唐護法沙門法琳別傳 1.17

1.17

高祖脫屣萬機。文帝攝政。時大赦天下。還返神居。佛日再揚斯為盛矣。又因前傅弈密扇黃巾。乃有道士李仲卿劉進喜等。咸陳管見並作庸文。遂著十異九迷及顯正等論。貶量佛聖昏冒生靈。語越典謨動違經史。法師觀其所述。傷而愍之。欝撰論文。目為辯正。詳乎法師用奇博物匪日而成。時以文籍缺然因循累稔。右僕射蔡國公杜如晦者。岐嶷天挺器宇宏深。與法師志篤江湖佇相欽味。法師仗借墳素。致書於杜公曰。法琳草衣野客木食山人九類曲鍼誠同腐芥。不被知於當世。分緘口以終身。既德愧內充譽慚外滿。非唯孤負慧遠。實亦帶累道安。是以畢志青溪歸心紫蓋。覆松巖下永味經書。鬼谷池邊長觀魚鳥。豈謂忽辭林藪更入囂塵。久客秦川俄離楚塞。萍流八水葉墜三陽。口腹之弊已淹。仲叔之情何寄。臥靈臺而起恨。遊白社而興嗟。南巢之戀倍增。北風之悲逾切。居生坎壈稟命迍邅。空詠七哀徒吟九歎撫躬弔影命也如何。加以病在膏肓風纏腠裏。累年將息未覺有瘳。至於照雪聚螢筋力已謝。九流七略難甚緣山。萬卷百家杳猶行海。前因傅子聊貢斐然。仍以未竭邪源。今者重修辯正。頗為經書罕備。史籍靡充。雖罄短懷罔知克就。仰惟僕射公。運籌策之才。居阿衡之任。知人之鑒遠邁山濤。接士之心還方趙武。風姿爽朗識度含弘。既握靈蛇之珠。爰佩荊山之玉。所以弼諧庶績爕理文昌。德鏡搢紳譽形朝野。加以門稱筆海世號詞宗。不忘宿昔之懷。曲賜憂憐之訪。寒灰更煖朽木飜榮。昔王粲閱書。取資於蔡氏。相如達賦。必賴於楊雄。意者但是諸子雜書。及晉宋已來內外文籍。與釋典有相關涉處。悉願披覽。謹以別錄仰呈。特希恩許。輕黷所請。悚息何言。然邪見信心古來共有。善人惡黨今日寧無。前以傅子諂言略呈小論。既蒙上達復荷褒揚。戢在中心但知慚德。昔三都賦。未值張華無人見賞。今破邪論。不逢君子誰肯為珍。比者海內諸州四方道俗。流通抄寫讚詠成章。迴邪見之心。發愚人之善者。豈非明公之力也。必能利物薄有冥功。仰用莊嚴並將迴向耳。杜公時答法師書曰。猥辱芳符曲垂提拂。嘉言忽降銘戴增深。仰惟法師。命世挺生神襟俊逸。器局宏亮識度清遒。架澄什以照前。邁安遠而光後。哂談灰於漢日。淩辯鼎於秦年。既其內贍五乘解窮八藏。亦乃外該百氏識洞九流。加以學盡莊微詞殫李奧。體二葛之訛簡。究三張之詭文慕巢許之頴陽。踵黃綺之商洛。隱紫臺而偃仰。遁青溪以詠歌。蕭散有慧遠之風。放曠參道融之迹。既而情維絕紐志𦂝頹綱。乃返步山門來儀上國矚傅弈之狂簡。已製破邪遇劉李之訛言。將修辯正。經云護法菩薩。正應如是。昔聞其語今見其人。但弟子承乏忝官實慚籌策。濫蒙抽擢深愧阿衡。書云筆海詞宗。頓成虛闡耳。況弟子家非汲郡。詎有竹簡之書。室異魯邦。理無蝌蚪之字。人殊兩戴世別二冠。五體閴然四部多闕。法師既建覺德之志。嗣提婆之蹤。弟子亦敢獻涓塵以裨嵩壑。謹當詢諸碩德追訪鴻儒。博採所須廣尋其要。亦望親承几案面奉徽猷。閱盛德之遒華聽長者之餘論。但弟子王事靡暇。遣此代懷。休沐之日即當馳謁。時法師所闕。杜公給而足焉。法師捃道尋儒卒乎先志。論成八軸十有二篇。流詠九州傳之三輔。可謂文彪理炳叶律諧鍾。郁郁可觀洋洋盈耳。諒使大羅玉帝。悚慴金闕之中。九府仙君。震𧹞四天之上。改群邪之異轍。革眾迷之惑心。況乎左道黃巾能無傾覆者哉。東宮學士陳子良者。言為世表學冠儒林。矚此論文因為訓誥。敘之云爾。蓋聞。宣尼入夢。十翼之理克彰。伯陽出關。二篇之義爰著。或鉤深繫象。或探賾希夷。名言之所不宣。陰陽之所不測。猶能彌綸天地苞括鬼神。道無洽於大千。言未超於域內。況乎法身圓寂妙出有無。至理凝玄跡泯真俗。體絕三相累盡七生。無心即心非色為色。無心即心故能心斯心矣。非色為色故能色斯色矣。藤蛇於是併空。形名所以俱寂。筌蹄之外豈可言乎。若乃西伯拘姜遂顯精微。子長蠶室卒成先志。故易曰。古之作易者。其有憂患乎。論之興焉良有以矣。法師俗姓陳氏。漢太丘長仲弓之後也。遠祖隨宦遊播遷江左。近因流寓又處荊州隋世入關從師請業。可謂玉移荊岫。皎潔之光彌彰桂徙幽林。芬芳之風更遠。法師應真人之祥。稟黃裳之吉。內該三藏外綜九流。既善緣情尤工體物。篇章婉麗理致遒華。郁郁間縟錦之文。飄飄聳淩雲之氣。班賈金玉未可同年。藩陸江湖寧堪方駕。至如莊生墨生之學。黃子老子之書。三清三洞之文。九府九仙之籙。登真隱訣之祕。靈寶度命之儀。吞若胸襟說猶指掌。加以舊習中觀少蘊法華。既有聞持比專著述。運思之外汲引無疲。辯中觀則龍樹可期。談自然則老莊非遠。於是四方雜沓。如歸長者之園。七貴紛綸。若赴華陰之市。固以學侔安遠才邁肇生。實開士之棟梁。法門之牆塹也。乃有道士李仲卿劉進喜等。咸陳管見並作庸文。謗毀正法。在俗人上或生邪信。法師愍其盲瞽恐入泥犁。爰發大悲遂製斯論。可謂鼓茲法海根彼詞峯。碧雞之銳競馳。黃馬之駿爭騖莫不葉墜柯摧雲銷霧卷。狀鴻爐之焚纖羽。猶炎景之鑠輕氷。負勝之儔於斯可見。暫歸慈定已破魔軍。聊奮慧刀即降愚賊。佛日於是重暉。法雲由斯廣被。但法師所作詩賦啟頌碑誌章表。大乘教法及破邪論等三十餘卷。在世久傳。然此論文凡八卷十二篇二百餘紙。窮釋老之教源。極品藻之名理。修述多年仍未流布。昔秦孝公聽說帝而寐。聞談霸而興。陽春和寡深可悲歎。但法師所述內外並該。恐好事後生致有未喻。弟子頴川陳子良者。近申頂禮從而問津。爛然溢目。若明月之入懷。寂乎應機譬寶珠之燭物。既悟四衢之幻。便息百城之遊。於是啟所未聞。聊為註解。庶將來同好。幸詳其致焉。貞觀元年。文帝捨大和宮。奉為。

Gaozu cast off the sandals of the myriad affairs of state, and Emperor Wen took over the regency. At that time, a great general amnesty was granted throughout the realm, and [the monks and nuns] returned to their sacred dwellings. The sun of the Buddha shone brightly once again, which was truly a magnificent occasion! Furthermore, because Fu Yi had previously secretly incited the Yellow Turbans, there were Daoist priests such as Li Zhongqing and Liu Jinxi who all laid forth their narrow views and together produced mediocre writings, thereupon composing treatises such as the Ten Anomalies, the Nine Delusions, and the Manifestation of the Correct. They disparaged and evaluated the Buddha and sages, blinding and confounding living beings; their words transgressed the classical standards and documents, and their every move contravened the scriptures and histories. When the Master of the Law examined what they had produced, he was pained and took pity on them. Gloomily he composed a treatise, entitling it Bianzheng lun (Treatise on Discerning the Correct). To scrutinize it closely, the Master of the Law employed rare talents and encyclopedic learning, so it was not completed in a single day. At that time, as books and records were lacking, the work had been delayed for successive years. The Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, the Duke of Cai State Du Ruhui, was extraordinarily gifted from birth, with a magnanimous and profound capacity. He and the Master of the Law shared deep aspirations for withdrawal and looked forward to admiring and savoring each other's fellowship. Relying on [him to] borrow ancient classics and texts, the Master of the Law sent a letter to Lord Du, which read: "Falin is an uncouth