續高僧傳 21.20

21.20

釋慧光。姓楊氏。定州盧人也。年十三隨父入洛。四月八日往佛陀禪師所從受三歸。陀異其眼光外射如焰。深惟必有奇操也。苦邀留之且令誦經。光執卷覽文曾若昔習。旁通博義窮諸幽理。兼以劇談譎詭態新奇。變動物情時談逸口。至夏末度而出家。所習經誥便為人說。辭既清靡理亦高華。時人號之聖沙彌也。因獲利養受而還施。師為掌之尋用復盡。佛陀曰。此誠大士之行也。便縱而不禁。諮請教誡敬而異之。然其雅量弘方不拘小節。讚毀得失聲色不渝。眾益器之。而美其遠度。陀曰。此沙彌非常人也。若受大戒宜先聽律。律是慧基。非智不奉。若初依經論必輕戒網。邪見滅法障道之元。由是因循多授律檢。先是四分未廣宣通。有道覆律師。創開此部。製疏六卷。但是科文。至於提舉宏宗。無聞於世。故光之所學惟據口傳。及年登冠肇。學行略周。甞聞言不通華發戒便阻。乃往本鄉進受具足。博聽律部隨文奉行。四夏將登講僧祇律。初以唱高和寡。詞理精玄漸染津流。未遂聽徒雲合。光知學功之所致也。義須廣周群部。乃從辯公參學經論。聽說之美聲颺趙都。後入洛京搜揚新異。南北音字通貫幽微。悉為心計之勞。事須文記。乃方事紙筆綴述所聞。兼以意量。參互銷釋。陀以他日密覩文言。乃呼而告曰。吾之度子。望傳果向於心耳。何乃區區方事世語乎。今觀神器已成。可為高明法師矣。道務非子分也。如何自累。因而流涕。會佛陀任少林寺主。勒那初譯十地。至後合翻。事在別傳。光時預霑其席。以素習方言通其兩諍。取捨由悟綱領存焉。自此地論流傳命章開釋。四分一部草創基茲。其華嚴涅槃維摩十地地持等。並疏其奧旨而弘演導。然文存風骨頗略章句故千載仰其清規。眾師奉為宗轄矣。司徒高傲曹僕射高隆之。及朝臣司馬令狐子儒等。齊代名賢重之如聖。甞遇亢旱。眾以聞光。乃就嵩岳池邊燒香請雨。尋即流霔原隰。民皆利之。又爾朱氏舉兵北伐。徵稅僧尼用充軍實。先立嚴刑。敢諫者斬。時光任僧官。顧五眾屯塞。以命直往語世隆曰。若當行此稅。國事不存。言既克明事亦遂免。其感致幽顯為若此也。初在京洛任國僧都。後召入鄴綏緝有功。轉為國統。將終前日。乘車向曹。行出寺門。屋脊自裂即坐判事。塊落筆前尋視無從。知及終相。因斯乖悆。四旬有餘。奄化於鄴城大覺寺。春秋七十矣。光常願生佛境。而不定方隅。及氣將欲絕。大見天宮來下。遂乃投誠安養。溘從斯卒。自光立志貞靜堅存戒業。動止安詳衣裳附帖。晝夜存道。財無盈尺之貯。滌除便穢。誓以報盡為期。偏重行宗四儀無妄。其法潔己獨立。七眾深崇其操。自正道東指。弘匠於世。則以道安為言初。緇素革風廣位聲教。則慧光抑其次矣。凡所撰勝鬘遺教溫室仁王般若等。皆有注釋。又再造四分律疏百二十紙。後代引之為義節。并羯磨戒本咸加刪定。被於法侶今咸誦之。又著玄宗論大乘義律義章仁王七誡及僧制十八條。並文旨清肅見重時世。學士道雲。早依師稟。奉光遺令專弘律部。造疏九卷為眾所先。成匠極多流衍彌遠。加以威容嚴肅動止有儀。談吐慈和言行相檢。又光門人道暉者。連衡雲席。情智傲岸不守方隅。略雲所製以為七卷。間以意會。揵度推焉。故諺云。雲公頭。暉公尾。洪理中間著。所以是也。並存亡有緒嘉績莫尋。可為悲哉。時光諸學士翹頴如林。眾所推仰者十人。揀選行解入室惟九。有儒生憑袞。光乃將入數中。袞本冀人。通解經史。被貢入臺用擬觀國。私自惟曰。玄素兩教頗曾懷抱。至於釋宗生未信重。試往候光欲論名理。正值上講因而就聽。矚其威容聆其清辯。文句所指遣滯為先。即坐盡虔傷聞其晚。頓足稽顙畢命歸依。然攻擊病源。深明要害。我為有本。偏所長驅。每有名勝道俗。來資法藥。袞隨病立治。信者銜泣。故其言曰。諸行者不得信此。無明昏心覓長覓短。聽經學問嚴飾我心。須識詐賊覓他道惡。不求其長則吾我漸歇。特須分疎勿迷自他。我過常起熾然法界。他道少過便即瞋他。常須看心自臣多過。若思量者雖在世間。無有滋味終無歡心。以未喪我何由有樂。此心將我上至非想。還下地獄。常誘誑我。如怨家。如愛奴。豈可學問長養賊心。巧作細作。使覓名利造疽妬也。故經云。當為心師不師於心。八歲能誦百歲不行。不救急也。時有私寫其言者。世號捧心論焉。亦有懷本於胸逢境終忘者。無勤勵故耳。袞在光門低頭斂氣。常供厨隷日營飯粥。奉僧既了。蕩滌凝澱溫煮自資。微有香美便留後供。夜宿竈前取蒿一束。半以藉背半以坐之。明相纔動粥便以熟。無問陰晴此事常爾。午後擔食送彼獄囚。往還所經識者開路。或至綢人廣眾。率先供給。若水若火若掃若帚。隨其要務莫不預焉。口隨說法初不告倦。遂卒光門。

Shi Huiguang, whose secular surname was Yang, was a native of Lu in Dingzhou. At the age of thirteen, he accompanied his father into Luoyang. On the eighth day of the fourth month, he went to Dhyāna Master Fotuo, from whom he received the three refuges. Fotuo was astonished that his gaze radiated outward like a flame, and reflected deeply that he would certainly possess extraordinary integrity. He earnestly invited him to stay and bade him recite scriptures. Guang held the scroll and perused the text as though he had practiced it of old; he broadly comprehended the expansive purports and fathomed all the profound principles, while also engaging in clever, dramatic discourse with novel and wondrous postures. Exciting the emotions of all, he was famed in the discussions of the day for his untrammeled eloquence. At the end of the summer, he was ordained into the monastic life (pravrajyā). What he learned from the scriptures and edicts, he immediately expounded for others; his diction was both lucid and elegant, and his principles were lofty and magnificent. People of the time called him the 'Holy Śrāmaṇera'. When he received material offerings, he took them and gave them away in return; his master managed them for him, but soon they were completely expended. Fotuo said: 'This is truly the practice of a Great Being (mahāsattva).' He then gave him free rein without restriction, consulted him on teachings and admonitions, and revered him as an extraordinary talent. Yet his refined capacity was vast and magnanimous, not bound by petty details; through praise, blame, gain, and loss, neither his voice nor his countenance ever changed. The community valued his talent all the more and admired his farsighted breadth of mind. Fotuo said: 'This novice is no ordinary man. When receiving the full precepts, he should first listen to the Vinaya. The Vinaya is the foundation of wisdom; without wisdom, it cannot be upheld. If he initially relies on the sūtras and treatises, he will surely take lightly the net of the precepts, which is the root of heterodox views, the destruction of the Dharma, and the obstruction of the Way.' For this reason, he continuously imparted the Vinaya