續傳燈錄 10.38

10.38

杭州淨土院惟正禪師。秀州華亭黃氏子。幼從錢塘資聖院本如隷業。且將較藝於有司。如使禱觀音像以求陰相。師謝曰。豈忍獨私於己哉。郡人朱紹安聞而加歎。欲啟帑度之。師慨然曰。古之度人以清機密旨。今反是去古遠矣。吾墮三寶數當有其時已。而遇祥符覃恩得諧素志。獨擁毳袍且弊。同列慢之。師曰。佛乎佛乎儀相云乎哉。僧乎僧乎盛服云乎哉。厥後有願輸奉歲時用度俾繼加之院務。亦復謝曰。聞托鉢乞食。未聞安坐以享。聞歷謁諸祖。未聞廢學自任。況我齒茂氣完。正在筋力為禮。非從事屋廬之秋也。於是提策東引。學三觀於天台。復旋徑山恣單傳之旨於老宿惟素。素董臨安功臣山淨土院。師輔相之久而繼席焉。然為人高簡律身精嚴。名卿巨公多所推尊。葉內翰清臣牧金陵。迎師語道。一日葉曰。明日府有燕飲師固奉律能為我少留一日欵清話否。師諾之。翌日遣使邀。師留一偈而返曰。昨日曾將今日期。出門倚杖又思惟。為僧祇合居嵓谷。國士筵中甚不宜。坐客皆仰其標致。師識慮洗然不牽世累。雅愛跨黃犢。出入軍持巾鉢悉挂角上。市人爭觀之。師自若也。杭守蔣侍郎嘗與師為方外友。每往謁至郡庭下犢。談笑終日而去。蔣有詩曰。禪客尋常入舊都。黃牛角上挂瓶盂。有時帶雪穿雲去。便好和雲畫作圖。師嘗作山中偈曰。橋上山萬層。橋下水千里。惟有白鷺鸞。見我常來此。平生製作三十卷號錦溪集。又工書筆法勝絕。秦少遊珍藏之。冬不擁爐。以蘆花作毬納足其中。客至共之。夏秋好翫月。盤膝大盆中浮池上。自旋其盆吟笑達旦。率以為常。九峯韶禪師嘗客于院。一夕將臥。師邀之曰。月色如此。勞生擾擾對之者能幾人。峯唯唯而矣。久之。呼童子使熟炙。峯方飢意作藥石頃乃橘皮湯一盃。峯匿笑曰。無乃太清乎。有問曰。師以禪師名。乃不談禪何也。師曰。徒費言語。吾懶寧假曲折。但日夜煩萬象為敷演耳。言語有間而此法無盡。所謂造物無盡藏也。皇祐元年孟夏八日語眾曰。夫動以對靜未始有極。吾一動歷年六十有四。今靜矣。然動靜本何有哉。於是泊然而逝。

