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Translation of 天台九祖傳
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- pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.2069 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…
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Text
1.1
Reverently compiled by the śramaṇa Shiheng of Yunjian.
1.2
The nine generations of patriarchs of our lineage manifested their births across both the Eastern and Western lands. Appearing and flourishing before and after one another, they were separated by vast stretches of time and distance; consequently, the accounts of their spiritual responses and manifested traces are scattered throughout scriptures and biographies. Unless one is extensively well-read, they cannot be known in detail. Because of this, practitioners in the lineage of the Mountain School rarely fathom the origins of their patriarchs' meritorious virtues. Alas! The earlier Confucians had a saying: 'To praise an ancestor who has no excellence is slander; to be unaware of the goodness [they had] is ignorance; to know of it and not transmit it is unbenevolent.' These three things are what the noble person feels ashamed of; how much more so, then, for those who study the teachings? This foolish one, unworthy though I am among the latter descendants, simply wishes to avoid the fault of not transmitting [them]. I have carefully collected records from the texts and recorded them fully above, so as to bequeath them to later worthy ones. May the boundless propagation and exaltation [of the teaching] have ground from which to emulate their virtues, and thus not be without benefit. Prefaced on the full moon day of the twelfth month in the first year of the Jiading era [1208 CE], while residing at the Ningcui Pavilion of Zhufeng.
1.3
First Patriarch: Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna
Second Patriarch: Venerable of Beiqi
Third Patriarch: Venerable of Nanyue
Fourth Patriarch: Great Master Zhizhe, Head of the Tiantai Teaching
Fifth Patriarch: Venerable Zhang'an
Sixth Patriarch: Venerable Fahua
Seventh Patriarch: Venerable Tiangong
Eighth Patriarch: Venerable Zuoxi
Ninth Patriarch: Venerable Jingxi
1.4
The First Patriarch, Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna, was from a grand and eminent noble family of the brahmacārin caste in South India. He was born under a tree, and because he attained the Way through dragons, he was called Nāgārjuna ('Dragon Tree'). From youth he was intelligent and wise, and his talents and learning surpassed the ordinary world. While still in swaddling clothes (ju-liang phonetically for the first character, bao for the second; infants' clothing), he heard various brahmacārins recite the four Veda texts, each consisting of forty thousand verses, with each verse having forty-two syllables; he recited their texts from memory and also grasped their meanings. Coming of age, his fame spread, and he walked alone without peer across the states. In secular arts, abilities, astronomy, geography, prophetic diagrams, secret prognostication, and other occult arts, there was nothing he did not master (zi-song phonetically for the first character, lang-dian phonetically for the second). He made friends with three others who were also talents of their time. One day they conferred together, saying: 'As for the principles and doctrines under heaven that can enlighten the spirit and realize profound purports, we have exhausted them completely. By what other means can we amuse ourselves? There is only pursuing fine beauty and indulging our passions to the utmost desires—would that not be joyful? Yet we brahmacārins do not have the power of kings and dukes; how can we obtain them? We can seek the art of invisibility, and then this pleasure can be realized.' The four looked at one another in complete agreement, and went together to an occult master to seek the method of invisibility. The master thought to himself: 'These four brahmacārins possess renown throughout an entire era, looking down on all beings like grass and mustard. Now, on account of their art, they humble themselves and come to me. These men have intelligence and brilliance unmatched in the world; what they do not know is only this base art. If I teach them its recipe, they will abandon me forever. I shall just give them the medicine and keep them from knowing it. When the medicine is exhausted, they will surely return, and shall always treat me as their master.' He gave each of them a pellet of blue medicine and instructed them, saying: 'Go to a quiet place, grind it with water, and smear it over your eyes; as proof, your forms will naturally be concealed.' Nāgārjuna ground the medicine and smelled its fragrance; he fully knew the names of the ingredients, their proportions and quantities, without missing even a grain or a drachm (zi phonetically for the first character, shu for the second). He returned to the master and set forth in detail that this medicine had seventy ingredients, their names and quantities being completely according to his recipe. The master was astonished and asked: 'How did you know this?' He replied: 'Medicines have qi and components; why would I not know?' The master then sighed in admiration and said: 'Even hearing the name of such a person is difficult, how much more so that I have met him in person! Why should I begrudge this art?' He then taught the method completely to the four men. Having obtained the art of invisibility, they roamed with complete freedom. They entered into the royal palace, and the palace beauties were all violated. After more than a hundred days, many were pregnant. The matter was reported to the king. Displeased, the king said: 'What inauspicious thing is this?' He summoned his wise ministers to ask the reason. At that time, a minister said to the king: 'What is doing this does not exceed two things: first, spirits; second, arts. We may place fine earth inside all the gates and order guards to bar passersby. If it is an occult art, footprints will naturally appear; if it is a demonic spirit, it will surely enter without traces. Humans can be eliminated with weapons; spirits should be extinguished with incantations.' The king adopted his plan and prepared the method to test it. Seeing the footprints of four people, they immediately closed all the gates. Several hundred strongmen swung their swords through the air, severing the heads of three men. Within seven feet of the king, the swords did not reach; Nāgārjuna alone, contracting his body and holding his breath, stood beside the king, and therefore was not slain. Then for the first time he realized that desire is the root of suffering. A mind of revulsion toward desire arose, and he made a vow to renounce household life: 'If I obtain escape, I shall go to a śramaṇa and seek the method of leaving home.' Having later escaped, he entered the mountains and reached a stupa, where he renounced household life and received the precepts. Within ninety days, he recited the Tripiṭaka completely and mastered all its profound meanings. When he searched further for other texts, there was nowhere to find any. He then went to the Snow Mountains (Himālaya) and met a bhikṣu, who transmitted the Mahāyāna to him. He read and recited it with fondness and delight, but although he realized the true meaning, he had not yet obtained realization of the Way. His eloquence was boundless, and he was skilled at discourse. Non-Buddhists of heterodox studies, śramaṇas, and doctrinal scholars were all overwhelmed and subdued, asking him to be their master. He then said to himself, 'I am an omniscient person.' Giving rise to great arrogance, he thought to himself: 'Among the worldly dharmas, the paths and ways are boundless. Although the Buddha's sūtras are wonderful, the sentences and meanings are not fully exhaustive. I will now expound them further