續高僧傳 25.151

25.151

釋法沖。字孝敦。姓李氏。隴西成紀人。父祖歷仕魏齊故。又生於兗部。沖幼而秀異傲岸時俗。弱冠與僕射房玄齡善。相謂曰。丈夫年不登五品者。則共不仕。為逸人矣。冲年二十四。果為鷹揚郎將。遭母憂讀涅槃經。見居家迫迮之文。遂發出家心。聽涅槃三十餘遍。又至安州暠法師下。聽大品三論楞伽經。即入武都山修業。年三十行至冀州。貞觀初年。下勅有私度者處以極刑。沖誓亡身便即剃落。時嶧陽山多有逃僧避難資給告窮。便造詣州宰曰。如有死事沖身當之。但施道糧。終獲福祐。守宰等嘉其烈亮。昌網周濟。乃分僧兩處。各置米倉可十斛許。一所徒眾四十餘人純學大乘并修禪業。經年食米如本不減。一所有五六十人纔經兩日。食米便盡。由不修禪兼作外學。沖告曰。不足怪也。能行道者。白毫之惠耳。蓋利由道感。還供道眾。行殊道業理固屢空。于時逃難轉多。復弊霖雨。無處投止。山有大巖。猛獸所居。沖往詣巖穴。告曰。今窮客相投可見容不。虎乃相携而去。遂咸依之。仍聽華嚴等經及難解。重至安州。有道士蔡子晃者。閑習內外欵狎僧倫。道俗盛集僧寺。乃令晃開佛經。沖曰。汝形同外道。邪述纏懷。苟講佛經終歸名利。我道俗無名要惟釋子身既在此畢不得行。早可識機無悔於後。晃聞默然逡巡而退。爾時大眾歎曰。護法菩薩斯其人哉。沖以楞伽奧典沈淪日久。所在追訪無憚夷險。會可師後裔盛習此經。即依師學。屢擊大節。便捨徒眾任沖轉教。即相續講三十餘遍。又遇可師親傳授者。依南天竺一乘宗講之。又得百遍。其經本是宋代求那跋陀羅三藏翻。慧觀法師筆受。故其文理克諧行質相貫。專唯念惠不在話言。於後達磨禪師傳之南北。忘言忘念無得正觀為宗。後行中原。惠可禪師創得綱紐。魏境文學多不齒之。領宗得意者時能啟悟。今以人代轉遠紕繆後學。可公別傳略以詳之。今敘師承以為承嗣。所學歷然有據。達磨禪師後。有惠可惠育二人。育師受道心行口未曾說。可禪師後。粲禪師。惠禪師。盛禪師。那老師。端禪師。長藏師。真法師玉法師（已上並口說玄理不出文記）可師後。善師（出抄四卷）豐禪師（出疏五卷）明禪師（出疏五卷）胡明師（出疏五卷）遠承可師後大聰師（出疏五卷）道蔭師（抄四卷）沖法師（疏五卷）岸法師（疏五卷）寵法師（疏八卷）大明師（疏十卷）不承可師自依攝論者。遷禪師（出疏四卷）尚德律師（出入楞伽疏十卷）那老師後。實禪師。惠禪師。曠法師。弘智師（名住京師西明身亡法絕）明禪師後。伽法師。寶瑜師。寶迎師。道瑩師（並次第傳燈于今揚化）沖公自從經術。專以楞伽命家。前後敷弘將二百遍。須便為引。曾未涉文。而通變適緣。寄勢陶誘。得意如一。隨言便異。師學者苦請出義。乃告曰。義者。道理也。言說已麁。況舒在紙麁中之麁矣。事不獲已作疏五卷。題為私記。今盛行之。初沖周行東川。不任官貫。頻有度次。高讓不受。年將知命有勅度人。兗州度抑令入度。隸州部法集寺雖名預公貫而栖泉石撫接遺逸為心房公位居台輔。作書召入。沖得題背曰。我於三界無所須。卿至三槐位亦極。公又重延。不守恒度。翻翔都邑。即弘大法晟動英髦。冠蓋雲蒸歎未曾有。中書杜正倫。親位法席。詳評玄義。弘福潤法師初未相識。曰何處老大德。答兗州老小僧耳。又問何為遠至。答曰。聞此少一乘。欲宣一乘教網漉信地魚龍故至。潤曰。斯實大心開士也。因行至大興善寺。萬年令鄭欽泰。於寺打人。沖止之曰。公勿於寺打人。泰曰。打人罪我自當。沖曰。道不自當可遣他受。然國家立寺。本欲安寧社稷。唯善行之。公今於寺打人。豈名為國祈福。泰即禮謝。又三藏玄奘不許講舊所翻經。沖曰。君依舊經出家。若不許弘舊經者。君可還俗。更依新翻經出家。方許君此意。奘聞遂止。斯亦命代弘經護法強禦之士。不可及也。然沖一生遊道為務。曾無栖泊。僕射于志寧曰。此法師乃法界頭陀僧也。不可名實拘之。顯慶年言旋東夏。至今麟德年七十九矣。

Śramaṇa Fachong, courtesy name Xiaodun, was surnamed Li and was a native of Chengji in Longxi. Because his father and grandfather had successively served the Wei and Qi dynasties, he was born in the Yan region. In his youth, Chong was exceptionally gifted and held worldly conventions in contempt. At the age of twenty, he became close friends with Vice Director Fang Xuanling. They said to each other, 'If a gentleman does not reach the fifth rank by maturity, we will together decline office and live as recluses.' When Chong was twenty-four, he indeed became a Langjiang of the Soaring Falcon. Encountering the death of his mother, he read the Nirvāṇa Sūtra; upon coming across the passage describing household life as cramped and oppressive, he resolved to leave home. He listened to lectures on the Nirvāṇa Sūtra more than thirty times. He then went to Dharmabhāṇaka Gao in Anzhou, studying the Large Prajñāpāramitā, the Three Treatises, and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. He then entered Mount Wudu to cultivate his practice. At the age of thirty, he traveled to Jizhou. In the early years of the Zhenguan era, an imperial edict decreed the death penalty for anyone who privately ordained monks. Chong vowed to sacrifice his life and immediately shaved his head. At that time, many monks had fled to Mount Yiyang to escape trouble, and their provisions were exhausted. Chong went directly to the prefectural magistrate and said, 'If there is a death sentence, I will bear it personally. If you will only donate spiritual provisions, you will ultimately attain blessings and protection.' The magistrates and officials, admiring his fierce integrity, suspended the enforcement of the laws and provided relief. They divided the monks into two locations, establishing in each a granary of about ten hu of rice. At one site, more than forty disciples purely studied the Mahāyāna and cultivated meditation; after a year, their rice remained unchanged, not depleted at all. At the other site, fifty or sixty people exhausted their rice in merely two days, because they did not cultivate meditation and engaged in non-Buddhist studies. Chong said to them, 'This is nothing to be surprised at. Those who practice the Way receive the grace of the white curl [of the Buddha]. Material benefits are evoked by the Way, and thus return to sustain the assembly of the Way. When practice deviates from the work of the Way, it is natural that provisions frequently run out.' At that time, as refugees became ever more numerous and heavy rains set in, they had nowhere to lodge. There was a large crag on the mountain inhabited by wild beasts. Chong went to the cave beneath