regulations to him. Prior to this, the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü) had not yet been widely promulgated. There was Vinaya Master Daofu, who had pioneered this tradition and composed a six-fascicle commentary, yet it was merely a thematic breakdown; regarding the raising and promoting of its grand tenets, it was unrenowned in the world. Thus, what Guang studied was based solely on oral transmission. When he reached the age of capping (twenty) and his study and practice were roughly complete, he had heard it said that if one does not comprehend Chinese pronunciation, receiving the precepts would be hindered; he thereupon went to his home commandery to receive full ordination. He broadly listened to the Vinaya corpus and practiced in accordance with the text. Entering his fourth rains-retreat (varṣā), he was about to lecture on the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya. At first, because his standard was lofty and few could match it, though the phrasing and principles were refined and subtle, moistening and spreading only gradually, an audience did not yet gather like clouds. Guang knew that this was due to the limitation of his scholarly practice, and that he needed to encompass the various collections comprehensively; he then attended the lectures of Venerable Bian to study sūtras and treatises. The fame of his fine listening and exposition resounded through the capital of Zhao. Later he entered the capital of Luoyang to search out and promote what was new and extraordinary; he fully mastered the phonetic and written subtleties of the North and the South, undertaking all of this mental labor, and since the matter required written records, he then took up paper and brush to weave together what he had heard, also evaluating it with his own intellect and collating and resolving the texts. Later, Fotuo secretly observed his written words, whereupon he called him and said: 'When I ordained you, I hoped you would transmit the fruit towards the mind. Why have you devoted yourself to petty worldly words? Seeing your grand vessel now complete, you can become an eminent and brilliant Dharma master. Practical administrative affairs of the Way are not your calling; why burden yourself?' He then wept. At that time, Fotuo served as the abbot of Shaolin Monastery, and Ratnamati had just translated the Daśabhūmika Sūtra; later, they combined the translations, the events of which are found in a separate biography. Guang was privileged to participate in the assembly; having long mastered the regional dialects, he mediated their dual disputes, his discernment being grounded in genuine awakening, while preserving the essential principles. From this time, the transmission of the Treatise on the Ten Stages (Shidi jing lun) was inaugurated with explanatory commentaries, and the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya corpus laid its initial foundations here. For the Avataṃsaka, Nirvāṇa, Vimalakīrti, Daśabhūmika, Bodhisattvabhūmi, and other texts, he commented on their profound imports and widely propagated and guided others in them. Yet his writing preserved vital spirit while somewhat dispensing with pedantic phrases, so that for a thousand years posterity has revered his clear model, and various masters venerated him as their authority. Situ Gao Ao-cao, Right Pushe Gao Longzhi, as well as the court officials Sima, Linghu Ziru, and others—renowned worthies of the Qi dynasty—revered him as a sage. Once encountering a severe drought, the crowd reported it to Guang; he then went to the edge of the pond on Mount Song, burned incense, and prayed for rain, whereupon torrential rains instantly soaked the plains and lowlands, bringing benefit to all the people. Furthermore, when the Erzhu clan raised troops to campaign in the north, they levied taxes on monks and nuns to supply military provisions, first establishing severe punishments such that whoever dared to remonstrate would be beheaded. At that time, Guang served as a