續高僧傳 15.32

15.32

釋義褒。姓薛。常州晉陵人。蓋齊相孟嘗君之後。吳名臣綜瑩之胤也。天體高遠履性明朗。出家已後遊談在務。周流會計統御法筵。初從蘇州永定寺小明法師稟學華嚴大品。其即有陳興皇朗公之後嗣也。專經強對。亦當時之僧傑矣。褒優柔教義。屢啟請之談。將事通覽。辭往縉雲山婺州永安寺曠法師所。曠在陳朝。興皇盛集。時當法選亟動神幾。法主既崩遍流視聽。長干禪眾栖霞布公。並具式瞻親霑餘令。所以四經三論江表高推。褒敬竭義筵縱思披擇。諸方後銳將事別輪。曠亦勸褒行傳燈禮。乃從之。傳經述論三十餘年。光問五湖馳名三輔。每以大乘至教元出渭陰。中原播蕩乃興揚越嗟乎淳味不無流靡。後住東陽金華法幢寺。弘道不倦。終日坐忘會。慈恩申請搜揚髦彥。京邑承風以事聞奏。下勅徵延。便符昔願。即而入朝。時翻經三藏玄奘法師。盛處權衡。當陽弘演。承思遠問用寫繁蕪。亦既至止共許幽致。乃詰大乘經論。無所不通。唐朝後學多尚名體。耽迷成性膠柱守株。如何解網以開玄照。請所學宗頓講十遍。勒諸門位並往歸依。時在慈恩創開宏旨。有空雙遣藥病齊亡。乃有負氣盱衡傲然亂舉。褒為提紉解玦疎刷神㦗。責以三開徵研五句。詳括文義統略悟迷。經難論易。悼時俗之反昏。論釋深經。誨今聞之異昔。所以每日在座前唱聖經。半講已後方明賢論。于時英彥皆預席端。歎其竦拔之神奇。伏其辯給之銛利。宰輔冠蓋傾仰德音。留連言晤寫送無絕。顯慶三年冬雩祈雪候。內設福場勅召入宮。令與東明觀道士論義。有道士李榮。立本際義。褒問曰。既義標本際。為道本於際。為際本於道邪。答曰互得。又問。道本於際際為道本。亦可際本於道道為際原。答亦通。又並曰。若使道將本際互得相反。亦可自然與道互得相法。答曰。道法自然。自然不法道。又並若道法於自然。自然不法道。亦可道本於本際本際不本道。榮既被難不能報。浪嘲云。既喚我為先生。汝便成我弟子。褒曰。對聖言論申明邪正用簡帝心。芻蕘嘲謔塵黷天聽。雖然無言不酬。聊以相答。我為佛之弟子。由以事佛為師。汝既稱為先生。即應先道而生。汝則。斯為道祖。于時忸怩無對。便下座。

