大明高僧傳 3.16

3.16

釋大同字一雲。別峯其別號也。越之上虞王氏子。父友樵母陳氏。姙師十月父晝坐堂上。忽見龐眉異僧振錫而入。父起揖曰。和尚何來。曰崑崙山。竟排闥趨內急追。聞房中兒啼聲。父笑曰。吾兒得非再來者乎。師幼俊爽讀書輒會玄奧。初習辭章翩翩大有可觀。於是父以纘承家學屬之。母獨歎曰。是子般若種也。詎俾纏溺塵勞乎。遂命入會稽崇勝寺薙髮。聞春谷法師講清涼宗旨郡之景德。往依之盡得其傳。又謁古懷肇公精四法界觀。因春谷移主寶林。乃謂師曰。子之學精且博矣。恐滯心於麁執。但益多聞縛於知見。誠非見性之本。宜潛修而滌之。庶為吾宗之幸。於是命出錢塘見晦機熈禪師。見其揮麈之間師之夙習見聞一時蕩絕。惟存孤明耿耿自照。如是者閱六寒暑。晦機深嘉其志。又聞天目中峯法道之盛往參。便有終焉之意。中峰一日召而勉曰。賢首一宗日遠而日微矣。子之器量足以張之。毋久滯此。特書偈讚清涼像付以遣之。師大喜曰。吾今始知萬法本乎一心。不識孰為禪又孰為教也。還寶林復侍春谷且告中峯之意。谷隨命分座講雜華經。時宋故官徐天祐王易簡相與崇獎聲光煥著。郡守范公某憐春谷臘高。欲風之讓席。乃設伊蒲親與師言。師毅然動容曰。其所貴乎道者在師弟之分耳。分明可以垂訓後學。苟乘其耄而攘其位。豈人之所為哉。明公固愛我。使我陷於名義。實傷之也。范不覺避席謝曰。吾師誠非常人。豈吾所能知也。元延祐初出主蕭山淨土寺。次遷景德。至元被命住嘉禾之東塔。隨改寶林。然寶林本清涼國師肄業之地。人咸榮師。師亦高臥不赴。於是郡邑交疏延請再至。始投袂而起。乃倣終南草堂故事。闢幽舍招徠俊乂。故天下學者莫不擔簦躡[尸@憍]集其輪下。至正初賜佛心慈濟妙辯之號併金襴僧伽衣。元臣忠介泰不華守越苦旱。力請師禱。師爇臂香於玄度塔下雨即大澍。元季天下大亂寺災。師奮然謀復新之。至我　　太祖高皇帝御極設無遮大會於鍾山。召師入見武樓。師時年八十免拜跪。次日賜宴禁中。事竣賜內庫白金數鎰并珍物榮其歸。師生神宇超邁伏犀貫頂。身修偉玉立而美談吐。如坐王公貴人有排難教門者。則法輪滾滾。理或不直。雖斧鑕在前亦不少挫其氣。有以危法加之弗少顧。惟誦華嚴經為常課。而已不移日其人自斃。師每扶植他宗毫無猜忌。如斷江恩少林之學者乃薦之主天衣。天岸濟台教之徒也。挽之住圓通。師遊閩。時古林茂主福建之保寧。而馭下過嚴。楚僧無賴者將愬之於公府。師偶遇旅邸。乃設豐食從容餉之謂曰。吾固不識古林。聞其為禪林名德。若輩將不利之。君子以若輩為何如人。不若且止。否則恐自罹大咎。事遂寢。師性至孝恨蚤喪父。每至忌日必流涕不已。養母純至。非惟順色涼溫而已。必使心餐道味。及亡蒸甞無闕。且求名儒撰行實樹石於墓側。師持律甚嚴一鉢外無長物。惟有書史五千餘卷。洪武二年十二月內示微疾。次年季春十日登座說法。辭眾歸方丈端坐而化。世壽八十二。僧臘六十有五。闍維徵異甚多。建塔于竹山。所著有天柱稿寶林類編各若干卷。嗣法弟子妙心之大衍臯亭之善現高麗之若蘭景德之仁靜姜山之明善延壽之師顗南塔之國琛福城之大慧景福之性澄妙相之道儞法雲之道悅淨土之梵翱寶林之日益等。

Śramaṇa Datong, courtesy name Yiyun and art name Biefeng, was a son of the Wang family of Shangyu in Yue. His father was Youqiao and his mother was of the Chen family. When his mother was pregnant with the master for ten months, his father was sitting in the hall during the day, when he suddenly saw an extraordinary monk with long eyebrows enter shaking his ringed staff. The father rose, bowed with clasped hands, and asked, 'Where has the Upādhyāya come from?' He replied, 'From Mount Kunlun.' He then pushed open the door and hastened inside. As [the father] hurriedly gave chase, he heard the sound of a child crying in the room. The father smiled and said, 'Could my son be one who has returned?' In his youth, the master was handsome, sharp, and grasped the profound and abstruse whenever he read books. When he first practiced rhetoric and prose, they were graceful and truly magnificent to behold. Thereupon his father entrusted him with carrying on the family lineage of learning. His mother alone sighed and said, 'This child is a seed of prajñā. How could we let him be entangled and drowned in worldly toil?' She then had him enter Chongsheng Temple in Kuaiji to shave his hair. Hearing Dharma Master Chungu lecturing on the essential teachings of [National Preceptor] Qingliang at Jingde [Temple] in the prefecture, he went and relied on him, completely receiving his transmission. He also called upon the Venerable Guhuai Zhao and became proficient in the contemplation of the four dharmadhātus. When Chungu moved to preside over Baolin, he said to the master, 'Your learning is refined and broad; I fear that your mind may linger on coarse clinging, merely increasing extensive learning and remaining bound by views and knowledge. This is truly not the foundation for seeing the nature. You should cultivate in seclusion and wash them away; then you may well bring good fortune to our school.' Thereupon he ordered him to leave for Qiantang to see Chan Master Huiji Xi. Seeing him wave his whisk, the master's habituated knowledge and views acquired from the past were eradicated in an instant. Only a solitary, brilliant