[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) › 4.171 # 釋氏稽古略 4.171 釋氏稽古略 4.171 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [4.171](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.4.171) 大覺璉　禪師。名懷璉。福建道漳州龍溪陳氏子。齠齓出家。丱角圓頂。篤志學道即慕參尋。造泐潭法席投機承印可。事之十餘年。遊廬山掌訥禪師記室於圓通院。皇祐元年詔圓通居訥禪師住持左街十方淨因禪院。訥舉師代己。至是庚寅二月十九日。召對化城殿。問佛法大意。奏對稱旨。賜號大覺禪師。齋畢傳宣。效南方禪林儀範開堂演法。又宣左街副僧錄慈雲大師清滿。啟白偈曰。帝苑春回。皇家會啟。萬乘既臨於舜殿。兩街獲奉於堯眉。爰當和煦之辰。正是闡揚之日。宣談祖道。上副宸衷。問答罷乃曰。古佛堂中曾無異說。流通句內誠有多談。得之者妙用無虧。失之者觸途成滯。所以谿山雲月處處同風。水鳥樹林頭頭顯道。若向迦葉門下。直得堯風浩蕩舜日高明。野老謳歌漁人鼓舞。當此之時純樂無為之化。焉知有恁麼事。皇情大悅。後遣中使問曰。才去竪拂。人立難當。師即以頌回進曰。有節非于竹。三星遶月宮。一人居日下。弗與眾人同。帝覽大悅。詔入對便殿賜羅扇。御題元寂頌於上。帝與師問答詩頌書以賜之凡十有七篇。至和二年三月。師乞老山居。進頌曰。六載都唱祖機。兩曾金殿奉天威。青山隱去欣何得。滿篋唯將御頌歸。御和頌曰。佛祖明明了上機。機前薦得始全威。青山般若如如體。御頌收將甚處歸。仍遣使宣諭曰。山即如如體也。將安歸乎。且住京國作興佛法。師再進頌謝曰。中使傳宣出禁圍。再令臣住此禪扉。青山未許藏千拙。白髮將何補萬機。霄露恩輝方湛湛。林泉情味苦依依。堯仁況是如天闊。應任孤雲自在飛。帝初閱投子山禪師語錄。僧問如何是露地白牛投云叱叱。由此有契。乃製釋與頌十四首。今以一賜師曰。若問主人公。真寂合太空。三頭并六臂。臘月正春風。師進和曰。若問主人公。澄澄類碧空。雲雷時鼓動。天地盡和風。帝覽之宣賜龍腦鉢盂。師謝恩罷。乃曰。佛法以壞色衣。以瓦鐵器。此鉢非法。遂焚之。中使回奏。帝嘆訝久之。修撰孫覺莘老以書問宗教。師答之。其略曰。妙道之意。聖人甞寓之易。至周衰先王之法壞禮義亡。然後奇言異術間出而亂俗。迨我釋迦入中土。醇以第一義示人。而始末說為慈悲以化眾生。亦所以趣時也自生民以來。淳朴未散。則三皇之教簡而素春也。及情竇日鑿。則五帝之教詳而文夏也。時與世異。情隨日遷。故三王之教密而嚴秋也。昔商周之誥誓。後世學者有所難曉。彼當時人民聽之而不違。則俗與今如何也。及其弊而為秦漢也。則無所不至而天下有不忍願聞者。於是我佛如來一推之以性命之理。教之以慈悲之行冬也。天有四時循環以生成萬物。而聖人之教迭相扶持以化成天下。亦猶是而已矣。至其極也皆不能無弊。弊跡也道則一耳。要當有聖賢者世起而救之也。自秦漢至今千有餘歲。風俗靡靡愈薄。聖人之教裂而鼎立。互相詆訾不知所從。大道寥寥而莫知返。良可歎也。師以禪寂自任持律嚴甚。於都城之西搆精舍。舜老夫禪師。名曉舜。住廬山棲賢。為郡吏臨以事民其衣。依師而住。師館之于正寢而自處偏室。執弟子禮甚恭。王公貴人來候者怪之。師具以實對曰。吾少甞問道於舜。今其不幸其可以像服二吾心哉。帝知之賜舜再落髮。仍住棲賢寺。舜瑞州人。住南康雲居。嗣洞山曉聰禪師。聰嗣文殊應真。真嗣德山緣密。密嗣雲門偃禪師。舜於璉昆季也。英宗治平二年。師上疏匃歸。帝附以劄子曰。大覺禪師懷璉受先帝聖眷。累錫宸章。屢貢欵誠。乞歸林下。今從所請。俾遂閑心。凡經過小可庵院隨他住持。或十方禪林不得逼抑堅請。師携之東歸。鮮有知者。既渡江少留金山西湖。四明郡守以阿育王山廣利禪寺虛席迎之。九峯韶公作疏勸請。師乃赴之（九峯鑒韶嗣泐潭澄）。四明之人相與出力建大閣。藏所賜御製詩頌。榜之曰宸奎。翰林學士兼侍讀端明殿學士蘇軾為記。軾以書問之曰。承意作宸奎閣碑。謹已撰成。衰朽廢學不知堪上石否。見參寥說。禪師出京日。英廟賜手詔。其略云。任性任持。不知果有否。如有切請錄示全文。欲添入此一節。師終藏而不出。逮委順後獲於篋笥。江西瑩仲溫羅湖錄稱之曰。大覺之不暴耀。足以羞挾權恃寵者之顏。若夫仁廟萬機之暇與璉唱醻。發揮宗乘以資至治。所以宸奎閣所謂得佛心法。古今一人而已。誠哉斯言也。大覺年八十二歲。哲宗元祐五年無疾而化。師嗣泐潭澄。澄嗣五祖戒。戒嗣雙泉寬。寬嗣雲門偃禪師（五燈會元）。 > Dajue Lian: Chan Master Huailian was a son of the Chen family of Longxi, Zhangzhou, Fujian Circuit. He left home in early childhood and was tonsured as a youth. With earnest resolution to study the Way, he yearned to seek teachers. He went to the Dharma assembly of Letan, matched wits, and received transmission. He served him for more than ten years. Traveling to Mount Lu, he took charge of the secretarial office for Chan Master Nu at Yuantong Monastery. In the first year of the Huangyou era, an imperial decree summoned Chan Master Junu of Yuantong to assume the abbacy of the Shifang Jingyin Chan Monastery in the Left Street. Nu recommended the Master to take his place. Thereupon, on the nineteenth day of the second month in the gengyin year, he was summoned to an audience in the Huacheng Palace. Inquired about the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma, his response accorded with the imperial will. He was granted the title Chan Master Dajue. After the vegetarian feast, an imperial decree was issued directing him to open the hall and expound the Dharma following the ceremonial model of southern Chan monasteries. It also commanded Qingman, Great Master Ciyun, Vice-director of Monks of the Left Street, to offer a gāthā of announcement, saying: 'Spring returns to the imperial park, / The royal assembly begins. / The Ten-Thousand Chariots has arrived at the Shun Hall; / The Two Streets are privileged to behold the Yao countenance. / Meeting this genial and warm season, / It is truly the day to propagate and elucidate: / To proclaim and discuss the Ancestral Way / And reverently fulfill the imperial heart.' After the questions and answers