續高僧傳 12.20

12.20

釋慧覺。姓孫氏。其先太原晉陽人也。江右喪亂。遷居丹陽之秣陵焉。覺之在孕。梁代誌公不測人也。遊宅徘徊顧而言曰。此處當出神童。俄而載誕。有若符契。幼而風神特達氣調不群。雖則青襟。便有奇心遠識。於五蔭六塵。深知泡電。誓求離俗。二親弗能違也。年八歲出家研精法相。其初伏業。即興皇朗法師也。學門擁盛咸暢玄風。入室之徒莫非人傑。覺稟承宏論備觀幽旨。領略津會鐫求幽賾。騁馳眾妙得自匈襟。宗匠加賞相擊稱為法器。加以遊心九部備觀數論。詭說異門並尋枝葉。既而歎曰。槍榆豈冲天之舉。小道乖適遠之津。聊以忘憂非吾徒也。夫澄神入慧莫尚五門。攝山泉石致美息心勝地。乃摳衣獨往止于栖霞寺焉。有慧布法師。空解第一。深明方等。或有未悟韞櫝于懷。佇知音者及見欣然便即開授。又以大智度論江左少弘。布備宗緒將陳請說。乃垂覃思申暢幽微。布公披襟歎美。即命開講。於是舊文新意兩以通之。遠近餐服聞所未聞。釋論廣興於斯盛矣。陳晉安王伯恭為湘州刺史。深加禮異并請講眾。南行弘演。吏部尚書毛喜。護軍將軍孫瑒。並鞠躬頂禮虔仰殊常。左衛將軍傅縡。學通內外氣調甚高。緇素之間無所推敬。每見覺來必心形俱肅。劇談高論流連無已。天爵服人皆如此類。隋朝剋定江表憲令惟新。一州之內止置佛寺二所。數外伽藍皆從屏廢。覺懼金剛之地淪毀者多。乃百舍兼行上聞天聽。有勅霈然從其所請。啟沃神衿弘護像法信有力焉。煬帝昔居藩屏化牧淮甸。欽佇勝人義踰仄席。乃賜書曰。法師安善。涼暑惟宜。承栖遲龜山之域。闡揚龍樹之旨。其義端雄辯。獨演暢於稽陰。談柄微言。偏引級於鏡水。弟子欽風籍甚味道尤深。今於城內建慧日道場。延屈龍象大弘佛事盛轉法輪。上人名稱普聞眾所知識。今遣迎候。遲能光拂也。於即賁然來儀。膺此嘉命。法濟上人者。靈智難思。於永福道場請開大論。主上親臨法席稱善久之。後止白塔恒事敷說。大品涅槃華嚴四論等二十餘部。遍數甚多。學徒滿席。法輪之盛莫是過也。先是江都舊邸立寶臺經藏。五時妙典大備於斯。及踐位東朝。令旨允屬掌知藏事。僉曰得人。大業二年從駕入京於路見疾。而神色怡然法言無廢。及至將漸明悟如常。咸見金剛大神前後圍遶外國梵僧燒香供養。初有智覺禪師。爰感靈應。乃見覺名題於金錄。固其所得位地義量難測。至三月二十二日。遷化於泗州之宿預縣。春秋五十有三。惟覺美詞令善容止。身長八尺風表絕倫。攝𪗋昇堂俯仰可則。覿其威儀莫不改容易觀。寓目忘倦。至於吐納玄言宣揚妙義。雄辯清論雲飛泉涌。真可謂日月入懷風飈滿室。雖復褊志滯情。亦頓忘鄙吝。然其芝蘭所化。陶誘之功日就月將。固亦弘矣。兼通外典妙善尺牘。屬詞染翰造次可觀。折簡所至皆為模楷。加以風度淹遠雅量弘深。談絕是非心夷彼我。峻矣重仞人莫之窺。信施相積隨用檀捨。二翼之外纖芥罔畜。止有論文談疏。盈於几篋而已。豈非拔俗之奇才通方之正士也。有詔喪事所須隨由備辦。恩禮周給務從優厚。并具舟檝。王人將送。其年五月十三日。還窆於江陽縣之茱萸里。傳業學士數甚滋多。門人智果。稟承遺訓情深追遠。乃與同學紀諸景行碑于寺門。祕書詔誥舍人虞世南為文。金紫光祿大夫內史侍郎虞世基為銘。見於別集。

Shi Huijue had the surname Sun, and his ancestors were natives of Jinyang in Taiyuan. Due to the turmoil in Jiangyou, they moved to Moling in Danyang. While Jue was in the womb, Master Zhi of the Liang dynasty, a man of unfathomable nature, wandered by the residence, paced around, looked back, and said, "From this place a divine child shall emerge." Soon afterwards he was born, just as predicted. In his childhood, his spirit and talent were exceptional, and his demeanor was extraordinary. Although only a young lad, he already had remarkable resolve and far-sighted discernment. Regarding the five skandhas and the six sense-objects, he deeply understood them to be like foam and lightning; he vowed to seek departure from the world, and his two parents could not oppose him. At the age of eight, he left home and studied the characteristics of dharmas with refinement. The first master he served was Master Lang of Xinghuang Monastery. That school of learning was flourishing, and all expounded the mysterious style; the disciples who entered the inner chamber were all preeminent men. Jue received the great treatises, thoroughly observing their profound purports, grasping their essential junctures, and investigating their deep mysteries; galloping through the myriad subtleties, he attained them from within his own chest. The great master praised him, striking his hands together and praising him as a vessel of the Dharma. Furthermore, his mind wandered through the nine categories of scriptures, thoroughly examining the Abhidharma and treatises; he traced both unusual theories and diverse schools down to their branches and leaves. Thereafter he sighed and said, "Can an elm-skimming flight match an ascent to the heavens? Minor paths diverge from the ford to reach the distant; merely using them to dispel sorrow is not for our kind! Now, for purifying the spirit and entering wisdom, nothing surpasses the five gateways; the springs and rocks of She Mountain form an exquisitely beautiful, superior place for resting the mind." He then lifted his robes and went alone, residing at Qixia Monastery. There was Master Huibu, who was foremost in the understanding of emptiness and deeply illuminated in the vaipulya scriptures; he harbored in his heart