弘贊法華傳 3.6

3.6

釋灌頂。字法雲。俗姓吳氏。常州義興人也。祖世避地東甌。因而不返。今為臨海之章安焉。父天早去。母親鞠養。生甫三月。孩而欲名。思審物類未知所目。母夜稱佛法僧名。頂仍口斆。音句清辯。同共驚異。因告攝靜寺慧極法師。聞而歎曰。此子非凡。即以非凡為字。及年七歲。還為極公弟子。日進文詞。玄儒並驚。清藻才綺。即譽當時。年登二十。進具奉儀。德瓶油鉢。彌所留思。泊極師厭世。沐道天台。承習定綱。因有虧緒。俄隨智者東旋。止于台岳。晚出稱心精舍。開講法花。跨郎籠基。躡超雲印。方集奔赴。負篋成群。有吉藏法師。興皇入室。嘉祥結肆。獨擅浙東。聞稱心道騰。意未之許。求借義記。尋閱淺深。乃知體解心醉有所從矣。因廢講散眾。投足天台。餐稟法花。發誓弘演。至十七年。智者現疾。瞻侍曉夕。艱劬盡心。爰及滅度。親承遺旨。乃奉留書并諸信物。哀泣跪授晉王。晉王五體投地。悲淚頂受。仁壽二年。下令曰。禪師既是大師高足。法門委寄。今遣延屈。必希霈然。并法花經疏。隨使入京也。佇遲來儀。書不盡意。頂持衣負錫。高步入宮。三夏闡弘。副君欣戴。每至深契。無不申請。並隨問接對。周統玄籍。後遣信送還。嚫遺隆倍。甞有村人於法龍。去山三十餘里。染患將絕。眾治不愈。其子奔馳入山祈救。頂為轉法花經。焚栴檀香。病者雖遠。乃聞檀香入鼻。應時痊復。又樂安南嶺地曰安州。碧樹青溪。泉流伏溺。人徑不通。頂留連愛翫。顧而誓曰。若使斯地夷坦。當來此講經。曾未浹旬。白沙遍涌。平如玉鏡。頂以感通相顯。不違前願。仍講法花。用酬靈意。自頂受業天台。又稟道衡岳。思顗三世。宗歸莫二。若觀若講。常依法花。及說圓頓止觀四念等法門。其遍不少。且智者辯才。雲行雨施。或同天網。乍擬瓔珞。隨聞能領。唯頂一人。其私記智者詞旨。及自製義記。并雜文等題目。並勒千碑陰。以貞觀六年八月七日。終於國清寺房。春秋七十有二。初薄示輕疾。無論藥療。而室有異香。臨終命弟子曰。彌勒經說。佛入滅日。香煙若雲。汝多燒香。吾將去矣。因申遺誡。詞理妙切。門人眾侶。瞻仰涕零。忽自起合掌。如有所敬。三稱阿彌陀佛。低身𬽵就。色貌歡愉。奄然而逝。舉體柔軟。頂暖經日。甞有同學智晞。清高亮之士。先以貞觀元年卒。臨終云。吾生兜率矣。見先師智者。寶座行列。座皆有人。唯一座獨空。云却後六年。灌頂法師。外此說法。焚香驗旨。即慈尊降迎。計歲論期。審晞不謬矣。以其月九日。定于寺之南山也。

