弘贊法華傳 10.22

10.22

釋玄際。一名靜務。俗姓劉。浬南人也。曾祖鶻。隋岥州刺史。祖挺。隋宣範府果毅。並自家形國。文武兼濟。早悟玄珠。尤精佛。父通。久修儒術。晦迹衡門。不競塵喧。無悶朝市。通以際童年異稟。神情俊爽。愛其名器。因放出家。故纔登十一。便蒙落采。於是。洮汰法流。沐浴真化。筈而羽之。所入深矣。及進具足後。專精行檢。敬慎法儀。特堪師表。年三十有二。舉充興善維那。非其好也。性愛山水。深思閑寂。以咸亨之歲。託迹悟真。習誦法花般若。以為恒務。初誦法花。滿二千遍。夢登一大殿。殿內四面金山。光明徹耀。山間即有像龕。皆是觀音菩薩。頂禮圍遶。悲忻良久。乃見瑠璃瓶。盛一舍利。以手取之。倏然驚覺。誦滿五千遍。于時晝坐。忽夢空中數百檀龕。觀音菩薩。以手仰攀。漸覺來就。又於空中。見金珠無數。從上流下。光耀可愛。際以口承咽。身心遍喜。經兩食間。似飽而覺。自爾身心安預。持誦無廢福之。日兼宵五遍。誦至九千遍。時在北嶺院中。景將隅角。忽有異鳥。形如翡翠。膺白骨黃。玄吻丹足。從外飛來。直入懷內。於是。將至佛前。即飛上花樹。香奩經格。處處遊放。或以果食飼之。都無所噉。唯遇香蠟。時時以喙。晝即翩翾庭際。夜即眠息堂中。七日七夕。倏自飛去。俄又夢一人長可七八尺。姿容端正。一如捻素形像。自腰已下。文彩莊嚴。際時歡喜頂禮。號為觀音菩薩。即就菩薩。捧持其足。口稱大悲名字。乃蒙修撫摩頂。往反數迴。際以手攀。數口其乳。唅咽少時。遂便驚悟。或晝夕眠息。誦時將晚。便聞鍾磬之音。以相警發。其所誦法花。一萬二千遍。金剛般若一萬遍。中間念諸佛菩薩等名。誦滅罪隨心等呪。功挌相準過於上。有清信士祕書省校書郎劉玄曰。安者。冠纓茷族。才花秀出。神契釋門。心馳法寶。與際早狎忘言。深期淨福。以儀鳳二年。憑於寺基禪師院。讀誦之室。藻雪中表。香泥塗飾。懸幡散花。數重護淨。屈工書生行正。令其一入一浴。著新淨衣。燒香含香。虔誠繕寫。際躬罄資奉。晨昏不輟。初寫法花。未盈一紙。正夜夢神僧。授以妙香。又聞經屋前花壇之內。禮懺數拜之聲。怪往視之。寂無人物。正因不寐。獨坐肅然。俄聞空中擊鍾之響。寫第二卷。日正辰時。見一婆羅門僧。來入經室。儀容甚偉。合掌而立者久之。寫金剛波若初卷。正夢其心上光明。大如鉢許。書第二卷。到五眼前。筆硯放光。總為金色。正特加悚怖。定心書寫。其光初起題字。赫然朗燭。歷菩薩亦如是若作如是言我當滅度無量眾生。凡一十八言乃滅。至第三卷。其經本軸上。又放光明。長二尺餘。直耀窓際。于時。際與花嚴法師賢首等十餘人。親所聞見。乃相謂曰。我等末學。去聖茲遠。今寫尊經。忽垂靈相。豈可不於鴻烈而申起塔之誠乎。當即從初至終。清心潔事。謹於其處。而建一堂。以供全身兼書滿字。即七月二十六日。各捨衣鉢。置經屋前。燒香散花。共立弘誓。至後年三月。道俗數十。一宿行道。除舊屋立新基。使信士四人。齊潔沐浴。著新淨衣。僧等。以香花音樂。盡誠供養。引此四人。營制規式。雖荷畚覆簣。皆散以香花。其時。蒙鄙之人。咸發道意。其後沙門志寬文禮寺。親事板築。一舉槌杵。一稱佛名。餘清信士。但齊戒運土而已。成基之後。屢聞禮佛誦經之音。其年十月。於北嶺。別起經淨屋。表裏莊嚴。召巧匠路貞等。以香湯灌木。乃施斤斧。即聞空際數下鴻鍾之聲。夜叉夢花幢并二神長丈餘。立於作處。又遣縣人毛普達。採斫堂柱於散谷之內。見一孤松。聳乎高嶺之上。去水甚遠。匠斫所以棄之。其人既伐此樹。不日而倒。枝之所刺。地涌一泉。匠以療飢。遂成十柱。其堂。尚加彫飾。即日未就。而遠稽真典。用善法為名。餘待畢功。以寄能者。際閟采林泉。三十餘載。冷疾頻發。至于不救。道俗聞之。悽慟巖壑。春秋六十有七。即神龍二年三月一日也。際每慈柔宅性。拯濟居懷。不入市廛。不行尼寺。又勤修福務。勞不告倦。禮誦之餘。殆無閑隙。至於接對賓寮。臨機應物。言行無擇。眾共推之。所以吏部侍郎劉玄挺。兵部侍郎劉玄機。虞部郎中徐昭。高士許仁則等。欽其雅度。重其景業。供旋相仍。共結塵外之交矣。藍田縣令鄭南金。一言造盡。披襟寫契。敬挹風猷。為之贊曰。際公恬淡。無為無欲。待物以慈。處身知足。樹春唯茂。潭秋更綠。懿哉上人。如金如玉。其為時賢所敬。如此。

Shi Xuanji, also named Jingwu, had the secular surname Liu and was a native of Linan. His great-grandfather Hu was the regional inspector of Qizhou under the Sui. His grandfather Ting was a guoyi commandant of the Xuanfan garrison under the Sui. Both exemplified righteousness for the state from their family, excelled in both civil and military arts, awakened early to the profound pearl [of truth], and were particularly adept in the Buddha's teachings. His father Tong long studied Confucianism, lived in seclusion behind a simple door, did not compete in the noisy dust of the world, and was untroubled by court or market. Because Xuanji possessed extraordinary endowments in his youth, with a refined and alert spirit, Tong valued his lofty caliber and allowed him to leave household life. Thus, as soon as he reached the age of eleven, his hair was shorn. Thereupon he purified himself in the stream of the Dharma, bathed in the true transformation, and, like an arrow fitted with feathers, plunged deeply [into practice]. After receiving full ordination, he devoted himself strictly to self-examination in conduct and was reverently meticulous about ritual decorum, being uniquely qualified to be a model teacher. At thirty-two, he was chosen to serve as the karmadāna (weina) of Xingshan Temple, but this was not to his liking. By nature fond of mountains and streams, and deeply yearning for quietude and solitude, in the Xianheng era he took refuge at Wuzhen [Monastery], where he took the recitation of the Lotus and Prajñā sūtras as his constant practice. When he first completed two thousand recitations of the Lotus, he dreamt that he ascended a great hall, within which four sides were golden mountains whose light shone brilliantly through. Between the mountains were image niches, all containing Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. He bowed his head, circumambulated them, and wept with joy for a long time. Then he saw a lapis lazuli vase containing a śarīra; he took it with his hand and suddenly awoke with a start. When he completed five thousand recitations, sitting during the daytime, he suddenly dreamt of several hundred sandalwood shrines in the sky. