隋天台智者大師別傳 1.2.7

1.2.7

語已右脇西向而臥。 專稱彌陀般若觀音。 奉請進藥。 即云藥能遣病留殘年乎。 病不與身合藥何能遣。 年不與心合藥何所留。 智晞往日復何所聞。 觀心論中復何所道紛紜。 醫藥擾累於他。 又請進齋飯。 報云。 非但步影為齋。 能無緣無觀即真齋也。 吾生勞毒器。 死悅休歸世相如是。 不足多歎即口授遺書并手書。 四十六字蓮華香爐犀角如意留別。 大王願芳香不窮永保如意書具別本。 封竟。 索三衣鉢命淨掃灑。 唱二部經為最後聞思聽法華竟。 讚云。 法門父母慧解由生。 本迹曠大微妙難測。 四十餘年蘊之知誰可與唯獨明了餘人所不見輟斤絕絃於今日矣。 聽無量壽竟。 讚曰。 四十八願莊嚴淨土華池寶樹易往無人。 火車相現能改悔者。 尚復往生況戒慧熏修。 行道力故實不唐捐。 梵音聲相實不誑人。 當唱經時。 吳州侍官張達等。 伴五人自見大佛。 倍大石尊光明滿山。 直入房內諸僧。 或得瑞夢或見奇相。 雖復異處而同是。 此時唱經竟。 索香湯漱口。 說十如四不生十法界三觀四無量心四悉檀四諦十二因緣六波羅蜜。 一一法門攝一切法。 皆能通心到清涼池。 若能於病患。 境達諸法門者。 即二十五人百金可寄。 今我最後策觀談玄。 最後善寂吾今當入。 智朗請云。 伏願慈留賜釋餘疑不審。 何位歿此。 何生誰可宗仰報曰。 汝等懶種善根。 問他功德如盲問乳蹶者訪路。 告實何益。 由諸𢤱悷故喜怒呵讚。 既不自省倒見譏嫌。 吾今不久當為此輩。 破除疑謗觀心論已解。 今更報汝。 吾不領眾必淨六根。 為他損己只是五品位耳。 汝問何生者。 吾諸師友侍從觀音皆來迎我。 問誰可宗仰。 豈不曾聞波羅提木叉是汝之師。 吾常說四種三昧是汝明導。 教汝捨重擔。 教汝降三毒。 教汝治四大。 教汝解業縛。 教汝破魔軍。 教汝調禪味。 教汝折慢幢。 教汝遠邪濟。 教汝出無為坑。 教汝離大悲難。 唯此大師能作依止。 我與汝等因法相遇。 以法為親。 傳習佛燈是為眷屬。 若不能者傳習魔燈非吾徒也。 誡維那曰。 人命將終聞鐘磬聲增其正念。 唯長唯久氣盡為期。 云何身冷方復響磬。 世間哭泣著服皆不應為。 言訖加趺唱三寶名。 如入三昧。 以大隋開皇十七年歲次丁巳十一月二十四日未時入滅。 春秋六十僧夏四十。 至于子時頂上猶煖。 雖復不許哀號門人哽戀心沒憂海不能自喻。 日隱舟沈永無憑仰。 加趺安坐在外十日。 道俗奔赴燒香散華。 號繞泣拜過十日。 已殮入禪龕之內。 則流汗遍身綿帛掩拭沾濡若浣。 既而歸佛隴而連雨不休。 弟子呪願。 願賜威神纔動泥洹之輿應手。 雲開風噪松悲泉奔水咽。 道俗弟子侍從靈儀還遺囑之地。 龕墳雖掩妙迹常通。 謹書十條繼于狀末。

