釋氏稽古略 4.171

4.171

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).