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, pulling himself up by holding his hands, gradually approached him. He also saw countless golden pearls in the sky flowing down from above, radiantly lovely. Xuanji caught and swallowed them with his mouth, and his body and mind were filled with joy; after the span of two meals, feeling sated, he awoke. From then on, his body and mind were at ease, and he maintained his recitation without abandoning the work of merit, reciting five times each day and night. When he reached nine thousand recitations, while he was in the courtyard of the Northern Peak as the sun approached the corner, suddenly a strange bird appeared, shaped like a kingfisher, with a white breast, yellow bones, a black bill, and vermilion feet. It flew in from outside straight into his bosom. He then took it before the Buddha, whereupon it flew up into a flowering tree, and freely wandered about incense cases and sūtra shelves. When offered fruit or food, it ate nothing at all; only when it encountered incense or wax would it peck at it from time to time. By day it flitted about the courtyard, and by night it rested in the hall. After seven days and seven nights, it suddenly flew away. Soon after, he dreamt of a person about seven or eight feet tall, handsome and upright in appearance, just like an image spun of white silk, adorned with variegated colors from the waist down. Xuanji rejoiced, bowed his head, and addressed him as Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. He then approached the Bodhisattva, held his feet, and chanted the name of the Great Compassionate One. The Bodhisattva reached out, stroked, and rubbed his crown several times. Xuanji reached up with his hands, suckled his breast several times, swallowed for a short while, and then woke with a start. Whenever he rested day or night and the time for recitation drew late, he would hear the sound of bells and chimes alerting him. He recited the Lotus Sūtra twelve thousand times, and the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā ten thousand times; in between, he recollected the names of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and recited the Dhāraṇī for Eradicating Sin and Fulfilling Wishes and others, his meritorious deeds exceeding even the above. There was a pure believer, proofreader in the Palace Library Liu Xuanyue, whose style was An. Born of a noble lineage of official caps and ribbons, his literary talent was preeminent; his spirit accorded with the Buddhist gate, and his mind aspired to the jewel of the Dharma. He had long been an intimate, wordless friend of Xuanji, deeply committed to pure blessings. In the second year of the Yifeng era, relying on the reading chamber in the compound of Dhyāna Master Jishi, they purified the inside and outside, plastered it with fragrant mud, hung banners, scattered flowers, and guarded its purity severalfold. They engaged a skilled scribe, Xingzheng, ordering that each time he entered he must bathe, put on fresh, clean clothes, burn incense, and hold cloves in his mouth, reverently copying the text. Xuanji exhausted his own resources to support the work, continuing without pause morning and evening. When the Lotus was first copied, before a single sheet was filled, in the depth of the night Xingzheng dreamt of a divine monk handing him exquisite incense. He also heard the sound of prostrations of repentance several times within the flower altar in front of the sūtra chamber. Wondering at it, he went to look, but it was quiet with no one there. Because of this, Xingzheng could not sleep and sat alone in solemn silence; soon he heard the strike of a bell in the sky. When copying the second fascicle, at the chen hour (7–9 a.m.), he saw a brāhmaṇa monk enter the sūtra chamber, with a very imposing bearing, standing with palms joined for a long time. When copying the first fascicle of the Vajracchedikā Prajñā, he dreamt of a light above his heart, about the size of a bowl. When copying the second fascicle, upon reaching the Five Eyes, the brush and inkstone emitted light, turning entirely golden. Xingzheng was especially terrified and calmed his mind to continue copying; the light first arose at the characters of the passage, blazing brightly, passing through: 'Bodhisattvas are also like this; if they make this statement: “I shall extinguish and save limitless sentient beings”'—a total of eighteen characters—before extinguishing. Reaching the third fascicle, the core roller of the sūtra itself again emitted light, more than two feet long, shining directly onto the window. At that time, Xuanji, Huayan Master Xianshou, and more than ten others witnessed it in person. They said