釋氏稽古略 2.32

2.32

方外交　法師支遁。字道林。業精般若。時謝太傅安王右軍羲之與之厚善。謝安守吳興。日書抵遁。略曰。思君日積比辰尤甚。知欲還剡自治為之愴然。人生如寄耳。自頃風流得意事殆磨滅都盡。唯終日戚戚遲君一來。以晤言消遣之。一日千載也。東晉哀帝興寧二年十月。沙門竺潛辭闕還剡山。詔遁繼講法於禁中。一時名士殷浩郗超孫綽桓彥表王敬仁何充王坦之袁彥伯並與結方外交。天下想見其標致也。晉廢帝太和二年。遁杭表辭闕還山。有詔資給。敦遣諸公祖餞于征虜亭。投迹越之剡山。於沃州小嶺立寺行道。僧眾稟學。時有惰者。遁著銘以勗之。有曰勤之勤之。至道非彌。茫茫三界。渺渺長羈。謹守明禁。抗志無為。云云。有遺其馬者。畜之曰。吾愛其駿耳。有遺其鶴者。縱之曰。冲天之物。豈耳目玩哉。君子多其達。後出山陰講維摩經。許詢為都講。難義數反。聽者欽服壽五十三入滅。戴逵過其塔嘆曰。德音未遠。而拱木已繁計。神理綿綿不與氣運俱盡也（本傳）。

Friendships Beyond the Worldly: Dharma Master Zhi Dun, styled Daolin, was accomplished and refined in the Prajñā teachings. At that time Xie An, the Grand Tutor, and Wang Xizhi, the General of the Right Army, were very close to him. While governing Wuxing, Xie An wrote daily letters to Dun, roughly saying: 'My longing for you has accumulated daily, and recently it has become even more acute. Learning that you wish to return to Shan to attend to your own practice leaves me deeply saddened. Human life is merely a transient sojourn. Lately, all elegant and joyful pursuits have practically worn away to nothing. I only pass the whole day sorrowfully waiting for you to come once, so that in conversation we may dispel our melancholy; a single day seems like a thousand years.' In the tenth month of the second year of the Xingning era under Emperor Ai of Eastern Jin, the śramaṇa Zhu Qian took leave of the court and returned to the Shan Mountains. An imperial edict ordered Dun to continue lecturing on the Dharma within the inner palace. Prominent gentlemen of the time, including Yin Hao, Xi Chao, Sun Chuo, Huan Yanbiao, Wang Jingren, He Chong, Wang Tanzhi, and Yuan Yanbo, all forged with him friendships beyond the worldly. Everyone under heaven longed to behold his refined deportment. In the second year of the Taihe era under the Deposed Emperor of Jin, Dun submitted a memorial taking leave of the palace to return to the mountains. By imperial decree he was granted provisions, and with earnest respect the dignitaries held a farewell banquet for him at Zhenglu Pavilion. He set foot again in the Shan Mountains of Yue and established a monastery at the Little Ridge of Mount Wozhou to practice the Way. The monastic assembly received instruction from him, and when there were any who grew indolent, Dun composed an inscription to exhort them, which ran: 'Be diligent, be diligent! The ultimate Way is not remote. Vast is the triple realm; boundless is its long bondage. Carefully observe the luminous precepts; raise your resolve toward the unconditioned,' and so forth. When someone presented him with a horse, he kept it, saying, 'I only appreciate its fleetness.' When someone gave him a crane, he released it, saying, 'A creature that soars to the skies—how could it be an amusement for the ears and eyes?' Noble men largely praised his open-minded transcendence. Later, he emerged in Shanyin to lecture on the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra, with Xu Xun serving as the chief respondent. They debated the doctrinal meaning through several exchanges, and the audience was filled with admiration and deference. He entered extinction at the age of fifty-three. Dai Kui, passing by his stupa, sighed and said: 'His virtuous renown is not yet distant, yet the embraceable trees have already grown dense. Surely his spiritual principle is unbroken and enduring, not coming to an end along with the worldly fortunes' (His Biography).