大明高僧傳 1.31

1.31

釋必才字大用姓屈氏。台州臨海人。父哲明大經為科目之儒。母趙氏嗜善崇佛惟謹。才娠十月母一夕夢。梵僧振錫入堂內。覺而生。甫能言輒記孝經一卷。七歲善屬句脫口而就。聲文諧協宛有思致。時有江西瞿法師居越之報恩。實剡源暹公諸孫。通天台教觀。才年十二乃挾冊從之。未幾為祝髮進具戒。十六出游虎林謁湛堂澄於南竺。湛堂與語皆中肯綮。即以法器期之命典客司。時玉岡潤法師居第一座。學者歸之如雲。才亦執經入室。雖至流金之暑折膠之寒。足不踰戶限者十年。凡山家之玄教觀之要一經指授。意釋心融靡不臻其閫奧。玉岡歎曰。此子非靈山會上業已習之。烏能至此哉。一時儕輩如我庵無絕宗繼。皆英聲偉望超出時流。至於剖決宗旨議析教章。必推才為上首。玉岡出主海鹽德藏。命才分座講演。其辯若雨注河翻縱橫無礙。聽者稱之。泰定元年玉岡遷演福。宣政院請才繼德藏。當是時湛堂聲譽喧播中外。眾意其必願為其弟子。及升座瓣香嗣玉岡。君子謂其知義。至正二年遷杭之興福。三年補演福。元臣康里常咨決心要。先因寺燼於兵。才為次第新之建萬佛閣。其高一百三十尺有奇。才之為人凝重沈默觀行精勵。孜孜修進無斯須懈怠。接人以慈。誨人無倦。門弟子據猊座者百人。順帝特賜佛鑑圓照之號。一日忽覺頭目岑然即謂眾曰。吾緣盡矣。乃焚香面西端坐。高稱彌陀佛號。盡一晝夜又告眾曰。汝等勿謂修持無驗。吾淨土緣熟三昧現前矣。即索浴更衣為書以別相識。遂合掌而逝。輿龕荼毘。有五色光自龕中發。火餘不壞者二。舌根如紅蓮華。齒牙若珂貝。舍利滿地眾競取之一時俱盡。最後至者乃穴地尺許。求之亦有得者塔於寺南。閱世六十有八。座五十六夏。著述有妙玄文句止觀增治助文法華涅槃講義章安荊溪法智禮文詩偈等。並行於世。

Shi Bicai, whose courtesy name was Dayong, had the surname Qu. He was a native of Linhai in Taizhou. His father, Zhe, was thoroughly versed in the Great Classics and was a Confucian scholar who pursued the civil examination track. His mother, Lady Zhao, loved virtue and revered the Buddha with the utmost devotion. When she had been pregnant with Bicai for ten months, she dreamed one night that an Indian monk entered the hall vibrating a khakkhara. She awoke and gave birth to him. As soon as he could speak, he could recite a fascicle of the Classic of Filial Piety from memory. At the age of seven, he was adept at composing verse, completing poems effortlessly as soon as he opened his mouth. His rhymes and phrases were harmonious and graceful, distinctly revealing thoughtful literary talent. At that time, Master Qu from Jiangxi resided at Bao'en [Monastery] in Yue. He was indeed a descendant in the lineage of Master Shan'yuan Xian and was thoroughly versed in the Tiantai doctrine and contemplation. At the age of twelve, Bicai went to study under him, carrying his book satchels. Before long, [Master Qu] tonsured him, and he received the full precepts. At sixteen, he traveled out to Hulin and paid homage to Zhandang Cheng at South Zhú. Whenever Zhandang spoke with him, [Bicai's responses] struck right to the core. [Zhandang] immediately regarded him as a vessel of the Dharma and appointed him to manage the guest quarters. At that time, Master Yugang Run occupied the head seat, and students flocked to him like clouds. Bicai also took up the texts and entered his room. Even in the sweltering heat that could melt metal or the biting cold that could snap glue, his feet did not cross the threshold for ten years. Whenever the abstruse teachings and contemplative essentials of the Mountain School (Tiantai) were pointed out and instructed, his mind understood and his heart melted into them; there was none of their inner sanctum he did not reach. Yugang sighed in admiration and said, 'Had this boy not already practiced this at the assembly on Vulture Peak, how could he have reached this point?' Among his peers at that time, such as Wo'an Wu and Juezong Ji, all had eminent reputations and great renown that surpassed the contemporaries of their day. Yet when it came to dissecting the essential tenets and analyzing the doctrinal writings, they always deferred to Bicai as the foremost. When Yugang went forth to serve as abbot of Dezhang in Haiyan, he ordered Bicai to take a shared seat and expound the teachings. His eloquence was like pouring rain or a surging river, flowing freely in all directions without hindrance, and those who listened praised him. In the first year of the Taiding era, Yugang moved to Yanfu Monastery. The Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs invited Bicai to succeed him at Dezhang. At that time, Zhandang's renown resounded far and wide, both within and outside the capital, and everyone expected that Bicai would surely wish to become his heir. But when he ascended the seat, he burned incense to inherit the lineage of Yugang. Gentlemen deemed that he understood propriety. In the second year of the Zhizheng era, he was transferred to Xingfu Monastery in Hangzhou. In the third year, he filled the vacancy at Yanfu Monastery. Kangli, a high official of the Yuan, frequently consulted him to resolve essential mind matters. Earlier, the monastery had been reduced to ashes by warfare; Bicai progressively renovated it, building the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pavilion, which was over one hundred and thirty feet high. As a person, Bicai was solemn and quiet, and his contemplative practice was meticulous and strenuous; he diligently cultivated and advanced without a moment of laxity. He treated others with compassion and instructed people untiringly. A hundred of his disciples came to occupy lion seats. Emperor Shundi specially conferred upon him the title 'Fojian Yuanzhao' (Buddha-Mirror of Perfect Illumination). One day, he suddenly felt heavy and dizzy in his head and eyes, and so he told the assembly, 'My karmic affinities are exhausted.' He then burned incense, sat upright facing west, and loudly recited the name of Amitābha Buddha. After a full day and night, he told the assembly again, 'Do not say that cultivation has no verification. My conditions for the Pure Land have matured, and the samādhi has manifested before me.' He then requested a bath, changed his robes, and wrote letters of farewell to his acquaintances. Thereupon, he joined his palms and passed away. His casket was carried out for jhāpita. A five-colored light emanated from within the casket. Two relics remained indestructible after the fire: the root of his tongue, which was like a red lotus flower, and his teeth, which were like mother-of-pearl shells. Śarīra covered the ground; the assembly competed to collect them, and in a moment they were all gone. Those who arrived last dug into the ground about a foot deep, and among those who searched, some still obtained them. A stūpa was erected for him to the south of the monastery. He had lived sixty-eight years and completed fifty-six summer retreats. His writings include: Supplementary Text Assisting and Expanding the Sublime Profundity, Words and Phrases, and Cessation and Contemplation; Lecture Notes on the Lotus and Nirvāṇa Sūtras; Ritual Texts for Zhang'an, Jingxi, and Fazhi; as well as poems and gāthās, which all circulate in the world.