to enlighten later students.' Having formed this thought, he wished to carry it out: he would institute rules and precepts as a master, make different clothing, align with the Buddha-Dharma while having slight differences, and, wishing to eliminate the sentiments of the assembly, show that he did not receive their training. Selecting an auspicious day, he intended to carry it out, staying alone in a quiet room of a crystal-ground chamber. Bodhisattva Mahānāga, pitying him for being thus, immediately used supernatural power to draw him into the great ocean and took him to his palace. He opened seven-jeweled chests and handed over to him the profound, esoteric scriptures of the Vaipulya and the unsurpassed wondrous Dharma. Nāgārjuna read them over ninety days, comprehensively understanding a great deal. His mind penetrated deeply, and he personally attained real benefit. Knowing his mind, the dragon asked him: 'Have you finished reading the sūtras?' He replied: 'Your sūtras are boundless and cannot be exhausted. What I have read is fully ten times more than all in Jambudvīpa.' The dragon said: 'The scriptures existing in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven surpass these by hundreds of thousands of myriads of times; those in other places are incalculable by comparison.' At that time, having obtained these sūtras, Nāgārjuna was thoroughly enlightened and unobstructed; he skillfully understood the single characteristic, deeply penetrated non-arising, and was fully endowed with the patience of the non-arising of dharmas. Knowing that he had realized the Way, the dragon sent him back out of the palace. At that time, the King of South India harbored great wrong views, served non-Buddhists, and slandered the correct Dharma. In order to transform him, Nāgārjuna personally held a red banner and walked in front of the king for seven years. Only then did the king wonder and ask: 'Who are you, walking in front of me?' He replied: 'I am an omniscient person.' Hearing this, the king was greatly astonished and then asked him: 'An omniscient person is extremely rare. You say yourself that you are one; what proof do you have?' He replied: 'If the Great King wishes to know, you should ask me.' The king then thought to himself: 'I am the master of wisdom and a great disputant. If I ask and can confound him, it will not be extraordinary; but if I am not his equal, this is no small matter. If I remain silent and do not ask, that is already one defeat.' After hesitating for a long while, looking down and up, he asked: 'What are the devas doing now?' He replied: 'The devas are right now fighting with the asuras.' When the king heard this, it was just like a person choking (yi-jie phonetically): he could neither spit it out nor swallow it (yan phonetically). If he wished to deny his words, he had no evidence; if he wished to affirm the matter, he had no proof. While he was debating in hesitation, Nāgārjuna spoke again: 'This is not empty discourse. Let the king wait a moment, and in an instant it will be proven.' When he finished speaking, swords, sabers, halberds, and spears fell successively from the sky. The king said: 'Although shields, halberds, spears, and lances (mou phonetically for the first character, set upon war chariots, two zhang in length; shuo phonetically for the second character, one zhang and eight chi is called shuo) are weapons of war, how do we know it is devas fighting with asuras?' He replied: 'Rather than empty words, it is better to verify it with reality.' As he spoke, the ears and noses of asuras fell from the sky. He also caused the king, his ministers, and the assembly to see the two armies facing off in the sky. Only then did the king bow his head and receive his doctrinal transformation. Ten thousand brahmans in the palace consequently renounced household life. At that time, in this country, he greatly propagated the Buddha's teaching, subdued non-Buddhists, broadly expounded the meaning of the Mahāyāna, and composed an Upadeśa of one hundred thousand verses, along with treatises such as the Adornment of the Buddha Path and the Great Compassion Expedient Means, each of five thousand verses, so that the Mahāyāna teachings now flourish greatly in India. He composed the Akutobhayā, complete in one hundred thousand verses; the Madhyamakaśāstra emerged from within the Akutobhayā, consisting of five hundred verses in all. At that time, there was a brahman who was skilled in incantations and spells, and wished to contend with Nāgārjuna for supremacy with his own abilities. He said to the king: 'I can subdue this bhikṣu.' The king said: 'You are very foolish. This bodhisattva's brilliance is equal to the sun and moon, and his wisdom is on par with all the sages. How could someone mediocre and inferior like you compare to him?' The brahman said: 'The king is a wise person and should verify it by principle. Why does the Great King slight and despise me beforehand (mo-jie phonetically; to insult)?' Seeing his earnest words, the king respectfully invited Nāgārjuna, and at dawn they gathered together in the Hall of Political Virtue. Then the brahman immediately used incantations to create a great pool before the hall, broad, long, and pure, and out of the pool emerged a thousand-petaled lotus flower, upon which he sat. He said to Nāgārjuna: 'You dwell on the ground, similar to beasts; I abide atop the flower, with wisdom clear and pure. How dare you dispute and debate with me?' At that time, Nāgārjuna also used the power of incantation to transform into a white elephant. The elephant had six tusks; walking upon the water of the pool, it went toward his flower seat, wrapped its trunk around it (jiao phonetically; to entwine), pulled it up, raised it high, and cast it to the ground. Then the brahman injured his back and fell into distress; he immediately submitted and took refuge in Nāgārjuna: 'I was very stupid and obstinate, offending the Great Master. I only pray that you pity me and allow me to repent my fault.' Nāgārjuna took pity on him and ordained him. At that time, there was a Hīnayāna Dharma master who, seeing his eminence and brilliance, constantly harbored resentment and jealousy. Nāgārjuna knew this deeply; since what was to be done had already been accomplished, his conditions had run their course, and his transformation was complete, he was about to manifest quiescence. Therefore, he asked the Hīnayāna master: 'Do you now wish for me to dwell long in the world, or not?' The other said: 'Benevolent one, I truly do not wish it.' Thereupon, Nāgārjuna entered a quiet room and did not come out for days. His disciples all grew suspicious; pushing open the door to look, they saw that he had departed like a cicada shedding its shell (shui phonetically). The various states of India all erected shrines for him, making various offerings and reverently serving him as a Buddha. Because his mother gave birth to him under a tree, he was named Arjuna; Arjuna is the name of a tree. Because he accomplished his Way through dragons, 'dragon' (Nāga) was matched to his name, and he was called Nāgārjuna. Relying on taking immortal elixir, he dwelt long in the world, upholding the Buddha-Dharma for over three hundred years. Those he delivered were incalculable. As the Fu fazang zhuan states, and the sixth chapter of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra says: 'Mahāmati, you should know: after the Sugata's nirvāṇa, in a future age there shall be one who upholds my Dharma, a bhikṣu of great renown and virtue in the country of South India, named Nāgārjuna, who can destroy the factions of existence and non-existence, revealing my unsurpassed Mahāyāna Dharma in the world, attaining the First Joyful Stage (pramuditā-bhūmi) and being reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.' This was a prophecy spoken directly from the Buddha's golden mouth.
