 20.54

20.54

乙亥冬蒙恩北還。明年春復僧伽黎。尋領朝命住明州育王山。逾年有旨。改住徑山。天下宿衲復集如初。時上潛藩。雅聞師名。遣內都監詣山問佛法大意。師陞堂有偈云。豁開頂門眼。照徹大千界。既為法中王。於法得自在。仍作頌獻曰。大根大器大力量。荷擔大事不尋常。一毛頭上通消息。遍界明明不覆藏。上嘉美久之。建邸立。復遣內知客入山供養五百應真。請師說法。親書妙喜庵大字。并製贊寵寄曰。生滅不滅。常住不住。圓覺空明。隨物現處。師陞堂有偈曰。十方法界至人口。法界所有即其舌。只馮此口與舌頭。祝吾君壽無間歇。億萬斯年注福源。如海滉漾永不竭。師子窟內產狻猊。鸑鷟定出丹山穴。為瑞為祥遍九垓。草木昆蟲皆歡悅。稽首不可思議事。喻如眾星拱明月。故今宣揚妙伽陀。第一義中真實說。師春秋高。求解寺任。辛巳春得旨退居院之明月堂。然宏法為人老而不勌。上即位特賜號大惠禪師。隆興建元自恣前一夕。有星殞于院之西。流光赫然。有聲如雷。師示微疾。八月九日學徒問候。師勉以宏道徐遣之曰。吾翌日始行。至五鼓親書遺奏。侍僧固請留頌。為寫四句擲筆就寢。湛然而逝壽七十有五。塔全身於堂之後。

In the winter of the yihai year, he received imperial favor and returned to the north. In the spring of the following year, his saṃghāṭī was restored. Soon, he received an imperial order to reside at Mount Yuwang in Mingzhou. After a year, an edict came transferring him to Jingshan. Venerable monks from throughout the realm gathered again as before. At that time, when the Emperor was still in his potential princely residence, he had long heard of the Master's name, and dispatched an Inner Director of Affairs to the mountain to inquire about the essential meaning of the Buddha Dharma. The Master ascended the hall and presented a verse: "Opening wide the eye atop the crown, / It illumines the great chiliocosm. / Having become the King among Dharmas, / One attains ease within the Dharma." He further composed a verse to offer: "Great capacity, great vessel, great strength, / Bearing the Great Matter is not ordinary. / At the tip of a single hair, news is communicated; / Throughout the whole realm, brilliantly, nothing is concealed." The Emperor praised it for a long time. When he was established in his residence, he again dispatched an Inner Guest Prefect into the mountain to make offerings to the five hundred arhats and invite the Master to preach the Dharma. He personally wrote the large characters for "Miaoxi Hermitage" and composed a eulogy of favor, sending it: "Arising and ceasing are unceasing; / The permanently abiding does not abide. / Complete Enlightenment is empty and luminous, / Appearing in response to objects." The Master ascended the hall and presented a verse: "The ten directions of the Dharma realm are the mouth of the Perfect Man; / All that exists in the Dharma realm is his tongue. / Relying solely on this mouth and tongue, / I pray for my Lord's longevity without pause. / For millions of years, blessings will flow, / Like the surging ocean, never exhausting. / Within the lion's den, lion cubs are born; / The yuezhuo bird surely emerges from the caves of Dan Shan. / Auspicious omens spread throughout the nine borders; / Grasses, trees, and insects all rejoice. / I bow to this inconceivable matter, / Like the myriad stars encircling the bright moon. / Therefore now I proclaim this wondrous gāthā, / A true utterance within the supreme truth." As the Master advanced in years, he requested release from his temple duties. In the spring of the xinsi year, he received an imperial decree allowing him to retire to the Mingyue Hall of the cloister. Yet in propagating the Dharma for people's sake, he was unwearied in his old age. When the Emperor ascended the throne, he specially bestowed upon him the title "Chan Master Dahui." On the night before the Pravāraṇa at the start of the Longxing era, a star fell to the west of the cloister with brilliant radiance and a sound like thunder. The Master showed slight signs of illness. On the ninth day of the eighth month, when his disciples inquired after his health, the Master encouraged them to propagate the Way and slowly dismissed them, saying: "I will only depart tomorrow." At the fifth watch, he personally wrote his final memorial. His attendant monks earnestly requested a farewell verse; he wrote four lines, threw down his brush, lay down, and peacefully passed away at the age of seventy-five. His whole body was entombed in a stupa behind the hall.