續高僧傳 20.25

20.25

釋道綽。姓衛。并州汶水人。弱齡處俗。閭里以恭讓知名。十四出家宗師經誥。大涅槃部偏所弘傳。講二十四遍。晚事瓚禪師。修涉空理亟沾徽績。瓚清約雅素慧悟開天。道振朔方升名晉土。綽稟服神味彌積歲時。承昔鸞師淨土諸業。便甄簡權實搜酌經論。會之通衢布以成化。克念緣數想觀幽明。故得靈相潛儀有情欣敬。恒在汶水石壁谷玄中寺。寺即齊時曇鸞法師之所立也。中有鸞碑具陳嘉瑞事如別傳。綽般舟方等歲序常弘。九品十觀分時紹務。嘗於行道際。有僧念定之中見綽緣佛。珠數相量如七寶大山。又覩西方靈相繁縟難陳。由此盛德日增榮譽遠。及道俗子女赴者彌山。恒講無量壽觀。將二百遍。導悟自他用為資神之宅也。詞既明詣說其適緣。比事引喻聽無遺抱。人各掐珠口同佛號。每時散席響彌林谷。或邪見不信欲相抗毀者。及覩綽之相善。飲氣而歸。其道感物情為若此也。曾以貞觀二年四月八日。綽知命將盡通告事相。聞而赴者滿于山寺。咸見鸞師在七寶船上。告綽云。汝淨土堂成。但餘報未盡耳。並見化佛住空天華下散。男女等以裙襟承得。薄滑可愛。又以蓮花乾地而插者七日乃萎。及餘善相不可殫紀。自非行感備通。詎能會此乎。年登七十忽然齓齒新生。如本全無歷異加以報力。休健容色盛發。談述淨業理味奔流。詞吐包蘊氣霑醇醴。并勸人念彌陀佛名。或用麻豆等物而為數量。每一稱名便度一粒。如是率之乃積數百萬斛者。並以事邀結。令攝慮靜緣。道俗響其綏導。望風而成習矣。又年常自業穿諸木欒子以為數法。遺諸四眾教其稱念。屢呈禎瑞具敘行圖。著淨土論兩卷。統談龍樹天親。邇及僧鸞慧遠。並遵崇淨土明示昌言。文旨該要詳諸化範。傳燈㝢縣歲積彌新。傳者重其陶鎣風神研精學觀。故又述其行相。自綽宗淨業。坐常面西。晨宵一服鮮潔為體。儀貌充偉并部推焉。顧瞬風生舒顏引接。六時篤敬初不缺行。接唱承拜生來弗絕。纔有餘暇口誦佛名。日以七萬為限。聲聲相注弘於淨業。故得鎔鑄有識師訓觀門。西行廣流斯其人矣。沙門道撫名勝之僧。京寺弘福逃名往赴。既達玄中同其行業。宣通淨土所在彌增。今有惰夫口傳攝論。惟心不念緣境又乖。用此招生恐難繼相。綽今年八十有四。而神氣明爽。宗紹存焉。