1.5
The Second Patriarch, the Venerable of Beiqi, had the taboo name Huiwen. (His virtuous conduct is not seen in an original biography.) He lived during the era of Gao of Qi. (Qi was the state title. Gao refers to the High Ancestor, a man of Bohai with the surname Gao, a descendant of the Qi grand master Gao Xi. After Gao Huan, Gao Yang received the abdication from Wei. He established his capital at Ye in Xiangzhou, which was Northern Qi.) He strode unmatched between the Yellow and Huai Rivers. (There was no rival to his converting others; thus it is said of north of the Yellow River, and "Huai" refers to the south, where he walked and transformed in the world.) His Dharma-door was not something known to the world. (This clarifies that what he realized was so profound that it was not known to others.) Treading the earth and carrying the heavens, no one knew their height and depth. (The Venerable's Dharma moved in the world just as someone treading the earth does not know the earth's depth, or carrying the heavens does not know the heavens' height.) The Venerable applied his mind entirely in reliance on the Expository Treatise. The treatise was spoken by Nāgārjuna. According to the Transmission of the Dharma Treasury, Nāgārjuna was the thirteenth master in the ancestral transmission from the Golden Mouth [of the Buddha]. The Venerable received [the transmission] horizontally across time and took him as his master. Thus Hanlin Academician Liang Su said: "After the Great Hero manifested extinction, the paths of learning branched into schools. As the world declined, the teaching also deteriorated. Therefore the Great Being Nāgārjuna was grieved by this, and thereupon employed expedients to subdue the non-Buddhists. He then gathered together the twelve divisions of scriptures to elucidate the ultimate principle. When these subtle words flowed eastward, our Dhyāna Master of Beiqi attained them, entering the non-dual Dharma-door from within written words, and transmitted it to Nanyue." These words say it all. Later students, revering and honoring him, did not dare to refer to him directly by his taboo name, and so addressed him as the Venerable of Beiqi.
1.6
The Third Patriarch, the Venerable of Nanyue, whose taboo name was Huisi, was of the Li family and a native of Wujin. From his youth he was broad-minded and compassionate. A fleshy uṣṇīṣa grew atop his head, and his ears had double rings. He had the gaze of an elephant and the gait of an ox, adorned with superior physical marks, naturally distinguished from the ordinary world. He once dreamed that an Indian monk exhorted him to leave the secular life; startled into awakening by this auspicious sign, he took leave of his parents and entered the Way. He held fast to plain simplicity, his pure conduct unblemished. Upon receiving the full precepts, he ate only one meal a day and accepted no special offerings. He retired to secluded tranquility, completely putting an end to escorting and receiving visitors. He chanted sūtras such as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka. When the small hut where he stayed was burned down by someone, he immediately manifested an epidemic illness; seeking with sincerity and begging for repentance, he built a grass hut again and held the sūtra as before, whereupon his ailment subsided. He further dreamed of several hundred Indian monks of extraordinary appearance and garb, who requested the monastic assembly to perform the karmavācanā rite and confer [the precepts upon him] in full completion. Awakening with a start, he realised he had received them in a dream, and his diligent devotion deepened even more, discarding neither dusk nor dawn. He also dreamed that Maitreya and his retinue assembled together at the Dragon Flower Tree. Huisi thought to himself: 'During the Final Dharma age of Śākyamuni, I have received and upheld the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka; now encountering the Merciful Honoured One, I am moved to sorrowful weeping.' Suddenly he had an awakening, and became all the more energetic. Miraculous omens multiplied; offerings were lavishly prepared, as though heavenly youths were waiting upon and guarding him. Because he read the Miaoshengding jing praising the merits of dhyāna, he resolved to practice meditation. At that time, the Chan master of Beiqi gathered several hundred disciples; the community's discipline was pure and solemn, and both monastics and laity held him in high esteem. Huisi went and took refuge, receiving the true Dharma from him. By nature fond of bitter discipline, he took tending to the monastic community as his occupation; winter and summer he provided offerings without shirking toil and hardship. Day and night he focused his mind, deliberating upon principle and practice. Through these two periods, he had not yet attained realization. Then, in the following summer retreat, he sat upright without lying down, tethering his mindfulness to what was before him. In the first three weeks, a slight tranquil contemplation arose, and he saw the karmic signs of good and evil throughout a lifetime. Becoming doubly valiant and vigorous, he then stirred the eight sensations and gave rise to the fundamental first dhyāna. The obstacles to dhyāna suddenly arose: his four limbs grew slack and weak, incapable of walking, his body not obeying his mind. He immediately observed within himself: 'My present illness is entirely born from karma. Karma arises from the mind; originally there is no external object. Looking back into the source of the mind, karma cannot be found. The body is like the shadow of a cloud: its marks exist, but its substance is empty.' Having contemplated thus, inverted thoughts were extinguished, the nature of mind became pure, and his suffering was eliminated. He also brought forth the meditation on emptiness, and his mind and objects became vast and open. When the summer retreat ended and he received monastic rains-retreats, he sighed that he had gained nothing. Lamenting his own torpor and that his life had passed in vain, he harboured deep shame and let his body lean against the wall. Before his back touched it, all of a sudden he awakened. The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka samādhi and the Dharma-gates of the Mahāyāna were clearly mastered in a single thought. The sixteen superior contemplations and the eight liberations entered him