luminosity remained, shining upon itself. Six winters and summers passed in this manner. Huiji deeply commended his aspiration. Having also heard of the flourishing Dharma way of Zhongfeng at Tianmu, he went to visit him, immediately intending to spend his remaining days there. One day Zhongfeng summoned and encouraged him, saying, 'The Xianshou school grows increasingly distant and diminished by the day. Your capacity is sufficient to expand it; do not linger here long.' He specially wrote a verse in praise of Qingliang's portrait and conferred it upon him to send him off. The master was overjoyed and said, 'Only now do I know that the myriad dharmas originate in the one mind; I do not know which is Chan and which is the doctrinal teaching!' He returned to Baolin, attended upon Chungu again, and reported Zhongfeng's intention. Chungu immediately ordered him to share the seat and lecture on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. At that time, former Song officials Xu Tianyou and Wang Yijian joined in praising him, and his renown grew bright and prominent. Prefect Fan, pitying Chungu's advanced dharma age and wishing to hint that he yield his seat, prepared a vegetarian meal and personally spoke to the master. The master resolutely composed his expression and said, 'What is valued in the Way is nothing other than the proper relationship between master and disciple. When the distinction is clear, it can serve as an instruction to later students. If one were to take advantage of his senility to usurp his seat, how could that be the conduct of a human being? You, illustrious sir, indeed care for me, yet causing me to fall into violation of righteousness is in truth doing me harm.' Fan unconsciously retreated from his seat, apologised, and said, 'My master is truly no ordinary man; how could I have understood this?' In the beginning of the Yanyou era of the Yuan, he emerged to preside over Jingtu Temple in Xiaoshan, and then moved to Jingde. In the Zhiyuan era, he received orders to reside at Dongta in Jiahe, which was soon changed to Baolin. However, Baolin was originally the place where National Preceptor Qingliang pursued his studies, and people all regarded the master's appointment as glorious. Yet the master reclined high and would not set out. Only after official letters from the prefecture and county arrived repeatedly to invite him did he shake out his sleeves and arise. He then modeled himself on the precedent of the Caotang [Monastery] of Mount Zhongnan, opening a secluded retreat to attract outstanding talents. Thus, scholars from across the empire all carried their umbrellas, wore straw sandals, and gathered beneath his carriage wheels. In the beginning of the Zhizheng era, he was bestowed the title 'Buddha-Mind Compassionate Deliverance and Wondrous Eloquence' along with a golden brocade saṅghāṭī robe. When the loyal Yuan official Taibuhua governed Yue, there was a severe drought, and he earnestly requested the master to pray for rain. The master burned arm incense beneath the Xuandu Pagoda, and heavy rain poured down immediately. In the closing years of the Yuan, when the world was in great chaos, the temple suffered disaster; the master vigorously planned to renovate it. When our Great Ancestor, Emperor Gao, ascended the throne, he held an unhindered great assembly at Mount Zhong, and summoned the master for an audience at