弘贊法華傳 5.10

5.10

釋道度。平陽人。本姓劉氏。經行伏定。居崇高之山。以天監元年。始至梁國。憩鐘山定林寺行禪。出觀所存利益。拔苦與樂。常運慈悲。梁國成康王。鄱陽忠烈王。並服膺禪師。受持禁戒。天監十七年。禪師自造法花經一百部。曉夜誦持藥王一品。後於花林寺覺殿。啟梁武曰。身為毒樹。實宜焚滅。厭此形骸。為日已久。願同喜見供養諸佛。勅旨答云。必欲利益蒼生。自可隨緣修道。若身命無常。棄尸陀林。施以鳥獸。於檀度成滿。亦為善業。八萬戶蟲。不容燒燼。非所勸也。又奉答云。道度此心不可奪。既蒙令勅。且當奉持。普通七年八月三日。乃入東州。至若耶山何令寺絕巖之間。爰構禪室。每獨言曰。所應作者。悉已究竟。亦復何憂。乃稍積薪柴。漸就減食。其年十一月三日。鍾自虛鳴。寺眾驚恐。莫測何相。其月八日。鍾又自鳴。二十三日。乃請百僧到山行道。四部咸花。三百許人。爾日乞受戒。弟子一百七十餘人。自云。道度凡夫。無明深重。唯有菩薩淨戒。謹與大眾。共結善緣。爾後更不復食。唯用澡瓶。以汲清水。日飲一升。至二十五日朝。寺眾同往見。瓶發五彩光耀。雜氣氛氳。至二十九日旦。寺主全等數人。共登禪室。遙見龕中。紫光外照。其日將暮。忽有群鳥五六百頭。同集一樹。俄頃而飛。是夜二更初。竟寺有雜色光。映燭房宇。至五更中。聞山頂火聲振烈。驚走往觀。見禪師合掌火中。春秋六十有六。刺史武陵王。乃遣灑掃收斂。於其處而建塔焉。後時聞山頂有石磬之聲。聲甚清徹。先燒身之處。有大柿樹。枯死十有餘年。禪師入山。恒坐樹下。後春遂生枝葉。禪師東行之始。告弟子道隱曰。吾千載有幸。逢值法王。今為身遠遊。奉見無日。有受持鐵鉢。別當獻奉。弟子道隱。具以狀聞。并獻鐵鉢。乃有勅曰。禪師心力決壯。能行難行。猶冀廣為化道利益四生。便爾異世。良可歎惜。追蹤喜見。必當面覩淨明。以此而言。更為可欣也。

Shi Daodu was a native of Pingyang, originally surnamed Liu. Practicing walking meditation and subduing his mind in dhyāna, he dwelt on the lofty mountains. In the first year of the Tianjian era (502), he first arrived in the state of Liang and stayed at Dinglin Temple on Mount Zhong to practice dhyāna. Coming out of contemplation, what he cared for was benefiting beings, removing suffering, giving joy, and constantly exercising compassion. Prince Chengkang of the Liang state and Prince Zhonglie of Poyang both followed the Chan Master with reverence and received the prohibitive precepts from him. In the seventeenth year of the Tianjian era (518), the Chan Master personally produced one hundred copies of the Lotus Sūtra, and day and night recited the single chapter of Bhaiṣajyarāja. Later, in the Juedian of Hualin Temple, he submitted a petition to Emperor Wu of Liang, saying: 'This body is a poisonous tree, and truly should be incinerated. I have loathed this physical frame for a long time. I wish to offer it to all the Buddhas, just like Sarvasattvapriyadarśana (Xijian).' The imperial decree replied: 'If you truly wish to benefit the living beings, you may simply cultivate the Way in accord with conditions. If your life is impermanent, casting your corpse in the Śītavana to give to birds and beasts will fulfill your dāna-pāramitā, which is also a good deed. The eighty thousand families of worms should not be burned to ashes; this is not something I encourage.' Daodu replied in turn: 'Daodu's mind cannot be swayed. Since I have received the imperial edict, I shall temporarily uphold it.' On the third day of the eighth month in the seventh year of the Putong era (526), he entered the eastern province, arriving among the precipitous crags of Heling Temple on Mount Ruoye, where he built a meditation hut. He would often say to himself: 'What was to be done has all been completed; what more is there to worry about?' Thereupon, he gradually accumulated firewood and progressively reduced his food intake. On the third day of the eleventh month of that year, the bell sounded on its own from the void. The assembly of the temple was frightened and could not comprehend the omen. On the eighth day of that month, the bell sounded on its own again. On the twenty-third day, he invited one hundred monks to the mountain to perform walking meditation. The fourfold assembly gathered like flowers, some three hundred people. On that day, more than one hundred and seventy disciples begged to receive the precepts. He said himself: 'Daodu is an ordinary person, whose ignorance is deep and heavy. Possessing only the pure bodhisattva precepts, I reverently forge good karmic affinities together with the great assembly.' Thereafter, he ate no more food, using only a water jar to draw fresh water, drinking one sheng per day. On the morning of the twenty-fifth day, the assembly went together to see him, and found the jar emitting five-colored brilliant light and fragrant vapors. On the morning of the twenty-ninth day, the temple abbot Quan and several others climbed to the meditation hut together, and from afar they saw purple light shining outward from the shrine. As dusk approached that day, a flock of five or six hundred birds suddenly gathered in a single tree, and took flight shortly afterward. At the beginning of the second watch that night, multicolored light filled the temple, illuminating the rooms and buildings. In the fifth watch, the crackling roar of fire was heard at the mountain summit. Running in alarm to see, they saw the Chan Master with palms joined amid the fire. His age was sixty-six. The regional inspector, Prince of Wuling, sent people to clean and collect his remains, and built a stūpa at that site. Later, the sound of a stone chime was heard at the mountain summit, its sound exceedingly clear and penetrating. Prior to this, at the place where he burned his body, there was a large persimmon tree that had been withered and dead for more than ten years; whenever the Chan Master entered the mountain, he always sat beneath this tree, and the following spring it sprouted branches and leaves. When the Chan Master first set off for the east, he told his disciple Daoyin: 'I have had the rare fortune in a thousand ages to encounter the King of the Dharma. Now I am making a distant journey on account of this body, and have no further day to be received in audience. I have an iron alms bowl that I have upheld; it should be offered separately [to the emperor].' The disciple Daoyin reported the circumstances in full and presented the iron bowl. Thereupon an imperial decree was issued: 'The Chan Master's mental resolve was resolute and strong; he was able to practice what is difficult to practice. We had still hoped that he would broadly transform and guide, benefiting the four kinds of living beings, yet he has suddenly passed to another realm, which is truly lamentable. Following the footsteps of Sarvasattvapriyadarśana, he will surely see Jaladharagarjitaghoṣasusvaranakṣatrarājasankusumitābhijña (Jingming) face to face. Spoken of in this way, it is rather something to rejoice over.'