大明高僧傳 1.33

1.33

釋善繼號絕宗。越之諸暨婁氏子也。母王氏夢神僧授白芙蕖遂姙。生即能言。或見母舉佛號便能合掌和之。稍長從季父於山陰靈祕寺治春秋傳。因竊窺佛經乃喟然歎曰。春秋固佳特世法耳。莫若求出世法。況吾身如泡聚。官爵奚為哉。於元大德即請於父母師恭和尚祝髮。明年進滿分戒。尋從天竺大山恢法師習天台教。恢公見其慧解卓倫甞囑曰。吾輪下數百人。而堪繼大法者惟子耳。當自愛勉之。會大山遷雲間之延慶。即往南竺謁湛堂澄。澄一見便問曰。入不二門屬何觀法。繼對曰。三種觀法對屬三部。此文既與止觀同成觀體。的是從行。澄又問。諸經之體為迷為悟。繼曰。體非迷悟。迷悟由人。亦顧所詮經旨何如耳。澄公喜溢顏色謂眾曰。法輪轉於他日將有望于斯子矣。俾居第一座。澄移上竺。玉岡潤補其席。亦居第一座。天曆乙巳出住良渚。香嗣湛堂日講金光明經。夜夢四明法智謂曰。爾所講之經與吾若合符節。自是益加精進。至正壬午元臣高納璘請主天台薦福。無何遷能仁。闡法華妙玄文句。又釋五章奧義。甞示眾曰。吾祖有云。止觀一部即法華三昧之筌蹄。一乘十觀即法華三昧之正體。汝等須解行並馳正助兼運。則圓位可登。而不負祖師命宗之意也。元季會天下大亂。遂東還華。徑專修淨業繫念彌陀晝夜不輟。一日忽告眾曰。佛祖弘化貴乎時節因緣。緣與時違化將焉托。吾將歸矣。乃端坐而逝。至正丁酉七月二十二日也。世壽七十有二。僧臘六十有三。荼毘舌根不壞。塔於靈祕之西。得法弟子有靈壽懷古延慶自朋崇壽是乘廣福大彰雷峯淨昱演福如玘報忠嗣璡車溪仁讓香積曇胄若干人。

Shi Shanji was styled Juezong. He was a son of the Lou family in Zhuji, Yue. His mother, Lady Wang, dreamed that a divine monk gave her a white lotus, after which she became pregnant. When he was born, he could speak immediately. Whenever he saw his mother recite the Buddha's name, he was able to join his palms and chant in harmony. When he grew a little older, he followed his paternal uncle to Lingmi Monastery in Shanyin to study the Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. Taking a clandestine look at the Buddhist scriptures, he sighed and said, 'The Spring and Autumn Annals is indeed fine, but it is merely a worldly teaching. Nothing compares to seeking the transmundane Dharma. Moreover, my body is like an accumulation of foam; of what use are official rank and nobility?' In the Dade era of the Yuan, he requested permission from his parents and was tonsured under Master Gong. The following year, he took the full precepts. Soon afterward, he followed Master Dashan Hui of Tianzhu to study the Tiantai teachings. Master Hui saw that his wisdom and understanding were extraordinary and once enjoined him, saying, 'Among the hundreds of people beneath my wheel, the only one who can inherit the Great Dharma is you. You must value and exert yourself.' When Dashan moved to Yanqing in Yunjian, Shanji immediately went to South Zhú to pay homage to Zhandang Cheng. As soon as Cheng saw him, he asked, 'To which method of contemplation does the "Gate of Non-Duality" belong?' Shanji replied, 'The three kinds of contemplation methods correspond to the three treatises. Since this text, together with Cessation and Contemplation, jointly constitutes the contemplation essence, it clearly pertains to practice.' Cheng asked again, 'Is the essence of the various sūtras delusion or awakening?' Shanji said, 'The essence is neither delusion nor awakening; delusion and awakening depend on the person. It also depends on what doctrinal meaning the sūtra conveys.' Joy overflowed across Master Cheng's countenance, and he said to the assembly, 'The turning of the Dharma wheel in days to come may indeed be hoped for from this boy!' He appointed him to occupy the head seat. When Cheng moved to Upper Zhú, Yugang Run took his place, and Shanji also occupied the head seat there. In the yisi year of the Tianli era, he went forth to reside at Liangzhu. Offering incense to inherit Zhandang's lineage, he daily lectured on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra. At night, he dreamed that Fazhi of Siming said to him, 'The sūtra you lecture on tallies with my understanding as if two halves of a tally.' From then on, he became even more diligent. In the renwu year of the Zhizheng era, the Yuan official Gaona Lin invited him to take charge of Jianfu Monastery on Mount Tiantai. Before long, he was transferred to Nengren [Monastery], where he expounded the Sublime Profundity and Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sūtra and explained the profound meaning of the Five Chapters. He once instructed the assembly, saying, 'Our patriarch said: The entire work of Cessation and Contemplation is the fish trap and rabbit snare of the Lotus Samādhi; the One Vehicle and Ten Contemplations are the true essence of the Lotus Samādhi. You must advance understanding and practice together, operating both primary and auxiliary practices simultaneously; then the perfect rank can be attained, and you will not disappoint the patriarch's intention in establishing our tradition.' Toward the end of the Yuan dynasty, when the empire fell into great chaos, he returned east to Huajing, where he devoted himself exclusively to cultivating pure karma, mindfulness of Amitābha never ceasing day or night. One day, he suddenly told the assembly, 'For Buddhas and patriarchs to propagate transformation, what is precious is the timing of causal conditions. If conditions go against the times, where can transformation find support? I am about to return.' He then sat upright and passed away. It was the twenty-second day of the seventh month in the dingyou year of the Zhizheng era. His worldly age was seventy-two, and his dharma age was sixty-three. When he was cremated, the root of his tongue remained unharmed. A stūpa was erected for him to the west of Lingmi. Among the disciples who obtained his Dharma were Huaigu of Lingshou, Zipeng of Yanqing, Shicheng of Chongshou, Dazhang of Guangfu, Jingyu of Leifeng, Ruqi of Yanfu, Sijin of Baozhong, Renrang of Chexi, Tancheng of Xiangji, and several others.