the crag and said, 'Now that destitute guests have come to turn to you, can you make room for us?' The tigers then led one another away, and the assembly came to rely on the crag. Chong continued to listen to lectures on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra and other texts, as well as their difficult interpretations. He went to Anzhou again. There was a Daoist named Cai Zihuang, who was well-versed in both internal and external learning and on close terms with the monastic community. When clergy and laity gathered in great numbers at a monastery, they invited Huang to lecture on a Buddhist scripture. Chong said, 'Your appearance is that of an outsider, and your mind is entangled in heterodoxy. If you arbitrarily lecture on Buddhist scriptures, it will ultimately be for fame and profit. Among our monastics and laity, regardless of rank, the essential point is to be a son of the Śākya clan. Since I am here, this must strictly not take place. You should recognize the moment early on, so as not to regret it later.' Hearing this, Huang fell silent and hesitantly withdrew. At that time, the great assembly sighed in admiration, saying, 'This is truly a Dharma-protecting Bodhisattva!' Chong, noting that the profound scripture of the Laṅkāvatāra had long been neglected, sought it out everywhere without dreading hardship or peril. Encountering the successors of Master [Hui]ke who widely practiced this scripture, he relied on the master to study it; repeatedly striking upon its grand principles, the master yielded his disciples to Chong and entrusted him with the teaching. Chong then gave over thirty consecutive lectures on it. Later, he met direct disciples of Master [Hui]ke and lectured on it according to the One Vehicle school of South India, giving another hundred lectures. The scripture was originally translated by the Tripiṭaka Master Guṇabhadra during the Song dynasty, with Dharmabhāṇaka Huiguan serving as the scribe. Hence, its text and principles are harmonious, and its practice and substance are fully unified; it focuses entirely on mindfulness and wisdom, rather than on words and debate. Later, Dhyāna Master Bodhidharma transmitted it across north and south, taking the abandonment of speech, the abandonment of thought, and non-attainment through right contemplation as the core宗旨. Later, when it circulated in the Central Plains, Dhyāna Master Huike was the first to grasp its essential guidelines. The literati of the Wei realm largely disdained it, but those who grasped its core and realized its intent were periodically awakened by it. Now, as the human generations have grown ever more distant, later students have fallen into confusion. Master [Hui]ke's separate biography sets this out in brief detail. Here, the lineage of masters is recounted as the succession, showing that the teachings studied have clear authority: After Dhyāna Master Bodhidharma, there were two people: Huike and Huiyu. Master Yu received the mind-practice of the Way, but never spoke of it with his mouth. After Master Huike, there were Chan Master Can, Chan Master Hui, Chan Master Sheng, Elder Master Na, Chan Master Duan, Master Changzang, Dharmabhāṇaka Zhen, and Dharmabhāṇaka Yu (all of the above spoke of the profound principles orally without producing written records). After Master [Hui]ke, there were Master Shan (produced an abstract in 4 fascicles), Chan Master Feng (produced a commentary in 5 fascicles), Chan Master Ming (produced a commentary in 5 fascicles), and Master Huming (produced a commentary in 5 fascicles). Distantly inheriting after Master [Hui]ke were Master Dachong (produced a commentary in 5 fascicles), Master Daoyin (an abstract in 4 fascicles), Dharmabhāṇaka Chong (a commentary in 5 fascicles), Dharmabhāṇaka An (a commentary in 5 fascicles), Dharmabhāṇaka Chong (a commentary in 8 fascicles), and Master Daming (a commentary in 10 fascicles). Those who did not inherit from Master [Hui]ke but relied on the Mahāyānasaṃgraha were Chan Master Qian (produced a commentary in 4 fascicles) and Vinayadhara Shangde (produced a commentary on the Entry into the Laṅkā in 10 fascicles). After Elder Master Na, there were Chan Master Shi, Chan Master Hui, Dharmabhāṇaka