gradually; he then penetrated them on his own, not relying on awakening from another. The longer he investigated and refined it, the more his previous contemplation increased. His reputation and conduct were heard far and wide, and the four directions revered his virtue. His students grew daily in number, and those with opportune awakening were indeed manifold. Thereupon, with the teachings of dhyāna and wisdom in the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, he expounded and illustrated them with parables to draw in himself and others. The assembly was a mix of refined and coarse, from which disputes arose. Out of jealousy, some used poisoned bird venom, but the poison could not harm him; heterodox paths plotted schemes, but their schemes could do no harm. He then looked back at his disciples and said: 'When the Great Sage was in the world, he did not avoid slanderous rumors; how much less can I, devoid of virtue, escape this blame? The blame is from past actions; when the time comes, it must be received. This is a personal matter. However, the Dharma of our Buddha will soon be extinguished; where should we go to escape this calamity?' At that time, a voice in the air said: 'If you wish to cultivate meditation, you may go to Wudang and Nanyue; these are mountains for entering the Way.' At the beginning of the Wuping era of Qi, turning his back on Songyang, he led his disciples south. When he first arrived in Guangzhou, it coincided with the downfall of Emperor Xiaoyuan of Liang and civil turmoil; the road ahead was blocked, so he temporarily stayed at Mount Dasu. Within a few years, those who came to follow him were as numerous as a marketplace. He would often instruct the assembly: 'The source of the Way is not far; the ocean of nature is not distant. Only seek it within oneself; do not look for it from others. If you search for it, you will not find it; even if you find it, it will not be real.' Therefore, he provided material necessities and instructed them with the flavor of principle, merely desiring that students awaken to their own original mind. Thus, with meritorious donations from monastics and laity, he made golden-character Prajñā and golden-character Saddharmapuṇḍarīka sūtras with lapis lazuli jewel caskets. The assembly requested him to lecture on the two sūtras; immediately, his profound introductory expositions and verse-by-verse analyses reached the utmost depths, all of them mysterious and subtle. Later, he commanded the Great Master [Zhiyi] to lecture on the Golden Sūtra on his behalf. When it came to the section where 'one mind is endowed with the myriad practices,' the Great Master had doubts. The Master said: 'What you doubted just now is merely the meaning of the successive stages of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā; it is not yet the perfect and sudden import of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka. In the past, I suddenly gave rise to all dharmas in a single mind. Since I have personally verified this, do not trouble yourself with doubts.' Thereupon, Zhiyi inquired into and received the three-week realm of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka practice, greatly grasping the profound import. He also inquired about the Master's own stage: 'Is it the ten bhūmis?' The Master replied: 'No. I am only at the iron-wheel stage of the ten faiths.' However, in his modest retirement, his words are difficult to take at face value, and his fundamental status and trace manifestations cannot be fully scrutinized. Later at Dasu, troubled by beacon alarms, the mountain community was unsettled and felt unsafe in that place. Taking more than forty monks, he headed straight for Nanyue. It was the twenty-second day of the sixth month in summer, the wuzi year, the second year of Guangda of Chen. Upon arriving, he announced: 'I shall stay here for only ten full years.' Prior to this, the Liang monk Huihai had resided at Hengyue Temple; when he saw the Master, he was delighted as if with an old acquaintance, and offered the temple, asking the Master to stay there. Hai relocated elsewhere, and the Master again moved his assembly to Fangguang. His miraculous traces and extraordinary deeds are fully recorded in a separate biography. He once said: 'In a previous life I walked this place.' Ascending to the summit of the mountain, he lingered by a grove and spring; the place was lofty and serene, as though he remembered something. He then pointed to a rocky thicket and said: 'In my previous life I entered meditation here; bandits cut off my head.' The assembly dug together and found a pile of bones, which indeed lacked a head. This is what is now called the One-Life Cliff. He also pointed to a flat boulder and said: 'Beneath this are also the bones of my past life.' The assembly lifted the stone to verify it, and indeed found red and white bones interlinked like chain hooks. Right at that site, stones were piled to entomb the bones, and a stupa was erected at its peak, called the Two-Lives Pagoda. Strolling eastward and ascending, he saw the deep recesses of a stone gate and said: 'This secluded portal of the miraculous cliff will surely increase the power of the Way for those who pass by; it is an ancient temple. I also previously resided here.' Cleaving through the dense overgrowth with an axe, they indeed found monks' utensils and the foundations of hall buildings and layered bricks. The land was high and clear, right at the heart of the Great Mountain. Thereupon a terrace was built, and he expounded the Prajñāpāramitā for the assembly; thus it was named the Three-Lives Treasury. The proofs of such events were not few. The eminent scholars of the Chen dynasty all took refuge in him. At that time, there were followers of heterodox paths who harboured jealousy and secretly reported to the Chen emperor, falsely accusing the Master, as a northern monk, of secretly receiving the Qi dynasty's deed to sever the heart of the mountain. When the imperial envoy arrived at the mountain, he saw two tigers roaring in fury, and retreated in terror. A few days later, he returned to summon the Master. The Master said to the envoy: 'Your Excellency may go first; this poor monk will follow.' The Master flew his staff and travelled to the capital; at all four gates, the Master was seen entering simultaneously. The monitoring envoy and others reported this together. The