Śramaṇa Yibao, surnamed Xue, was a native of Jinling in Changzhou. He was an offspring of Lord Mengchang, chancellor of Qi, and a descendant of the renowned Wu ministers Xue Zong and Xue Ying. His natural endowment was lofty and far-reaching, and his conduct of nature clear and bright. After going forth from household life (pravrajyā), he dedicated himself to travels and philosophical debates, circulating through gatherings and assemblies to direct and govern the Dharma seats. At first, under Minor Dharmabhāṇaka Ming of Yongding Monastery in Suzhou, he received and studied the Avataṃsaka and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtras. Minor Ming was indeed the successor to Master Falang of the Xinghuang Monastery under the Chen dynasty. Devoted to the scriptures and formidable in debate, he was also an outstanding monk of his era. Yibao delved gently and deeply into the doctrinal meanings, frequently presenting questions and expositions. Wishing to achieve comprehensive mastery, he took his leave and went to Jinyun Mountain to the presence of Dharmabhāṇaka Kuang at Yong'an Monastery in Wuzhou. In the Chen dynasty, Kuang had belonged to the flourishing assembly of Xinghuang Monastery; when the Dharma selections were made, his spiritual faculties were frequently stirred. After the Master of the Law died, [Kuang] travelled widely to learn and observe. The dhyāna assembly of Changgan Monastery and Master Sengbu of Qixia Monastery both looked up to him as a model and directly received his remaining teachings. Therefore, the Four Sūtras and Three Treatises were held in highest esteem east of the Yangtze River. Yibao reverently exhausted his efforts at the doctrinal seat, freely applying his intellect to sift and select. When the young talents of various quarters were about to take up different transmissions, Kuang also encouraged Yibao to perform the rite of passing on the lamp, to which he consented. He transmitted the scriptures and expounded the treatises for more than thirty years, his glorious renown spreading through the Five Lakes and his fame resounding across the Three Adjunct Regions. He often considered that the supreme teachings of the Mahāyāna originally emerged south of the Wei River, but when the Central Plains fell into turbulence, they flourished in Yang and Yue; alas, the purest flavor could not but suffer dilution and drift. Later, he resided at Fachuang Monastery on Jinhua Mountain in Dongyang, tirelessly propagating the Way and sitting in self-forgetfulness all day long. When Cien Monastery applied to search out and gather eminent talents, the capital caught wind of his reputation and presented the matter to the throne. An imperial decree summoned him, thus matching his former aspiration. He then entered the imperial court. At that time, Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang, who was translating the scriptures, held high authority, expounding and disseminating the Dharma before the throne. Bearing thoughts of profound inquiry to dispel perplexities, once [Yibao] arrived, Xuanzang agreed with his profound grasp of principles. Xuanzang questioned him on the Mahāyāna sūtras and treatises, and there was nothing he did not master. Later scholars of the Tang dynasty mostly prioritized nominal designations and physical entities, obsessively adhering to them until it became second nature, like gluing the frets of a zither or waiting by a tree stump. How could one untangle the net to reveal the dark luminosity? Xuanzang requested him to lecture ten times on the school he had studied, ordering all the lineages and ranks to go and take refuge in his instruction. When he first unfolded the grand tenets at Cien Monastery, both existence and emptiness were dispelled, and medicine and disease were eradicated together. There were those who, puffed up with pride and glaring arrogantly, raised disordered questions. Yibao guided them by the reins, untied their knots, and swept away their spiritual weariness, rebuking them with the three openings and investigating their five propositions. Carefully summing up the text and its meaning, he unified and outlined enlightenment and delusion. Sūtras are difficult while treatises are easy; he lamented the common people's perverse delusion. When treatises explain profound scriptures, he instructed that modern understanding differed from the ancient. Therefore, every day before taking his seat, he would first chant the sacred scriptures, and only in the second half of the lecture would he elucidate the treatises of the sages. At that time, outstanding men all took part at the head of the assembly, marveling at his lofty and extraordinary brilliance, and submitting to the sharpness of his eloquence. Chancellors and high officials looked up to his virtuous voice, lingering in conversation with him and sending him gifts without cease. In the winter of the third year of Xianqing, during the sacrifice for snow, a merit arena was set up within the palace, and an imperial decree summoned him inside to debate doctrines with Daoist priests of Dongming Abbey. There was a Daoist named Li Rong, who posited the doctrine of the 'Root Boundary' (benji). Yibao asked: "Since your doctrine posits the Root Boundary, is the Dao rooted in the Boundary, or is the Boundary rooted in the Dao?" Li Rong replied: "Both are mutually valid." Yibao asked again: "If the Dao is rooted in the Boundary, then the Boundary is the root of the Dao; can it also be that the Boundary is rooted in the Dao, and the Dao is the source of the Boundary?" Li Rong replied that this was also acceptable. Yibao pressed further: "If the Dao and the Root Boundary are mutually valid in this reverse manner, can Nature (ziran) and the Dao also mutually emulate each other?" Li Rong said: "The Dao emulates Nature, but Nature does not emulate the Dao." Yibao pressed again: "If the Dao emulates Nature, but Nature does not emulate the Dao, then can it also be that the Dao is rooted in the Root Boundary, while the Root Boundary is not rooted in the Dao?" Being thus refuted, Li Rong could not reply. He scoffed recklessly: "Since you call me 'Mister' (xiansheng, 'born before'), then you become my disciple." Yibao said: "In debate before the Sage Emperor, one clarifies the correct and the deviant to inform the imperial mind. To banter like grass-cutters fouls the celestial hearing. Nonetheless, no word goes unanswered, so I shall respond briefly: I am a disciple of the Buddha because I serve the Buddha as my master. Since you call yourself 'Mister' (xiansheng), you must have been born before (xian sheng) the Dao. If so, then you are the ancestor of the Dao!" At that, Li Rong grew embarrassed and had no answer, whereupon he stepped down from his seat.