天台九祖傳 1.9

1.9

六祖法華尊者。諱智威。姓蔣氏。縉雲人也。頴脫塵蒙。心遊物表。少事師于軒轅氏鍊丹山。聞天台宗教盛。遂負笈往沃洲石城寺。親章安禪師。求請心要。既而得一融道。體二居宗。定慧方均。寂照相半。雖曰自了。急在利他。天與多能。富有辭藻。著桃巖寺碑。與頭陀寺碑。氣度相來。後以法眼付授小威焉。時傳威是徐陵後身。其智利雄才斷可知矣。

The Sixth Patriarch, the Venerable Fahua. His taboo name was Zhiwei, and his surname was Jiang. He was a man of Jinyun. Transcending worldly dust, his mind roamed beyond material things. In his youth, he served a master at the Alchemical Furnace Mountain of the Xuanyuan clan. Hearing that the Tiantai tradition was flourishing, he carried his book-chest to Shicheng Temple on Mount Tianzhu (Mount Wozhou), drew close to Meditation Master Zhang'an, and requested the essentials of the mind. Soon he attained the unitary integration of the Way, embodying the two truths to establish his doctrine, with calm abiding and special insight balanced, and stillness and illumination sharing equal halves. Though it is said he attained self-liberation, his urgent focus lay in benefiting others. Endowed by nature with versatile talent, he was rich in rhetoric. He composed the stele of Taoyan Temple, which in spirit matched the Stele of the Dhūta Temple. Later he transmitted the Dharma-eye to Little Wei. At that time, it was said that Wei was the rebirth of Xu Ling; his sharp intellect and heroic talent can certainly be known from this.