宋高僧傳 8.25

8.25

釋玄覺，字明道，俗姓戴氏，漢末祖侃公第五燕公九代孫，諱烈，渡江，乃為永嘉人也。總角出家，齠年剃髮，心源本淨，智印全文，測不可思，解甚深義。我與無我，恒常固知；空與不空，具足皆見。既離四病，亦服三衣。德水沐其身，所以清淨；良藥治其眼，所以光明。兄宣法師者，亦名僧也。并猶子二人，並預緇伍。覺本住龍興寺，一門歸信，連影精勤，定根確乎不移，疑樹忽焉自壞。都捐我相，不污客塵。覩其寺旁別有勝境，遂於巖下自構禪庵。滄海盪其胸，青山拱其背，蓬萊僊客，歲月往還；華蓋煙雲，晨昏交集。粵若功德成就，佛寶欝興；神鐘震來，妙屋化出。覺居其間也，絲不以衣，耕不以食，豈伊莊子大布為裳，自有阿難甘露作飯。覺以獨學孤陋，三人有師，與東陽策禪師肩隨，遊方詢道，謁韶陽能禪師而得旨焉。或曰：「覺振錫遶庵答對」，語在別錄。至若神秀門庭，遐征問法，然終得心于曹溪耳。既決所疑，能留一宿，號曰一宿覺，猶半遍清也。以先天二年十月十七日於龍興別院端坐入定，怡然不動。僧侶悲號，以其年十一月十三日殯于西山之陽，春秋四十九。初覺未亡前，禁足於西巖，望所住寺喟然歎曰：「人物駢闐，花輿蓊蔚，何用之為！」其門人吳興興師、新羅國宣師數人同聞，皆莫測之。尋而述之曰：「昔有一禪師，將諸弟子遊賞之次，遠望一山，忽而唱曰：『人物多矣。』弟子亦不測，後匪久此師捨壽，殯所望地也。」西山去寺里有餘程，送殯繁擁，人物沸騰，其感動也若此。又未終前，有舒雁千餘飛于寺西，侍人曰：「此將何來？」空中有聲云：「為師墓所，故從海出也。」弟子惠操、惠特、等慈、玄寂，皆傳師之法，為時所推。後李北海邕為守括州，遂列覺行錄為碑，號神道焉。覺唱道著明，修證悟入，慶州刺史魏靖都緝綴之，號《永嘉集》是也。初覺與左溪朗公為道契，朗貽書招覺山棲。覺由是念朗之滯見于山，拘情於講，迴書激勸。其辭婉靡，其理明白。俾其山、世一如，喧、靜互用，趣入之意，暗詮于是，達者韙之。終，勅諡號無相，塔曰淨光焉。

Shi Xuanjue, courtesy name Mingdao, had the secular surname Dai. He was a ninth-generation descendant of Duke Yan, the fifth son of Duke Kan at the end of the Han dynasty; his ancestor named Lie crossed the Yangzi River and thereby became a person of Yongjia. Xuanjue left home in his youth and shaved his head at an early age. His mind-source was originally pure, and his wisdom-seal was fully complete; measuring what is unthinkable, he understood the profoundest meanings. He constantly and firmly knew self and no-self; he completely saw both emptiness and non-emptiness. Having left behind the four sicknesses, he also wore the three robes. He bathed his body in the water of virtue, and was thus pure; he treated his eyes with good medicine, and was thus luminous. His elder brother, Dharma Master Xuan, was also a famous monk. Along with two nephews, all entered the clerical ranks. Xuanjue originally resided at Longxing Temple; his whole household turned in faith, linked in shadow through diligent effort. His root of samādhi was firm and unshakeable; the tree of doubt was suddenly destroyed of itself. Utterly relinquishing the notion of self, he was not defiled by adventitious dust. Observing that there was another excellent scenic spot beside the temple, he built a Chan hut for himself beneath a cliff. The vast sea washed his breast, and the green mountains embraced his back; immortals of Penglai came and went over the months and years, while mists and clouds of Huagai gathered morning and evening. When his merit was accomplished, the Buddha-treasure flourished grandly; a divine bell came vibrating, and a wondrous dwelling manifested as if by transformation. While Xuanjue dwelt therein, he did not wear silk for clothing, nor did he plough to eat; how could Zhuangzi's coarse cloth garments compare to this, when he naturally had Ānanda's amṛta for food? Xuanjue, considering that solitary study leads to ignorance and that there is always a teacher among three people, travelled side by side with Chan Master Ce of Dongyang, journeying to inquire into the Way. He had an audience with Chan Master Neng of Shaoyang and attained his import. Some say: 'Xuanjue shook his khakkhara, encircled the hut, and responded'; the words are in a separate record. As for the school of Shenxiu, he had travelled far to inquire into its Dharma, but in the end he attained the mind-ground at Caoxi. Having resolved his doubts, Neng retained him for one night, giving him the moniker 'Yisu Jue' (Enlightened Overnight), akin to being half-purified. On the seventeenth day of the tenth month in the second year of the Xiantian reign era, he sat upright in samādhi in the separate cloister of Longxing Temple, serene and motionless. The monastic assembly wept and wailed. On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month of that year, he was interred on the southern slope of the Western Mountain, at the age of forty-nine. Earlier, before Xuanjue died, when he was in seclusion at the Western Cliff, he looked toward his monastery and sighed with regret, saying: 'Throngs of people and horses, flourishing flower carriages—what is the use of them!' Several of his disciples, Master Xing of Wuxing and Master Xuan of Silla, heard this together, but none could comprehend it. Soon he remarked to them: 'In the past, there was a Chan master who, while roaming and enjoying the sights with his disciples, gazed from afar at a mountain and suddenly called out: "How numerous are the people!" The disciples could not comprehend it either. Not long after, this master ended his lifespan and was interred at the place he had gazed upon.' The Western Mountain was over a li away from the temple; those escorting the funeral crowded closely and people swarmed about—such was the resonance he evoked. Moreover, before his end, over a thousand wild geese flew to the west of the temple. An attendant said: 'Where are they coming from?' A voice in the sky said: 'Because it will be the master's tomb, they have come from the sea.' His disciples Huicao, Huite, Dengci, and Xuanji all transmitted their master's Dharma and were esteemed by the times. Later, Li Yong of Beihai, while serving as prefect of Kuazhou, arranged Xuanjue's biography as a stele inscription, titled 'Spirit Road'. Xuanjue's preaching and guiding were clear and manifest, detailing cultivation, realization, and awakening; Wei Jing, Prefect of Qingzhou, compiled them into what is known as the Yongjia ji. Formerly, Xuanjue had a spiritual fellowship with the Venerable Lang of Zuoxi. Lang sent a letter inviting Xuanjue to dwell in the mountains. Xuanjue, reflecting that Lang was attached to the views of mountain dwelling and constrained by affections for lecturing, replied with a letter to stimulate and encourage him. Its words were gentle and elegant, and its principles were clear and distinct. It enabled him to realize that the mountains and the secular world are one suchness, and that noise and quietude can be used interchangeably; the intention of entering the Way was subtly elucidated therein, and those who understood deemed it right. Eventually, an imperial edict posthumously granted him the title 'Wuxiang' (Formless), and his stupa was named 'Jingguang' (Pure Light).