天台九祖傳 1.11

1.11

The Eighth Patriarch, the Venerable Zuoxi. His taboo name was Xuanlang, his courtesy name was Huiming, and his secular surname was Fu. His forebear was Lord Zheng, the Governor of Jiangxia in Puyang Commandery, who fled during the Cao-Wei dynasty to the regions south of the Yangzi River; [Xuanlang] was thus a sixth-generation descendant of the Great Being Xi of the Liang dynasty, and had consequently become a man of Wushang. When his mother, Lady Ge, first conceived him, she dreamt that she rode a sheep-drawn carriage, flying through the sky and treading on emptiness, and upon waking felt her body heavy. From this time forward, she abhorred the smell of meat and blood. When she approached the birthing mat, it was as if she had just fallen asleep. Afterwards her mind was light and her body at ease. The infant did not cry, but smiled gently. At age nine he went forth from the household; when his master imparted scriptures to him, he would cover more than seven sheets a day. On the nineteenth day of the intercalary fifth month of the first year of the Ruyi reign era, by imperial decree he was ordained and assigned to Qingtai Monastery. At the age of twenty he sought out Vinaya Master An of Guangzhou in the distance and received the full precepts, immediately studying the vinaya regulations. He also read widely in the sūtras and treatises, searching out their agreements and differences, and was especially earnest concerning the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra. He often lamented that although earlier figures had written commentaries and subcommentaries, their judgments were not well-balanced. Formerly, at Miaoxi Monastery in Kuaiji, he discussed the secret essentials with Chan Master Yinzong; though they mutually praised each other's views, the overarching purport remained incomplete. Hearing that the single tradition of Tiantai could clear away all stagnations and lead directly to the single principle, he thereupon visited Dharma Master Xiao Wei at Tiangong Monastery in Dongyang and exerted all his strength to attach himself closely to him, never troubled by poverty or hardship. He mastered the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, the Great Treatise, Calm Abiding and Special Insight, the Dhyāna Gate, and so forth; all the textual traces of this single tradition he investigated with the utmost precision. Later, relying on Chan Master Gong, he repeatedly cultivated contemplation practices. He was extensively versed in Confucian writings and also familiar with Daoist teachings, leaving nothing unread. Although he penetrated all views, he exclusively took calm abiding and special insight as the path for entering the Way and as the realm for setting the mind at rest. Although he continuously contemplated all the sages, he took Avalokiteśvara's compassion and wisdom as the fine ferry for actual practice. He let his mind roam in the ten vehicles, his understanding darklingly united with the three contemplations; through the four siddhāntas he benefited sentient beings, and through the six stages of identity he universally embodied [the truth]. Although he directed his mind beyond mundane things and his body weary of the human realm, renouncing affection for his old home with an aspiration to dwell amid forests and valleys, he observed only the eighteen [objects of contemplation] and the twelve dhūtas, living in seclusion at the cliff of Zuoxi, from which he took his sobriquet. He sat alone in a single room for over thirty autumns, wearing clothes of hemp and ramie, and subsisting on coarse greens. He vowed to be born in Tuṣita Palace, for which meritorious deeds were requisite; he therefore prepared a hall wall and painted the images of Avalokiteśvara and Piṇḍola. Thereupon he burned incense and focused his thoughts, which immediately stimulated a divine light of five colours. Both monastics and laypeople gazed upon it and marvelled at what had never occurred before. After this, apes and monkeys would come bearing his alms bowl, and flying birds would alight to listen to the scriptures. At that time there was a blind dog that came to the mountain gate, howling at length and writhing on the ground. The master took pity on it, burned incense with sincere devotion, and performed repentance on the dog's behalf. Within less than ten days, both its eyes were opened and bright. In the sixteenth year of the Kaiyuan reign era, the Prefect Wang Zirong humbly invited the master to leave the mountain and reside temporarily beneath the city walls. The master declined on account of illness and returned to his original dwelling. Thereafter he taught others untiringly, preaching without waiting for an audience. He used a single uttarāsaṅga for over forty years, and never changed his single niṣīdana throughout his life. His food had no double flavours, and his residence was inevitably a lean-to side room. Unless it was to consult the scriptures, he would not light a single candle; unless it was to behold the holy visage, he would not take a single step. His meticulous conduct and cultivation of the mind followed strictly the regulations of the vinaya. Consequently, śramaṇas from distant regions and elders from neighbouring areas packed his room and filled his gate, coming unsummoned just as people seek the winter sun and summer shade. As the monastery buildings had fallen into decay, he instructed the monk Lingbing to construct the halls; the images were doubled, and in the brick pagodas and paintings, ox glue was not used, but all were mixed with fragrant liquids. That the Tiantai teachings flourished grandly—how could it not have stemmed from this? His mind never departed from samādhi, and his mouth never tasted the flavour of medicines; in his advanced old age he was as vigorous as in his prime. One day he looked back and said to his disciples: "My various affairs are concluded, and my years have reached their eve. The path of the six stages of identity is complete, and across the ten thousand practices there is nothing to be attained. Precepts are the root of the mind; take them as your teacher." On the nineteenth day of the ninth month of the thirteenth year of the Tianbao reign era, he passed away after a slight illness. His worldly age was eighty-something, and his monastic rains-retreats were sixty-one. The four assemblies wailed and lamented, full of longing and bewilderment. Incense, wood, banners, and streamers shook the mountain valley like thunder. Some villagers dreamt that the master resided on the fourth level of a jewelled pavilion; upon waking, they told their neighbours, whose dreams tallied with theirs. The Tuṣita Heaven is the fourth heaven. By the reach of his vow-power, he broadly ferried humans and devas. After he had been jhāpita, his disciples divided half his śarīra and erected a stupa at the eastern source of the prefecture to express their everlasting longing. During his life he composed the Outline of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra in two fascicles. His disciples who received the Dharma were Daobin of Longqiu Monastery in Quzhou, Huicong of Jing'an Monastery, Fayuan of Fahua Monastery in Yuezhou, Shenyong, Shouzhen of Fuye Monastery in Changzhou, Daozun of Bao'en Monastery in Suzhou, Daoyuan of Dabao Monastery in Mingzhou, and Qingbian of Kaiyuan Monastery in Wuzhou. In his youth he had longed for the Way and set his will upon seeking a master; within three years, his comprehension had already exceeded half. Those who practice his path refer to him as Zuoxi; in the lineage of transmission of the Dharma, he is called the Eighth Patriarch. The śramaṇa Shenhui of Mount Yu composed a portrait eulogy for him.