曆代法寶記 1.3

1.3

梁朝第一祖菩提達摩多羅禪師者。即南天竺國王第三子。幼而出家。早稟師氏於言下悟。闡化南天。大作佛事。是時觀見漢地眾生有大乘性。乃遣弟子佛陀耶舍二人往秦地。說頓教悟法。秦中大德乍聞狐疑。都無信受。被擯出遂於廬山東林寺。時有法師遠公問曰。大德將何教來。乃被擯出。於是二婆羅門申手告遠公曰。手作拳。拳作手。是事疾否。遠公答曰。甚疾。二婆羅門言。此未為疾。煩惱即菩提。此即為疾。遠公深達。方知菩提煩惱本不異。即問曰。此法彼國復從誰學。二婆羅門答曰。我師達摩多羅也。遠公既深信。已便譯出禪門經一卷。具明大小乘禪法。西國所傳法者。亦具引禪經序上。二婆羅門譯經畢。同日滅度。葬于廬山。塔廟見在。達摩多羅聞二弟子漢地弘化無人信受。乃泛海而來至。梁武帝出城躬迎。昇殿問曰。和上從彼國將何教法來化眾生。達摩大師答。不將一字教來。帝又問。朕造寺度人。寫經鑄像。有何功德。大師答曰。並無功德。答曰。此乃有為之善。非真功德。武帝凡情不曉。乃辭出國。北望有大乘氣。大師來至。魏朝居嵩高山。接引群品六年。學人如雲奔如雨驟。如稻麻竹𥯤。唯可大師得我髓。時魏有菩提流支三藏光統律師。於食中著毒餉大師。大師食訖。索盤吐蛇一升。又食著毒再餉。大師取食訖。於大槃石上坐。毒出石裂。前後六度毒。大師告諸弟子。我來本為傳法。今既得人厭。久住何益。遂傳一領袈裟。以為法信。語惠可。我緣此毒。汝亦不免此難。至第六代傳法者。命如懸絲。言畢遂因毒而終。每常自言。我年一百五十歲。實不知年幾也。大師云。唐國有三人得我法。一人得我髓。一人得我骨。一人得我肉。得我髓者惠可。得我骨者道育。得我肉者尼總持也。葬于洛州熊耳山。時魏聘國使宋雲。於葱嶺逢大師。手提履一隻。宋雲問。大師何處去。答曰。我歸本國。汝國王今日亡。宋雲即書記之。宋雲又問。大師今去。佛法付囑誰人。答。我今去後四十年。有一漢僧。可是也。宋雲歸朝。舊帝果崩。新帝已立。宋雲告諸朝臣說。大師手提一隻履。歸西國去也。其言。汝國王今日亡。實如所言。諸朝臣並皆不信。遂發大師墓。唯有履一隻。簫梁武帝造碑文。西國弟子般若蜜多羅。唐國三人。道育尼總持等。唯惠可承衣得法。

The first patriarch of the Liang dynasty, Chan Master Bodhidharmatrāta, was the third son of the king of a South Tianzhu country. He left home in his youth. Early on he received [instruction] from his master and awakened at his words. He propagated transformations in South India, greatly performing Buddhist activities. At that time, observing that the sentient beings of the Han land possessed the nature of the Mahāyāna, he sent two disciples, Buddhabhadra and another, to the region of Qin to preach the sudden teaching and the dharma of awakening. When the bhadantas of Qin first heard it, they were suspicious and harbored doubts, and none believed or accepted it. Having been expelled, they then came to Donglin Temple on Mount Lu. At that time the dharma master, the Venerable Yuan, asked, "What teaching have you bhadantas brought that you were expelled?" Thereupon the two brāhmaṇas stretched out their hands and said to the Venerable Yuan, "A hand becomes a fist, and a fist becomes a hand: is this fast or not?" The Venerable Yuan replied, "Extremely fast." The two brāhmaṇas said, "This is not yet fast; afflictions are bodhi—this is fast." The Venerable Yuan understood deeply, only then knowing that bodhi and afflictions are fundamentally not different. He then asked, "From whom did you learn this teaching in that country?" The two brāhmaṇas replied, "Our master Dharmatrāta." The Venerable Yuan, having acquired deep faith, immediately translated one fascicle of the *Chanmen jing*, which fully clarified the Chan methods of the Great and Small Vehicles. The teaching transmitted in the Western Countries is also fully cited in the preface to the *Dhyāna Sūtra*. When the two brāhmaṇas finished translating the scripture, they passed into extinction on the same day and were buried on Mount Lu; their stūpa still exists. When Dharmatrāta heard that no one believed or accepted his two disciples' propagation in the Han land, he floated across the sea and arrived. Emperor Wu of the Liang went outside the city to welcome him personally. Ascending the hall, he asked, "What teaching has the Upādhyāya brought from that country to transform sentient beings?" The Great Master Bodhidharma replied, "I have not brought a single word of teaching." The emperor asked again, "What merit is there in Our building temples, ordaining people, copying scriptures, and casting images?" The Great Master replied, "There is no merit whatsoever." He replied, "These are conditioned goods, not true merit." Emperor Wu's ordinary mind could not understand. [The master] then took his leave and departed the country. Gazing north, he saw an atmosphere of the Great Vehicle. The Great Master arrived during the Wei dynasty and dwelt at Mount Songgao, guiding all classes of beings for six years. Students rushed like gathering clouds and surging rain, like rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds. Only Master Ke attained my marrow. At that time in the Wei, the Tripiṭaka [master] Bodhiruci and Vinaya Master Guangtong put poison in food and served it to the Great Master. When the Great Master finished eating, he called for a basin and vomited out a pint of snakes. They again put poison in food and served it. When the Great Master finished taking the food, he sat upon a huge boulder; as the poison came out, the boulder cracked. In all, they poisoned him six times. The Great Master addressed his disciples, saying, "I originally came to transmit the Dharma. Now, since people have come to despise me, what is the benefit of staying long?" He then transmitted one kāṣāya to serve as verification of the Dharma. He spoke to Huike, "Because of this poison, you too will not escape this difficulty. When it reaches the sixth generation of Dharma transmission, life will hang by a thread." Having spoken, he then passed away due to the poison. He often said of himself, "I am one hundred and fifty years old," but in truth no one knew how old he was. The Great Master said, "In the Tang land there are three people who have attained my Dharma: one attained my marrow, one attained my bones, and one attained my flesh. The one who attained my marrow is Huike; the one who attained my bones is Daoyu; the one who attained my flesh is the nun Zongchi." He was buried at Mount Xiong'er in Luozhou. At that time, Song Yun, an envoy sent by the Wei, met the Great Master at the Congling Mountains, holding one shoe in his hand. Song Yun asked, "Where is the Great Master going?" He replied, "I am returning to my native country. Your king dies today." Song Yun immediately wrote it down. Song Yun also asked, "Now that the Great Master is leaving, to whom is the Buddha-Dharma entrusted?" He replied, "Forty years after I leave now, there will be a Han monk; Ke is the one." When Song Yun returned to court, the former emperor had indeed died and a new emperor had already been enthroned. Song Yun told the court officials, "The Great Master held one shoe in his hand and was returning to the Western Countries. His words, 'Your king dies today,' were truly as he said." None of the court officials believed him, so they opened the Great Master's tomb; there was only a single shoe. Emperor Wu of the Xiao Liang composed an inscription. [Among] the disciples of the Western Countries, Prajñātāra, and the three people of the Tang land, Daoyu, the nun Zongchi, and others, only Huike received the robe and attained the Dharma.