rustic clad in coarse grass and a mountain dweller subsisting on tree fruit; among the nine kinds of needles, I am indeed like a bent one, truly comparable to rotten chaff. Not recognized by the present generation, my lot was to seal my lips for the rest of my life. Since internally I lack virtue and feel ashamed, while externally I am embarrassed by overflowing praise, not only have I let down Huiyuan, but I have truly also brought disgrace upon Dao'an. For this reason, I dedicated my aspirations to Mount Qingxi and turned my heart toward Zigai, forever savoring scriptures and books beneath the pine-covered crags, and long observing fish and birds beside the Guigu pool. How could I have imagined that I would suddenly leave behind the forests and swamps and enter again into the noisy dust, long remaining a guest in the plains of Qin and abruptly departing the barriers of Chu? Like duckweed drifting on the Eight Waters, like leaves falling in the three sunlit seasons; the burdens of seeking food and belly have long entangled me, so where can the sentiments of Zhongshu be lodged? Lying in the Lingtai, regrets arise; wandering in the white commune, sighs burst forth. My longing for Nanchao doubles, and the grief over the north wind grows ever more acute. Dwelling in life with hardship, endowed with a destiny of misfortune, in vain I chant the Seven Sorrows and uselessly sigh over the Nine Lamentations; caressing my body and consoling my shadow, what can be done about fate? Furthermore, illness has entered the vitals, and wind-disease wraps within the skin; though recuperating for successive years, I have not yet felt any recovery. As for illuminating snow or gathering fireflies, my physical strength has already declined. Traversing the Nine Schools and Seven Summaries is harder than climbing mountains; wading through the ten thousand scrolls and hundred schools is as dim as sailing the seas. Previously, on account of Fu Yi, I casually offered a meager composition. Yet because the source of heterodoxy was not exhausted, I am now revising the Bianzheng lun. However, scriptures and books are rarely complete, and historical records are far from sufficient. Though exhausting my meager thoughts, I know not how to achieve completion. Respectfully I reflect that you, Lord Vice Director, possess the talent of devising strategies and occupy the office of the Chief Minister (Aheng). Your discernment in knowing men far surpasses that of Shan Tao; your heart in receiving gentlemen rivals that of Zhao Wu. Your bearing is bright and crisp, and your discernment and capacity are all-embracing. You have grasped the pearl of the spiritual serpent and girded the jade of Mount Jing. Therefore, you harmonize the myriad achievements and regulate the Department of State Affairs; your virtue serves as a mirror for the gentry, and your renown is made manifest in court and country. Furthermore, your family is acclaimed as an ocean of brushes, and your house is styled the master of literary expression. Not forgetting our past fellowship, you have specially bestowed visits of concern and pity. Cold ashes have grown warm again; rotten wood has conversely flourished. Anciently, Wang Can inspected books by drawing resources from the Cai family; Sima Xiangru mastered rhapsodies by relying upon Yang Xiong. My wish is merely that if there are miscellaneous works of the various masters, as well as inner and outer writings from the Jin and Song dynasties onward, wherever they touch upon Buddhist scriptures, I wish to peruse them all. I respectfully submit a separate catalog; I especially hope for your gracious permission. In presumptuously troubling you with this request, in awe and trepidation what can I say? However, heterodox views and faithful confidence have coexisted since antiquity; can good people and wicked cliques be absent today? Previously, because of Fu Yi's flattering words, I briefly presented a minor treatise. Having received