續高僧傳 20.50

20.50

釋曇倫。姓孫氏。汴州浚儀人。十三出家住修福寺依端禪師。然端學次第觀。便誡倫曰。汝繫心鼻端。可得靜也。倫曰。若見有心可繫鼻端。本來不見心相。不知何所繫也。咸怪其言。嗟其近學如何遠悟。故在眾末禮悔之時隨即入定。大眾彈指心恒加敬。後送鉢上堂。未至中路卓然入定。持鉢不傾。師大深賞。異時告曰。令汝學坐先淨昏情猶如剝葱。一一重重剝却然後得淨。倫曰。若見有葱可有剝削。本來無葱何所剝也。師曰。此大根大莖非吾所及。不敢役使。進具已後讀經禮佛都所不為。但閉房不出。行住坐臥唯離念心以終其志。次知直歲。守護僧物約勒家人曰。犬有別食莫與僧粥。家人以為常事。不用倫言。犬乃於前嘔出僧粥。倫默不及之。後又語令莫以僧粥與犬。家人還妄答云。不與。群犬相將於僧前吐出粥以示之。於時道俗咸伏其敬慎。又有義學論士諍來問者。隨言即遣無所罣礙。仁壽二年獻后亡背。興造禪室召而處之。還即揜關依舊習業。時人目之為臥倫也有興善粲法師者。三國論首無學。不長。怪倫臥禪言問清遠。遂入房與語探究是非。倫笑曰。隨意相審遂三日三夕法樂不眠。倫述般若無底空華焰水無依無主不立正邪本性清淨。粲乃投地敬之讚歎。心路無滯。不思議乃如此也。倫在京師。道俗請者相續。而機緣不一悟迷亦多。雖善巧方便令其醒悟。然各自執見見我為是。故此妙理罕得廣流。有玄琬律師靜琳法師。率門人僧伽淨等往來受法。如此眾矣如魚子焉武德末年疾甚。於莊嚴寺傍看寂然。有問往生何處。答無盡世界。又便寂然。僧伽以手尋其冷觸。私報人曰。冷觸到膝四大分離亦應生苦。倫曰。此苦亦空。問曰。捨報云何。報曰。我主四大鬪在已到屈膝死後籧篨裹棄之莫作餘事。又曰。打五更鐘未。報曰未少時維那打鐘。看之已絕。年八十餘矣。諸門學等依言送於南山。露骸散於中野。有鮑居士者名慈氏。弱年背俗愛樂禪觀。生不妻娶形無飾華。親承德音調心養氣守閑抱。素承倫餘業五十餘。年七十五矣。

Shi Tanlun had the secular surname Sun and was a native of Junyi in Bianzhou. At age thirteen he underwent pravrajyā and stayed at Xiufu Temple, relying upon Dhyāna Master Duan. Now, Master Duan studied the progressive contemplations, and so he admonished Tanlun: "If you tether your mind to the tip of your nose, you can attain tranquility." Tanlun replied: "If there were a mind seen that could be tethered to the tip of the nose, [that would be fine]; but fundamentally no mark of mind is seen, so I know not what to tether." Everyone was astonished at his words, marveling at how a beginner could attain such profound realization. Therefore, when he was at the back of the assembly prostrating and repenting, he would immediately enter samādhi. The assembly snapped their fingers and constantly showed him increasing reverence. Later, when carrying his bowl up into the hall, before reaching halfway, he entered samādhi with an upright posture, holding the bowl without spilling it. His master esteemed him deeply. At another time, he said to Tanlun: "To teach you to practice dhyāna sitting, you must first cleanse turbid emotions, just like peeling an onion: peel layer after layer, and only then will purity be attained." Tanlun said: "If an onion is seen, there may be peeling and stripping. But fundamentally there is no onion, so what is there to peel?" The master said: "This great root and great stalk are beyond my reach; I dare not employ you in chores." After receiving full ordination, he did not read scriptures or worship the Buddha at all. He simply closed his room and did not go out. Walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, he devoted himself solely to the mind free from thoughts to fulfill his aim. Later, he served as the overseer of the annual monastic supplies. Protecting the Sangha's goods, he instructed the servants: "The dogs have separate food; do not give them the monks' gruel." The servants took this lightly and disregarded Tanlun's words. A dog then vomited up the monks' gruel right before him; Tanlun remained silent and did not reprimand them. Later, he again instructed them not to feed the monks' gruel to the dogs. The servants falsely replied again: "We do not give it." A pack of dogs then led one another to the presence of the monks and vomited up the gruel to show them. Thereupon, clerics and laity alike submitted in reverence to his meticulous caution. When doctrinal scholars came in debate to question him, he dispersed their arguments along with their words, without any obstruction. In the second year of Renshou, Empress Xian passed away; a dhyāna chamber was built, and he was summoned to dwell there. Upon returning, he immediately closed his door and practiced as of old. People of the time called him "Lying Lun." There was Dharma Master Can of Xingshan Temple, who was the foremost scholar of the three countries, with no learning he had not mastered. Astonished by Tanlun's "reclining dhyāna," and noting that his words and inquiries were pure and lofty, he entered his room to speak with him and probe the right and wrong of his views. Tanlun smiled and said: "Examine as you please." Thereupon, for three days and three nights they took joy in the Dharma without sleeping. Tanlun expounded the bottomless prajñā, that empty flowers and mirage waters have no reliance and no master, establish neither orthodox nor heterodox, and are fundamentally pure by nature. Can then threw himself to the ground in reverence, praising him: "His mental path has no stagnation; his incomprehensibility is indeed like this!" When Tanlun was in the capital, clerics and laity seeking him came continuously. Yet their capacities were not uniform, and those who were enlightened or confused were numerous. Though he skillfully used expedient means to awaken them, they each clung to their own views and considered their own selves to be right; thus this profound principle was rarely spread widely. Vinaya Master Xuanwan and Dharma Master Jinglin led their disciples, Saṅghajing and others, to come and go receiving his teaching. The crowd was as numerous as fish roe. At the end of the Wude era, he became severely ill. Observed beside Dazhuangyan Temple, he was completely serene. Someone asked where he would be reborn, and he replied: "In the inexhaustible worlds." Then he became serene again. Saṅgha felt his body for coldness with his hand, and privately told others: "The cold touch has reached his knees. The separation of the four great elements must also produce suffering." Tanlun said: "This suffering is also empty." One asked: "How will you discard this retribution [body]?" He replied: "The four great elements of which I am host have fought until they have now reached my knees. After my death, wrap me in a bamboo mat and discard me; do not do anything else." He also asked: "Has the fifth watch bell been struck yet?" They replied: "Not yet." Shortly thereafter, the karmadāna struck the bell; when they looked at him, he was already dead, at an age over eighty. The disciples of his school, following his words, sent him to the Southern Mountains and dispersed his exposed remains in the wild plains. There was a layman named Bao Cishi, who in his youth abandoned worldly life and delighted in dhyāna contemplation. Throughout his life he never married, and his body was without ornaments. Personally receiving [Tanlun's] virtuous words, he regulated his mind, nourished his qi, kept to secluded retirement, embraced simplicity, and carried on Tanlun's remaining enterprise for over fifty years; he was seventy-five years old.