the Wu Tower. As the master was eighty years old at that time, he was exempted from prostrations and kneeling. The next day, a banquet was bestowed in the palace. When the matter concluded, several yis of silver from the imperial treasury and precious goods were bestowed to honor his return. By nature the master possessed a transcendent demeanor, with a prominent rhino-horn bone spanning to the crown of his head. He had a tall, majestic figure, standing upright like jade, and was skilled in conversation. When sitting among princes and nobles, if anyone attacked or questioned the Buddhist teachings, his Dharma wheel rolled continuously; if their principles were not straight, even if axes and executioners' blocks were before him, he did not weaken his spirit in the least. If anyone tried to harm him with dangerous legal charges, he gave it no heed, only reciting the Avataṃsaka Sūtra as his daily practice, and before the day passed, the person died of themselves. The master always supported other schools without the slightest suspicion or jealousy. For example, he recommended Duanjiang En, a student of the Shaolin [lineage], to preside over Tianyi; and he persuaded Tian'an Ji, a disciple of the Tiantai school, to reside at Yuantong. When the master was traveling in Min, Gulin Mao was presiding over Baoning in Fujian and governed his subordinates with excessive severity. A rogue monk from Chu was about to file a complaint against him at the government office. The master happened to meet him at an inn, so he prepared a sumptuous meal, served him leisurely, and said, 'I do not know Gulin personally, but I have heard that he is an illustrious virtue of the Chan monastery. If you people harm him, what kind of persons will gentlemen consider you to be? You had better stop; otherwise, I fear you will bring great calamity upon yourselves.' The matter was then dropped. The master was extremely filial by nature and grieved over the early loss of his father; whenever the death anniversary arrived, he would weep incessantly. He served his mother with pure devotion, not only being compliant in demeanor and attentive to temperature, but also ensuring that her mind fed on the taste of the Way. When she passed away, his seasonal sacrifices were never lacking, and he asked famous scholars to compose an account of her conduct and erected a stele beside her tomb. The master maintained the vinaya very strictly; apart from his single bowl, he had no surplus possessions, possessing only more than five thousand fascicles of scriptures and histories. In the twelfth month of the second year of Hongwu, he manifested a slight illness. On the tenth day of the late spring month of the following year, he ascended the seat to preach the Dharma, took leave of the assembly, returned to the abbot's quarters, sat upright, and transformed. His worldly age was eighty-two; his dharma age was sixty-five. The jhāpita produced many miraculous portents. A stūpa was erected at Mount Zhu. His writings include the Tianzhu Draft and Baolin Categorised Compendium, in several fascicles each. His dharma-heir disciples were Dayan of Miaoxin, Shanxian of Gaoting, Ruolan of Gaoli, Renjing of Jingde, Mingshan of Jiangshan, Shiyi of Yanshou, Guochen of the Southern Pagoda, Dahui of Fucheng, Xingcheng of Jingfu, Daoni of Miaoxiang, Daoyue of Fayun, Fan'ao of Jingtu, and Riyi of Baolin, among others.