monastic official (sengguan); seeing the five assemblies trapped and constrained, he risked his life and went directly to tell [Erzhu] Shilong: 'If you enforce this tax, the affairs of the state will not endure.' His words having been clearly understood, the tax was accordingly remitted. Such was his spiritual efficacy affecting both the hidden and visible realms. Initially in the capital Luoyang, he served as the National Controller of Monks (guosengdu); later he was summoned into Ye, where he had merit in soothing and regulating the saṅgha, and was transferred to become the National Director (guotong). On the day before his demise, he rode in a carriage toward the government office; as he stepped out of the monastery gate, the roof ridge split of its own accord. Just as he sat down to judge matters, a clod of earth fell before his brush, and upon looking up, its origin could not be found. He knew the signs of death had arrived, and fell ill because of this. After more than forty days, he suddenly passed away at Dajue Monastery in the city of Ye, at the age of seventy. Guang had always vowed to be born in a Buddha-realm without fixing on a specific direction. When his breath was about to cease, he saw heavenly palaces descending, whereupon he cast his sincere devotion toward Sukhāvatī, and passed away shortly thereafter. From the beginning, Guang established his resolve in steadfast purity, firmly upholding the precepts; his demeanor was peaceful and measured, his robes neatly arranged. Day and night he focused on the Way, storing not even an extra foot of wealth; he washed away bodily filth, vowing to do so until his karmic retribution was exhausted. He placed special emphasis on the doctrinal lineages of practice, never failing in the four modes of deportment. His method was to keep himself pure and stand independent; the seven assemblies deeply revered his conduct. Since the True Way pointed eastward and great masters emerged in the world, Dao'an was the very first; but in transforming the customs of the monastic and lay, and widely elevating the voice of the teachings, Huiguang was second only to him. All his commentaries—such as on the Śrīmālādevī, the Bequeathed Teachings, the Bathhouse, and the Benevolent King Prajñā—contain annotations. He also re-authored a commentary on the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya in one hundred and twenty sheets of paper, which later generations cited as the 'Essentials of the Meaning'; both the karmavācanā and the prātimokṣa were abridged and fixed by him, disseminated among the Dharma companions, and recited by all today. He also authored the Treatise on the Mysterious Tenets (Xuanzong lun), the Exposition of the Meaning of the Mahāyāna Vinaya (Dacheng yilü yizhang), the Seven Admonitions of the Benevolent King (Renwang qijie), and Eighteen Articles of Monastic Regulations (Sengzhi shiba tiao), all of whose style was refined and solemn, highly esteemed by the world. His disciple Daoyun early on relied on his master's instructions; obeying Guang's final injunction, he exclusively propagated the Vinaya, composing a nine-fascicle commentary that was foremost among the assembly, training numerous masters and spreading it ever further. Furthermore, his dignified bearing was solemn, his conduct decorous, his conversation compassionate and gentle, and his words and deeds kept each other in check. Another of Guang's disciples, Daohui, matched Yun's standing; his intellectual temper was proud and loftily aloof, unconfined by conventional boundaries. He abridged what Yun had composed to make seven fascicles, occasionally interpolating his own intuitive insights, in which the skandhakas were deduced. Therefore, the proverb said: 'Master Yun provides the head, Master Hui the tail, and Hongli puts it into the middle'—this was indeed the reason. The transmissions of both had their sequence, but their fine accomplishments can no longer be traced—how lamentable! At that time, Guang's disciples were eminent