emperor, amazed, granted him an audience. Having received the imperial decree in response to his spiritual efficacy, he was welcomed to the lower capital to reside at Xixuan Temple, and was not interrogated at all. Earlier, a small bee had flown and stung the Master's forehead; shortly after, a large bee bit and killed the small one, and flew off carrying its head before the Master. Not long after, one of the plotters died violently, and two were bitten to death by rabid dogs. What the portent of the bees portended was thereby verified. When the Master went to Waguan, he was not wetted by rain, nor soiled by treading in mud. The Monastic Controller Huigao and various disciples met him on the road and said: 'How did this man of spiritual wonders arrive here?' The entire court fixed its gaze upon him, and monastics and laity leaned toward him in admiration. The Grand Commander Wu Mingche respected him to the utmost and offered him a rhinoceros-horn pillow. The Adjunct General Xiahou Xiaowei went to the temple to pay his respects; on the road, he silently thought of the pillow offered by Wu, Equal to the Three Excellencies, wishing he could see it. When he arrived at the Master's place and was about to pay homage, the Master immediately said to Wei: 'If you wish to see the rhinoceros-horn pillow, you may go and look at it.' Another day, a voice suddenly announced: 'Sweep and clean the courtyard and halls; a sage will soon arrive.' It happened just as spoken: in a moment, the Master arrived. Wei held him in admiration and spoke of it to monastics and laity; hence high and low, monks and laypeople all turned to him. Intending to return to Nanyue, he dared not linger. The emperor saw him off with extraordinary etiquette, designating him as Great Chan Master, and provided boats and provisions to send him to the riverbank. The Master said: 'I have lodged my trace at Nanyue for only ten years; when the period expires, I must depart.' The assembly at the time did not understand his meaning. When he returned to the mountain, every year the Chen emperor sent three letters of greeting, and offerings accumulated in abundance, with supreme honor and glory. His preaching of the Dharma doubled as usual, his spiritual wonders unfathomable: sometimes manifesting large or small forms, sometimes serenely concealing his body, or with strange fragrances, rare colors, and auspicious omens appearing in abundance. As his end approached, he came down from the mountain peak to the halfway bodhimanda and gathered his disciples, expounding the Dharma for consecutive days with severe and cutting reproofs, so that those who heard him were chilled to the heart. He told the assembly: 'If there are ten people who do not begrudge their bodies and lives, constantly cultivating the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, the Pratyutpanna Buddha-mindfulness samādhi, and the Vaipulya repentance—if there are practitioners of these practices, whatever they need, I will personally supply it, and surely benefit them. If not, I shall depart far away.' Because the ascetic practices were difficult, in the end no one responded. He therefore dismissed the assembly, collected his thoughts, and passed away calmly. The novice Lingbian, seeing the Master breathe his last, wailed and cried aloud. The Master then opened his eyes and said: 'You are an evil māra! I was about to depart, and the holy ones were welcoming me to discuss where I would be reborn; why do you startle me and disturb my concentration? Foolish man, get out!' Thereupon he gathered his mind once more, sat upright until his demise. All smelled a strange fragrance filling the room; the crown of his head was warm, his body soft, and his complexion as if alive. His age was sixty-four; it was the twenty-second day of the sixth month, the dingyou year, the ninth year of the Taijian era of the Chen dynasty. Verifying the ten-year period, it tallied exactly. In daily life, the Master wore plain cloth; when cold, he wadded it with mugwort, and his disciples' attire was generally the same. Whenever he composed works, they were dictated into chapters without any deletion or revision: The Forty-Two Syllable Gate in two fascicles; The Dharma-Gate of Non-Contentious Practice in two fascicles; and The Profound Meaning of the Commentary, According with One's Own Will, Pleasant Practices, The Gradual Essentials of Dhyāna, and The Contemplation Gates of the Three Wisdoms—these five works in one fascicle each, all circulating in the world. Vinaya Master Nanshan eulogized: 'Ever since the Buddha's Dharma spread south of the Yangzi, doctrinal teachings were heavily prioritized, whereas as for Chan methods, they were almost non-existent. But the Venerable of Nanyue, sighing with concern, came to the southern regions, developing both meditation and wisdom. By day he discussed doctrinal principles, and by night he reflected and deliberated. Thus whatever words he uttered were without exception far-reaching. Giving rise to wisdom through meditation—this principle is not in vain. The northern and southern Chan lineages rarely fail to inherit his thread. Moreover, his physical marks were outstanding, capable of commanding reverence naturally; those who saw him experienced a transformation of heart and felt unawares inclined to submit. He was skilled at reading people's minds and clearly discerning hidden inclinations. Slow to speak of faults, he expediently instructed and guided, practicing great compassion and upholding the bodhisattva precepts. Regarding silks, floss, and leather, as they mostly involve harming life, his disciples' robes and garments were generally made of cloth; when it was cold, mugwort quilted robes were used to withstand wind and frost. Since the Buddha's Dharma flowed east, nearly six hundred years have passed; only this compassionate conduct of Nanyue is truly worthy of refuge. I have personally participated in translation and repeatedly seen Sanskrit sūtras; inquiring into the Dharma robes worn, to this day none are made of silk from silkworms. Even if the precept ordination is added, it is not deemed successful. Whether begged or received, making robes from silkworm floss is determined by the Vinaya to require cutting and discarding. Bound by attachment and desire, how could one indulge it? Only Nanyue made independent judgment and loftily complied with the sacred regulations.'
