續高僧傳 5.23

5.23

釋法雲。姓周氏。義興陽羨人。晉平西將軍處之七世也。母吳氏。初產在草。見雲氣滿室。因以名之。七歲出家。更名法雲。從師住莊嚴寺。為僧成玄趣寶亮弟子。而俊朗英秀卓絕時世。年十三始就受業。大昌僧宗莊嚴僧達。甚相稱讚。寶亮每曰。我之神明殊不及也。方將必當棟梁大法矣。齊永明中。僧柔東歸。於道林寺發講。雲諮決累日。詞旨激揚。眾所歎異。年小坐遠聲聞難敘。命置小床處之於前共盡往復。由是顯名。與同寺僧旻。等年臘齊名譽。歷採眾師且經且論四時遊聽寒暑不輟。或講前講末初夜後夜覆述文義。間隙遊習於路思義。輒不自覺行過所造。其勤勵專至類皆如此。曾觀長樂寺法調講論。出而顧曰。震旦天子之都衣冠之富。動靜威儀勿易為也。前後法師或有詞無義。或有義無詞。或俱有詞義而過無威儀。今日法坐俱已闕矣。皆由習學不優未應講也。及年登三十。建武四年夏。初於妙音寺開法華淨名二經。序正條源群分名類。學徒海湊四眾盈堂。僉謂理因言盡紙卷空存。及至為賓。構擊縱橫比類紛鯁。機辯若疾風。應變如行雨。當其鋒者罕不心務。賓主咨嗟朋僚胥悅。時人呼為作幻法師矣。講經之妙獨步當時。齊中書周顒。瑯瑘王融。彭城劉繪。東莞徐孝嗣等。一代名貴。並投莫逆之交。孝嗣每日。見雲公俊發自顧缺然。而性靈誠孝勞於色養。及居母憂毀瘠過禮。累日不食殆不勝喪。僧旻謂曰。聖人制禮。賢者俯就。不賢者企及。且毀不滅性尚出儒宗。況佛有至言。欲報生恩。近則時奉顏儀使物生悅。遠則啟發菩提以道神識。又云。恩愛重賊不可寬放。寬放此者及所親愛墮於惡道。唯有智者以方便力善能治制。則惠兼存沒入諸善趣矣。宜思遠理使有成津。何可恣情同於細近耶。雲乃割裂哀情微進飲粥。永元元年。曾受毘陵郡請。道俗傾家異端必集。弘振風猷道被京城。鼓舞知歸巾褐識反。及梁氏高臨甚相欽禮。天監二年。勅使長召出入諸殿。影響弘通之端。囋揚利益之漸。皇高亟延義集。未曾不勅令雲先入後下詔令。時諸名德各撰成實義疏。雲乃經論合撰。有四十科為四十二卷。俄尋究了。又勅於寺三遍敷講。廣請義學充諸堂宇。勅給傳詔。車牛吏力皆備足焉。至七年制注大品。朝貴請雲講之。辭疾不赴。帝云。弟子既當今日之位。法師是後來名德。流通無寄。不可不自力為講也。因從之。尋又下詔禮為家僧。資給優厚。勅為光宅寺主。創立僧制雅為後則。皇太子留情內外。選請十僧入於玄圃。經於兩夏不止講經。而亦懸談文外。雲居上首偏加供施。自從王侯逮于榮貴莫不欽敬。至於吉凶慶弔不避寒暑。時人頗謂之遊俠。而動必弘法。不以此言關懷。中書郎順陽范軫。著神滅論。群僚未詳其理。先以奏聞。有勅令雲答之。以宣示臣下。雲乃遍與朝士書論之。文采雖異而理義倫通。又與少傅沈約書曰。主上令答神滅論。今遣相呈。夫神妙寂寥。可知而不可說。義經丘而未曉。理涉旦而猶昏。至人凝照。有本襲道。赴機垂審。臣下旨訓周密。孝享之祀既彰。桀懷曾史之慕。三世之言復闡。紂綴波崙之情。預非草木。誰不歔欷。同挹風猷。共加弘贊也。約答曰。神本不滅深所伏膺。神滅之談良用駭惕。近約法師。殿內亦蒙勅答一本。歡受頂戴尋覽忘疲。豈徒伏斯外道可以永離眾魔。孔釋兼弘於是乎在。實不刊之弘旨。百代之舟航。弟子亦即彼論微厝疑覈。比展具以呈也。雲以天監末年。欲報施主之恩。於秣陵縣同下里中造寺一所。勅以法師建造。可仍以法師為名。即禪崗之西山也。郊郭內地實為爽塏。結宇孤巖北面城市。懷㵎隱嶺。窮人野之致。終日論談曾無休廢。天監將末。扶南國獻經三部。勅雲譯之。詳決梁梵。皆理明意顯。狀若親承。帝抄諸方等經。撰受菩薩法。構等覺道場。請草堂寺慧約法師以為智者。躬受大戒以自莊嚴。自茲厥後。王侯朝士法俗傾都。或有年臘過於智者。皆望風奄附啟受戒法。雲曰。戒終是一先已同稟。今重受者誠非所異。有若趣時。於是固執。帝累勸獎每加說喻。答曰。當先發願。若得相應然後從受。雲欲發起。中表菩提之心。捨己身外嚫施之物。通啟於華林園光華殿設千僧大會。分此諸物為五種功德。上帝隨喜警梵從時。鏘金候旭百和𭾍氳。眾妓繁會觀者傾城莫不稱歎。普通六年勅為大僧正。於同泰寺設千僧會。廣集諸寺知事。及學行名僧。羯磨拜授置位羽儀。眾皆見所未聞。得未曾有。爾後雖遘疾時序。而講說無廢。及於扶接登座。弊劇乃止。至御幸同泰開大涅槃。勅許乘輿上殿憑几聽講。及遭父憂由是疾篤至于大漸。以大通三年三月二十七日初夜。卒于住房。春秋六十有三。二宮悲惜為之流慟。勅給東園祕器。凡百喪事皆從王府。下勅令葬定林寺側。太子中庶瑯瑘王筠。為作銘誌。弟子周長胤等。有猶子之慕。創造二碑立于墓所。湘東王蕭繹各為製文。初雲年在息慈雅尚經術。於妙法華研精累思。品酌理義始末照覽。乃往幽巖獨講斯典。竪石為人松葉為拂。自唱自導兼通難解。所以垂名梁代誠績有聞。而文疏稠疊前後繁映。致依講誦有阻恒功。嘗於一寺講散此經。忽感天華狀如飛雪。滿空而下延于堂內。昇空不墜訖講方去。有保誌神僧。道超方外。罕有得其情者。與雲互相敬愛。呼為大林法師。每來雲所輒停住信宿。嘗言。欲解師子吼。請法師為說。即為剖析。誌便彈指讚曰。善哉微妙微妙矣。儀同陳郡袁昂云。有常供養僧學雲法華。日夜發願望得慧解等之。忽夢有異僧曰。雲法師燈明佛時已講此經。那可卒敵也。每於講次有送錢物乞誦經者。多獲徵應。及得善夢如別記述。夷陵縣漁人。於網中得經一卷。是泥洹四法品。末題云。宋元徽二年。王寶勝敬造奉光宅寺法雲法師。以事勘校。時雲年始十歲。名未遠布寺無光宅。而此品正則。初云弘法次斷魚肉。驗今意行頗用相符。其有機神變化。人莫敢競其類者。雲得此告彌深弘演云爾。

Shi Fayun had the lay surname Zhou. He was a native of Yangxian in Yixing, and was a seventh-generation descendant of General Who Pacifies the West of the Jin, [Zhou] Chu. His mother was of the Wu clan. When she gave birth to him among the grasses, she saw a cloud-mist fill the chamber; on account of this, she named him. At the age of seven, he entered the monastic life (pravrajyā) and changed his name to Fayun. Following his master, he resided at Zhuangyan Monastery as a disciple of Sengcheng, Xuanqu, and Baoliang. He was sharp, bright, outstanding, and preeminent in his generation. At the age of thirteen, he first began receiving instruction, and Sengzong of Dachang and Sengda of Zhuangyan praised him greatly. Baoliang often remarked, "My own spiritual brightness falls far short of his; in the future he will surely become a pillar of the great Dharma." During the Yongming reign of the Qi, when Sengrou was returning to the east, he initiated lectures at Daolin Monastery. Fayun sought resolutions to his doubts over consecutive days, speaking with stirring force, such that the assembly sighed in marvel. Because he was young and sat far off, it was difficult to hear his words; [Sengrou] ordered a small couch to be placed in front for him, so that they might fully engage in exchanges. Because of this, his fame became renowned. He was of equal age and ordination seniority to Sengmin of the same monastery, and they shared equal fame. He sought out numerous masters, studying both sūtras and treatises, traveling to listen through the four