續傳燈錄 31.24

31.24

覺阿上人日本國滕氏子也。十四得度受具。習大小乘有聲。二十九屬商者自中都回言禪宗之盛。阿奮然拉法弟金慶航海而來。袖香拜靈隱佛海禪師。海問其來。阿輒書而對。復書曰。我國無禪宗。唯講五宗經論。國主無姓氏號金輪王。以嘉應改元捨位出家名行真。年四十四。王子七歲令受位。今已五載。度僧無進納而講義高者賜之。某等仰服。

The Venerable Jue'a was a son of the Fujiwara clan of Japan. At the age of fourteen, he was tonsured and received full ordination, becoming renowned for his study of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. When he was twenty-nine, merchants returning from the central capital spoke of the flourishing of the Chan school. Strongly motivated, A took along his fellow monk Jinqing and sailed across the sea. Carrying incense in his sleeve, he paid homage to Chan Master Fohai of Lingyin. Hai asked where he had come from. A wrote down his replies each time. He also wrote: "Our country has no Chan school; we only lecture on the scriptures and treatises of the five schools. The lord of our realm has no surname and is titled the Golden Wheel King. Changing the era name to Jianyuan, he renounced the throne and became a monk, taking the name Xingzhen, at the age of forty-four. The prince was ordered to accept the throne at the age of seven; this was five years ago. Ordaining monks requires no monetary donation, but rather ordination is bestowed on those whose doctrinal expositions are high. We hold in deep reverence..."