宋高僧傳 10.29

10.29

釋懷海，閩人也。少離朽宅，長遊頓門，稟自天然，不由激勸。聞大寂始化南康，操心依附，虛往實歸，果成宗匠。後檀信請居新吳界，有山峻極，可千尺許，號「百丈」歟！海既居之，禪客無遠不至，堂室隘矣。且曰：「吾行大乘法，豈宜以諸部阿笈摩教為隨行邪？」或曰：「《瑜伽論》、《瓔珞經》，是大乘戒律，胡不依隨乎？」海曰：「吾於大小乘中博約折中，設規務歸於善焉。」乃創意不循律制，別立禪居。初自達磨傳法至六祖已來，得道眼者號「長老」，同西域道高臘長者呼「須菩提」也。然多居律寺中，唯別院異耳。又令不論高下，盡入僧堂。堂中設長連床，施椸架挂搭道具。臥必斜枕床脣，謂之「帶刀睡」，為其坐禪既久，略偃亞而已。朝參夕聚，飲食隨宜，示節儉也。行普請法，示上下均力也。長老居方丈，同維摩之一室也。不立佛殿，唯樹法堂，表法超言象也。其諸制度，與毘尼師一倍相翻，天下禪宗如風偃草。禪門獨行，由海之始也。以元和九年甲午歲正月十七日歸寂，享年九十五矣。穆宗長慶元年，勅諡大智禪師，塔曰大寶勝輪焉。

Shi Huaihai was a native of Min. In his youth he abandoned the burning house, and as he grew up he traveled the sudden teaching, his nature inherently endowed and not needing external encouragement. Hearing that Daji had begun converting people in Nankang, he set his mind on taking refuge with him; going empty and returning full, he indeed became an ancestral master. Later, donors and faithful invited him to dwell in the district of Xinxu, where there was an extremely steep mountain of perhaps a thousand feet, called 'Baizhang' (Hundred Fathoms). Once Hai dwelt there, Chan practitioners arrived from far and near, and the halls and rooms became cramped. He then said: 'I practice the Mahāyāna Dharma; how could it be suitable to follow the Āgama teachings of the various [Śrāvaka] schools?' Someone asked: 'The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and the Yingluo jing are the Mahāyāna precepts; why not follow them?' Hai replied: 'I strike an eclectic balance between the Mahāyāna and the Hīnayāna, establishing regulations aiming only at goodness.' Thereupon he innovated without adhering to the vinaya regulations, establishing a separate Chan dwelling. Initially, from Bodhidharma's transmission down to the Sixth Patriarch, those who attained the eye of the Way were called 'Elders' (zhǎnglao), corresponding to the Western Regions' calling those of high virtue and advanced monastic age 'Subhūti'. However, they mostly resided in vinaya monasteries, merely occupying distinct cloisters. Furthermore, he ordained that regardless of rank, all should enter the Saṅgha Hall. Long connected platforms were set up in the hall, and racks were installed to hang requisites. When lying down, one had to sleep diagonally resting the head on the platform edge, called 'sleeping with a sword drawn,' because having sat in meditation for so long, one merely leaned back briefly. Morning gatherings and evening assemblies were held, and food and drink were taken as appropriate to demonstrate frugality. The method of general labor (puqing) was practiced, demonstrating equal exertion by high and low. The Elder resided in the abbot's quarters (fangzhang), like Vimalakīrti's single room. No Buddha hall was erected, only a Dharma hall, showing that the Dharma transcends words and images. His various regulations completely reversed those of the vinaya masters, and throughout the realm the Chan school swept along like wind through grass. The independent practice of the Chan school began with Hai. On the seventeenth day of the first month in the ninth year of the Yuanhe era, a jiawu year, he passed into quiescence at the age of ninety-five. In the first year of the Changqing era of Emperor Muzong, he was posthumously conferred the title Chan Master Dazhi, and his stūpa was named Dabao Shenglun.