宋高僧傳 10.18

10.18

釋遺則，俗氏長孫，京兆長安人也。祖冽，鄂州司馬；考利涉，隱居金陵。則弱不雜俗，恬恬終日而無所營。始從張懷瓘學草書，獨盡筆妙。雅耽經史，尤樂佛書，以為得吾心。一朝捐家業，從牛頭山慧忠，忠所謂牛頭六祖也。始天竺達磨以釋氏心要至，傳其道者有曹溪能、嵩山秀。學能者謂之南宗學，學秀者謂之北宗學。而信祖又以其道傳慧融，融得之，居牛頭山，弟子以傳授。由是達磨心法有牛頭學。則既傳忠之道，精觀久之，以為天地無物也，我無物也，雖無物未嘗無物也。此則聖人如影，百姓如夢，孰為死生哉？至人以是能獨照，能為萬物主，吾知之矣。遂南遊天台，至佛窟巖，蓋薜荔，薦落葉而尸居，飲山流、飯木實而充虛，虎豹以為賓，麋鹿以為徒，兀然如枯。其後剫木者見之轉相告，有慕其道者曰：「道者未有弟子。」相率為築室，圖佛安僧，蔚為精舍焉。故元和已來傳則道者，又自以為「佛窟學」，「佛窟」之號自則始也。一坐四十年，大官名侯齎書問訊檀捨，則未嘗有報謝，禮拜者未嘗而作起。時歲在庚戌季夏十有三日，召弟子曰：「汝其勉之！」至十五日夜遂坐歿。是夜山下人聞若山崩，旦望之，則綵雲翔泊於巖上。父老皆泣曰：「師死矣！」已而視之，果然。凡則二十歲為僧，臘五十有八而終。善屬文，始授道於鍾山，序集融祖師文三卷，為寶誌《釋題》二十四章，《南遊傅大士遺風序》又《無生等義》。凡所著述，辭理粲然。其他歌詩數十篇，皆行於世。則元居瀑布泉西佛窟本院，建龕塔。會昌中例毀之，其院為道門所有。後開元寺僧正法光於咸通乙酉歲遂徙碑于今所，河南尹韓乂為碑文。

Shi Yize had the secular surname Zhangsun and was a native of Chang'an in Jingzhao. His grandfather Lie was an administrative officer (sima) of Ezhou; his father Lishe lived as a recluse in Jinling. From youth, Ze did not mingle with the mundane, remaining calm all day long without worldly pursuits. He first studied cursive script under Zhang Huaiquan, singly exhausting the subtleties of the brush. He was gracefully fond of the classics and histories, and particularly delighted in Buddhist books, considering that they matched his mind. One morning he abandoned his family estate and followed Huizhong of Mount Niutou; Zhong was the so-called Sixth Patriarch of Niutou. Originally, Bodhidharma came from India with the essentials of Śākya's mind; those who transmitted his Way included Neng of Caoxi and Xiu of Mount Song. Those who studied under Neng were called the Southern School, and those who studied under Xiu were called the Northern School. Patriarch [Dao]xin in turn transmitted his Way to Huirong; Rong attained it, dwelt on Mount Niutou, and his disciples passed it on. From this, Bodhidharma's mind Dharma came to have the Niutou school. Once Ze had received Zhong's Way, he practiced subtle contemplation for a long time, coming to deem that heaven and earth are devoid of things, and I am devoid of things; though devoid of things, there has never been nothingness. In this way, sages are like shadows, the common people are like dreams—who is there to undergo death and birth? The perfected person is thereby able to shine alone and be the master of the myriad things; I have realized it! He thereupon traveled south to Tiantai and arrived at Foku Cliff; covering himself with creeping figs, sitting like a corpse on fallen leaves, drinking from mountain streams and feeding on tree fruits to fill his emptiness, taking tigers and leopards as guests, elk and deer as companions, remaining motionless as dry wood. Later, woodcutters saw him and spread the word to one another, and those who admired his Way said, "The man of the Way has no disciples yet." Gathering together, they built lodgings for him, painted Buddhist images, and settled monks, which grew into a flourishing vihāra. Hence, those who transmitted Ze's Way from the Yuanhe era onward referred to themselves as the "Foku School"; the designation "Foku" began with Ze. Sitting in meditation for forty years, when high officials and famous lords sent letters with greetings and generous alms, Ze never offered thanks in return, nor did he ever rise for those who made prostrations. In the gengxu year, on the thirteenth day of the late summer, he summoned his disciples and said, "Exert yourselves!" On the night of the fifteenth day, he passed away while sitting. That night, the people below the mountain heard a sound like a mountain collapsing, and at dawn they looked up to see colorful clouds soaring and resting above the cliff. The elders all wept, saying, "The master has died!" When they went to look, it was indeed so. In all, Ze became a monk at the age of twenty and passed away at fifty-eight saṅgha summers. He was skilled in composition; when he first transmitted the Way at Mount Zhong, he compiled and prefaced the writings of Patriarch Rong in three rolls, composed twenty-four chapters of the Explanatory Titles for Baozhi, the Preface to the Bequeathed Legacy of Mahāsattva Fu on His Southern Journey, and the Meaning of Non-arising and the Like. In all his writings, the expressions and principles were brilliant. His several dozen other songs and poems are all circulating in the world. Ze originally dwelt in the primary cloister of Foku west of Baobu Spring, where a shrine stūpa was erected. During the Huichang era, it was destroyed along with the rest, and the cloister came into the possession of the Daoists. Later, in the yiyou year of the Xiantong era, the Saṅgha Rectifier Faguang of Kaiyuan Temple moved the stele to its present location, with the stele inscription composed by the Governor of Henan, Han Yi.