concluded, the Master said: 'In the hall of the ancient Buddhas, there has never been a divergent doctrine; within the phrases of transmission, there is indeed much discourse. Those who attain it find its wondrous function flawless; those who miss it encounter obstructions along every path. Therefore, the valleys, mountains, clouds, and moon share the same breeze everywhere; the water, birds, trees, and groves all manifest the Way. If one enters beneath Kāśyapa's gate, one directly encounters the boundless wind of Yao and the lofty brilliance of Shun's sun, the old rustic singing and the fisherman dancing. At such a time, purely rejoicing in the governance of non-action, how could one know of such affairs?' The Emperor was greatly delighted. Later, he sent an imperial envoy to ask: 'As soon as you lower the whisk, standing alone, who can withstand you?' The Master immediately presented a verse in reply, saying: 'It has joints, yet it is not bamboo; / Three stars surround the lunar palace. / One man sits beneath the sun, / Unlike the multitude of men.' The Emperor read it with great joy, summoned him to an audience in the private hall, and presented him with a silk fan, upon which the imperial hand had inscribed the 'Ode to Primal Quiescence'. The poems, verses, and calligraphies exchanged between the Emperor and the Master that were bestowed upon him totaled seventeen pieces. In the third month of the second year of the Zhihe era, the Master petitioned to retire in old age to dwell in the mountains, presenting a verse: 'For six years in the capital I proclaimed the ancestral vehicle; / Twice in the Golden Palace I attended the celestial majesty. / Hiding away in the green mountains, what joy do I gain? / With a chest full only of imperial verses do I return.' The Emperor composed a matching verse: 'Buddhas and Patriarchs clearly understood the supreme vehicle; / Only by grasping before the mechanism is full majesty revealed. / The green mountains are the very substance of prajñā’s suchness; / Having collected imperial verses, to what place would you return?' He then sent an envoy to proclaim: 'The mountains are the very substance of suchness; where will you return? Stay yet in the imperial capital to revitalize the Buddha Dharma.' The Master again submitted a verse of gratitude, saying: 'The imperial envoy proclaims an edict emerging from the forbidden palace, / Ordering your subject once more to abide at this Chan gate. / The green mountains have not yet permitted my thousands of clumsy traits to hide; / How can white hair assist the myriad affairs of state? / The luminous grace of celestial dew flows deep and clear; / The sentiment for forests and springs yearns ever fondly. / Furthermore, the benevolence of Yao is as vast as the heavens: / It ought to let the solitary cloud fly at its own ease.' Previously, the Emperor had read the recorded sayings of Chan Master Touzishan. A monk asked: 'What is the white ox on the open ground?' Touzi said: 'Hoo! Hoo!' Thereby gaining an awakening, the Emperor composed an exposition and fourteen verses. Now he bestowed one upon the Master, saying: 'If you ask about the Master of the House: / True quiescence unifies with empty space. / Three heads and six arms; / The twelfth lunar month is truly the spring wind.' The Master submitted a matching poem: 'If you ask about the Master of the House: / Pure and clear, resembling the azure sky. / Clouds and thunder stir in season; / Heaven and earth are filled with genial breeze.' Seeing it, the Emperor decreed the bestowal of a borneol