Having spoken, he lay on his right side facing west, exclusively reciting [the names of] Amitābha, Prajñā, and Avalokiteśvara. When they offered medicine, he said, “Can medicine dispel illness and prolong remaining years? Illness does not unite with the body; how could medicine dispel it? Years do not unite with the mind; how could medicine prolong them? What did Zhixi hear in past days? What was said in the *Treatise on the Contemplation of the Mind*? Complicated medicine and herbs only harass and trouble others.” They also invited him to partake of the vegetarian meal, to which he replied, “It is not merely pacing the shadow that makes a vegetarian fast; being able to dwell without conditions and without contemplation is the true fast. In life I was burdened by a poisonous vessel; in death I rejoice in resting and returning home. The marks of the worldly condition are like this—they are not worth lamenting over.” He then dictated his testament and handwritten note of forty-six characters, leaving behind a lotus incense burner and a rhinoceros-horn ruyi sceptre as parting gifts for the Prince, with the wish: “May the fragrant aroma never end, and may you forever preserve what is according to your wish.” The letter is recorded in full in a separate document. After sealing it, he asked for his three robes and bowl and ordered the place to be cleaned and swept. He had two scriptures chanted for his final listening and contemplation. When the hearing of the *Lotus Sūtra* ended, he praised it, saying: “Father and mother of dharma-gates, from whom wisdom and understanding are born! Origin and traces are vast and great, subtle and difficult to measure. Kept within me for over forty years, who knows to whom it could be given? I alone understood it, while other men saw it not. Today the axe is stayed and the strings are severed!” When the hearing of the *Amitāyus Sūtra* ended, he praised it, saying: “The forty-eight vows adorn the pure land; the flower ponds and jewel trees are easy to reach, yet few go there. Even those who, upon the appearance of the fiery chariot, are able to repent can still attain rebirth—how much more so those who have cultivated precepts and wisdom! Because of the power of practicing the Way, it is truly not in vain. The form of the Brahmā sound truly does not deceive people.” At the time the sūtras were being chanted, Zhang Da, an attendant officer of Wuzhou, and a party of five companions saw for themselves a great Buddha, double the size of the stone image, whose brilliance filled the mountain and entered directly into the room. Various monks either had auspicious dreams or saw wondrous signs; though in different places, all occurred at this very time. When the recitation of the scriptures finished, he asked for fragrant water to rinse his mouth. He then expounded the ten suchnesses, the four non-arisings, the ten dharmadhātus, the three contemplations, the four immeasurables, the four siddhāntas, the four noble truths, the twelvefold dependent origination, and the six pāramitās. Each single dharma-gate subsumes all dharmas, and all are able to guide the mind to the Cool Pond. “If one can comprehend all these dharma-gates in the realm of illness, then the twenty-five persons and the hundred pieces of gold can be entrusted to them. Now, for the last time, I spur contemplation and discourse on the profound; into the ultimate tranquility I shall now enter.” Zhilang requested, saying, “We humbly pray that out of compassion you remain to resolve our remaining doubts. We do not know at what stage of attainment you pass away, where you will be reborn, or whom we should venerate.” He answered, saying: “You are too indolent to plant good roots, yet you inquire into the merits of others, like a blind man asking about milk or a lame man asking the way. What benefit is there in telling you the truth? Because of your obstinacy, you act out of pleasure and anger, scolding and praising; since you do not reflect on yourselves, you give rise to inverted views, mockery, and disdain. Before long, I shall dispel doubts and slanders for such people. The *Treatise on the Contemplation of the Mind* has already explained this, but now I will tell you again: had I not led a community, I would certainly have purified the six faculties. Since I harmed myself for the sake of others, I am only at the stage of the five grades [of practice]. As for your question of where I will be reborn: my teachers and friends, along with the attendants of Avalokiteśvara, have all come to welcome me. You ask whom you should venerate: have you not heard that the Prātimokṣa is your master? The four kinds of samādhi that I regularly taught are your bright guide. They teach you to lay down heavy burdens, to subdue the three poisons, to cure the four elements, to untie the fetters of karma, to break the army of Māra, to temper the savor of dhyāna, to snap the banner of conceit, to keep far from the ferry of heterodoxy, to emerge from the pit of unconditioned stillness, and to be free from the disaster of great compassion. Only this Great Master can serve as your refuge. You and I have met because of the Dharma, and with the Dharma as our kin; those who transmit and practice the lamp of the Buddha are my family. If you cannot do so, you transmit and practice the lamp of Māra and are no followers of mine.” He admonished the karmadāna, saying: “When a person's life is about to end, hearing the sound of the bell and chiming stone increases their right mindfulness. Strike them steadily and for a long time until breath is completely exhausted. Why wait until the body is cold to sound the chiming stone? Worldly weeping and the wearing of mourning garments must not be done.” Having spoken, he sat cross-legged, chanted the names of the Three Jewels, and appeared to enter samādhi. On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, in the dingisi year, the seventeenth year of the Kaihuang era of the Great Sui (597 CE), during the hour of wei (1–3 p.m.), he entered extinction. His worldly age was sixty; his monastic age was forty. Up until the hour of zi (11 p.m.–1 a.m.), the crown of his head was still warm. Although wailing was forbidden, his disciples, choked with sorrow and longing, were submerged in a sea of grief, beyond consolation. The sun had set, the boat had sunk, and there was forever no one to rely upon. He remained seated cross-legged out in the open for ten days. Monastics and laypeople hurried to the site, burning incense, scattering flowers, wailing as they circumambulated, and weeping as they bowed. After ten days had passed, when he was encoffined in the dhyāna niche, sweat flowed over his entire body; when wiped with cotton and silk cloths, they became soaked as if washed. Later, as he was being returned to Folong, continuous rain poured without pause. His disciples prayed: “We pray that you grant your spiritual power!” As soon as the nirvāṇa palanquin moved, in an instant the clouds parted and the wind settled; the pines grieved and the springs rushed with weeping waters. The monastic and lay disciples escorted the spiritual cortege back to the site specified in his testament. Although the niche and tumulus are sealed, his wondrous traces remain perpetually manifest. I respectfully record ten items following the end of this account.