續傳燈錄 14.48

14.48

筠州逍遙聰禪師。綿州鹽泉人姓王氏。幼投劍門慈雲海亮禪師出家。年二十三誦經得度。遂遊成都講肆。捨之南遊遍參尊宿。至吳越見圓照本禪師於淨慈。久而不悟。本云。吾昔夢汝甚異。汝不勉則死。師茫然不知所謂。常念南嶽思大和尚口吞三世諸佛語不去于心。一日為僧伽作禮。忽灑然而悟。即上方丈見本具陳所得。本云。汝得之矣。吾昔夢汝吞一世界一剃刀。今汝所悟云然。知汝自今始真出家也。即為陞坐告眾。師服勤久之遊江西。高安人敬愛之延住真如開善聖壽三剎。師性靜默與物無忤。所居不問有無。安於戒律不知持犯之別。後退聖壽安居十年。弊衣糲食與住山時如一日。素善東坡蘇公兄弟。元豐中黃門公謫高安。與師遊頗相得。元祐末再謫高安。師出見之曰。老僧比夢與公遊於山中。知公當復來。去與來宿緣也無足怪者。時高安之人皆來謁師而言。有如聰禪師而不坐道場者耶。師曰。吾未始不坐道場。顧以蘇公一來餘無求也。山舊有逍遙寺。開山祖名僖。乃唐肅宗之少子。出家事忠國師蒙記莂。居逍遙寺。賜田甚廣。經五代亂民盜畊之幾盡後真淨文禪師訴于縣。十得一二可以居眾。於是眾請師住焉。師從之。紹聖乙亥十二月杖策入山。山久廢不治僧不至。師方治其缺圮以延眾。明年夏師示寂。至九月戊申入滅。俗壽五十五。塔於本山。

Chan Master Cong of Xiaoyao in Yunzhou was a native of Yanquan in Mianzhou, surnamed Wang. In his youth, he went to Chan Master Ciyun Hailiang at Jianmen to leave household life. At age twenty-three, having recited the scriptures, he received ordination. He then traveled to the lecture halls of Chengdu. Abandoning them, he traveled south and called upon venerable masters everywhere. Arriving in Wu-Yue, he saw Chan Master Yuanzhao Ben at Jingci. After a long time, he still had not awakened. Ben said, "Formerly, I had a very strange dream about you. If you do not exert yourself, you will die." The Master was bewildered, not knowing what this meant. He constantly kept in mind the Great Upādhyāya Simeng of Nanyue's saying, 'Swallowing the Buddhas of the three periods in one mouthful,' unable to let it go from his mind. One day, while making prostrations before [an image of] Saṅgha, he suddenly attained a refreshing awakening. He immediately went up to the abbot's room to see Ben and related in full what he had attained. Ben said, "You have got it! Formerly, I dreamed that you swallowed a world and a razor. Now what you have awakened to is just like that. I know that starting from today, you have truly left household life." He immediately ascended the seat and announced it to the assembly. The Master served him diligently for a long time, then traveled through Jiangxi. The people of Gao'an respected and loved him, and invited him to dwell at the three monasteries of Zhenru, Kaishan, and Shengshou. The Master's nature was quiet and taciturn, never in conflict with anything. Whatever his dwelling, he did not inquire about having or lacking; he was content with the monastic precepts, not distinguishing between maintaining and violating them. Later, he retired from Shengshou and dwelt in retreat for ten years; his tattered robes and coarse food were just as they were during his days dwelling on the mountain. He was always on good terms with the brothers Su Dongpo. During the Yuanfeng era, Lord Huangmen [Su Zhe] was demoted to Gao'an, and his association with the Master was quite harmonious. At the end of Yuanyou, he was demoted to Gao'an again. The Master came out to see him and said, "Recently, this old monk dreamed of traveling in the mountains with you, Lord; I knew you would return. Going and coming are karmic connections from the past; there is nothing to wonder at." At that time, the people of Gao'an all came to visit the Master and said, "Is there anyone like Chan Master Cong who does not sit in a bodhimaṇḍa?" The Master said, "I have never not sat in a bodhimaṇḍa. But seeing that Lord Su has come once, I seek nothing else." The mountain originally had Xiaoyao Monastery. Its founding patriarch was named Xi, who was the youngest son of Emperor Suzong of the Tang. Leaving household life to serve National Teacher Zhong, he received a prediction of Buddhahood and lived at Xiaoyao Monastery, where imperial land was bestowed in great abundance. Going through the chaos of the Five Dynasties, the common people stole and cultivated almost all of it. Later, Chan Master Zhenjing Wen sued in the county court, recovering ten to twenty percent, which was sufficient to house an assembly. Thereupon, the assembly invited the Master to dwell there. The Master consented. In the twelfth month of the yihai year of the Shaosheng era (1095), leaning on a walking staff, he entered the mountain. The mountain had long been abandoned and uncultivated, and no monks came. The Master was just in the midst of repairing its dilapidated state to accommodate the assembly when, in the summer of the following year, the Master manifested illness, and in the ninth month, on the wushen day, he entered nirvana. His secular age was fifty-five. A stūpa was erected on his home mountain.