1.7
The fourth patriarch, Great Master Zhizhe, whose taboo name was Zhiyi and courtesy name was De'an, was surnamed Chen and was a person of Yingchuan. When the Jin moved its capital, his ancestors resided in Huarong County, Jingzhou. He was the second son of Qi, Lord of Yiyang, who was an Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Liang. His mother, Lady Xu, dreamed that five-colored fragrant smoke encircled her bosom; when she wished to brush it away, she heard a voice say, 'Due to causes and conditions from past lives, [a child] is entrusted to royal fortunes. Blessings and virtue will arrive of themselves; why brush it away?' She also dreamed of swallowing a white mouse, and this occurred repeatedly. Perplexed, she divined it, and the diviner said, 'It is an omen of a white dragon.' On the night of his birth (the preface by Court Academician Hu Meng of our current dynasty states that the Great Master was born in the autumn, the seventh month of the wuwu year, the fourth year of the Datong reign of the Liang), the room was illuminated with penetrating brightness; only after two nights did the light cease. Within and without, everyone was delighted, setting out abundant cauldrons and platters to celebrate. Suddenly, two monks knocked at the door and said, 'Wonderful! The child's virtue is profound; he will surely renounce household life.' Having spoken, they vanished. The guests marveled at this. The neighbors recalled the earlier wondrous auspicious sign and called him Wangdao ('Royal Path'); taking into account the later omen as well, he was also named Guangdao ('Luminous Path'). Therefore, the two names were previously established and used interchangeably. When lying down, he would join his palms; when sitting, he would always face west. As he grew older, he would not eat recklessly; seeing an image, he would bow, and meeting a monk, he would pay reverence. At the age of seven, he delighted in going to monasteries. The monks were astonished at his aspirations and orally taught him the 'Universal Gate Chapter'; upon opening it once, he had already mastered it. His parents forbade it and would not allow him to recite it anymore. When he reached the age of fifteen, the Liang scholar-gentry was in the Chengsheng reign; when Emperor Yuan perished, Zhiyi crossed north to Xiazhou, relying upon his maternal uncle. Yet he was brilliant, insightful, and possessed a gentle, respectful bearing, seeking out famous teachers. At the age of eighteen, he turned to Faxu of Guoyuan Temple in Xiangzhou to renounce household life. Xu conferred the ten precepts and the monastic deportment of the stages of the path. He then crossed to the north and went to Vinaya Master Huikuang, sitting facing north to receive the scriptures, fully receiving guidance and instruction. He also went to Master of Dhyāna Nanyue at Mount Dasu in Guangzhou to receive instruction in the mind contemplation. There upon this mountain, he practiced the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka samādhi. Having stayed for only three nights, he recited up to the 'Bhaiṣajyarāja Chapter'; his mind focused on ascetic practice, and when he reached the phrase 'This is true vigor,' understanding and awakening suddenly burst forth. He saw himself together with Master Si at the seven-jeweled pure land on Vulture Peak listening to the Buddha preach the Dharma. Si gave him certification. He also entered Mount Baisha in Xizhou and entered contemplation as before. Whenever he had doubts about a scripture, he would always see Si come and mysteriously explicate it for him. Si constantly had him lecture on his behalf; Si himself held a ruyi sceptre and sat in the audience listening, saying to the disciples, 'These are my principles; my child lacks only a little power of concentration.' Thereupon master and disciple viewed each other with altered regard, and his fame spread near and far. When his studies were completed, he went to bid farewell, and Si said, 'You have karmic ties with the Chen kingdom; going there will certainly bring benefit.' After Si travelled to Nanyue, the Great Master proceeded to Jinling (and so forth). When eight years had elapsed, in speaking and silence he constantly longed for the mountain forests. He then dreamed of myriad layers of crags and cliffs with clouds and the sun hanging halfway at their flanks, and the vast, shoreless ocean clear and deep beneath. He also saw a monk waving his hand and stretching his arm, reaching to the mountain foot to lead the Master up the mountain (and so forth). He made this dream known, and his disciples all said, 'This is Mount Tiantai.' Thereupon, together with Huibian and over twenty others, adhering to the Way, he journeyed south and secluded himself upon this mountain. Later, the Latter Lord of Chen issued an imperial decree summoning him to court on seven successive occasions, all with the emperor's handwritten letters. The Great Master thereupon left for the capital and was welcomed into the Eastern Hall of Taiji Palace, where he was invited to lecture on the Prajñāpāramitāśāstra (and so forth). When Jinling fell, he took his staff to Jing and Xiang, concealing his traces among the cloud-clad peaks, intending to end his days there. At that time, Prince Jin (Emperor Yang) was at his feudatory, holding overall charge of the Huai and Hai regions. Admiring his demeanor and venerating his virtue, with unceasing devotion, he wished to receive the precepts and take him as master, repeatedly sending letters of invitation. The Great Master first pleaded his lack of virtue, next yielded to renowned monks, and finally recommended fellow students; having declined three times, he could not avoid it. On the twenty-third day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of Kaihuang, at the Jincheng Garrison of Yangzhou, a assembly of one thousand monks was arranged, and Zhiyi was respectfully invited to confer the bodhisattva precepts. Having conferred the precepts upon the prince, he wished to return to his old forest. The prince firmly entreated him to stay, but the Master said, 'We previously made a clear agreement; one matter cannot brook two contradictions.' He brushed his robes and rose. The prince dared not press him further, joining his palms to escort him. At the city gate, Zhiyi looked back and said, 'The defense of the state is not a light duty, and the affairs of the Way cause separation. Fortunately, observe the Buddha's transforming work, and broadly protect what might fall into ruin.' The prince bowed, gazing as far as his eyes could see, and returned weeping. Zhiyi then travelled up to his home region in Zhugong, and at Mount Yuquan in Dangyang County, he built Yiyin Temple. Prince Jin still requested the Great Master to compose the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Commentary. Liu Guyan and Xu Ling, both eminent talents of aristocratic lineage, assisted with the literary formulation; it was sealed in a precious treasury, and the prince personally received and upheld it. Later, Consort Xiao fell ill, and the physicians were at a loss. The prince dispatched Regional Commissioner-in-Chief Liu Guyan and others with a letter to plead for help, hoping he would cure her illness. The Master immediately led his assembly to establish a fast, practicing the Golden Light Repentance for seven days. On the sixth night, a wondrous bird suddenly descended, flew into the repentance hall, tossed about, and died, but in a brief moment flew away; pecking and singing sounds were also heard, and the assembly all witnessed it. The Master said, 'Since this sign has appeared, the consort should recover. The bird dying and reviving indicates that after the coffin lid is placed, she will rise again. Its beak remaining quiet and then calling aloud shows that the blessings of the fast will mount upon each other.' The next day, the illness indeed was cured, and the prince rejoiced greatly. At that time, it happened that [the prince] entered the court; the Master returned to Mount Tiantai, personally led the meditation assembly, and again practiced the previous repentance. He then made a vow, saying, 'If there is benefit to the Three Jewels, may my remaining years be extended. If I am to live in vain, I wish to quickly pass away.' Soon after, he told the assembly, 'I shall die in this place.' He admonished them, saying, 'You should all remain silent; I am about to depart.' Having spoken, he sat upright as if in absorption, and passed away before the Great Stone Statue on Mount Tiantai. His age was sixty-seven; this was on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the seventeenth year of Kaihuang. While the Master resided in the mountain, there were mushrooms hanging from every tree one touched; they grew as fast as they were picked, serving as regular provisions for the monks. If the Master went elsewhere, the mushrooms would not grow. From this one can speak of how truly the Way evokes a response. Zhang'an attended upon him for many years, recording his noble conduct over some twenty-odd pages. Furthermore, the śramaṇa Falin of Longtian Temple on Mount Zhongnan had early entered his school and personally received the precepts; feeling that his virtuous reputation was swiftly receding into the distance and the cemetery trees were suddenly grown dense, he composed a biography for him, which circulated widely in the world. In the final years of Emperor Yang of the Sui, when on imperial progress in Jiangdu, he dreamed of the Great Master, who spoke of his final bequest. The emperor personally composed an inscription, which was extremely magnificent, but before it could be engraved, disturbances broke out and it was lost. The rest is as told in the separate biography.
