宋高僧傳 9.24

9.24

釋神會，俗姓石，本西域人也。祖父徙居，因家于岐，遂為鳳翔人矣。會至性懸解，明智內發，大璞不耀，時未知之。年三十，方入蜀，謁無相大師，利根頓悟，冥契心印。無相歎曰：「吾道今在汝矣！」爾後德充慧廣，欝為禪宗。其大略「寂照滅境，超證離念，即心是佛，不見有身。」當其凝閉無象，則土木其質。及夫妙用默濟，雲行雨施，蚩蚩群甿，陶然知化，覩貌遷善，聞言革非。至於廓蕩，昭洗執縛，上、中、下性隨分令入。以貞元十年十一月十二日示疾，儼然加趺坐滅，春秋七十五，法臘三十六。沙門那提得師之道，傳授將來。以十二年二月二十二日，門人弟子緇俗遷座于本院之北隅，孺慕師德，號哭之聲，山林為之變色。初，會傳法在坤維，四遠禪徒臻萃于寺。時南康王韋公臯最歸心于會，及卒，哀咽追仰，蓋粗入會之門，得其禪要。為立碑，自撰文并書，禪宗榮之。

Shi Shenhui had the secular surname Shi and was originally a person of the Western Regions. His grandfather moved his dwelling, taking up residence in Qi, and thus became a resident of Fengxiang. Shenhui possessed a transcendent understanding by natural disposition, his luminous wisdom emerging from within; like an uncarved gem that does not shine externally, he was unknown to his contemporaries. At the age of thirty, he first entered Shu to visit Grand Master Wuxiang; of sharp capacity, he attained sudden awakening and secretly accorded with the mind seal. Wuxiang sighed and said, "My Dao is now in your hands!" Thereafter, his virtue became full and his wisdom extensive, flourishing as a pillar of the Chan tradition. His essential teaching was: "Quiescent illumination extinguishes objects; transcendent realization leaves thought behind; the mind itself is Buddha; no body is seen to exist." When his mind was concentrated and closed off without form, his disposition was like earth and wood. When his wondrous function silently aided others, clouds moved and rain fell; the simple masses were joyfully transformed, reforming toward goodness upon seeing his countenance and abandoning faults upon hearing his words. As for his broad expansiveness, it washed clean attachments and bondages, leading faculties of upper, middle, and lower nature to enter according to their capacity. On the twelfth day of the eleventh month in the tenth year of the Zhenyuan era, he manifested illness and passed away sitting upright with legs crossed, at the age of seventy-five, with a dharma age of thirty-six. The śramaṇa Natī attained the master's Dao and transmitted it to the future. On the twenty-second day of the second month in the twelfth year, his monastic and lay disciples relocated his seat to the northern corner of the home courtyard; weeping and calling out in filial yearning for the master's virtue, the sound made the mountains and forests pale. Initially, when Shenhui transmitted the Dharma in the southwest, Chan disciples from far and near gathered at the temple. At that time, Duke Wei Gao, Prince of Nankang, was the most devoted to Shenhui; when the master died, Wei wept with deep reverence, for he had gained basic entry into Shenhui's gate and attained his essential Chan teachings. He erected a stele for him, personally composing the text and writing the calligraphy, which was considered an honor for the Chan tradition.