to one another, 'We late students are far removed from the sage. Now, as we copy the venerable scripture, miraculous signs have suddenly appeared. How can we not express our sincerity to build a stupa for this magnificent deed?' Thereupon, from beginning to end with pure minds and clean deeds, they reverently built a hall in that place to enshrine the complete body and write out the full text. On the twenty-sixth day of the seventh month, each renounced their robes and bowls and placed them before the sūtra chamber, burning incense, scattering flowers, and jointly making a great vow. In the third month of the following year, dozens of clerics and laypeople practiced the Way for a night, cleared away the old building, and laid a new foundation. They had four faithful laymen keep the precepts, bathe, and wear fresh clean clothes. The monks, with fragrant flowers and music, offered wholehearted worship and led these four men in designing the layout. Even when carrying baskets of earth and overturning hampers, fragrant flowers were scattered over them. At that time, even the ignorant and lowly brought forth the aspiration for the Way. Later, the śramaṇas Zhikuan and Wenli of the temple personally engaged in the rammed-earth construction; with each lift of the mallet and pestle, they chanted the Buddha's name once. The remaining pure believers merely observed the precepts and transported the earth. After the foundation was completed, the sounds of bowing to the Buddha and chanting sūtras were frequently heard. In the tenth month of that year, at the Northern Peak, they separately constructed a pure chamber for sūtras, ornate both inside and outside. They summoned the skilled craftsman Lu Zhen and others, who poured fragrant decoctions over the timber before applying their axes; immediately, the sound of a great bell striking several times was heard from the sky. At night, they dreamt of flower banners and two spirits over ten feet tall standing at the construction site. They also sent Mao Puda, a man of the county, to log pillars for the hall in Sangu. He saw a solitary pine soaring atop a high ridge, very far from water, which the carpenters had therefore rejected. When this man felled the tree, it toppled without taking days; where its branches struck, a spring welled up from the ground, which the craftsmen used to relieve their thirst and hunger, and thus ten pillars were completed. The hall was to be further decorated with carvings and was not completed immediately. Drawing from the authentic scriptures, it was named 'Good Dharma' (Shanfa); the rest awaited completion to be entrusted to capable hands. Xuanji secluded his brilliance amid the forests and springs for more than thirty years. His cold illness recurred frequently, until it became incurable. When the clerics and laypeople heard of it, their grief resounded through the cliffs and valleys. His age was sixty-seven; it was the first day of the third month of the second year of Shenlong (706 CE). Xuanji was always compassionate and gentle by nature, harboring salvation in his heart. He did not enter markets, nor did he frequent convents. Moreover, he diligently cultivated meritorious works, never complaining of weariness; beyond his worship and recitation, he had hardly any spare time. As for receiving guests and colleagues, he responded to circumstances as they arose; his words and deeds were impeccable, and all praised him together. Therefore, Vice Minister of Personnel Liu Xuanting, Vice Minister of War Liu Xuanji, Director of the Forestry Bureau Xu Zhao, and the worthy scholar Xu Renze, admiring his elegant demeanor and respecting his luminous deeds, continuously sent offerings and formed friendships beyond worldly dust with him. The magistrate of Lantian County, Zheng Nanjin, reached a complete understanding with him in a single conversation, opened his heart, made a pact of friendship, and reverently partook of his exemplary manner, praising him thus: 'Master Xuanji is calm and detached, effortless and without desire; he treats all beings with compassion and dwells in contentment. Trees in spring are merely luxuriant; ponds in autumn are yet greener. How splendid is this superior man, pure as gold and jade!' Such was the esteem in which the worthy contemporaries held him.