Kuang, and Master Hongzhi (his name resided at Ximing Monastery in the capital; upon his death, his teaching became extinct). After Chan Master Ming, there were Dharmabhāṇaka Qie, Master Baoyu, Master Baoying, and Master Daoying (who successively transmitted the lamp down to the present, spreading the transformation). Master Chong himself, from the time he took up scriptural studies, specialized exclusively in making the Laṅkāvatāra his specialty. In all, he expounded it nearly two hundred times. Whenever a passage was required, he cited it directly without consulting the text. Adapting flexibly to circumstances, he used momentum to cultivate and guide others; his grasp of the principle was consistent, yet his words varied with the occasion. Students earnestly begged him to bring out an exegesis. He said to them, 'Principle means the underlying truth. Speech is already crude, let alone spreading it on paper, which is the crudest of the crude.' Having no alternative, he composed a commentary in five fascicles, titled 'Personal Notes', which is widely circulated today. Earlier, Chong traveled throughout the eastern river regions, not assuming an official monastic registration. When opportunities for ordination repeatedly occurred, he loftily declined them. When he was approaching fifty, an imperial decree was issued to ordain monks. The authorities of Yanzhou compelled him to be ordained, registering him at Fajis Temple in the prefecture. Although his name was entered in the official rolls, his mind remained set on dwelling among springs and rocks and ministering to recluses. When Duke Fang [Xuanling] held the position of prime minister, he wrote a letter summoning him to court. Upon receiving it, Chong wrote on the back: 'I have no need for anything in the three realms; your lordship has reached the pinnacle of rank among the three sophoras.' The Duke invited him again. Without adhering to ordinary conventions, Chong soared to the capital, where his propagation of the Great Dharma stirred and inspired the elite; officials gathered like rising clouds, praising it as unprecedented. Du Zhenglun, a Secretariat drafter, personally attended the Dharma seat to evaluate the profound principles. When Dharmabhāṇaka Run of Hongfu Monastery first met him, not knowing who he was, he asked, 'From where does this venerable bhadanta come?' Chong replied, 'Merely an old, humble monk of Yanzhou.' Run asked again, 'Why have you come from so far?' Chong replied, 'Hearing that the One Vehicle is scarce here, I wished to cast the net of the One Vehicle teaching to fish out the dragons and fish from the waters of faith, and therefore I came.' Run said, 'This is truly a great-minded bodhisattva!' Once, when walking to Daxingshan Monastery, the magistrate of Wannian, Zheng Qintai, was beating someone in the monastery. Chong stopped him, saying, 'Your Excellency must not beat people in the monastery.' Qintai said, 'I shall bear the sin of beating people myself.' Chong replied, 'Since the Way cannot bear it for you, could you send someone else to receive it? When the state establishes a monastery, it fundamentally intends to bring peace to the altars of the land and grain, through which only virtuous deeds should be performed. If your Excellency now beats people in a monastery, how can that be called praying for blessings for the state?' Qintai then bowed in apology. Furthermore, Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang did not permit the lecturing on previously translated scriptures. Chong said, 'You left home in reliance on the old scriptures. If you do not permit the propagation of the old scriptures, you should return to the lay life and leave home again in reliance on the newly translated scriptures; only then could I grant your point.' Hearing this, Xuanzang desisted. Chong was thus an epochal champion of scripture and defender of the Dharma, impossible to match. Throughout his life, Chong took roaming the Way as his duty and never settled down. Vice Director Yu Zhining said, 'This Dharmabhāṇaka is a dhūta monk of the dharmadhātu; he cannot be bound by name or substance.' In the Xianqing era, he returned to the east; up to the current Linde era, he is seventy-nine years old.