1.8
The Fifth Patriarch, the Venerable Zhang'an. His taboo name was Guanding, his courtesy name was Fayun, and his secular surname was Wu. He was a man of Yixing in Changzhou. In the time of his ancestors, his clan fled troubles to Dong'ou, and consequently never returned, so that they now belonged to Zhang'an in Linhai. His father died early, and his mother reared and nurtured him. When he was scarcely three months old, as an infant needing a name, she considered and examined various sorts of things, not yet knowing what to designate him. At night, his mother recited the names of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; the master imitated them with his mouth, the sounds and phrases distinct and clear. All were astonished together. She then informed Dharma Master Huizheng of Shejing Temple. Hearing of it, he sighed and said: 'This boy is extraordinary (feifan)!' and straightway gave him 'Feifan' as his courtesy name. When he reached seven years of age, he returned to become Master Zheng's disciple. Daily he progressed in composition; the profound [learning of Laozi and Zhuangzi] and Confucianism galloped forward side by side. Pure in literary elegance and splendid in talent, he was already celebrated at that time. When he reached twenty years of age, he received the full precepts and upheld the deportment. The 'virtue flask' and the 'oil bowl' occupied his thoughts all the more. When Master Zheng departed this world, he bathed in the Way at Tiantai, inheriting and practicing the net of meditation without breaking its continuity. In the first year of the Zhide era of Chen (583 CE), he followed the Great Master to reside at Guangzhai [Monastery], investigating and explicating the gates of contemplation, repeatedly receiving his seal of approval. When the Chen dynasty lost its rule, he followed his master up to Jiangzhou; they traveled and rested in all its excellent sites and famous mountains. To the Three Palaces, Mount Lu, and the nine peaks of Mount Heng, there were none where they did not leave their tracks, being welcomed and seeking out remaining sages. Later they arrived at the Jing area and stayed at Yuquan Temple, transmitting the Dharma, converting [the people], and spreading the teachings throughout Western Chu. In the eleventh year of the Kaihuang era (591 CE), when the Prince of Jin was posted to govern Yangzhou, [Guanding] accompanied the Great Master, arriving at Hangou, where they resided at Chanzhong Temple; he served as a great general of the Dharma, daily investigating and seeking the profound. Soon he followed the Great Master on his eastward return, stopping at Mount Tiantai. Later he went out to Chengxin Hermitage and lectured on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, surpassing [Seng]lang and overshadowing [Ji]ji, transcending [Fayan of] Yun[ju] and [Fayun of Guang]yin. [Students] rushed together to follow him; carrying their book-chests, they surged forth in swarms. There was Dharma Master Jizang, who had entered the inner chamber [of Falang] of Xinghuang and established his school at Jiaxiang, holding sole sway east of the Zhe River. Hearing of the supreme Way at Chengxin, he did not assent to it in mind, and asked to borrow the record of its doctrines. Investigating and perusing its shallowness and depth, he came to understand that his realization and wholehearted admiration had an origin. Consequently, he stopped his lecturing, dispersed his assembly, and took his steps to Tiantai to receive and absorb the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, vowing to propagate and expound it. In the seventeenth year (597 CE), the Great Master manifested illness; [Guanding] attended upon him morning and night, expending all his heart through toil and hardship. Coming to his parinirvāṇa, he personally received the testamentary instructions. He then took the legacy letter and various tokens of faith, and weeping with grief, knelt and presented them to the Prince of Jin. [The Prince] threw himself to the ground in full prostration, receiving them on his crown with mournful tears; in matters he observed the etiquette of a guest, and in feeling he deepened his Dharma kinship. Soon he dispatched Wang Hong, marshal of the Area Command Headquarters of Yangzhou, to escort the master back to the mountain, host a vegetarian feast for a thousand monks for the Great Master, and establish Guoqing Temple—the ancient site of [monks] Tangguang and Daoyou of the Jin dynasty. On the peak in front, the temple of the Buddha's Ridge was named Xiuchan; in the days of Chen, the Great Master first built it. Ten li south of the ridge is called Danqiu, where walking meditation is level and straight, and the view is open and vast. The Great Master had marked out the foundations and felled the trunks, wishing to build a sanctuary, but had not fulfilled his intention; hence this testamentary wish remained. The royal artisans entered the valley and straightway undertook the construction, setting up gnomons and drawing cords entirely according to the old instructions. In the first year of the Renshou era (601 CE), the Prince of Jin acceded to the succession; surveying and touring his realm across ten thousand li of rivers and roads, both officials and commoners rejoiced completely. Because the dānapati had ascended the throne and the temple buildings were newly completed, [the master] left the mountain to offer congratulations. He was thereupon granted an audience; consolations and inquiries were repeated, and his responses came like an echo without a single misstep in speech, so that ministers and ruler praised him in admiration. Previously, Zhang Qianwei, Vice Director of the Court of Extrasensory Attendants, had been sent to escort him back to the mountain temple, bestowing three thousand bolts of fabric and three hundred felt cloaks, and again a vegetarian feast for a thousand monks was held. The temple halls and terraces were further repaired and renovated, so that the cinnabar and blue decorations vied with the morning clouds, and the ridge of pines and bamboos seemed suddenly wrapped in brocade: this was truly a magnificent sight west of the sea, profoundly matching the Great Master's prophecy, fully detailed in the separate biography. In the second year of the Renshou era (602 CE), an edict was issued inviting him, which read: 'The summer season is blazing hot; may the body of the Way be at ease and well! The joy of meditation nourishes the spirit, so fine states abound. Recently, we ordered the two masters Zhuang and Lun of the Huiri Sanctuary to lecture on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra, relying entirely on Zhizhe's commentary to judge and explain the scripture's text. Since the meditation master is the Great Master's foremost disciple, to whom the Dharma-gate was entrusted, we now send to invite your presence, earnestly hoping you will shower your grace upon us. Also, bring the commentary on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka along with the envoy into the capital. We await your arrival; the letter cannot convey our full sentiment.' Holding his robes and carrying his staff, the master strode proudly into the palace. For three summers he expounded and propagated the teachings, and the Crown Prince rejoiced and revered him. Whenever reaching