its submission to the throne and been favored with praise, I hold it deep within my heart, conscious only of my shameful lack of virtue. Anciently, before the Rhapsody on the Three Capitals met Zhang Hua, no one appreciated it. Today, had the Poxie lun not encountered a noble gentleman, who would have valued it as a treasure? Recently, monks and laity across the four quarters and throughout the commanderies within the seas have circulated, copied, praised, and chanted it in verse. Turning the minds of heterodox views and awakening the goodness of foolish people—is this not the power of your Bright Lordship? It will surely benefit living beings and yield modest unseen merit. Respectfully I employ it for adornment and shall dedicate it all." Lord Du replied at the time to the Master of the Law's letter, saying: "I have been favored with your fragrant letter, in which you have condescended to offer encouragement and brush away [my flaws]. Your fine words arrived suddenly, deepening my gratitude. Respectfully I reflect that you, Master of the Law, were born as an outstanding figure of the age, with an extraordinary and lofty spirit, a broad and resonant capacity, and a clear and forceful intellect and discernment. You surpass Fotucheng and Kumārajīva to illuminate the past; you excel Dao'an and Huiyuan to shed luster on posterity. You laugh at the discourse on ashes in the days of the Han, and surpass the debate on the tripod in the years of the Qin. Internally, you are well-versed in the five vehicles and have fathomed the eight treasuries; externally, you encompass the hundred masters and penetrate the Nine Schools. Moreover, your studies exhaust the subtleties of Zhuangzi, and your words fully express the profundities of Laozi. You understand the erroneous slips of the two Ges and investigate the deceptive writings of the Three Zhangs. You admire Chao Fu and Xu You at Yingyang, and follow the Four Whiteheads of Mount Shang at Shangluo. You conceal yourself at the Purple Terrace to recline and rise; you retreat to Mount Qingxi to chant and sing. In untrammeled detachment you possess the style of Huiyuan; in broad wandering you partake in the traces of Daorong. Furthermore, your heart holds together the broken cords, and your will binds up the decaying standards. Thus you retraced your steps from the mountain gate to grace the superior capital. Witnessing Fu Yi's mad arrogance, you already composed the Poxie lun; encountering the false words of Liu and Li, you are about to compile the Bianzheng lun. As the sūtras say: 'A Dharma-protecting bodhisattva should be precisely like this.' In the past I heard these words; today I see the person. But I, your disciple, merely fill a vacancy and unworthily hold office, truly ashamed of having any strategic talent; having been unworthily promoted, I am deeply embarrassed before the post of Aheng. As for your letter calling me an 'ocean of brushes and master of literary expression,' that is entirely an empty compliment! Moreover, my family does not hail from Jijun—how could I have books on bamboo slips? My chamber differs from the State of Lu—naturally there are no tadpole characters. As a person I differ from the two Dais, and in generation I am distinct from the two Guans. My knowledge of the five scripts is blank, and of the four divisions many are lacking. Since you, Master of the Law, have established the aspiration for enlightened virtue and succeeded to the traces of Deva, I, your disciple, also dare to offer a drop of dust to augment Mount Song. I shall respectfully inquire among great virtuosi and seek out grand literati, collecting widely what is required and searching extensively for essentials. I also hope to attend your table in person and face-to-face receive your excellent instruction, viewing the forceful splendor of your abundant virtue and listening to the remaining discourses of an elder. But I, your disciple, have no leisure from royal