天台九祖傳 1.20

1.20

和上俗姓王氏。瑯瑘苗裔。桑梓西京繡衣繼代不可具。委身乃授監察御史。解組辭榮。從師學道。年二十。四方乃進具。於秦地學戒。既達持犯。思學大乘（原本無學字。龍城沙門忍鎧。依內證血脈譜正之）遂寫慈恩法華疏。於夜夢見一僧。而語曰。何不聽於天台圓頓宗旨。至明旦乃向眾人陳說夢事。眾人曰。既有夢。豈無其徵。承常州妙樂寺湛然闍梨。今盛傳弘此教。時雖聞其語。未為的實。後有信至方知不虛。乃捨所寫。振錫南行。到揚州法雲寺欲住。旬日又夢見一僧。語曰。妙樂講經已欲至方便品。今可速往。因乃馳趣。果如其夢。集業五年（本按集字當作習字）更無他事。以燭繼晝。麟角業成。乃辭師獨行。師曰。隨方而住。隨分宣傳。縱自修行亦為利益。遂却至揚府。被人請講法華止觀玄文。各得數遍。後入天台。於路至越州。見御史端公。後除歙州刺史。陸參拜為和上（本按陸字恐剩）後至貞元十二年。入天台。居山九年。講法華止觀玄文等。未曾有闕六時行道。法華一部大小乘戒日常一遍。未甞不周。二十年。台州刺史請下龍興。講法華止觀。至今年二月。因勾當本國教門。且暫停耳。但乾淑隨和上。始得十年。在前之事。悉不具知。略書而已。

The upādhyāya's secular surname was Wang. He was a scion of Langya; his ancestral home was the Western Capital (Chang'an). For successive generations his family wore embroidered robes (held official posts), which cannot be recounted in full. He himself was appointed investigating censor (jiancha yushi). Untying his official ribbons and renouncing worldly glory, he followed a master to study the Way. At age twenty-four, he received full ordination. In the land of Qin he studied the vinaya, and having mastered upholding and violation [of precepts], he thought to study the Mahāyāna (The original text lacked the word 'study'; Śramaṇa Renkai of Longcheng emended it based on the Inner Realization Lineage Chart). Thereupon he copied the Ci'en Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra. At night he saw a monk in a dream, who said, "Why do you not listen to the Tiantai tenets of the perfect and sudden?" When morning came, he recounted the dream to the assembly. The assembly said, "Since there is a dream, how could there not be an omen for it? We have heard that Ācārya Zhanran of Miaole Monastery in Changzhou is now propagating this teaching with great renown." Although he heard their words at the time, he did not take it as definite truth. Later, when a trustworthy message arrived, he finally knew it was not false. He then set aside what he had copied, shook his monk's staff, and journeyed south. Arriving at Fayun Monastery in Yangzhou, he intended to stay. Within ten days he again saw a monk in a dream, who said, "Miaole's lecture on the sūtra is already about to reach the 'Expedient Means' chapter; you should go quickly now." He then galloped in haste, and it indeed matched his dream. He studied and practiced for five years (Note: the character ji 'gather' should be xi 'practice'), without any other concerns. Continuing by candlelight through the night, his mastery was completed like the unicorn's horn. He then took leave of the master to travel alone. The master said, "Dwell according to circumstance; propagate the teaching according to your capacity. Even if you practice for yourself alone, it will still bring benefit." He then returned to Yang Prefecture, where he was invited by people to lecture on the Lotus Sūtra, Calm Abiding and Special Insight, and the Mysterious Meaning, each several times. Later he went to Tiantai. On the way, reaching Yuezhou, he met Censor Duan. Later, Duan was appointed prefect of Shezhou. Lu Can bowed and took him as his upādhyāya (Note: the character Lu is probably superfluous). Later, in the twelfth year of Zhenyuan (796 CE), he entered Tiantai. Living in the mountains for nine years, he lectured on the Lotus Sūtra, Calm Abiding and Special Insight, the Mysterious Meaning, and other texts without ever faltering. He practiced the path in the six periods of the day; reciting one copy of the Lotus Sūtra and the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna precepts once daily, he never failed to complete it. In the twentieth year (804 CE), the prefect of Taizhou invited him down to Longxing [Monastery] to lecture on the Lotus Sūtra and Calm Abiding and Special Insight. Up to the second month of this year, because he was managing the doctrinal affairs of this realm, he merely paused temporarily. Qianshu has followed the upādhyāya for only ten years; the matters before that are not known in full, so I have only recorded them in brief.