seasons without stopping for cold or heat. Either before or after a lecture, during the first watch or the final watch of the night, he would review the texts and their meanings. In moments of leisure while walking along the road, he would ponder their principles, often unaware that he had walked past his destination. Such was his diligence and devoted single-mindedness. He once observed Fadiao lecturing on treatises at Changle Monastery; upon coming out, he looked around and said, "In the imperial capital of the Son of Heaven of Zhendan, wealthy with officials in robes and caps, one should not lightly conduct the dignified deportment of movement and stillness. Previous masters have either had eloquence without doctrinal meaning, or doctrinal meaning without eloquence, or both eloquence and meaning but excessively lacked dignified deportment. Today, upon the Dharma seat, both have been lacking. This is entirely because his study was not proficient; he should not yet have been lecturing." When he reached thirty years of age, in the summer of the fourth year of Jianwu, he first expounded the two sūtras of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa at Miaoyin Monastery. He set forth the preface and core text, divided them by category, and arrayed the terms and classifications. Students gathered like an ocean, and the fourfold assembly filled the hall. All maintained that the principles were exhausted by his words, rendering the paper scrolls mere empty shells. When he took the seat of the questioner, he launched broad attacks and drew diverse analogies, his swift wit moving like a rushing gale and his adaptability falling like showering rain. Few who faced his spearhead did not submit in mind. Guests and host sighed in admiration, and his peers were delighted. People of that time called him the "Illusion-Making Dharmabhāṇaka." The subtlety of his scriptural lectures stood peerless in his day. The Central Secretariat Drafter Zhou Yong of the Qi, Wang Rong of Langya, Liu Hui of Pengcheng, Xu Xiaosi of Dongguan, and other notables of that generation all forged bonds of closest friendship with him. Xiaosi would say daily, "Seeing the brilliant flair of Master Yun, I look upon myself and feel lacking." Yet Fayun’s character was earnest and filial, toiling in serving his parents with pleasant countenance. When he observed the mourning period for his mother, he wasted away in grief far beyond the rites, going several days without eating, nearly succumbing to mourning. Sengmin said to him, "The sages established the rites so that the worthy bend to them and the unworthy strive to reach them. Moreover, 'wasting away without destroying one's nature' comes from the Confucian tradition itself. How much more so does the Buddha have consummate words: if one wishes to repay the debt of life, in the short term one constantly attends to their visage to bring them joy; in the long term one inspires bodhi to guide their spiritual consciousness. It is also said that the bonds of affection are great thieves that must not be indulged; if one indulges them, both oneself and one's loved ones fall into the evil destinies. Only the wise can skillfully regulate them by means of skillful methods (upāya), thereby conferring benefit upon both the living and the deceased, causing them to enter the good destinies. You should reflect on the distant truth to make it an accomplished crossing; how can you abandon yourself to emotions and resemble the vulgar and petty?" Fayun then curtailed his mournful feelings and took a little porridge. In the first year of Yongyuan, he accepted an invitation from Piling Commandery; monastics and laypeople emptied their homes to attend, and heterodox schools gathered. He promulgated and shook the air with his virtuous influence, spreading