釋氏稽古略 2.263

2.263

南嶽思大禪師　諱慧思。武津李氏子。初北齊慧聞禪師。甞抽藏經得中觀論。妙悟其旨。即遙禮西天第十四祖造論大士龍樹尊者為師。開空假中三觀論之。元文曰。因緣所生法。我說即是空。一名為假名。一名中道義（智者大禪師智顗遂大典其教觀焉）。梁元帝承聖三年。思依慧聞悟入法華三昧及旋陀羅尼門。奉菩薩三聚淨戒。不衣絲綿。寒則以熟艾敷其座。道行著聞。時稱思大和尚。甞有疾念之曰。病由業生。業由心起。心緣不起。外境何狀。業病與身都如雲影。作是觀己身遂輕安。及領徒南邁值梁之亂。暫止太蘇山。陳廢帝光大元年來南嶽。謂其徒曰。吾前生曾居此處。指林泉曰古寺也。掘地得殿宇基址僧用器皿。得遺骸於兩石下。乃建塔曰三生塔。當嶽心建般若寺。虎跑地出泉以供學侶。陳宣帝大建元年。嶽祠道士密告陳帝誣師。北僧受齊國券。斸斷嶽心釘石興妖。陳帝遣使追師。師飛錫而至。帝異之迎以供養。安置棲玄寺。問辯佛理。帝乃罪道士以欺罔欲誅之。師為奏免之。帝乃勅諸道士以供師役。師奏還南嶽。帝餞以殊禮。久之師示眾曰。道源不遠。性海非遙。但向己求。莫從他覓。覓即不得。得亦不真。陳大建九年六月二十二日入滅。壽六十四歲。師所著述並行於世。師為法華三祖也（行狀本傳）。

Great Chan Master Si of Nanyue: Personal name Huisi, a son of the Li clan of Wujin. Earlier, Chan Master Huiwen of the Northern Qi once selected the Madhyamaka-śāstra from the scriptures and wonderfully awakened to its principle. He then paid homage from afar to Venerable Nāgārjuna, the fourteenth patriarch of the Western Heavens and composer of the treatise, as his master, and expounded the three contemplations of emptiness, provisionality, and the middle. The original text [of the treatise] says: "The phenomena produced by causes and conditions, I declare to be empty; it is also a provisional designation, and is also the meaning of the Middle Way." (Great Chan Master Zhiyi, the Wise One, subsequently brought its doctrine and contemplation to great prominence.) In the third year of Chengsheng of Emperor Yuan of the Liang, Si relied on Huiwen and awakened to the Lotus Samādhi and the gateway of the turning dhāraṇī. He observed the bodhisattva's three pure precepts and did not wear silk or cotton. When cold, he would spread ripened mugwort over his seat. His practice of the Way became widely known, and at the time he was called Great Master Si. Once when afflicted by illness, he reflected: "Illness arises from karma; karma arises from the mind. If the mental conditions do not arise, what appearance can external objects have? Karma, illness, and the body are all like clouds and shadows." Having formed this contemplation, his body subsequently felt light and at ease. When leading his disciples south, he encountered the turmoil of the Liang and temporarily halted at Mount Taisu. In the first year of Guangda of the Deposed Emperor of the Chen, he came to Nanyue and said to his disciples: "In a past life I once lived here." Pointing to the woods and springs, he said: "This is an ancient monastery." They dug the ground and found the foundations of temple halls and utensils used by monks, and found skeletal remains beneath two rocks. He then built a stupa called the Stupa of Three Lifetimes. At the very center of the peak he built the Bore Monastery, where a tiger pawed the earth and a spring gushed forth to supply his fellow students. In the first year of Dajian of Emperor Xuan of the Chen, a Daoist priest of the Yue shrine secretly reported to the Chen Emperor, falsely accusing the master: "A northern monk, holding a covenant with the Qi state, has severed the mountain peak and hammered stones to incite demonic sorcery." The Chen Emperor dispatched an envoy to summon the master. The master arrived flying on his khakkhara staff. Marveling at this, the Emperor welcomed him with offerings, lodged him at Qixuan Monastery, and inquired and debated about Buddhist principles. The Emperor then punished the Daoist for deceit and wanted to execute him, but the master memorialized to pardon him. The Emperor then ordered the various Daoists to provide labor in service of the master. The master memorialized to return to Nanyue, and the Emperor saw him off with extraordinary ritual respect. After some time, the master instructed the assembly, saying: "The source of the Way is not far; the ocean of nature is not distant. Seek it only within yourself; do not look for it from others. If you search for it, you will not find it; even if you find it, it will not be real." On the twenty-second day of the sixth month of the ninth year of Dajian of the Chen, he entered cessation at the age of sixty-four. His writings all circulate in the world. The master is the Third Patriarch of the Lotus [Tradition] (Xingzhuang bentuan).