some points not yet illuminated, waiting for one who understood him, and upon seeing Jue he was delighted, immediately transmitting them to him. Furthermore, as the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra was rarely propagated east of the Yangzi, Bu, being well-versed in its traditions, was about to request an exposition; Jue then applied deep reflection to unfold and elucidate its obscurities. Master Bu opened his lapel in admiration and praise, and immediately ordered him to begin lecturing. Thereupon, he harmonized both the ancient texts and new ideas; those near and far accepted his teachings, hearing what they had never heard before, and the great flourishing of the Śāstra expanded immensely from this. Chen Bogong, Prince of Jin'an, was the Regional Inspector of Xiangzhou; he treated him with profound courtesy and invited him to lecture to the assembly, so Jue traveled south to propagate the teachings. Mao Xi, Minister of Personnel, and Sun Yang, General of the Army of the Protectress, both bowed their heads in prostration and revered him exceptionally. Fu Zai, General of the Left Guard, was learned in both inner and outer texts and had a very proud demeanor, deferring to and respecting no one among monastics or laypeople; yet whenever he saw Jue approach, he was solemn in both mind and body, and their grand discussions and lofty debates lingered on without end. The spiritual nobility of Jue subjugating others was all like this. When the Sui dynasty pacified the regions south of the Yangzi and instituted fresh laws and decrees, within each prefecture only two Buddhist monasteries were permitted to be established, and all saṅghārāmas beyond that number were to be dismantled. Jue feared that many vajra grounds would fall into ruin, so he traveled day and night to present a petition to the emperor's ears. An imperial decree was abundantly issued granting his request; his inspiring the imperial mind and vastly protecting the semblance Dharma was truly powerful! When Emperor Yang formerly resided as a regional prince governing the Huai region, his admiration and yearning for superior men exceeded the modest space of his seat. He sent a letter saying, "Is the Dharma Master in peace and good health? May you be well suited to the cold and heat. I understand that you dwell in the realm of Mount Gui, expounding the principles of Nāgārjuna. Your doctrinal points and powerful eloquence are uniquely expounded at Jiyin, and the subtle words of your discussion staff specifically set an example at the Mirror Water. I, your disciple, admire your style immensely and take deep delight in the Dao. Now, within the city, the Huiri Daochang has been established; we invite dragons and elephants to vastly promote Buddhist services and grandly turn the wheel of the Dharma. The Superior One's name is universally heard and known by the multitudes. I now send envoys to greet you, eagerly awaiting the honor of your arrival." Thereupon, he came majestically, responding to this fine command. The Superior One Faji, whose spiritual wisdom was unfathomable, requested him to open lectures on the Great Treatise at Yongfu Daochang. The sovereign personally attended the Dharma gathering and praised it for a long time. Later, Jue resided at the White Stūpa, constantly engaged in lecturing: on the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the Four Treatises, and more than twenty other works, lecturing on them numerous times. The students filled the seats; the flourishing of the Dharma wheel was