釋氏稽古略 3.460

3.460

法眼宗　建康清涼寺禪師。名文益。生餘杭魯氏。七歲依新定智通院同偉禪師落髮。弱齡稟具於越州開元寺。究毘尼探儒典。振錫南參抵福州。見長慶稜禪師不大發明。乃欲出嶺過漳州。阻雪於城西石山。地藏院禪師桂琛問曰。上座學解說三界唯心萬法唯識。乃指階前石曰。此石在心內在心外。師曰在心內。琛曰。行脚人着甚來由。安片石在心頭走。師窘無以對。即放包依席下。求決擇一月餘。呈見解說道理。琛語之曰。佛法不恁麼。師曰。某甲詞窮理絕也。琛曰。若論佛法一切見成。師於言下大悟。遂依止久之。時唐潞王清泰二年也。辭行至江西撫州。州牧重師之道。請住崇壽院。南唐有國。唐主迎師住金陵報恩禪院。署號淨慧禪師。遷任清涼寺。大闡法化。唐主邀師觀牡丹花。請師賦詩。師應聲曰。擁毳對芳叢。由來趣不同。髮從今日白。花是去年紅。艶冶隨朝露。馨香逐晚風。何須待零落。然後始知空。唐主頓悟玄旨。至周顯德五年。唐之交泰元年也。七月十七日師示疾。唐主親加禮問。閏月五日辭眾跏趺而逝。壽七十四。臘五十四。公卿李建勳以下素服奉全身。塔於江寧縣之丹陽。勅諡大法眼禪師。塔曰無相。再諡曰大智藏大導師。師入室弟子四十三人。各導一方。隨根悟入者不可勝紀。師嗣地藏琛。琛嗣玄沙備。備嗣雪峰存禪師。宗門尊仰其道曰法眼宗。

The Fayan School: The Chan master of Qingliang Temple in Jiankang, named Wenyi, was born to the Lu family of Yuhang. At the age of seven he had his hair shaved under Chan Master Tongwei at Zhitong Cloister in Xinding. In his youth he received the full precepts at Kaiyuan Temple in Yuezhou, where he investigated the Vinaya and explored the Confucian classics. Lifting his monk's staff, he traveled south to study, arriving in Fuzhou. He met Chan Master Changqing Leng, but did not have a great awakening. He then intended to leave the mountains and pass through Zhangzhou, but was blocked by snow at Mount Shishan west of the city. Guichen, the Chan master of Dizang Cloister, asked him, "The head monk's scholarly understanding says that the three realms are mind-only and the ten thousand phenomena are consciousness-only." Pointing to a stone before the steps, he said, "Is this stone inside your mind or outside your mind?" The master said, "Inside my mind." Guichen said, "What reason does a traveling monk have to carry a piece of stone inside his mind as he walks around?" The master was confounded and had no answer. He immediately put down his bag and attached himself to the assembly, seeking a resolution for over a month, presenting his understanding and expounding principles. Guichen told him, "The Buddha Dharma is not like this." The master said, "I have run out of words and the principle is exhausted." Guichen said, "If we speak of the Buddha Dharma, everything is readily manifest." Upon these words, the master had a great awakening, and thereupon remained under his guidance for a long time. This was during the second year of Qingtai of Prince Lu of Tang. Taking his leave, he reached Fuzhou in Jiangxi, where the prefect respected the master's Way and invited him to dwell at Chongshou Cloister. When Southern Tang held the state, the Tang ruler welcomed the master to dwell at Bao'en Chan Cloister in Jinling, conferring on him the title Chan Master Jinghui. Later he was transferred to Qingliang Temple, greatly expanding the Dharma transformation. The Tang ruler invited the master to view peony flowers and asked him to compose a poem. The master replied on the spot: / 'Wearing robes of rough wool before fragrant clusters, / One's inclinations are from the first not the same. / Hair begins to whiten from this day onward; / Flowers are the same red as last year. / Splendid charms vanish with the morning dew; / Sweet fragrances follow the evening breeze. / Why must one wait until they wither and fall / Before first understanding emptiness?' / The Tang ruler suddenly awakened to the profound purport. In the fifth year of Xiande of Zhou, which was the first year of Jiaotai of Tang, on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the master manifested illness. The Tang ruler personally came to pay respects and inquire. On the fifth day of the intercalary month, he bid farewell to the assembly, crossed his legs, and passed away. His age was seventy-four; his monastic age was fifty-four. The ministers and grandees from Li Jianxun downward wore plain mourning clothes and escorted his complete body to be entombed at Danyang in Jiangning County. An imperial edict posthumously granted him the title Chan Master Da Fayan (Great Dharma Eye), and his stupa was called Wuxiang (Signless). Later he was further posthumously titled Great Treasure of Wisdom, Great Guide. The master had forty-three personal disciples who each guided a region; those who awakened according to their faculties were beyond count. The master was the dharma heir of Dizang Chen; Chen was the dharma heir of Xuansha Bei; Bei was the dharma heir of Chan Master Xuefeng Cun. The school of the lineage revered his Way and called it the Fayan School.