宋高僧傳 12.10

12.10

釋宣鑒，姓周氏，劍南人也。生惡葷羶，少多英敏，宿齎異操，懇願出塵。大龍不屈於小庭，俊鶚必騰其層漢，既除美飾，當預僧流。從受近圓，即窮律藏，其諸性相，貫習偕通。聞重湖間禪道大興，乃抗志雲遊，造龍潭信禪師，則石頭宗師之二葉也。始唯獨居一室，鑒強供侍之。一夕龍潭持一枝火授鑒，鑒接而行數步，且曰：「久聞龍潭到來，龍之與潭，俱不見歟？」信曰：「子親到矣。」機與教符，日親丈室三十餘年。後止澧陽。居無何，屬武宗搜揚。洎大中還復法儀。咸通初，武陵太守薛延望堅請，始居德山，其道芬馨，四海禪徒輻湊。伏、臘，堂中常有半千人矣。其於訓授，天險海深，難窺邊際。雪峯參見，鑒深肯重。以咸通六年乙酉歲十二月三日，忽告諸徒曰：「捫空追響，勞汝神邪？夢覺覺非，復有何事？」言訖安坐而化，春秋八十四，僧臘六十五。身據床坐，卓然七日如生在焉。天下言激箭之禪道者，有德山門風焉。今襄、鄧、漢東法孫極盛者是。

Śramaṇa Xuanjian was surnamed Zhou, a native of Jiannan. By nature he detested meat and pungent foods; in his youth he was eminent and keen, endowed from past lives with extraordinary character, and earnestly wished to transcend the mundane world. A great dragon does not crouch in a small courtyard; a swift osprey must soar into the layered clouds. Once he had removed fine ornaments, he took his place among the saṅgha. After receiving full ordination (upasampadā), he immediately probed the vinaya basket, and through constant study became thoroughly versed in both the nature and characteristics [of dharmas]. Hearing that the Chan path was flourishing greatly between the multiple lakes, he set his aspiration on wandering like the clouds, and paid a visit to Chan Master Longtan Xin, who was of the second generation of the lineage master Shitou. At first, Longtan lived alone in a single room, and Jian insisted on waiting upon him and serving him. One evening, Longtan handed a lit torch to Jian; Jian took it and walked several steps, then said: 'I have long heard of the Dragon Pool (Longtan), yet having arrived, neither dragon nor pool is to be seen!' Xin replied: 'You have truly arrived in person!' His capacity tallied with the teaching, and he stayed close to the abbot's quarters for more than thirty years. Later he resided in Liyang. After living there for a short time, the purge of Emperor Wuzong took place. In the Dazhong era, monastic customs were restored. At the beginning of the Xiantong era, upon the persistent invitation of Xue Yanwang, prefect of Wuling, he first took up residence at Deshan. His Way was fragrant, and Chan followers from all four seas converged like spokes at a hub. During the summer retreats and winter months, there were usually five hundred people in the hall. In his guidance and instruction, he was as inaccessible as the heavens and as deep as the sea, his bounds difficult to fathom. When Xuefeng came to consult him, Jian deeply approved and respected him. On the third day of the twelfth month in the yiyou year, the sixth year of Xiantong, he suddenly told his disciples: 'Grasping at emptiness and pursuing echoes—does this not exhaust your spirits? Once awakened from a dream, one realizes its unreality; what else is there?' Having spoken, he sat peacefully and transformed, aged eighty-four, with a saṅgha age of sixty-five. His body sat upright upon the platform, prominent and lifelike for seven days. Whenever people under heaven speak of the lightning-fast Chan path, they refer to the style of Deshan's gate. Today, his Dharma grandsons who flourish in Xiang, Deng, and Handong are proof of this.