unsurpassed by this. Prior to this, a Baotai Scripture Repository had been erected at the old residence in Jiangdu, where the wonderful texts of the Five Periods were fully assembled. When the emperor ascended the Eastern Palace (as Crown Prince), his order appropriately designated Jue to oversee the affairs of the repository; everyone agreed that the right man had been found. In the second year of the Daye era (606 CE), while accompanying the imperial entourage to the capital, he fell ill on the road; yet his spirit and countenance were calm and joyful, and his Dharma talks never ceased. When he gradually approached his end, his lucidity was as usual. Everyone saw great vajra spirits surrounding him front and back, and foreign Indic monks burning incense in offering. Earlier, Dhyāna Master Zhijue had experienced a spiritual resonance, seeing Jue's name inscribed in the golden register; truly, the level of his attainment and the measure of his realization are difficult to fathom. On the twenty-second day of the third month, he passed away in Suyu County of Sizhou, at the age of fifty-three. Now, Jue had fine speech and proper deportment; he was eight chi tall, and his demeanor was peerless. Gathering his robes and ascending the hall, his movements were exemplary; upon beholding his dignified deportment, none failed to change their countenance and look with awe, watching him without fatigue. As for his expressing mysterious words and proclaiming wonderful meanings, his heroic eloquence and clear discourses flew like clouds and gushed like springs; truly, it could be called having the sun and moon in one's bosom and fierce winds filling the room! Even those with narrow minds and stagnant feelings immediately forgot their vulgar stinginess. Indeed, the influence of his virtuous character and the merit of his cultivation and guidance grew by day and advanced by month, proving immense indeed! He was also well-versed in secular classics and was wonderfully adept at correspondence; when composing and writing, his work was immediately admirable, and wherever his letters reached, they became models for emulation. In addition, his bearing was expansive and his magnanimity was vast and deep; his conversation excluded right and wrong, and his mind leveled self and other. Lofty as a peak of many fathoms, none could peer into its depth. When faith-offerings piled up, he gave them away in charity as they arrived; beyond his two robes, he stored not a speck of dust, possessing only treatise texts and discussion commentaries filling his desk and boxes. Was he not an extraordinary talent rising above the vulgar, and an upright gentleman traversing all realms? An imperial decree ordered that everything needed for his funeral be prepared as required, with generous and complete imperial favors, and boats were provided, with royal officials sent to escort him. On the thirteenth day of the fifth month of that year, he was returned to be buried in the Zhuyu Ward of Jiangyang County. The students who inherited his tradition were extremely numerous. His disciple Zhiguo received his final instructions and harbored deep feelings for honoring the deceased; together with his fellow students, he recorded his exemplary conduct on a stele at the monastery gate. Yu Shinan, Drafter of Imperial Decrees in the Palace Library, composed the text, and Yu Shiji, Grand Master of the Golden and Purple with Light and Vice Director of the Chancellery, composed the verse inscription, which can be found in a separate collection.