釋鑑稽古略續集 2.59

2.59

夢窓禪師　諱智曤。日本國勢州人。母禱普門大士夢吞金色光而娠。生有祥光滿室。九歲出家。十八為大僧。禮慈觀律師受具戒。尋學顯密二教。夢游中國名山。一龐眉僧授以達磨尊像。寤而嘆曰。洞明吾本心者其唯禪觀乎。謁無隱範公一山寧公。一山曰。我宗無語言。亦無一法與人。本來廓然清淨。雖慈悲方便亦無。師力參至目不交睫。於高峯日公言下有省。一夕大悟。偈有等閒擊碎虛空骨之句。高峯印可囑曰。西來密意。汝亦得之。善自護持。後入五臺縛吸江菴。搆泊船菴退耕菴。有終身丘壑之志。既而不得已。應世所住。南禪善應淨智圓覺瑞泉慧林瑞光臨川兜率西芳資聖補陀天龍諸名剎賜號。有正覺及心宗普濟等。王勅有道振三朝。名飛四海主龍象席。再轉法輪秉佛祖權。數摧魔壘。國中以為榮。是年九月三十日逝。世壽七十七。臘六十。終時白氣一道。橫貫師室。存日爪髮皆有舍利。

Chan Master Musō: Taboo name Chiseki, a native of Ise Province in Japan. His mother prayed to the Great Being of the Universal Gate and dreamed of swallowing a golden light, whereupon she became pregnant. When he was born, auspicious light filled the room. At age nine, he left home. At eighteen, he became a fully ordained monk, paying homage to Vinaya Master Jiguan to receive the complete precepts. Soon he studied both the exoteric and esoteric teachings. He dreamed of wandering among the famous mountains of China, where a monk with bushy eyebrows gave him an image of the Venerable Bodhidharma. Upon awakening, he sighed and said: 'What can clearly illuminate my original mind is surely only Chan contemplation!' He visited the Venerable Wuyin Fan and the Venerable Issan Ichining. Issan said: 'Our school has no verbal expressions, nor is there a single dharma to give to people. Originally it is vast and pure; even compassion and skillful means do not exist.' The master engaged in strenuous practice to the point where his eyelids did not touch. Under the words of the Venerable Gaofeng Ri, he had an awakening. One evening he attained great enlightenment, his verse containing the line: 'Casually shattering the bones of empty space.' Gaofeng bestowed his seal of approval and instructed him, saying: 'The secret meaning coming from the West—you too have attained it. Guard and preserve it well.' Later, he entered Godaisan and built the Xijiang Hermitage, and constructed the Bochuang Hermitage and Tuigeng Hermitage, possessing a lifelong resolve for hills and valleys. Soon thereafter, unable to avoid it, he responded to the world and resided at famous monasteries such as Nanzen-ji, Zen'ō-ji, Jōchi-ji, Enkaku-ji, Zuisen-ji, Erin-ji, Zuikō-ji, Rinsen-ji, Tōsotsu-ji, Saihō-ji, Shisei-ji, Fuda-ji, and Tenryū-ji. Titles were bestowed upon him, including 'Shōjaku' (Perfect Awakening) and 'Shinzong Puji' (Mind School Universal Salvation). A royal decree said: 'His Way has shaken three reigns; his fame has soared across the four seas. He presides over the seat of dragons and elephants, turns the wheel of Dharma again, wields the authority of the buddhas and patriarchs, and repeatedly destroys the ramparts of Māra.' The entire country considered this a glory. In that year, on the thirtieth day of the ninth month, he passed away. His worldly age was seventy-seven, and his monastic age was sixty. At his end, a streak of white vapor traversed his room. During his life, his fingernails and hair all produced relics.