大明高僧傳 8.10

8.10

釋真慈號元庵。潼川李氏子也。總角即慕空寂好遊伽藍。懇父母依成都之正法院圓頂受具足大小乘戒。潔肅氷雪解慧日隆。耽嗜貝文遍遊講肆。聽圓覺修多羅。至四大各離今者妄身當在何處畢竟無體實同幻化。因而有省頌曰。一顆明珠。在我這裏。撥著動著。放光動地。呈似諸座講師。無能識者。歸舉受業師。師以狗子無佛性話詰之。慈曰。百千公案無出此頌也。師乃叱出。因而南遊廬阜掛錫圓通。時卍庵為西堂為眾入室。舉僧問雲門。撥塵見佛時如何。門曰。佛亦是塵。慈聞豁然。隨聲便喝。以手指胸曰。佛亦是塵。復呈頌曰。撥塵見佛佛亦是塵。問了答了直下翻身。勸君更盡一杯酒。西出陽關無故人。又頌塵塵三昧曰。鉢裏飯桶裏水。別寶崑崙坐潭底。一塵塵上走須彌。明眼波斯笑彈指。笑彈指珊瑚枝上清風起。卍庵頷之。於是聲揚四表道洽殊途。出主智者誨誘學者。大屠龍之手焉。

Śramaṇa Shi Zhenci, styled Yuan'an, was a son of the Li family of Tongchuan. In his youth with hair tied in tufts, he already yearned for emptiness and quiescence and loved visiting monasteries. He pleaded with his parents to shave his head at the Zhengfa Cloister in Chengdu, and received the full precepts of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. Pure and solemn as ice and snow, his understanding and wisdom grew daily. Addicted to palm-leaf texts, he traveled everywhere to lecture halls. While listening to the Sūtra of Complete Enlightenment, arriving at: 'The four great elements each separate; now where can this deluded body be? In the end it has no substance and is truly identical to an illusion,' he had an awakening and composed a hymn: 'A single bright pearl / Is right here with me. / Stir it, move it, / It radiates light and shakes the earth.' He presented it to the lecture masters on their seats, but none could understand it. Returning, he related it to his tonsure master. His master questioned him with the phrase 'a dog has no Buddha-nature.' Ci said: 'Hundreds of thousands of gongan do not go beyond this hymn.' The master then shouted him out. Consequently he traveled south to Mount Lu and hung up his staff at Yuantong. At that time, Wan'an served as West Hall and held interviews in the room for the assembly. He brought up the monk asking Yunmen: 'How is it when one clears away the dust to see the Buddha?' Yunmen said: 'The Buddha is also dust.' Hearing this, Ci was thoroughly awakened. Following the sound, he immediately gave a shout, and pointing to his chest with his finger, said: 'The Buddha is also dust.' Again he presented a hymn: 'Clearing away dust to see the Buddha, the Buddha is also dust; / Having asked, having answered, right then turn your body around. / I urge you to drain another cup of wine: / Going west out the Yang Pass, there will be no old friends.' He also composed a hymn on the dust-by-dust samādhi: 'Rice in the bowl, water in the bucket; / A Kunlun who recognizes jewels sits at the bottom of the deep pool. / Atop each and every grain of dust, Mount Sumeru runs; / The clear-eyed Persian laughs and snaps his fingers. / Laughs and snaps his fingers—atop the coral branch, a pure breeze arises.' Wan'an nodded to it. Thereupon his fame spread in the four directions, and his Dao reached across different paths. He went forth to preside over Zhizhe Monastery, instructing and guiding students, being truly a hand that slaughters dragons.