the teaching across the capital; those who were inspired came to take refuge, and officials and recluses recognized their return. When the Liang dynasty ascended, he was held in the highest reverence. In the second year of Tianjian, an imperial decree appointed him to regular summons to enter and leave the palaces, making him a vanguard in propagating the teachings and praising the progressive stages of benefit. Whenever the Emperor convened assemblies on doctrinal meaning, he never failed to decree that Fayun enter first before issuing imperial orders. At that time, eminent masters had each compiled commentaries on the Chengshi [lun], but Fayun compiled a synthesis of both sūtras and treatises, comprising forty sections in forty-two fascicles. After completing his examination of the work, an imperial decree ordered him to expound it three times at the monastery, widely inviting doctrinal scholars to fill the halls. Messengers of transmission were provided by imperial order, and carts, oxen, and official attendants were all amply supplied. By the seventh year, the Emperor had composed a commentary on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, and the court dignitaries invited Fayun to lecture on it. He declined on the grounds of illness. The Emperor said, "Since I occupy today’s throne, and the master is a renowned virtue of the later generation, the circulation of the Dharma has no other resort; you must exert yourself to lecture on it." He then complied. Soon an imperial edict was issued revering him as an imperial family monk, with lavish provisions and stipends. He was appointed by imperial order as abbot of Guangzhai Monastery, where he established monastic regulations that became refined models for later generations. The Crown Prince paid close attention to both inner and outer learning, selecting and inviting ten monks into the Xuanpu. For two summer retreats, they did not stop at lecturing on sūtras, but also engaged in profound discussions beyond the text. Fayun presided as the chief, receiving preferential offerings and donations. From princes and marquises down to the eminent and wealthy, none did not revere him. As for auspicious ceremonies, mourning, congratulations, and condolences, he did not avoid cold or heat. People of that time considered him somewhat like an itinerant knight, yet every move he made was to propagate the Dharma, and he did not pay heed to such remarks. The Secretariat Drafter Fan Zhen of Shunyang composed the Shenmie lun (Treatise on the Annihilation of the Spirit). The officials did not comprehend its reasoning and presented it first to the throne. An imperial order was issued commanding Fayun to refute it and circulate the refutation among the court officials. Fayun then wrote letters to the court dignitaries to discuss it; although the literary styles varied, the doctrinal reasoning was coherent and comprehensive. He also wrote a letter to the Junior Tutor Shen Yue, saying: "His Majesty ordered me to answer the Shenmie lun, and I now present it to you. The spiritual consciousness is subtle and tranquil; it can be known, but cannot be expressed in words. Its meaning was not made clear even through Confucius, and its principle remained obscure even across the Duke of Zhou. When the consummate person's reflective wisdom coalesces, he takes the fundamental and inherits the Way. Responding to the spiritual capacity, he condescends with scrutiny, and the instructions given to the ministers are thorough and meticulous. Once the sacrifices of filial offerings are made manifest, King Jie conceives the longing of Zeng and Shi; when the discourse on the three times is expounded again, King Zhou is bound with the sentiments of Sadāprarudita. Unless one is a plant or tree, who would not sigh in grief? Let us