景德傳燈錄 27.5

27.5

有人盜菽麥瓜果。大士即與籃籠盛去。日常傭作夜則行道。見釋迦金粟定光三如來放光襲其體。大士乃曰。我得首楞嚴定。當捨田宅設無遮大會。大通二年唱賣妻子獲錢五萬以營法會。時有慧集法師聞法悟解。言我師彌勒應身耳。大士恐惑眾遂呵之。六年正月二十八日遣弟子傅暀致書于梁高祖。書曰。雙林樹下當來解脫善慧大士。白國主救世菩薩。今欲條上中下善。希能受持。其上善略以虛懷為本。不著為宗。亡相為因。涅槃為果。其中善略以治身為本。治國為宗。天上人間果報安樂。其下善略以護養眾生勝殘去殺。普令百姓俱稟六齋。今聞皇帝崇法欲伸論義。未遂襟懷故。遣弟子傅暀告曰。暀投太樂令何昌。昌曰。慧約國師猶復置啟。翕是國民又非長老。殊不謙卑豈敢呈達。暀燒手御路。昌乃馳往同泰寺詢皓法師。皓勸速呈。二月二十一日進書。帝覽之遽遣詔迎。既至帝問。從來師事誰耶。曰從無所從來無所來師事亦爾。昭明問。大士何不論義。曰菩薩所說非長非短非廣非狹非有邊非無邊如如正理復有何言。帝又問。何為真諦。曰息而不滅。帝曰。若息而不滅此則有色。有色故鈍。若如是者居士不免流俗。曰臨財無苟得臨難無苟免。帝曰。居士大識禮。曰一切諸法不有不無。帝曰。謹受居士來旨曰大千世界所有色象莫不歸空。百川叢注不過於海。無量妙法不出真如。如來何故於三界九十六道中獨超其最。視一切眾生有若赤子有若自身。天下非道不安非理不樂。帝默然。大士辭退。異日帝於壽光殿請大士講金剛經。大士登座執拍板唱經成四十九頌。大同五年奏捨宅於松山下因雙檮樹而創寺。名曰雙林。其樹連理祥煙周繞。有雙鶴棲止。太清二年大士誓不食。取佛生日焚身供養。至日白黑六十餘人代不食燒身。三百人刺心瀝血和香。請大士住世。大士愍而從之。承聖三年復捨家資為眾生供養三寶。而說偈曰。

When someone stole his beans, wheat, melons, and fruit, the Mahāsattva gave them baskets to carry the haul away. By day he was hired out for labor, and by night he practiced the Way. He saw the three Tathāgatas—Śākyamuni, Jinsu, and Dīpaṃkara—emit light that enveloped his body. The Mahāsattva then said: "I have attained the Śūraṅgama samādhi. I should renounce my fields and residences to hold a great unrestricted assembly." In the second year of Datong, he put his wife and children up for sale and obtained fifty thousand cash to provide for the Dharma assembly. At that time, Dharma Master Huiji heard the Dharma and attained awakening, saying, "My master is indeed an incarnation of Maitreya." Fearing this would confuse the multitudes, the Mahāsattva scolded him. On the twenty-eighth day of the first month of the sixth year, he sent his disciple Fu Wang to deliver a letter to Emperor Gaozu of Liang. The letter read: "The Mahāsattva Shanhui of future liberation beneath the twin trees respectfully addresses the Lord of the Realm, the Bodhisattva who saves the world. I now wish to set forth the superior, intermediate, and inferior goods, hoping you can accept and uphold them. The superior good has, in brief, an open and receptive mind as its root, non-attachment as its core doctrine, the elimination of marks as its cause, and nirvāṇa as its fruit. The intermediate good has, in brief, the cultivation of the personal self as its root and the ordering of the realm as its core doctrine, resulting in peaceful and joyful karmic rewards among devas and humans. The inferior good has, in brief, the sheltering and nurturing of sentient beings, the conquest of cruelty, the renunciation of killing, and the universal observance of the six purification days by all the common people. Having now heard that the Emperor reveres the Dharma, I desire to express discussions on its meaning, but having not yet fulfilled this heartfelt wish, I send my disciple Fu Wang to inform you." Wang went to Director of the Imperial Music Bureau He Chang. Chang said: "Even National Preceptor Huiyue still presents humble petitions; Fu Xi is merely a common subject of the realm, and neither is he an elder monk. He is utterly lacking in humility—how could I dare present this?" Wang burned his own arm on the imperial highway. Chang then rushed to Tongtai Temple to consult Dharma Master Hao. Hao urged him to present it at once. On the twenty-first day of the second month, the letter was presented. When the Emperor read it, he immediately dispatched an imperial edict to welcome him. After he arrived, the Emperor asked, "Whom have you hitherto served as teacher?" He replied, "Following from nowhere, coming from nowhere; so it is with serving a teacher." Crown Prince Zhaoming asked, "Why does the Mahāsattva not discuss doctrines?" He replied, "What the Bodhisattva speaks is neither long nor short, neither broad nor narrow, neither bounded nor boundless. Concerning the correct principle of suchness, what further words could there be?" The Emperor further asked, "What is the absolute truth?" He said, "Ceasing without being annihilated." The Emperor said, "If it ceases without being annihilated, then this possesses form; having form, it is dull and sluggish. If it is like this, the upāsaka cannot escape the vulgar currents." He said, "When facing wealth, do not seek it illicitly; when facing adversity, do not evade it illicitly." The Emperor said, "The upāsaka understands propriety well." He said, "All dharmas are neither existent nor nonexistent." The Emperor said, "I respectfully accept the upāsaka's incoming instruction." He said, "Among all the forms and appearances in the great chiliocosm, there are none that do not return to emptiness. The confluence of a hundred streams does not exceed the sea; the immeasurable wondrous dharmas do not depart from suchness. For what reason is the Tathāgata alone the most exalted among the three realms and ninety-six paths? He views all sentient beings as his infants, as his own self. Under heaven, without the Way there is no peace, and without principle there is no joy." The Emperor remained silent. The Mahāsattva took his leave. On another day, the Emperor invited the Mahāsattva to the Shouguang Hall to lecture on the Diamond Sūtra. The Mahāsattva ascended the seat, held a clapper, and chanted the sūtra, composing forty-nine verses. In the fifth year of Datong, he petitioned to donate his residence at the foot of Songshan and built a temple on the basis of the twin *chou* trees, naming it Shuanglin. The branches of the trees intertwined, auspicious mist encircled them, and a pair of cranes nested there. In the second year of Taiqing, the Mahāsattva vowed to fast, intending to burn his body as an offering on the Buddha's birthday. When the day came, over sixty monastics and laypeople fasted and burned their bodies in his place, and three hundred people pierced their hearts and sprinkled their blood to blend with incense, entreating the Mahāsattva to remain in the world. The Mahāsattva took pity and consented. In the third year of Chengsheng, he once again gave away his household wealth to make offerings to the Three Jewels on behalf of sentient beings, and spoke a gāthā, saying: