淨土往生傳 1.8

1.8

釋慧遠。俗姓賈雁門婁煩人也。少依舅氏遊學于許洛。博總經史。尤通莊老。年二十一。欲度江東。定契于范宣子。南路阻塞。志不獲從。時道安於太行。弘贊像法。聲甚著聞。遠往歸之。一面盡敬。後聽安講般若經。豁然開悟。乃曰九流異議皆糠粃。爾與母弟慧持。投簪事之。然其風韻嚴肅容止方稜。安每歎曰。使教流東土。其在遠乎。至二十四大善講貫。客有難問實相義者。往復條析。彌增疑昧。遠引莊子之文類之。客乃曉然。自後安師許遠不廢俗書偽。秦建元中襄陽寇亂。安為朱序所拘支離。其徒各隨所之。遠與慧持數十人。同之荊州。未幾又欲南之羅浮。路出尋陽。見廬峯青峻。意頗樂之。奈其所憩去水猶遠。遠以杖扣地曰。若此可居。當使朽壤抽泉。爾言訖泉涌。其後尋陽亢旱。遠詣其水之傍。讀龍王經。俄有巨蛇。由水升空。須臾大雨。因號其處為龍泉焉。時沙門慧永。已居西林。要遠同止。又愧所居褊狹不足以處。乃告刺史桓伊。伊然其意創東林以居之。往時陶侃出鎮廣州。有漁人。於海上得育王所造像。其像甚異。侃奉歸武昌寒溪寺。寺甞遭火像獨存焉。後侃移鎮他郡。以像繼有靈異。遣使迎之。竟不能舉。及遠寺成願心祈請。飄然自至。繇是知遠修證。動有祥感。殷仲堪之荊州。道經廬山。與之論易。移晷不倦。堪曰。識智深明固難與敵。司徒王謐護軍王默。咸欽風德遙致師敬。謐有書曰。年未四十衰同耳順。豈不自悲頹落哉。遠曰。古人不貴尺璧。而重寸陰。顧其所存。不在長年。爾宋武追討盧循。設帳桑尾。左右曰。遠公素王廬山與循交厚。宋武曰。遠公世表人也。詎有彼此。因遣使齎書。遺以錢米。秦主姚興嘉遠才思疊形信餉。新出大智論。興以論本寄遠。仍示書曰。此論龍樹所作。又是方等指歸。不有大士。孰能序引。桓玄伐罪仲堪。徑至山足。邀遠以出虎溪。遠辭焉。玄自入山。左右曰。仲堪罪人。力推敬遠。惟公無敬之。玄曰仲堪生死人。爾吾誰類之。既而相見。不覺展敬。故雖內懷疑難。不敢復發。乃問以征討之計。遠不答詰其故。對曰軍旅之事未之學也。玄曰何以見願。遠曰願檀越安隱。彼亦無他。玄出山。謂左右曰。此人實乃生所未見。吾何怠之。後玄以震主之威曲相延致。又制沙門致敬王者。尚書令何充僕射褚翌諸葛恢等。皆有奏議門下承旨。又為駁難同異紛紜。理莫能定。遠著沙門不敬王者論五篇上玄。玄輒止焉。殆玄西奔。安帝由江陵。旋于京師輔國。何無忌勸遠迎駕。遠託以疾。帝遣書勞問禮越常等。遠表謝曰。釋慧遠頓首。陽月和暖御膳順宜。貧道身嬰故疾。年衰益甚。猥蒙慈詔。載垂光慰。感懼之深。實百于懷。帝覽表。復以優詔答之。陳留謝靈運。負才傲物。少所推許。一與遠接。肅然心服。矧遠內通佛教。外善儒書。自居廬山三十年。影不出山。迹不入俗。彭城劉遺民。豫章雷次宗。雁門周續之。新蔡畢頴之。南陽宗炳。清河張野。並棄世遺榮。依遠遊止。遠與遺民而下僧俗一百二十三人。結為淨社。於彌陀像前。建誠立誓。期升安養。仍令遺民撰文以刻之。當時或稱蓮社。蓋指群心誓生之所。爾遠之廣善援能務在弘法。每聞僧徒至自西域。必皆委曲咨訪理味。罽賓沙門僧伽難提。太元中至尋陽。遠請重譯阿毘曇心及三法度論。晚聞羅什入關。焚香遐想。以致書問。什亦久藉其名。復書通好。而又以偈五首。大稱賞之。自是南北千里書問不絕。義熙十二年八月一日動散。至于六日。𥧲加困篤。大德耆年皆相稽顙。請飲豉酒。遠曰。以酒療病律無通文。請飲米飲。又曰。日過中矣。已而請飲蜜漿。乃命律師。披律尋文。文未之半。遠已亡焉。春秋八十三。道俗雲委車軌為之結道。尋陽太守阮保。與弟子法淨等。於其山西。鑿壙以葬。而靈運宗炳一時名賢。追悼遺德。迭為銘志。梁僧慧皎。去遠餘百載。得其事實。亦為作傳云。按遠別傳。遠於淨土之修。克勤于念。初憩廬山十一年。澄心系想。三覩勝相。而遠沈厚。終亦不言。後十九年七月晦夕。遠於般若臺之東龕。方由定起。見彌陀佛身滿虛空。圓光之中有諸化佛。又見觀音勢至侍立左右。又見水流光明分十四支。一一支水流注上下。自能演說苦空無常無我。佛告遠曰。我以本願力故來安慰汝。汝後七日當生我國。又見佛陀耶舍與慧持曇順在佛之側。前揖遠曰法師之志在吾之先。何來之遲也。遠既目擊分明。又審精爽不亂。乃與其徒法淨慧寶等。具言所見。因告淨曰。始吾居此十一年。幸於淨土三覩勝相。今而復見之。吾生淨土決矣。次日寢疾。又謂淨曰。七日之期。斯其漸也。汝徒自勉。無以世間情累拘也。至期果卒。

Shi Huiyuan, whose secular surname was Jia, was a man of Loufan in Yanmen. In his youth, he relied on his maternal uncle and studied as an itinerant scholar in Xu and Luo. He had a comprehensive grasp of the classics and histories, and was especially versed in Zhuangzi and Laozi. At the age of twenty-one, wishing to cross east of the Yangtze River to confirm an agreement with Fan Xuanzi, the southern route was blocked, and his intention could not be carried out. At that time, Dao'an was at the Taihang Mountains propagating and extolling the Semblance Dharma, and his renown was widely known. Huiyuan went to take refuge with him, and upon meeting him once, offered his utmost reverence. Later, listening to Dao'an lecture on the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, he was suddenly awakened, whereupon he said: "The divergent views of the Nine Schools are merely chaff and bran!" He and his maternal younger brother Huichi discarded their hairpins [and renounced secular life] to serve him. Yet his demeanour was solemn and stern, and his comportment was upright and dignified. Dao'an often sighed: "If the teaching is to spread to the Eastern Land, will it not rest upon Yuan?" When he reached the age of twenty-four, he excelled in lecturing and expounding. A visitor once raised difficult questions about the meaning of the true mark (dharmatā); though they debated and analysed it back and forth, the visitor grew only more doubtful and obscure. Huiyuan cited the text of Zhuangzi to draw an analogy, and the visitor was then illuminated. From then on, Master Dao'an permitted Huiyuan not to abandon secular texts. During the Jianyuan era of the illegitimate Qin, Xiangyang suffered turmoil from bandits. Dao'an was detained by Zhu Xu and