together draw from this virtuous tradition and jointly magnify its praise." Yue replied: "That the spirit originally does not perish is something to which my mind deeply submits; the talk of the spirit's annihilation truly causes shock and terror. Recently, within the palace, Dharmabhāṇaka Yue also received a copy of the refutation granted by imperial order; I rejoiced, placed it on my head, and read through it, forgetting all fatigue. How could it merely subdue these external heterodoxies so that we might forever depart from the hosts of Māra? The simultaneous propagation of Confucius and Śākya rests entirely on this. It is truly an unalterable, magnificent principle, a vessel for a hundred generations. I have also examined that treatise and set forth my humble doubts; I shall present them fully at our next meeting." Toward the end of the Tianjian reign, wishing to repay the benevolence of his donors, Fayun built a monastery in Tongxia Lane in Moling County. An imperial decree stated that because it was constructed by the dharmabhāṇaka, it should retain the master's name; this was the West Mountain of Zhangang. As an inner-city land within the suburbs, it was truly elevated and clear. The building was erected against an isolated cliff, facing north toward the city, embracing a mountain stream and concealed in the hills, exhausting the delights of wilderness among humanity. Discussions and debates went on all day without pause. Toward the end of the Tianjian reign, the kingdom of Funan presented three sūtras; an imperial order commanded Fayun to translate them. He scrutinized and determined the Liang and Sanskrit versions; the principles were clear and the meaning distinct, as though received directly in person. The Emperor compiled various vaipulya sūtras, formulated the method for receiving the bodhisattva precepts, constructed an Equal Enlightenment Bodhimaṇḍa, and invited Master Huiyue of Caotang Monastery to serve as the Zhizhe (Wise One), personally receiving the great precepts to adorn himself. From then on, princes, court officials, monastics, and laymen throughout the capital—some with ordination seniorities greater than the Zhizhe—all submitted from afar and sought to receive the precepts. Fayun said, "The precepts are fundamentally one and were already received before. To receive them again now is truly unnecessary, as if pursuing mere fashion." He thus remained steadfast. The Emperor repeatedly encouraged him and offered explanations, to which he replied, "One must first make a vow; if it resonates, only then will I receive them." Wanting to awaken the bodhicitta among his relatives and associates, Fayun renounced all his surplus worldly gifts and petitioned to hold a great assembly of a thousand monks at the Guanghua Hall in the Hualin Garden, dividing these goods among five kinds of merit. The Emperor rejoiced in his merit, sounded the brahma music at the right hour, struck bells at dawn, and burned myriad blended incenses. Many performances were gathered, and spectators filled the city, none failing to praise him. In the sixth year of Putong, an imperial order appointed him as Great Rectifier of Monks (Dāsēngzhèng). A thousand-monk assembly was held at Tongtai Monastery, broadly assembling the temple administrators (karmadānas) and monks renowned for their learning and practice. Through karma ritual, he was appointed with the full insignia of office; the assembly witnessed what had never before been heard, gaining what was unprecedented. Thereafter, although he fell ill with the changing seasons, he never neglected his lecturing. Even when he had to be supported to ascend the seat, he ceased only when his condition worsened. When the Emperor visited Tongtai Monastery to inaugurate the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, an imperial decree allowed him to ride a carriage up to the hall and lean upon an armrest to listen to the lecture. When his father passed away, he became critically ill from mourning, reaching his final decline. On the first watch of the night on the twenty-seventh day of the third month of the third year of Datong, he died in his living quarters at the age of sixty-three. Both palaces grieved and wept bitterly for him. An imperial decree provided funeral utensils from the Eastern Park, and all funeral expenses were covered by the royal household. A decree ordered him buried beside Dinglin Monastery. Wang Yun of Langya, Equerry to the Crown Prince, composed the epitaph. His disciple Zhou Changyin and others, harboring the longing of nephew-disciples, created two stelae and erected them at the tomb site. Xiao Yi, Prince of Xiangdong, composed the texts for each of them. Earlier, during the years when Fayun gave up worldly ties, he possessed a refined love for scriptural study. He scrutinized and repeatedly reflected on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, thoroughly discerning its doctrinal principles and surveying it from beginning to end. He then went to a secluded crag to lecture on this scripture alone, setting up stones to act as people and using pine needles as a chowrie (cāmara). Chanting and expounding by himself, he mastered the difficult passages. Thus did his renown descend upon the Liang dynasty, his achievements truly famous. Yet his commentaries and subcommentaries were overlapping and intricate, which sometimes impeded the continuous flow of regular lectures and recitations. Once, when finishing a lecture on this scripture at a monastery, he suddenly moved heavenly flowers to fall like drifting snow; they filled the sky and drifted into the hall, rising into the air without falling, departing only when the lecture concluded. There was the divine monk Baozhi, whose Way transcended the mundane, and whose inner sentiments few could fathom. He and Fayun revered and loved each other, and Baozhi called him "Dharmabhāṇaka Dalin." Whenever he came to Fayun’s dwelling, he stayed for several nights. He once said, "I wish to understand the Lion's Roar; I ask the dharmabhāṇaka to explain it for me." Fayun dissected it for him, whereupon Baozhi snapped his fingers and praised him, saying, "Excellent! How subtle, how subtle!" Yuan Ang of Chen Commandery, Equal to the Three Excellencies, said that there was a monk he regularly supported who studied Fayun’s Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, making vows day and night hoping to attain wisdom and comprehension equal to his. He suddenly dreamed of an extraordinary monk who said, "Master Fayun had already lectured on this scripture in the era of the Buddha Dīpaṃkara; how could you match him so suddenly?" Whenever, during the course of his lectures, people gave money and goods requesting the recitation of the sūtras, many obtained spiritual responses and auspicious dreams, as recorded elsewhere. A fisherman in Yiling County found a roll of a scripture in his net; it was the "Chapter on the Four Dharmas of Nirvāṇa." At the end, an inscription read: "Respectfully produced in the second year of Yuanhui of the Song by Wang Baosheng and offered to Dharmabhāṇaka Fayun of Guangzhai Monastery." Checking the timeline, Fayun was then only ten years old; his fame was not yet widespread, nor was there yet a Guangzhai Monastery. Furthermore, the main text of this chapter first spoke of propagating the Dharma and next of cutting off fish and meat; examining his present intentions and conduct, they matched remarkably. In his spiritual mechanism and transformative power, none dared compete with his peers. When Fayun received this report, he propagated [the Dharma] even more deeply.