釋鑑稽古略續集 1.240

1.240

千巖禪師　諱元長。字無明。號千巖。蕭山人。族姓董。母何氏。幼搆疾。母禱觀音。許出家而始愈。始通九流百氏言。次習法華。究律部於靈芝寺律師。後參狗子無佛性話。中峯為之決擇。印正囑師。善自護持。師隱天龍。有二蛇。日來遶座。師為說三歸五戒。蛇矯首低昂。作拜舞而去。自是薦起住持藉甚。師不允。而往烏傷伏龍山。興復聖壽伽藍名聞朝廷。降名香以寵嘉之。賜僧伽黎衣。及普應妙辨之號。後加佛慧圓明廣照普利之諡。王臣嚮道者眾。九州外國傾德敬仰。

Chan Master Qianyan: taboo name Yuanchang, courtesy name Wuming, styled Qianyan. He was a native of Xiaoshan from the Dong clan; his mother was of the He family. As a child he fell ill; his mother prayed to Guanyin, promising that he would enter the monastic order, and only then did he recover. First he became conversant with the teachings of the Nine Schools and the Hundred Philosophers; next he studied the Lotus Sūtra and examined the Vinaya section under the Vinaya Master of Lingzhi Monastery. Later he investigated the gongan of "the dog has no buddha-nature." Zhongfeng resolved his doubts, verified his realization, and instructed the master to protect and maintain it well. The master secluded himself on Mount Tianlong. Two snakes came daily to encircle his seat; the master preached the three refuges and the five precepts for them, and the snakes raised and lowered their heads, bowed as if dancing, and departed. After this, he was repeatedly recommended to become abbot with great fame, but the master did not accept. Instead, he went to Mount Fulong in Wushang and revived the Shengshou Monastery, his renown reaching the imperial court. The court bestowed precious incense to honour him and granted him a saṅghāṭī robe along with the title Puying Miaobian ("Universally Responding and Wondrous Eloquence"). Later he was posthumously granted the title Fohui Yuanming Guangzhao Puli ("Buddha Wisdom, Perfect Radiance, Vast Illumination, Universal Benefit"). Many princes and ministers turned toward the Way, and people throughout the Nine Provinces and foreign lands bowed to his virtue and revered him.