his assembly dispersed, the disciples each going where they might. Huiyuan, together with Huichi and several dozen others, went together to Jingzhou. Before long, he wished again to go south to Luofu. His route passed through Xunyang, and seeing the green peaks of Mount Lu, his mind was quite pleased with them. However, the place where he rested was still far from water. Huiyuan struck the ground with his staff and said: "If this place may be inhabited, let a spring burst forth from the barren earth!" When he finished speaking, a spring welled up. Later, Xunyang suffered a severe drought. Huiyuan went to the side of that water and recited the Dragon King Sūtra. Soon a giant snake rose from the water into the sky, and in an instant, torrential rain fell. For this reason, the place was named Dragon Spring. At that time, the monk Huiyong was already living at Xilin Monastery; he invited Huiyuan to dwell together, yet was ashamed that his own dwelling was cramped and insufficient to lodge him, so he informed the Inspector Huan Yi. Huan Yi approved his intention and built Donglin Monastery for Huiyuan to dwell in. In the past, when Tao Kan went out to govern Guangzhou, a fisherman found an image made by King Aśoka at sea; the image was exceedingly wondrous. Tao Kan reverently brought it back to Hanxi Monastery in Wuchang. Once the monastery suffered a fire, but the image alone survived. Later, when Tao Kan moved to govern another commandery, because the image repeatedly showed miraculous phenomena, he dispatched envoys to welcome it, but in the end they could not lift it. When Huiyuan's monastery was completed, he made a sincere prayer and entreaty, and it arrived of itself, floating along. From this it was known that Huiyuan's cultivation and realization moved things with auspicious responses. When Yin Zhongkan went to Jingzhou, his path passed through Mount Lu; he discussed the Book of Changes with Huiyuan, and spent hours untired. Zhongkan said: "His depth of understanding and brightness of wisdom are indeed hard to match." The Minister over the Masses Wang Mi and the Protector of the Army Wang Mo both admired his noble demeanor and virtue, paying him respects as a master from afar. Wang Mi sent a letter saying: "I am not yet forty, but my decline is like someone at sixty. How could I not grieve at my own falling away?" Huiyuan said: "The ancients did not prize a foot of jade, but valued an inch of time. Reflecting on what is preserved, it does not lie in long years." When Emperor Wu of the Song pursued and attacked Lu Xun, he pitched his tent at Sangwei. His attendants said: "Master Yuan is the uncrowned king of Mount Lu and has a close friendship with Xun." Emperor Wu of the Song said: "Master Yuan is a man beyond this world; how could he take sides?" Thereupon he sent an envoy carrying a letter, presenting him with money and rice. The ruler of the Qin, Yao Xing, admired Huiyuan's talent and thought, repeatedly sending tokens and provisions. When the newly translated Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa appeared, Xing sent the original treatise to Huiyuan, and in a letter wrote: "This treatise was composed by Nāgārjuna and is moreover the ultimate resort of the vaipulya. Without a great being, who could write a preface and introduction to it?" When Huan Xuan punished the crimes of Zhongkan, he went directly to the foot of the mountain and invited Huiyuan to come out past Tiger Creek, but Huiyuan declined. Huan Xuan entered the mountain himself. His attendants said: "Zhongkan was a guilty man, yet he made great efforts to revere Yuan. May Your Excellency not revere him." Huan Xuan said: "Zhongkan was merely an ordinary mortal; to whom can I compare him?" Yet when they met, he unconsciously displayed his reverence; thus, although he inwardly harboured doubts and challenges, he did not dare bring them up again. He then asked about military strategies for campaigns. Huiyuan did not answer, and when asked the reason, replied: "I have not studied the affairs of military forces." Huan Xuan said: "What is your wish for me?" Huiyuan said: "I wish that the dānapati be at ease and well, and that others likewise suffer no harm." Huan Xuan came out of the mountain and said to his attendants: "This man is truly one I have never seen in my life. How could I treat him with negligence?" Later, Huan Xuan, relying on his awe-inspiring power that shook the sovereign, made subtle advances to summon him, and also instituted an order that monks must revere the king. The President of the Department of State Affairs He Chong, the Vice-Director Chu Yi, Zhuge Hui, and others all submitted memorials and deliberations, while the Imperial Secretariat also presented rebuttals; agreements and disagreements were in turmoil, and the principle could not be decided. Huiyuan composed five treatises On Why Monks Do Not Revere Kings and presented them to Huan Xuan, who thereupon stopped the matter. When Huan Xuan fled west, Emperor An returned from Jiangling to the capital, and the Auxiliary General He Wuji urged Huiyuan to welcome the imperial carriage. Huiyuan pleaded illness. The emperor sent a letter of inquiry, and the court rituals exceeded ordinary standards. Huiyuan submitted a memorial of thanks, saying: "Shi Huiyuan bows his head. The warmth of the tenth month is mild; may the imperial diet be harmonious and fitting. This poor monk is afflicted by chronic illness, and my decline with age grows worse. Receiving the gracious edict unexpectedly, which bestowed radiant consolation, my feelings of deep gratitude and trepidation are indeed tenfold in my heart." The emperor read the memorial and replied again with a gracious edict. Xie Lingyun of Chenliu was proud of his talent and arrogant toward others, seldom praising anyone; yet once he met Huiyuan, he submitted with awe and sincere heart. Moreover, Huiyuan thoroughly understood the Buddhist teachings inwardly and was skilled in Confucian texts outwardly. During his thirty years residing at Mount Lu, his shadow never left the mountain and his footprints never entered the secular world. Liu Yimin of Pengcheng, Lei Cizong of Yuzhang, Zhou Xuzhi of Yanmen, Bi Yingzhi of Xincai, Zong Bing of Nanyang, and Zhang Ye of Qinghe all abandoned the world and cast off glory, relying on Huiyuan to roam and dwell. Huiyuan, together with Liu Yimin and the others, comprising one hundred and twenty-three monks and laymen, formed the Pure Society. In front of the image of Amitābha, they established their sincerity and made a vow, hoping to ascend to Anyang. He then ordered Liu Yimin to compose a text and carve it on stone. At that time, some called it the Lotus Society, which referred to the place where their minds vowed to be reborn. Huiyuan broadly promoted the good and supported the capable, dedicating himself to the propagation of the Dharma. Whenever he heard that monks had arrived from the Western Regions, he would invariably consult and inquire thoroughly into the subtleties of the doctrine. When the Kaśmīran monk Saṃghanandi arrived in