Chan Master Weizheng of Jingtu Cloister in Hangzhou was a son of the Huang family of Huating in Xiuzhou. In his youth, he studied under Benru of Zisheng Cloister in Qiantang. When he was about to compete in the examinations before the authorities, Ru had him pray to the image of Avalokiteśvara to seek hidden assistance. The Master declined, saying: "How could I bear to be selfish for myself alone?" Zhu Shao'an, a man of the commandery, heard of this and sighed in admiration, wishing to open his treasury to ordain him. The Master said with deep feeling: "In ancient times, people were ordained through clear capability and esoteric meaning; now it is the opposite, which is far removed from antiquity. My falling into the count of the Three Jewels ought to have its proper time." Later, meeting with the widespread imperial grace of Xiangfu, he was able to fulfill his original aspiration. He wore only a robe of coarse wool that was worn out. His peers slighted him. The Master said: "Buddha! Buddha! Can one speak of deportment and appearance? Monk! Monk! Can one speak of grand attire?" Subsequently, there were those who wished to supply his seasonal living expenses so that he could succeed to the administration of the cloister. He again declined, saying: "I have heard of carrying the alms bowl and begging for food, but have not heard of sitting peacefully to enjoy [offerings]. I have heard of travelling to pay visits to the various patriarchs, but have not heard of abandoning study to assume responsibility for oneself. Moreover, my age is in its prime and my vigor is complete; this is precisely the time to use my physical strength for courtesy, not the season to attend to roofs and cottages." Thereupon, lifting his walking stick, he set off toward the east. He studied the threefold contemplation at Tiantai, and then returned to Jingshan to indulge in the tenets of the solitary transmission under the venerable Weisu. Su presided over Jingtu Cloister at Gongchen Mountain in Lin'an; the Master assisted him for a long time and then succeeded to his seat. However, his character was lofty and simple, and he maintained strict discipline. Eminent ministers and great lords mostly respected and revered him. Secretariat Drafter Ye Qingchen, governing Jinling, invited the Master to speak of the Way. One day, Ye said: "Tomorrow the prefectural office has a banquet. Master, you strictly observe the vinaya; can you linger with me for one day to enjoy quiet conversation?" The Master consented. The next day, an envoy was sent to invite him. The Master left a gāthā and returned, saying: / "Yesterday I made an appointment for today; / Leaving the gate and leaning on my staff, I reflected again. / For a monk, it is only fitting to dwell in cliffs and valleys; / At a banquet of distinguished scholars, it is truly unseemly." / The guests all admired his refined demeanor. The Master's discernment and thoughts were completely rinsed clean, unentangled by worldly burdens. He particularly loved to ride a yellow calf. When going out and coming in, he hung his kuṇḍikā, napkin, and bowl entirely upon its horns. The people in the market jostled to look at him, but the Master was untroubled as usual. Vice Minister Jiang, the prefect of Hang[zhou], was once an otherworldly friend of the Master. Whenever he went to visit, he would dismount from the calf at the courtyard of the commandery, and leave after talking and laughing all day. Jiang had a poem that said: / "The Chan guest ordinarily enters the old capital, / Hanging bottle and bowl on the horns of a yellow ox. / Sometimes bearing snow, passing through clouds he goes; / It would be fine to paint him together with the clouds as a picture." / The Master once composed a mountain gāthā, saying: / "Above the bridge, mountains in ten thousand layers; / Beneath the bridge, water for a thousand li. / Only the white egrets and herons / See me constantly coming here." / In his lifetime, his compositions amounted to thirty fascicles, entitled the Jinxi Collection. He was also skilled in calligraphy, and his brushwork was supreme; Qin Shaoyou treasured it. In winter, he did not sit by a brazier, but made a ball of reed flowers to insert his feet into; when guests arrived, he shared it with them. In summer and autumn, he loved to enjoy the moon, sitting cross-legged in a large tub floating on the pond, rotating the tub himself while chanting and laughing until dawn, doing so as a regular habit. Chan Master Shao of Jiufeng once stayed as a guest at the cloister. One evening, when they were about to go to sleep, the Master invited him, saying: "With the moonlight like this, among those troubled by weary lives, how many can face it?" Feng merely assented and that was all. After a long while, he called a boy attendant to prepare something roasted. Feng, being hungry, thought it was an evening medicinal meal; after a short while, it was just a cup of tangerine peel decoction. Feng chuckled secretly and said, "Is that not perhaps too pure?" Someone asked: "The Master is renowned as a Chan master, yet you do not talk about Chan. Why is that?" The Master said: "It merely wastes words. I am lazy; why resort to convoluted ways? I merely trouble the myriad phenomena day and night to expound it. Words have gaps, but this Dharma is inexhaustible; it is what is called the inexhaustible treasury of the Maker of Things." On the eighth day of the first month of summer in the first year of the Huangyou reign period, he spoke to the assembly, saying: "Activity as opposed to stillness has never had an ultimate boundary. My single activity has passed through sixty-four years. Now it is stillness. Yet originally, what activity or stillness is there?" Thereupon, he passed away in serene stillness.