affairs, so I send this in place of my thoughts. On my rest day, I shall hasten to pay my respects." At that time, whatever the Master of the Law lacked, Lord Du supplied to the full. Gathering from Daoism and searching through Confucianism, the Master of the Law brought his former aspiration to completion. The treatise was completed in eight fascicles and twelve sections. It was sung and circulated throughout the Nine Provinces and transmitted through the Three Adjunct Regions. It can be said that its literary brilliance is striking and its reasoning lucid; it harmonizes with the pitch-pipes and accords with the bells, richly adorned and delightful to behold, broad and melodious, filling the ears. It truly caused the Jade Emperor of Daluo to tremble in fear within the Golden Gate, and the immortal lords of the Nine Bureaus to shake with terror above the Four Heavens. It altered the divergent paths of all heterodoxies and reformed the deluded minds of the confused masses. How much more could the left-handed paths of the Yellow Turbans fail to be overturned! Chen Ziliang, Scholar of the Eastern Palace, whose speech was an exemplar for the world and whose learning crowned the forest of Confucian scholars, beheld this treatise and therefore composed an explanatory introduction for it. The preface states: "I have heard that when Xuan Ni (Confucius) entered a dream, the principles of the Ten Wings were made manifest; when Boyang (Laozi) went out through the pass, the meanings of the two sections were made known. Some hooked into the profound and attached symbols; some explored the subtle and the formless and soundless. That which names and words cannot proclaim, that which yin and yang cannot measure, can still encompass heaven and earth and enclose ghosts and spirits. Yet their Dao did not reach across the trichiliocosm, and their words did not transcend the mundane realm. How much more so the dharmakāya, which is perfectly tranquil and wondrously transcends existence and non-existence; the ultimate principle is coagulated and mysterious, its traces obliterating the true and the conventional. Its essence transcends the three characteristics, and its taints are exhausted through the seven lives. No-mind is itself mind, and non-form is form. Because no-mind is itself mind, it can make mind this mind; because non-form is form, it can make form this form. The vine and snake are thereupon both empty, and form and name are therefore both silenced. Outside of the fish trap and hare snare, how can it be spoken of? As when the Western Count was imprisoned at Youli and thereupon revealed the subtle mysteries; or when Zichang in the silkworm chamber finally achieved his former aspiration; therefore the Changes says: 'Did not the makers of the Changes in antiquity have sorrow and anxiety?' The arising of treatises truly has good reason! The Master of the Law's secular surname was Chen; he was a descendant of Zhonggong, Chief of Taiqiu in the Han dynasty. His distant ancestors, following their official careers, migrated south of the Yangtze; recently, due to drifting and residing elsewhere, they lived in Jingzhou. In the Sui dynasty, he entered the passes and followed teachers to receive instruction. It may be said that jade moved from the crags of Jing, its immaculate luster becoming all the more apparent; the cassia transplanted from the secluded forest, its fragrant breeze reaching even further. The Master of the Law answered the auspicious omens of a Realized Man and received the good fortune of the yellow lower-garment. Internally he encompassed the Tripiṭaka, and externally he synthesized the Nine Schools. He was skilled at expressing emotion and especially adept at giving form to things. His compositions were graceful and elegant, and his reasoning was forceful and splendid. Richly adorned, they mingled like brocaded patterns; soaring freely, they towered with a spirit that ascended to the clouds. The gold and