景德傳燈錄 24.88

24.88

東京普淨院常覺禪師者陳留人也。姓李氏。幼習儒學絕無干祿之意。志樂山水頗以遊覽為務。至廬山歸宗禪師會下聞法惺悟遂求出家。未幾歸宗將順寂。命師撫之曰。汝於法有緣。他後濟眾人莫測其量也。仍以披剃事囑諸門人訖。然後示滅。師至梁乾化二年落髮。明年納戒於東林寺甘露壇。尋遊五臺山。還上都於麗景門內獨居。二載間有北隣信士張生者。請師供養。張素探玄理。因叩師垂誨。師乃隨宜開誘。張生於言下發悟。遂設榻留宿。至深夜與妻竊窺之。見師體遍一榻。頭足俱出。及令婢僕視之即如常。張生倍加欽慕曰。弟子夫婦垂老。今願割宅之前堂以裨丈室。師欣然受之。至後唐天成三年遂成大院。賜額曰普淨。師以時機淺昧難任極旨。苟啟之非器。令彼招謗讟之咎。我寧不務開法。每月三八施浴僧道萬計。師常謂諸徒曰。但得慧門無壅則福何滯哉。一日給事中陶穀入院致禮而問曰。經云。離一切相則名諸佛。今目前諸相紛然如何離得。師曰。給事見箇什麼。陶欣然仰重。自是王公大人屢薦章服師號。皆却而不受。以開寶四年十二月二日示疾。十一日告眾囑付訖右脅而化。壽七十有六。臘五十有六。今法嗣繼世住持彌盛。

Chan Master Changjue of Pujing Cloister in the Eastern Capital was a native of Chenliu surnamed Li. In his youth he studied Confucian learning, having no intention whatsoever of seeking official emoluments. His aspiration was to delight in mountains and waters, and he engaged considerably in travels. Arriving at the assembly of Chan Master Guizong on Mount Lu, he heard the Dharma, awakened, and thereupon sought to leave household life. Not long after, Guizong was about to pass away peacefully. He commanded the Master to touch him and said, "You have an affinity with the Dharma; later you will rescue the multitude, and no one will be able to fathom your measure." He then entrusted the tonsure matter to his disciples and only afterwards manifested extinction. In the second year of the Qianhua era of the Liang, the Master had his hair shaved. In the following year he received the precepts at the Amṛta Altar of Donglin Monastery. Soon he traveled to Mount Wutai, and upon returning to the Superior Capital, he lived alone within the Lijing Gate. During his two-year stay, there was a faithful gentleman of the northern neighborhood named Zhang. He invited the Master and made offerings to him. Zhang had long probed mysterious principles, and so he besought the Master to grant instruction. The Master then guided and opened his mind according to what was appropriate, and Zhang attained awakening upon these words. Thereupon he set up a couch and kept [the Master] overnight. In the depths of the night, [Zhang] and his wife secretly peeped at him and saw the Master's body spread over the entire couch, with both head and feet protruding out. When he had the maidservants and servants look, it was just as usual. Zhang was doubly filled with reverence and admiration, saying, "This disciple and his wife are approaching old age. We now wish to cut off the front hall of our residence to enlarge the abbot's quarters." The Master joyfully accepted it. In the third year of the Tiancheng era of the Later Tang, it became a great monastery, and was bestowed the name plaque Pujing. The Master considered that the faculties of people of the time were shallow and unenlightened, unable to bear the ultimate tenet: "If I reveal it to those who are not proper vessels, it will cause them to incur the fault of slander. I would rather not devote myself to opening the Dharma." Every month on the days with the numbers three and eight, he gave baths to monks and Daoists numbering in the tens of thousands. The Master often said to his disciples, "If only the gate of wisdom is unobstructed, how could blessings ever be stalled?" One day, the Supervising Secretary Tao Gu entered the cloister, paid homage, and asked, "A sūtra says: 'To be free from all marks is called the Buddhas.' Now, the various marks before our eyes are so chaotic; how can one be free of them?" The Master said, "What does the Supervising Secretary see?" Tao joyfully looked up to him with great reverence. From then on, princes and high dignitaries repeatedly recommended official robes and Master titles, but he declined them all and would not accept. On the second day of the twelfth month of the fourth year of the Kaibao era, he showed illness. On the eleventh day, he addressed the assembly, gave his final instructions, and passed away lying on his right side. His age was seventy-six; his monastic age was fifty-six. Today his Dharma heirs have succeeded him in generations as abbots with increasing flourishing.