高僧傳 8.79

8.79

亮為人神情爽岸，俊氣雄逸，及開章命句，鋒辯縱橫。其有問論者，或豫蘊重關，及亮之披解便，覺宗旨渙然，忘其素蓄。今上龍興，尊崇正道，以亮德居時望，亟延談說。亮任率性直，每言輒稱貧道，上雖意有間然，而挹其神出。天監八年初，勅亮撰《涅槃義疏》十餘萬言。上為之序曰：「非言無以寄言，言即無言之累；累言則可以息言，言息則諸見競起。所以如來乘本願以託生，現慈力以應化，離文字以設教，忘心相以通道，欲使珉玉異價，涇渭分流，制六師而止四倒，反八邪而歸一味。折世智之角，杜異人之口，導求珠之心，開觀象之目，救焚灼於火宅，拯沈溺於浪海。故法雨降而燋種受榮，慧日昇而長夜蒙曉。發迦葉之悱憤，吐真實之誠言。雖復二施等於前，五大陳於後，三十四問，參差異辯。方便勸引，各隨意答。舉要論經，不出兩途：『佛性』開其本有之源，『涅槃』明其歸極之宗。非因非果，不起不作，義高萬善，事絕百非。空空不能測其真際，玄玄不能窮其妙門。自非德均平等，心合無生，金牆玉室，豈易入哉？有青州沙門釋寶亮者，氣調爽拔，神用俊舉，少貞苦節，長安法忍，耆年愈篤，倪齒不衰，流通先覺，孜孜如也。後進晚生，莫不依仰。以天監八年五月八日乃勅亮撰《大涅槃義疏》，以九月二十日訖。光表微言，贊揚正道。連環既解，疑網云除。條流明悉，可得略言。朕從容暇日，將欲覽焉。聊書數行，以為記莂云爾。」

Liang was candid and loftily unconstrained in character, with eminent spirit and heroic ease; when he opened a chapter and expounded phrases, his sharp eloquence flowed unhindered. Whenever there were questioners who had prepared intricate difficulties in advance, as soon as Liang began to untangle and explain, they felt the essential doctrine became immediately lucid and forgot what they had prepared. When the current Emperor ascended the imperial throne, he revered the correct Way; regarding Liang's virtue as holding the esteem of the times, he frequently invited him to discourse. Liang was unrestrained and straightforward by nature, always referring to himself as "this poor monk" whenever he spoke. Although the Emperor felt some reserve in his mind, he admired Liang's transcendent spirit. At the beginning of the eighth year of the Tianjian era, Liang was decreed to compile an Exegesis of the Meaning of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra of over one hundred thousand words. The Emperor composed a preface for it, which read: "Without words, there is no way to convey meaning, yet words are the burden of the wordless; through the burden of words one can bring words to rest, yet when words cease, diverse views contend. For this reason the Tathāgata relied on his fundamental vow to take birth, and manifested the power of compassion to respond and transform; he established the teachings apart from letters, and opened the Way by forgetting conceptual marks, wishing to make the jade and quartz differ in value and separate the Jing and Wei rivers, to subdue the six non-Buddhist teachers and halt the four inversions, and to reverse the eight deviations and return to the single flavor. He broke the horns of worldly wisdom, sealed the mouths of deviant teachers, guided the mind that seeks the gem, opened the eyes that perceive the elephant, rescued beings from being burned in the burning house, and saved those sinking in the sea of waves. Thus, when the rain of Dharma falls, parched seeds flourish; when the sun of wisdom rises, the long night meets the dawn. He prompted the earnest lament of Kāśyapa and uttered true and sincere words. Although the two kinds of giving are equated at first and the five greats are set forth later, through thirty-four questions with varied and distinct debates, he guided them with expedient means and answered each according to capacity. To summarize the essential teachings of the sūtra, they do not go beyond two paths: 'Buddha-nature' opens the source of original existence, and 'nirvāṇa' clarifies the ultimate principle of return. Neither cause nor fruit, neither arising nor acting, its meaning surpasses myriad virtues, and its reality transcends the hundred negations. Emptiness of emptiness cannot plumb its true limit, and the mystery of mysteries cannot exhaust its marvelous gate. Unless one's virtue matches equality and one's mind accords with non-arising, how could one easily enter its golden walls and jade chambers? There is the śramaṇa Shi Baoliang of Qingzhou, whose temperament is lofty and prominent, whose spiritual capacity is eminent and agile, who in his youth maintained chaste and arduous discipline, and who in his mature years settled in the forbearance of Dharma; in his old age he is all the more earnest, his vitality unflagging, tirelessly propagating the teachings of the earlier enlightened ones. Later students and younger scholars all rely on and look up to him. On the eighth day of the fifth month of the eighth year of the Tianjian era, Liang was decreed to compile the Exegesis of the Meaning of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, and it was finished on the twentieth day of the ninth month. It sheds light on subtle words and praises the correct Way. The interlocking links having been unfastened, the net of doubts is removed. The branches and streams are clear and detailed, and can be briefly stated. When I have leisure and ease, I intend to peruse it. I merely write a few lines to serve as a record."