[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) › [釋氏稽古略](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037) › 1.562 # 釋氏稽古略 1.562 釋氏稽古略 1.562 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.562](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.1.562) 二十四祖師子尊者　中天竺國人也。姓婆羅門。少依婆羅僧出家習定。晚師鶴勒那大士得法。既受懸記。遂乃往於他國。行化至罽賓國。其國先有沙門。曰婆黎迦。專習小乘禪觀。黎迦之後。其徒承其法者。遂分為五家。其學有曰禪定。有曰知見。有曰執相。有曰捨相。有曰持不語。然競以其能相勝。尊者皆往正之。首謂持不語者曰。佛教勤演般若。孰為不語而反佛說耶。次謂捨相者曰。佛教威儀具足梵行清白。豈捨相耶。次謂執相者曰。佛土清淨自在無著。何執相耶。次謂知見者曰。諸佛知見無所得故。此法微妙覺聞不及。無為無相何知見耶。然四者之眾皆服其教。其五禪觀之眾。其首者名達磨達。號有知識眾皆尊之。以前四眾之屈憤然不甘。遂造尊者欲相問難。尊者謂曰。仁者習定何乃來此。若此來也何甞習定。答曰。我來此處心亦不亂。定隨人習豈在處所。祖曰。仁者之來其習亦至。既無處所豈在人習。答曰。定習人故非人習定。我雖去來其定常習。祖曰。人非習定定習人故當自來去其定誰習。答曰。如淨明珠內外無翳。定若通達乃當如此。祖曰。定若通達必似明珠。今見仁者非珠所類。答曰。其珠明徹。內外悉定。我心不亂猶若是珠。祖曰。其珠無內外。仁者何能定。穢物非動搖。此定不是淨。達磨達義屈。遂禮之曰。我於學道蓋虛勞耳。非聞斯言幾不知至。尊者當容我師之。祖乃謂之曰。諸佛禪定無有所得。諸佛覺道無有所證。無得無證是真解脫。酬因答果世之業報。而此法之中悉不如是。汝若習定乃當然也。達磨達忻然奉教。祖既攝五眾名聞遐邇。其國一長者子曰斯多。年僅二十常握左手。其父求祖醫之。其父先有夢感（夢感緣起具傳燈錄）祖謂斯多曰。可還我珠。童子遽開手奉珠。長者欣然捨之出家。祖即與授具。以前緣故名婆舍斯多。祖曰。此國加難於我。然我衰老豈更苟免。而我所傳如來大法眼藏今以付汝。汝宜奉之。自務傳化。或遇疑者即將我僧伽黎衣為之信驗。聽吾偈曰正說知見時。知見俱是心。當心即知見。知見即於今。婆舍斯多奉命。即日去之居無何。其國果有兄弟二人。兄曰魔目多。弟曰都洛遮。相與隱山學外道法。一旦都洛遮謂其兄曰。我將竊入王宮作法殺王以奪其國。遂易其徒皆為僧形。其法無効為國擒之。兵者以沙門奏。王大怒曰。我素重佛。何以為此大逆遂勅誅沙門。其王彌羅崛。自仗劍詣尊者曰。師得無相法耶。曰得。王曰生死有懼乎。祖曰。已離生死何有懼也。王曰。不懼可施我頭。祖曰。身非我有豈況於頭。王即斬之。尊者首墮白乳湧高丈許。王之右臂即截然自絕。尋病七日而死。王方疾時。太子光首大募力士為父悔謝。有僊者自象白山來謂光首曰。此夙對不必憂也。太子憂解。塔師子尊者遺骸於被害處。當此魏邵陵厲公齊王芳之世也（正宗記）。 > The Twenty-Fourth Patriarch, Venerable Siṃha, was a native of Central India of the brāhmaṇa caste. In his youth, he took ordination under a brāhmaṇa monk to practice meditation; in his later years, he studied under the Great Being Haklenayaśas and obtained the Dharma. Having received the prophecy \[of transmission\], he went to other realms to teach and transform, arriving in the kingdom of Kaśmīra. > > In that kingdom, there had previously been a śramaṇa named Vālikā who practiced the meditation and contemplation of the Hīnayāna exclusively. After Vālikā, his disciples who inherited his teaching split into five schools: their doctrines were named 'Meditation' (dhyāna), 'Knowledge and Views' (jñāna-darśana), 'Grasping Marks' (nimitta-graha), 'Relinquishing Marks' (nimitta-tyāga), and 'Maintaining Silence' (mauna). They competed with one another in trying to surpass each other through their abilities. The Venerable One went to correct all of them. > > First, he said to the one who maintained silence: 'The Buddha's teaching diligently expounds wisdom (prajñā); who told you to keep silent and go against the Buddha's preaching?' > > Next, he said to the one who relinquished marks: 'The Buddha's teaching possesses all comportment and its noble conduct is pure; how could it relinquish marks?' > > Next, he said to the one who grasped marks: 'The Buddha-lands are pure, sovereign, and without attachment; why grasp marks?' > > Next, he said to the one of knowledge and views: 'Because the knowledge and views of the Buddhas have nothing to be attained, this Dharma is subtle and beyond the reach of perception and hearing; it is unconditioned and markless, so what knowledge and view can there be?' > > The followers of these four groups all submitted to his teaching. > > As for the fifth group, that of meditation and contemplation, their leader was named Dharmadatta, who was called a spiritual mentor and revered by the crowd. Indignant and unwilling to accept the defeat of the previous four groups, he went to the Venerable One intending to debate and challenge him. The Venerable One said to him: 'Virtuous One, you practice meditation, so why have you come here? If you have come here, when have you ever practiced meditation?' > > He replied: 'Though I have come here, my mind is not distracted. Meditation is practiced along with the person; how could it depend on a place?' > > The Patriarch said: 'Since the Virtuous One has come, your practice has also arrived. If there is no place, how could it depend on the person's practice?' > > He replied: 'Meditation practices the person, so it is not that the person practices meditation. Although I come and go, my meditation is constantly practiced.' > > The Patriarch said: 'If the person does not practice meditation but meditation practices the person, then when you come and go on your own, who practices that meditation?' > > He replied: 'Like a pure and bright jewel, devoid of any veil within or without: if meditation is thoroughly mastered, it should be like this.' > > The Patriarch said: 'If meditation is thoroughly mastered, it must indeed resemble a bright jewel; but seeing the Virtuous One now, you are not of the jewel’s kind.' > > He replied: 'The jewel is thoroughly clear, completely settled within and without; my mind is not distracted, just like this jewel.' > > The Patriarch said: 'The jewel has neither inside nor outside; how can the Virtuous One be settled? Impure matter does not stir; this settledness is not