釋鑑稽古略續集 1.159

1.159

中峯禪師　諱明本。號中峯。錢塘孫族。生有異徵。為兒童時。嬉戲必為佛事。稍長聞經教。燃指臂求佛甚切。晝夜彌勵。困則以首觸柱。自儆期必得乃已。及入死關。密扣心要誦金剛經。至荷擔如來處。恍然開悟。自謂所證未極。後觀流水乃大發明。自是說法無礙。著書若干卷行於世。仁宗聞而聘之不至。制金紋伽黎衣賜之。并諡號佛日廣慧普應國師。是歲卒。壽六十一。臘三十五。化於本山天目。

Chan Master Zhongfeng: His monastic name was Mingben, and his style was Zhongfeng; he was from the Sun clan of Qiantang. At his birth, there were unusual omens. In his childhood, his play always consisted of Buddhist rituals. As he grew older and heard the sūtra teachings, he burned his fingers and arms, seeking the Buddha with great earnestness. Day and night he exerted himself even more; when fatigued, he struck his head against a pillar to admonish himself, resolved that he would not stop until he attained it. When he entered the final retreat, he secretly explored the essential point of the mind and chanted the Diamond Sūtra. When reaching the phrase "shouldering the Tathāgata," he was suddenly enlightened. Feeling that what he had realized was not yet ultimate, he later observed flowing water and attained a great awakening. From then on, he preached the Dharma without obstruction. He authored several volumes of books that circulated in the world. Renzong heard of him and summoned him, but he did not go; the Emperor made a gold-patterned saṃghāṭī robe to bestow on him, along with the posthumous title National Preceptor Fori Guanghui Puying. In this year, he passed away. His age was sixty-one, and his monastic seniority was thirty-five. He passed away at Tianmu, his home mountain.