begging bowl. After giving thanks for the imperial grace, the Master said: 'The Buddha Dharma prescribes dyed robes and vessels of earthenware and iron. This bowl is not in accordance with the Dharma.' He then burned it. The imperial envoy reported this back, and the Emperor sighed in wonder for a long time. Sun Jue (Xinlao), Hanlin Drafter, sent a letter inquiring about the teachings of the school. The Master replied to him, stating in summary: 'The meaning of the wondrous Way was once lodged by the sages in the Classic of Changes. When the Zhou declined, the laws of the ancient kings deteriorated, and propriety and righteousness perished; thereafter, strange words and bizarre arts emerged in turns, throwing customs into confusion. When our Śākyamuni entered the Central Lands, he instructed people purely through the ultimate truth, and taught loving-kindness and compassion from start to finish to transform sentient beings—this also was adapted to the needs of the times. Ever since mankind was brought forth, before their simple purity had dispersed, the teachings of the Three Sovereigns were simple and plain—this was Spring. When human desires were gradually chiseled out, the teachings of the Five Emperors became detailed and refined—this was Summer. Seasons and generations differ; human sentiments shift with the days. Thus, the teachings of the Three Kings were close and rigorous—this was Autumn. In the past, the announcements and oaths of Shang and Zhou have proved difficult for later scholars to understand; yet the people of those times listened and did not disobey—how then did their customs compare to the present? When their decline turned into the Qin and Han, it went to extremes, such that the world could not bear to hear of them. Thereupon, our Buddha Tathāgata based everything purely upon the principle of nature and destiny, and instructed them in deeds of loving-kindness and compassion—this was Winter. Heaven has four seasons cycling to generate and complete the myriad things, and the teachings of the sages alternately support one another to transform and complete the realm—it is just like this. When taken to their extremes, none can be without defects; defects belong to traces, whereas the Way is one. It is essential that sages and worthies arise through the generations to rescue them. From Qin and Han down to today, more than a thousand years have passed; customs have grown increasingly flimsy and thin. The teachings of the sages are fragmented, standing as a tripod, slandering one another without knowing what to follow. The Great Way is desolate, and none know how to return—this is truly lamentable!' The Master regarded Chan quiescence as his personal duty and maintained the Vinaya with great strictness. To the west of the capital city, he built a hermitage. Chan Master Shunnangfu, named Xiaoshun, resided at Qixian on Mount Lu. A commandery official confronted him with an accusation and forcibly secularized him. Shun went to stay with the Master. The Master accommodated him in the primary quarters while staying himself in a side room, observing the etiquette of a disciple with utmost reverence. When princes, dukes, and noblemen came to visit and found it strange, the Master truthfully replied: 'When young, I once inquired into the Way under Shun. Now that he has met with misfortune, how could external robes alter my mind?' Hearing of this, the Emperor permitted Shun to tonsure his hair again and remain in residence at Qixian Monastery. Shun was a native of Ruizhou and had resided at Yunju in