pure.' > > Dharmadatta, bested in debate, prostrated to him and said: 'My study of the Way has merely been in vain! Had I not heard these words, I would almost have never known where to reach. May the Venerable One permit me to take him as my teacher!' > > The Patriarch then told him: 'The meditation of all Buddhas has nothing to be attained; the awakening of all Buddhas has nothing to be realized. Devoid of attainment and realization—this is true liberation. Repaying causes and answering effects are the karmic retributions of the mundane world, but within this Dharma, none of it is like that. If you practice meditation, it should truly be thus.' Dharmadatta joyfully received his instruction. > > After the Patriarch subdued the five groups, his fame spread far and near. In that kingdom, the son of an elder named Suda, who was merely twenty years of age, always kept his left hand clenched. His father asked the Patriarch to heal him. His father had previously received an auspicious dream. (The full narrative of the auspicious dream appears in the Jingde Chuandeng lu.) > > The Patriarch said to Suda: 'Return my jewel to me.' The boy immediately opened his hand and offered the jewel. The elder joyfully renounced him to let him leave the household life. The Patriarch immediately conferred full ordination on him, and based on past causes, named him Vasiśita. > > The Patriarch said: 'This country will bring disaster upon me; yet I am frail and old, so how could I merely seek to escape? The Treasury of the Right Dharma Eye of the Tathāgata that was transmitted to me, I now entrust to you. You should uphold it and take charge of propagating and transforming. If you encounter anyone with doubts, take my saṃghāṭī robe as proof.' > > 'Listen to my verse: > When right knowledge and views are spoken, > Knowledge and views are both the mind. > When the mind itself is knowledge and views, > Knowledge and views are right now.' > > Vasiśita received the order and departed on that very day. > > Before long, there indeed were two brothers in that country: the elder named Mamuta and the younger named Tulakṣa. Together they hid in the mountains to study non-Buddhist practices. One day, Tulakṣa said to his elder brother: 'I will secretly enter the royal palace, employ magic to kill the king, and usurp his kingdom.' They then disguised their disciples as monks. Their magical practice was ineffective, and they were captured by the state. The soldiers reported them to the king as śramaṇas. The king was furious and said: 'I have always respected the Buddha; why did they commit such high treason?' He then issued an edict to execute the śramaṇas. > > The king, Mihirakula, personally took up a sword, went to the Venerable One, and asked: 'Master, have you attained the markless Dharma?' > > He replied: 'I have attained it.' > > The king said: 'Do you fear life and death?' > > The Patriarch said: 'Having already transcended life and death, what fear could there be?' > > The king said: 'If you are not afraid, you can bestow your head upon me.' > > The Patriarch said: 'Even my body is not my own, how much less my head!' > > The king then decapitated him. As the Venerable One's head fell, white milk gushed forth to a height of about ten feet. The king's right arm was immediately severed of its own accord; soon after, he fell ill and died within seven days. > > When the king was sick, Crown Prince Guangshou broadly recruited men of strength to repent and apologize on his father's behalf. An immortal came from the Mount of the White Elephant and told Guangshou: 'This was a retribution from past lives; you need not worry.' The Crown Prince's sorrow was relieved. A stūpa was built for the mortal remains of the Venerable Siṃha at the site where he was martyred. > > This occurred during the era of Duke Li of Shaoling, King Fang of Qi, in the Wei dynasty. (Zhengzong ji). > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.561](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.1.561) - [Next: 1.563](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.1.563) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037~en-mt.1.562) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (6) - [宗鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2016.97.33) — Classical Chinese - [佛祖歷代通載](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.5.101) — Classical Chinese - [景德傳燈錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.2.38) — Classical Chinese - [汾陽無德禪師語錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1992.2.323) — Classical Chinese - [傳法正宗記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.4.22) — Classical Chinese - [傳法正宗定祖圖](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2079.1.52) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.1.562](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.1.562) · Pramāṇa