佛祖歷代通載 17.151

17.151

([Year] 38: wuwu) In the fifth year of Xiande, on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, Chan Master Qingliang Wenyi manifested illness. The Lord of the Jiangnan State visited him in person to inquire after his health. After fifteen days, he bathed, bade farewell to the assembly, sat upright, and passed away. His casket remained for three weeks, his countenance looking as if he were alive. From the Duke and Minister Li Jianxun on down, wearing white mourning garments, they enshrined his whole body and erected a stūpa. He was posthumously named Chan Master Da Fayan ("Great Eye of the Dharma"). He was a man of Yuhang, surnamed Lu. At first, he investigated the teachings of the scriptures and extensively explored the Confucian classics as well. Traveling as a wandering monk, he encountered Chan Master Luohan Shen and immediately awakened to the Great Matter. Later, he established a hermitage and dwelt there. Next, he traveled outside the river region to Linchuan, where the prefect invited him to reside at Chongshou [Monastery]. Opening the hall and addressing the assembly, he said: "Since all of you are completely present here, this mountain monk cannot remain speechless and must present an expedient means of the ancients for the great assembly. Take care!" Thereupon, he stepped down from his seat. At that time, a monk came forward, bowed, and the Master said: "An excellent question!" The monk was about to speak his question when the Master said: "The elder has not opened the hall and does not answer words." There was a monk who arrived from Changqing; the Master quoted a verse of the late [Master of] Changqing, asking: "What is it to reveal the body alone amid the myriad forms?" The monk raised one finger. The Master said: "Understanding it like that, how can you debate it?" The monk said: "What is the Venerable Upādhyāya's esteemed idea?" The Master said: "What do you call the myriad forms?" The monk said: "The ancients did not push aside the myriad forms." The Master said: "'Amid the myriad forms the body is revealed alone'—why talk of pushing aside or not pushing aside?" The monk was suddenly greatly enlightened, composed a verse, and offered his sincere devotion. From then on, those of intellectual understanding from assemblies everywhere gathered like the covers of an open casket. At first they were bold and conceited, but the Master gently stimulated and provoked them, so that all gradually submitted with heartfelt respect. The assembly coming across the sea often numbered no fewer than a thousand. When the assembly had stood for a long time at an address in the hall, the Master then said to them: "Just suppose you disperse right now: is there any Buddha Dharma or not? Try saying something! If not, why did you come here again? If there is, it is also present in large marketplaces where people gather—why must you come here? Each of you has read the Huanyuan guan, the Baimen yihai, the Huayan lun, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, and many other volumes. In which teaching is this season to be found? If there is one, try to cite it! Could it be that such-and-such words in such-and-such a scripture are this season? What connection does that have? Therefore, subtle words stagnate at the forefront of the mind, and all become a field of conditioned thoughts. True reality resides before one's very eyes, yet it is turned into a realm of names and characteristics. How can it be overturned? If it were overturned, how could it be made upright again? Do you still understand? Do not just chant volumes like that; what use is it?" Before long, his practice of the Way was heard beyond the Yangtze River. The Lord of the Jinling State revered the Master's Way and welcomed him to reside at Bao'en, bestowing the title Chan Master Jinghui. Next, he transferred to Qingliang, where he expounded the Dharma day and night. Monasteries throughout all regions revered his transforming influence, causing those from foreign lands who longed for his teaching to travel far to arrive. His dharma heir National Preceptor Deshao, Wensui the Preceptor of the State of Jiangnan, and Huiju the National Preceptor of Goryeo transmitted his transformation. The Master adapted to capacities and conformed to phenomena, banishing stagnation and polishing away delusion. Whenever he cited the samādhi of ancient virtuous masters, or when they presented their understanding to request instruction, he gave medicine according to the disease. Those who awakened and entered according to their faculties were too numerous to record. Subsequently, because National Preceptor Shao and others flourished in their teaching across the Southeast, the lineage principle of Fayan was thus established.