Nankang; he was the heir of Chan Master Xiaocong of Dongshan; Cong was the heir of Yingzhen of Wenshu; Zhen was the heir of Yuanmi of Deshan; Mi was the heir of Chan Master Yunmen Yan. Shun and Lian were dharma brothers. In the second year of the Zhiping era of Emperor Yingzong, the Master submitted a memorial begging to return \[to the mountains\]. The Emperor attached a note saying: 'Chan Master Dajue Huailian received the imperial favor of the late Emperor, was repeatedly bestowed imperial writings, and has repeatedly offered his sincere loyalty begging to return to the forests. Now we grant what has been requested to fulfill his desire for leisure. Wherever he passes through ordinary hermitages, let him reside as he pleases; nor shall public Chan monasteries force or rigidly petition him.' The Master carried this with him on his eastward return, and few knew of it. Having crossed the Yangtze River, he stayed briefly at Jinshan and West Lake. The prefect of Siming invited him to fill the vacant seat at Guangli Chan Monastery on Mount Ayuwang. Venerable Shao of Jiufeng composed a letter of invitation encouraging him, and the Master thereupon assumed the post (Jianshao of Jiufeng was the heir of Letan Cheng). The people of Siming joined their efforts to build a great pavilion to house the bestowed imperial poems and verses, naming it Chenkui ('Imperial Constellation'). Su Shi, Academician of the Hanlin Academy and Lecturer-in-Waiting of the Duanming Hall, composed a record for it. Shi wrote a letter inquiring of him: 'Having received the intent to compose the Stele for the Chenkui Pavilion, I have respectfully drafted and completed it. In my senescence and decrepitude, I do not know if it is fit to be carved on stone. I saw Canliao mention that when the Chan Master departed from the capital, Yingzong bestowed an autograph imperial edict, which roughly said: 'Preside freely at your own will.' I do not know if this truly exists. If so, I earnestly request that you transcribe the full text to show me, as I wish to add this passage.' The Master concealed it to the end without bringing it out; only after he had passed away was it found in his trunks. In the Luohu Lu, Ying Zhongwen of Jiangxi praised him, saying: 'Dajue's avoidance of ostentation was enough to shame the faces of those who cling to power and rely on favor. As for Emperor Renzong composing poems in exchange with Lian during his leisure from the myriad affairs of state, elucidating the ancestral vehicle to assist supreme governance—thus it is said on the Chenkui Pavilion: 'To obtain the Buddha's mind-dharma, he was the sole person in ancient and modern times.' How true are these words!' Dajue was eighty-two years of age. In the fifth year of the Yuanyou era of Emperor Zhezong, he passed away without illness. The Master was the heir of Letan Cheng; Cheng was the heir of Wuzu Jie; Jie was the heir of Shuangquan Kuan; Kuan was the heir of Chan Master Yunmen Yan (Wudeng huiyuan). > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 4.170](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.4.170) - [Next: 4.172](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.4.172) - [Up: 4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.4) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037~en-mt.4.171) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [佛祖歷代通載](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2036.18.79) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.4.171](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.4.171) · Pramāṇa