jade of Ban Gu and Jia Yi cannot be compared with him in the same year; the rivers and lakes of Lu Ji and Pan Yue could hardly run abreast with him. As for the learning of Master Zhuang and Master Mo, the books of Huangdi and Laozi, the texts of the Three Clarities and Three Caverns, the registers of the Nine Bureaus and Nine Immortals, the secrets of the Hidden Instructions for Ascending to Perfection, and the rituals of the Lingbao for Delivering Life, he swallowed them into his breast and expounded them as easily as pointing to his palm. In addition, having formerly practiced the Madhyamaka and in his youth harbored the Lotus Sūtra, he possessed dhāraṇī-retention and recently devoted himself exclusively to writing. Outside of exercising his thoughts, he was untiring in guiding and converting others. In debating Madhyamaka, he could rival Nāgārjuna; in discussing nature, he was not far behind Laozi and Zhuangzi. Thereupon, people from the four quarters crowded in like those returning to the Elder's garden; the seven nobility arrived in succession as if hastening to the market of Huayin. Truly, his learning rivaled Dao'an and Huiyuan, and his talent surpassed Sengzhao. He was indeed a ridgepole and pillar of the Bodhisattvas (kāyikasthas) and a wall and moat of the Dharma gate. Then there were Daoist priests such as Li Zhongqing and Liu Jinxi, who all laid forth their narrow views and produced mediocre writings, slandering the saddharma, so that among worldly people some developed heterodox faith. The Master of the Law pitied their blindness, fearing they would enter Niraya (hell). Thereupon, giving rise to great compassion, he composed this treatise. It may be said to beat the drum in this ocean of Dharma and trace the roots of that peak of words. The swiftness of the Green Rooster competed in speed; the thoroughbred of the Yellow Horse vied in galloping. Without exception, leaves fell and branches snapped; clouds melted and mists rolled away. It was like a great furnace burning a slender feather, or the blazing sun melting thin ice. The vanquished and the victorious can be seen from this. Temporarily taking refuge in the samādhi of kindness, he already smashed the demon army; casually brandishing the sword of wisdom, he forthwith subdued the foolish bandits. The sun of the Buddha thereupon shone anew, and the cloud of Dharma was thereby broadly spread. But the poems, rhapsodies, memorials, eulogies, stelae, inscriptions, and petitions composed by the Master of the Law, along with treatises on Mahāyāna doctrine and the Poxie lun, in more than thirty fascicles, have long circulated in the world. However, this treatise, in eight fascicles, twelve sections, and over two hundred sheets of paper, fathoms the origins of the teachings of the Buddha and Laozi, and exhausts the principles of names in evaluating phenomena. Although composed over many years, it has not yet been widely disseminated. Anciently, Duke Xiao of Qin fell asleep when hearing discourses on the Sage Emperors, but became animated when hearing talks of hegemony; the 'Sunny Spring' has few who can harmonize with it, which is deeply lamentable. Yet what the Master of the Law has composed encompasses both inner and outer learning, and I fear that curious youths of later generations might not comprehend it. I, your disciple Chen Ziliang of Yingchuan, recently offered my prostrations and inquired about the path. It shone brightly before my eyes like the bright moon entering the bosom; it responded silently to circumstances like a precious gem illuminating things. Having realized the illusion of the four crossroads, I ceased my wanderings across the hundred cities. Thereupon, revealing what had never been heard before, I have composed a brief commentary, in the hope that future like-minded persons may fortunately examine its principles." In the first year of Zhenguan, Emperor Wen relinquished the Dahe Palace, offering it for the sake of...