續傳燈錄 16.31

16.31

報本慧元禪師。潮州倪氏。垂髫凜然如老成人。群兒戲于前袖手趺坐而已。父母商略云。兒材如此豈堪世用。令事佛僧乃可耳。師聞之即矍然起拜。遂依城南精舍誦法華經。年十九剃髮受具。遊方至京師寓止華嚴。有圓明法師者。見而異之云。上人齒少從何至此所求何事。曰慧元從南海來無他求惟求佛法。圓明笑云。王城聲利捷徑酒色樊籠橫目爭奪日有萬端。寧有佛法乎。佛法盡在南方也。師乃自洛京游襄漢遍歷名山。所至親近知識。然俱無解悟。治平二年春至黃龍。時南新自積翠來龍象四集。師每坐下板。輒自引手反覆視之曰。寧有道理而云似佛手。知吾家潮陽。而乃復問。生緣何處乎。一日頓悟盡釋所疑遂發去。熙寧元年入吳。開法於吳江壽聖寺。遣僧造黃龍投法嗣書。南視其名謂專使。吾偶忘此僧。書未欲開。可令親來見老僧。專使反命。師即日腰包而來至豫章。而南已圓寂因留嘆息。適晦堂老人出城相會。與師語大奇之。深恨老師不及見。留逾月乃復還吳中。道俗師尊之。又延住崑山慧嚴院十年。嘗夜舟歸自霅川。寇劫舟白刃交錯。舟人驚怖不知所出。師安坐徐曰。錢帛皆施汝。人命不可害也。盜既去。至旦人來視舟意師死矣。而貌和神凝如常日。其臨生死禍福能脫然無累如此。元祐四年移住承天萬壽寺眾益盛。躬自持鉢至湖州。湖人云。師到處為家。何苦獨愛姑蘇。固留不使還。蘇人聞之爭持杖捶譁以入湖。云何為奪我邦善知識。政當見還。否則有死而已。師怡然不悋情去留曰。吾任緣耳。相守彌月。蘇人食盡乃去。竟為湖人所有。遂住報本禪院。六年十一月十六日陞坐說偈曰。五十五年夢幻身。東西南北孰為親。白雲散盡青山外。萬里秋空片月新。言訖而化。右司諫陳公瑩中在湖親見其事云。師為人孤硬風度甚高。威儀端重危坐終日。南禪師門弟子能蹤跡其行藏者惟師而已遺言葬峴山之陽。門弟子元正問。何獨念峴山乎。師曰。他日可建寺。後三十年太師楚國公王黼追想師道。為請于朝賜諡證悟禪師。塔曰定應。有旨建顯化寺。歲度僧以奉香火云。

Chan Master Huiyuan of Baoben was of the Ni family from Chaozhou. Even with hanging hair, he was as grave and dignified as a mature adult; when a crowd of children played before him, he merely tucked his hands into his sleeves and sat cross-legged. His parents discussed it, saying: 'Our son's talents being such, how could he endure worldly employment? We should let him serve the Buddha and the saṅgha; that will do.' Hearing this, the master startled, arose, and bowed. He then relied on a vihāra south of the city to chant the Lotus Sūtra. At nineteen he shaved his head and took full ordination. Traveling about, he arrived at the capital and stayed at Huayan Monastery. There was a Dharma Master Yuanming who saw him, was amazed by him, and said: 'Venerable, you are young; from where have you come here, and what is it you seek?' He replied: 'Huiyuan came from the Southern Sea, seeking nothing else but the Buddha Dharma.' Yuanming laughed and said: 'The royal city is a shortcut to fame and profit, a cage of wine and sex, where cross-eyed mortals contend daily in ten thousand ways. How could there be Buddha Dharma here? The Buddha Dharma is entirely in the South!' The master then traveled from the Luoyang capital across Xiang and Han, visiting famous mountains everywhere. Wherever he arrived, he approached kalyāṇamitras, yet none brought him awakening. In the spring of the second year of Zhiping (1065), he arrived at Huanglong. At that time, Nan had newly come from Jicui, and "dragons and elephants" gathered from all sides. Whenever the master sat down on the bench, he would stretch out his hand, turn it over and back, looking at it and saying: 'What principle is there in saying it resembles a Buddha's hand? He knows my home is Chaoyang, so why does he again ask: where was I born?' One day he suddenly awakened, completely dispelling all his doubts, whereupon he departed. In the first year of Xining (1068), he entered the Wu region and opened the Dharma hall at Shousheng Temple in Wujiang. He sent a monk to Huanglong with a letter requesting recognition as a Dharma heir. Nan looked at the name and said to the special envoy: 'I happen to have forgotten this monk. I do not yet wish to open the letter. Have him come in person to see this old monk.' The envoy returned with the message. That very day, the master strapped on his bag and set out, reaching Yuzhang; but Nan had already passed into parinirvāṇa, leaving him to sigh in grief. Just then, Old Man Huitang came out of the city and met him; talking with the master, he was greatly amazed and deeply regretted that their late teacher had not met him in time. After staying for more than a month, he returned to the Wu region. Monastics and laypeople revered him as a teacher. He was further invited to reside at Huiyan Cloister in Kunshan for ten years. Once, while returning by night boat from Zhaochuan, bandits raided the boat with flashing blades clashing. The boatmen were terrified and did not know what to do. The master sat peacefully and said slowly: 'All money and silk are given to you; human lives must not be harmed.' After the bandits left, when people came at dawn to inspect the boat, they presumed the master was dead; but his appearance was harmonious and his spirit collected, just as on ordinary days. His ability to remain detached and untroubled in the face of life, death, calamity, and fortune was like this. In the fourth year of Yuanyou (1089), he moved to Chengtian Wanshou Temple, and his assembly flourished even more. He personally carried his alms bowl to Huzhou. The people of Huzhou said: 'The master makes his home wherever he goes; why do you exclusively love Gusu?' They firmly detained him and would not let him return. When the people of Su heard this, they brandished clubs and sticks, clamoring as they entered Hu, saying: 'Why have you seized our region's kalyāṇamitra? You must return him at once! Otherwise, there will only be death!' The master was cheerful and felt no attachment about leaving or staying, saying: 'I simply follow conditions.' They guarded against each other for a whole month; when the provisions of the Su people ran out, they finally departed, and he ultimately belonged to the people of Hu, whereupon he took up residence at Baoben Chan Cloister. On the sixteenth day of the eleventh month of the sixth year (1091), he ascended the seat and spoke a verse: / 'Fifty-five years of a phantom dream body: / East, west, south, or north, what can be held dear? / White clouds completely disperse beyond the green hills; / Across ten thousand leagues of autumn sky, a single moon is new.' / Having finished speaking, he transformed. Right Remonstrator Lord Chen Yingzhong personally witnessed the event in Hu, saying: 'The master's character was solitary and unbending, and his demeanor was exceptionally lofty. His deportment was solemn and dignified, sitting erect all day long. Among the disciples of Chan Master Nan, the only one who could trace the footsteps of his comings and goings was this master.' His dying instructions were to be buried on the south of Mount Xian. His disciple Yuanzheng asked: 'Why do you think only of Mount Xian?' The master said: 'In future days a temple can be built there.' Thirty years later, Grand Preceptor the Duke of Chu, Wang Fu, reminisced on the master's Dao and petitioned the court, which bestowed the posthumous title Chan Master Zhenggu (Realized Awakening), and his stupa was named Dingying. An imperial decree ordered the construction of Xianhua Temple, ordaining monks annually to maintain the incense and lamps.