Xunyang during the Taiyuan era, Huiyuan requested him to re-translate the Abhidharmahṛdaya and the Tridharmaka-śāstra. Later, hearing that Kumārajīva had entered the Pass, he burned incense and directed his thoughts afar, sending letters to inquire of him. Kumārajīva also had long known of his reputation, and replied with a letter to establish friendship, moreover praising and admiring him greatly with five gāthās. From this time on, across a thousand li between north and south, letters and inquiries never ceased. On the first day of the eighth month of the twelfth year of the Yixi era, his bodily humours became disordered. By the sixth day, his illness grew severely critical. The venerable elders all kowtowed and begged him to drink fermented soybean wine. Huiyuan said: "Using wine to treat illness has no permissive text in the Vinaya." They begged him to drink rice congee. He replied again: "The sun has passed noon." Then they begged him to drink honey water; he then ordered the Vinaya master to unfold the Vinaya and search for the text. Before half the text was read, Huiyuan had already passed away, at the age of eighty-three. Monks and laymen gathered like clouds, and carriage ruts choked the roads. Ruan Bao, the Governor of Xunyang, together with the disciple Fajing and others, excavated a vault to bury him on the west side of the mountain. Renowned worthies of the day, such as Xie Lingyun and Zong Bing, mourning his departed virtue, took turns composing commemorative inscriptions. More than a hundred years after Huiyuan, the Liang monk Huijiao obtained the true facts and also composed a biography for him. According to the Separate Biography of Huiyuan, Huiyuan, in his cultivation of the Pure Land, was assiduous in mindfulness. In the first eleven years after he rested at Mount Lu, he clarified his mind and focused his contemplation, beholding auspicious signs three times; but Huiyuan was reserved and deep, and in the end spoke nothing of it. Nineteen years later, on the evening of the last day of the seventh month, as Huiyuan was just arising from samādhi in the eastern niche of the Prajñā Platform, he saw Amitābha Buddha, his body filling empty space. Within the circular halo there were transformed buddhas, and he also saw Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta standing in attendance to the left and right. Furthermore, he saw radiant light streaming like water divided into fourteen branches, each branch of water flowing up and down, naturally preaching suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. The Buddha said to Huiyuan: "By the power of my fundamental vow, I have come to console you. In seven days, you shall be reborn in my land." He also saw Buddhayasas, Huichi, and Tanshuan by the side of the Buddha, who came forward, bowed to Huiyuan, and said: "The Dharma Master's aspiration preceded ours; why do you arrive so late?" Having seen this clearly with his own eyes, and examining that his mental faculties were unconfused, Huiyuan fully recounted what he had seen to his disciples Fajing, Huibao, and others. He then told Fajing: "Initially, during the first eleven years I lived here, I was fortunate to behold auspicious signs of the Pure Land three times; now I see them again. My rebirth in the Pure Land is certain!" The next day he fell ill, and said again to Fajing: "The period of seven days is gradually approaching. You disciples must exert yourselves; do not be bound by worldly emotional ties!" When the appointed time arrived, he indeed passed away.