Shi Guanding, courtesy name Fayun, had the secular surname Wu. He was a man of Yixing in Changzhou. His ancestors fled upheavals to Dong'ou and did not return; thus they became residents of Zhang'an in Linhai. His father passed away early, and his mother raised him alone. When he had been born barely three months, being an infant she wished to name him, but pondering over categories of things, she did not know what to designate him. At night his mother recited the names of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, and Ding immediately imitated her with his mouth, the sounds and phrases clear and articulate, which astonished everyone. She reported this to Dharma Master Huiji of Shejing Temple, who heard it and sighed, saying, 'This child is not ordinary (feifan).' He then gave him Feifan as his courtesy name. When he reached seven years of age, he became Master Ji's disciple. Daily he progressed in literary composition, astonishing both Buddhist and Confucian scholars; his refined diction and brilliant talent brought him renown in his time. Reaching the age of twenty, he advanced to full ordination and upheld the deportment, devoting all the more reflection to the 'vessel of virtue' and the 'bowl of oil.' When Master Ji grew weary of the world and departed, Ding bathed in the Dao at Tiantai. Because the transmission of the guidelines for meditation had suffered a rupture, he soon accompanied Zhizhe eastward, dwelling on the peaks of Mount Tiantai. Later he went out to the Chengxin Aranya to lecture on the Lotus Sūtra, surpassing Lang and outshining Ji, leaping beyond Yun and Yin. Audiences gathered from all quarters, crowding together with book-boxes on their backs. There was Dharma Master Jizang, who had entered the chamber of Xinghuang and set up his school at Jiaxiang, holding sole sway east of the Zhe River. Hearing that the Dao was soaring at Chengxin, he was initially not convinced. He asked to borrow the record of its meanings, and examining its depth, he realized that his own intellectual understanding and inner surrender had a source to turn to. Consequently, he dissolved his lectures, dispersed his assembly, and went on foot to Tiantai to receive the Lotus Sūtra, vowing to propagate it widely. In the seventeenth year [of Kaihuang], Zhizhe manifested illness; Ding attended him morning and night, exhausting his heart in arduous devotion. When it came to his passing into extinction, Ding personally received his final instructions, and taking the posthumous letters along with various tokens of trust, he knelt weeping and presented them to the Prince of Jin. The Prince of Jin threw all five limbs to the ground, weeping tears of sorrow as he received them upon his head. In the second year of Renshou, [the Prince] issued a decree stating: 'Since the Dhyāna Master is the foremost disciple of the Great Master, entrusted with the Dharma gate, I now send an invitation, earnestly hoping you will generously come, bringing along the commentary on the Lotus Sūtra in the company of the envoy to enter the capital. Anxiously awaiting your arrival, words cannot fully convey my thoughts.' Ding, holding his robes and shouldering his staff, walked with lofty steps into the palace. Expounding the teaching throughout the three summer months, the heir apparent rejoiced and revered him. Whenever reaching deep realizations, he never failed to request instruction, and Ding responded to each inquiry, comprehensively mastering the profound scriptures. Later, an envoy was sent to escort him back, with parting gifts doubled. Once, a villager named Yu Falong, living more than thirty li from the mountain, contracted an illness and was near death; all cures having failed, his son ran into the mountain to pray for help. Ding chanted the Lotus Sūtra for him and burned sandalwood incense. Although the sick man was far away, the sandalwood fragrance reached his nostrils, and he immediately recovered. Furthermore, on the southern ridge of Le'an was a place called Anzhou, with blue-green trees and clear streams, yet the currents were treacherous and hidden, and paths for travelers were impassable. Ding lingered there with fond appreciation, looked back and made a vow: 'If this land becomes level and passable, I shall come here to lecture on the sūtra.' Before ten days had passed, white sand surged everywhere, flat as a jade mirror. Regarding this manifestation of spiritual resonance, Ding did not violate his former vow; he then lectured on the Lotus Sūtra to repay the spirit's intention. From the time Ding received instruction at Tiantai, he had also received the Dao from Mount Heng; across the three generations of Si and Yi, the ultimate principle remained singular. Whether contemplating or lecturing, he constantly relied on the Lotus Sūtra, and in expounding Dharma gates such as the Perfect and Sudden Cessation and Contemplation and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, he did so on numerous occasions. Moreover, Zhizhe's eloquence was like moving clouds and falling rain, sometimes like Indra's net, at other times resembling a necklace of pearls; only Ding alone could comprehend it upon hearing. His private notes on Zhizhe's words and purports, his own composed records of meaning, and titles of miscellaneous writings were all inscribed on the back of a thousand-stone stele. On the seventh day of the eighth month of the sixth year of Zhenguan, he died in his room at Guoqing Temple, at the age of seventy-two. At first he manifested a slight illness, yet refused medicine, while a rare fragrance filled the room. Approaching the end, he instructed his disciples, saying: 'The Maitreya Sūtra states that on the day the Buddha enters parinirvāṇa, clouds of fragrant smoke appear. Burn plenty of incense; I am about to depart.' He then delivered his final admonitions, the words and principles profound and earnest. The disciples and community gazed upward, weeping. Suddenly he rose on his own and joined his palms as if revering someone, chanted 'Amitābha Buddha' three times, lowered his body and bowed, his expression joyful. He suddenly passed away. His whole body remained supple, and the crown of his head was warm for days. Previously, a fellow student named Zhixi, a pure and lofty, brilliant gentleman, had died in the first year of Zhenguan. At his death, he said: 'I am born in Tuṣita. I see our late master Zhizhe seated among rows of jeweled seats; all the seats are occupied, except one which is empty. It is said that after six years, Dharma Master Guanding will preach the Dharma beyond here.' Burning incense verified the purport; it was indeed the Loving Honored One descending to welcome him. Calculating the years and period, Zhixi was confirmed not to have been mistaken. On the ninth day of that month, he was laid to rest at the southern mountain of the temple.