deep agreements, there was nothing he did not ask, and [the master] answered each according to inquiry, comprehensively unifying the profound texts. Later an envoy was dispatched to escort him back, with donations doubled in magnificence. In the seventh year of the Daye era (611 CE), troops were drilled at Zhuoye, and [the Emperor] personally commanded the grand army, wishing to pacify the Eastern Barbarians so as to standardize literature and track-widths. Asking his attendants, he thoroughly recounted how the Yellow Emperor had first shown strength in slaying tyrants at Banquan and later sighed when inquiring about the Way at Mount Kongtong. Remembering the Great Master, he was moved to longing and tears, and issued an imperial decree summoning the master from afar to his traveling camp. He was granted an audience before the imperial screen, reminiscing on the joy of being fellow disciples. He again sent Vice Director Wu Min to escort him back to the Tiantai temple. Thereafter, royal envoys arrived in succession, leaving his room unvisited for not a single month. Although the master harbored a love for hills and ravines, severing ties with worldly burdens, cultivating both calm abiding and special insight, and transforming others through both speech and silence, eminent monks and great virtues from near cities and distant lands, yearning to behold the three contemplations, the ten suchnesses, and how mental defilements activate nature, all prostrated and bowed their bodies, praying for the Heavenly Drum [of Dharma], having their dispositions cleansed and their hearts washed white, with their three actions continually heightened and the two adornments limitless. Suddenly, on the seventh day of the eighth month in the sixth year of the Zhenguan era (632 CE), he passed away in his quarters at Guoqing Temple, at the age of seventy-two. At first he lightly manifested a mild illness, without resorting to medicine; an extraordinary fragrance filled his room. Nearing the end, he instructed his disciples: 'The Maitreya Sūtra says that on the day the Buddha enters the city, the fragrant smoke is like clouds. Burn much incense; I am about to depart.' He then delivered his final instructions, the words and principles subtle and apt, while his disciples and the assembly gazed upon him in tears. Suddenly he rose by himself, joined his palms as if in reverence, opened his mouth to invoke the name of Amitābha Buddha three times, lowered his body and lay down, resting his hands across his chest, with a fair and joyous countenance, and quietly passed away. His whole body remained soft and supple, and the crown of his head was warm for days. Previously, his fellow student Zhixi, who had been personally tonsured by the Great Master and was renowned for his pure clarity, had passed away first in the first year of Zhenguan (627 CE). Nearing death, he said: 'I am to be born in Tuṣita. I saw that in the rows of the Great Master Zhizhe's jeweled seats, all were occupied, except one seat left empty, saying: "Six years later, Dharma Master Zhang'an will ascend to this."' His preaching of the Dharma and burning of incense attested to this purport: it was indeed the Compassionate Honored One descending to welcome him. Calculating the years and reckoning the period, Zhixi was clearly not mistaken. On the ninth day of that month, he was interred in the south mountain of the temple; people from far and near wailed and rushed, their clamor shaking the forests and valleys. Earlier, when the master's transforming influence spread among the bustling vulgar world, his spiritual efficacy was vast. A villager named Yu Falong, thirty-odd li from the mountain, contracted an illness and was on the verge of death; multiple treatments brought no recovery. His son ran into the mountain to pray for help. The master chanted the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra for him and burned sandalwood incense; although the sick man was far away, he smelled the sandalwood fragrance enter his nostrils and immediately recovered. Moreover, at a site on the south ridge of Le'an called Anzhou, with emerald trees and clear streams, the water flowed hidden underground, and human paths were impassable. The master lingered there fondly and made a vow, saying: 'If this land becomes level, I shall come here to lecture on the sūtras.' Before even ten days had passed, white sand surged up and became as level as a jade mirror. Regarding this manifestation of responsive resonance, the master did not break his previous vow, and proceeded to lecture on both the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and Suvarṇaprabhāsa sūtras to repay the spiritual intent. Once, at Shejing Temple in Zhang'an, while he was lecturing on the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, sea pirates came ashore to pillage, and clergy and laity fled in disarray. Just then the master struck the bell and took his seat to lecture, his countenance devoid of fear. The pirate band waved their banners and advanced on the temple, but suddenly saw battle flags gleaming in the sun and men over ten feet tall holding bows and brandishing halberds, ferocious and valiant; seeing them, the crowd was terrified and dispersed at once. Once at Buddha's Ridge, during a leisure hour from lecturing, he led his students in piling stones to make a stupa, which needed two pieces specifically to construct the stupa door. His disciple Guangying had previously transported a stone by cart, but all suspected it was too thick and large, and wished to seek elsewhere, which would again expend strenuous effort. The master raised his staff and lightly struck the stone previously hauled; with a sudden crack, it split into two pieces, equal in thickness, and was fitted into the stupa doorway, fitting exactly as though by prior measure. Such spiritual resonances were exceedingly numerous. From the time the master received his training at Tiantai and also received the Way at Mount Heng, the three generations from Nanyue through Tiantai succeeded one another, their fundamental source being non-dual. In contemplation or lecturing, he constantly relied on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, and also lectured on scriptures such as the Nirvāṇa, Suvarṇaprabhāsa, and Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, and expounded Dharma-doors such as the Perfect and Sudden Calm Abiding and Special Insight and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, exceedingly many times. Furthermore, Zhizhe's eloquence moved like clouds and poured like rain, resembling the heavenly net or comparable to a necklace; the only one capable of grasping it was the master alone. The private records he kept of the Great Master's spoken teachings, his own authored commentaries, and the titles of his miscellaneous writings were all inscribed on the back of his stele. His disciple Guangying, a refined and prominent talent of later generations who was well versed in the doctrinal teachings, together with the community of Guoqing Temple, jointly recorded his conduct and erected this stele at the gate of the temple. Śramaṇa Faxuan of Hongshan Temple in Changzhou composed the text; its prose is exceedingly splendid, found in his separate collection.
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