like a forest; those whom the crowd esteemed numbered ten, but those chosen for their practice and understanding to enter the inner chamber were only nine. There was a Confucian scholar, Feng Gun, whom Guang included among the number. Gun was originally a native of Ji; well versed in the classics and histories, he was recommended and entered the ministerial office in order to observe the affairs of state. He reflected privately: 'I have somewhat harbored both the profound (Daoist) and pristine (Confucian) teachings, but as for the Buddhist school, I have never in my life believed or respected it. I shall try to visit Guang to discuss nominal principles.' Just as he arrived, Guang was mounting the lecture seat, so Gun listened; gazing upon his dignified appearance and hearing his lucid eloquence, wherein the direction of phrases prioritized removing attachments, Gun sat there entirely devoted, lamenting that he had heard it so late. Stamping his feet and prostrating his head, he took refuge with his whole life. In attacking the source of delusion, Guang thoroughly illuminated the vital points: 'The self is the root of existence, which is where passions run wild.' Whenever prominent monks or laymen came to seek the Dharma medicine, Gun prescribed remedies according to the illness, and those who believed were moved to tears. Thus he said: 'Practitioners must not trust this ignorant and dark mind, seeking advantages and disadvantages, listening to scriptures and studying to adorn our own self-mind. One must recognize the deceptive thief that searches out the faults of others' paths; if one does not seek one's own superiority, then this self will gradually abate. One must especially differentiate and clarify, and not be confused about self and other. My own faults constantly arise, blazing across the dharmadhātu; yet at the slightest fault in another's path, one immediately gets angry at them. One must constantly examine the mind, humbling oneself over one's many faults. If one reflects, although in the world, there is no flavor and ultimately no joy; since the self has not yet been extinguished, how could there be happiness? This mind leads me upward as far as the Sphere of Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception, and sends me back down into hell. It constantly entices and deceives me, like an enemy, like a doting slave. How can one study and learn only to nourish this thief-mind, craftily acting with subtlety, causing one to pursue fame and profit, and creating the ulcer of jealousy? Therefore the scripture says: 'One should be the master of the mind, not make the mind one's master.' To be able to recite at eight years old, but fail to practice at a hundred, will not rescue one in emergency.' At that time, some privately transcribed his words, which the world called the Treatise on Clutching the Heart (Bengxin lun). There were also those who carried the text in their bosoms, yet when encountering circumstances completely forgot it, simply because they lacked diligent exertion. Gun lowered his head and held his breath in Guang's gate, constantly serving as a kitchen laborer, daily preparing meals and congee. After serving the monks, he washed the congealed residues and boiled them warm to sustain himself; if there was any slight fragrance or delicious taste, he saved it for future offerings. At night, he slept before the hearth, taking a bundle of mugwort, using half to pad his back and half to sit upon. As soon as the light of dawn moved, the congee was already cooked; regardless of rain or shine, this was always the case. In the afternoon, he carried food on a pole to deliver to prisoners in the jail; on his trips back and forth, those who recognized him made way. When coming upon crowds of people, he took the lead in providing service—be it water, fire, sweeping, or broom, he took part in whatever urgent duties there were. His mouth constantly expounded the Dharma, never complaining of fatigue. He finally passed away at Guang's gate.