釋鑑稽古略續集 2.43

2.43

璧峯禪師　諱寶金。號璧峯。永壽人。族姓石。父稱長者。母張氏。嗜善弗倦。有持鉢僧。以觀音像授張囑曰。謹事之當生智慧之男。未幾生師。白光照室。六歲依雲寂溫法師為弟子。薙染受具。詣講肆窮性相之學。演說如貫珠然。次見如海真公於西蜀。示以道要。師大起疑情。寢食為廢者三年。若得塵勞暫息。又至脇不沾席者三年。自是得大定力。一日聞伐木。聲曰。未生前之事。吾今日方知其真耳。急往求證於真公。公反覆辨詰甚力。至畫三十圓相以示。師一一具答。公曰。汝今方知佛法宏勝如是也。師往五臺驗知前生。見文殊瑞應。建靈鷲菴以居眾。負米來施者甚廣。元順帝召至燕京。賜以金紋伽黎衣。次年召見延春閣。命建壇禱雨輒應。贈以金繒。受之以賑饑乏。特賜寂照圓明之號。詔主海印禪寺。已而𢢽求還山。洪武三年詔至南京。見太祖於奉天殿。留於大天界寺。時召入問佛法及鬼神情狀。奏對稱旨。四年賜饌於崇禧寺。五年正月既望。上行獻佛之禮。勅師施摩伽斛食。以賑幽冥。寵賚優渥賜詩十二韻。有玄關盡悟。已成正覺之言。六月四日沐浴坐逝。壽六十五。臘五十九。荼毘舍利五色。齒舌數珠不燬。師豐偉端重。福慧雙足所至皆化。不啻生佛出現云。

Chan Master Bifeng: Taboo name Baojin, styled Bifeng. A man of Yongsui, of the Shi clan. His father was called an elder. His mother, Lady Zhang, was untiring in her love for goodness. A monk holding an alms bowl gave an image of Guanyin to Lady Zhang and instructed her: "Serve it reverently, and you will give birth to a son of wisdom." Not long after, she gave birth to the Master, and white light illuminated the room. At six, he became a disciple under Master Yunji Wen, shaved his head, and received the full precepts. He attended lecture halls to exhaust the teachings of the nature and characteristics [of dharmas], expounding them like a string of pearls. Next, he saw Master Ruhai Zhen in Western Shu, who showed him the essentials of the Way. The Master gave rise to great doubt, neglecting sleep and food for three years. When his worldly vexations had subsided for a while, he went for three years without his ribs touching the mat. From then on, he attained great power of samādhi. One day, hearing the sound of wood being chopped, he said: "Matters from before birth—today I finally know their reality!" He hurriedly went to seek verification from Master Zhen. Master Zhen questioned and challenged him repeatedly with great vigor, even drawing thirty circles to test him. The Master answered each and every one. Master Zhen said: "Only now do you know that the Buddhadharma is vast and supreme like this!" The Master went to Mount Wutai to examine and know his previous lives, where he witnessed auspicious responses of Mañjuśrī. He built Lingjiu Hermitage to house the assembly; those who carried rice on their backs to make offerings were very numerous. Emperor Shundi of the Yuan summoned him to Yanjing and bestowed upon him a gold-patterned saṃghāṭī robe. The following year, he was granted an audience at the Yanchun Pavilion; he was ordered to set up an altar to pray for rain, which answered immediately. He was presented with gold and silk, which he accepted to relieve the hungry and destitute. He was specially granted the title "Silent Radiance and Perfect Brightness" and ordered to preside over Haiyin Chan Monastery. Shortly after, he earnestly requested to return to the mountain. In the third year of Hongwu, an imperial decree summoned him to Nanjing. He had an audience with Taizu in the Hall of Reverence for Heaven and was detained at Great Tianjie Monastery. He was frequently summoned to be questioned about the Buddhadharma and the conditions of ghosts and spirits, and his responses pleased the Emperor. In the fourth year, he was granted food at Chongxi Monastery. On the day after the full moon of the first month of the fifth year, the Emperor performed the rite of offering to the Buddha, ordering the Master to dispense the magadha food offering to relieve the beings of the underworld. Favors and rewards were generous, and the Emperor bestowed a twelve-rhyme poem containing the words: "Having fully awakened to the mysterious portal, he has already attained perfect awakening." On the fourth day of the sixth month, having bathed, he passed away sitting, at the age of sixty-five, with fifty-nine years in the monastic order. The cremation yielded five-colored relics; his teeth, tongue, and prayer beads were not destroyed. The Master was imposing and dignified, fully endowed with both blessings and wisdom, transforming beings wherever he went, nothing short of a living Buddha appearing in the world.