Śramaṇa Daochuo, surnamed Wei, was a native of Wenshui in Bingzhou. In his youth, while living as a layman, he was known throughout his village for his deference and modesty. At the age of fourteen, he underwent pravrajyā, taking the scriptural teachings as his authority. He especially propagated the Mahāparinirvāṇa section, lecturing on it twenty-four times. Later, he served Dhyāna Master Zan, cultivating and entering into the principle of emptiness, repeatedly attaining fine achievements. Zan was pure, austere, refined, and simple; his wisdom and awakening opened the heavens. His Way shook the northern regions, and his fame rose throughout the land of Jin. Daochuo received and imbibed this spiritual flavor, accumulating it over many months and years. Inheriting the various Pure Land practices of Master [Tan]luan of the past, he then discerned between the provisional and the real, searching through and deliberating on the sūtras and treatises. Bringing them together into an open highway, he spread them to effect transformation. Applying mindfulness to the count of recitations, he contemplated the unseen and the manifest; thus, he obtained miraculous signs and hidden models, so that sentient beings rejoiced and revered him. He constantly resided at Xuanzhong Monastery in Shibigu, Wenshui, which had been founded in the Qi period by Dharma Master Tanluan. Inside, there was Tanluan's stele fully recounting auspicious omens, the details of which are in his separate biography. Daochuo constantly propagated the pratyutpanna and vaipulya throughout the seasons, allocating the periods to carry forward the practices of the nine grades and ten contemplations. Once, during a circumambulation, a monk in meditative mindfulness saw Daochuo mindful of the Buddha, with the count of his beads piling up like a great mountain of the seven jewels. He also beheld miraculous signs of the Western Direction, so abundant and intricate that they were difficult to describe. From this, his abundant virtue increased daily and his renown reached far, such that monastics and laypeople, men and women, came flocking in crowds covering the mountain. He constantly lectured on the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life Sūtra, nearly two hundred times, guiding and awakening himself and others, using it as an abode to nourish the spirit. His words were clear and precise, spoken to accord with conditions; comparing matters and drawing analogies, those who heard were left without lingering doubts. Each person pinched their beads, their mouths chanting the Buddha's name in unison; whenever the assembly dispersed, the sound filled the forests and valleys. When some of wrong views who did not believe wished to oppose and slander him, upon seeing Daochuo's benevolent appearance, they swallowed their indignation and returned home. Such was the way his spiritual path moved the hearts of beings! Once, on the eighth day of the fourth month in the second year of Zhenguan, Daochuo knew his life was about to end and announced the circumstances. Those who heard and came filled the mountain monastery. All saw Master Luan on a ship of the seven jewels, who told Daochuo: 'Your Pure Land hall is completed; it is only that your remaining karmic retribution is not yet exhausted.' They also saw transformed Buddhas abiding in the sky and heavenly flowers scattering down; men, women, and others caught them in their lapels and skirts, finding them delicate, smooth, and lovely. Moreover, lotus flowers were stuck into the dry ground and did not wither for seven days. Such other auspicious signs could not be fully recorded. Were it not that the resonance of his practice fully pervaded, how could he have encountered this? When he reached the age of seventy, suddenly baby teeth grew anew, entirely unlike his ordinary state, and through the power of his retribution, his health was robust and his complexion flourished. When he discussed the Pure Land practices, the flavor of the principle flowed forth; his words were profound and rich, his breath like mellow wine. He also encouraged people to be mindful of the name of Amitābha Buddha, sometimes using items such as hemp seeds or beans to count the number: each time they called the name, they moved one grain. Aggregated in this way, they accumulated hundreds of thousands of bushels. In all cases, he bound them through concrete practice, causing them to gather their thoughts and quiet conditions. Monastics and laypeople responded to his gentle guidance, following his example until it became customary. Furthermore, as his own regular practice throughout the year, he strung together beads of the soapberry tree to serve as a method of counting, leaving them to the four assemblies and teaching them to recite the name. Repeatedly presenting auspicious omens, he fully recounted diagrams of practice. He composed the two-scroll Treatise on the Pure Land (Jingtu lun), in which he comprehensively discussed Nāgārjuna and Vasubandhu, and, closer to his time, Seng Luan and Huiyuan, all of whom revered the Pure Land and openly proclaimed it. The meaning of the text was comprehensive and essential, detailing all models of transformation. Transmitting the lamp across the realm, it grew ever newer with the passing of years. Biographers value the way he refined his spiritual demeanor and pursued studies and contemplation with devotion; hence, they also recount the features of his practice. Ever since Daochuo took the Pure Land practice as his fundamental aim, he always sat facing west. Morning and night he wore a single robe, maintaining pristine purity in his person. His deportment was imposing and grand, esteemed by all in Bingzhou. At a single glance or blink, a breeze seemed to arise; with a relaxed expression, he received and welcomed others. In the six periods of the day, his earnest reverence never lapsed in practice; his intoning and bowing continued without cessation throughout his life. As soon as he had a spare moment, his mouth recited the Buddha's name, setting a limit of seventy thousand times a day. Sound following upon sound, he propagated the Pure Land practice. Thus, he was able to mold and guide conscious beings, acting as a master instructing the gate of contemplation; he was indeed the man who caused the Western Path to spread widely. Śramaṇa Daofu, a monk of celebrated virtue, fled renown from Hongfu Monastery in the capital and went to him; upon reaching Xuanzhong, he joined in his practice, and the propagation of the Pure Land increased wherever they were. Nowadays, there are lazy fellows who orally transmit the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, speaking only of mind without being mindful, while their conditions and objects of focus go astray; using this to generate life, I fear it will be hard to follow in their footsteps. Daochuo is eighty-four years old this year, yet his spirit is bright and clear, and the succession of his lineage endures.