續傳燈錄 34.26

34.26

育王笑翁禪師諱妙堪。四明毛氏子。廣顙平頂骨清氣豪。十歲從野庵道欽受釋氏學。參松源岳於靈隱不契。往天童參無用全公。無用問曰。行脚僧遊山僧。師曰。行脚僧。無用曰。如何是行脚事。師以坐具便摵。無用曰。此僧敢來者裏捋虎鬚參堂去。室中常示以狗子無佛性話。一日擬開口。無用以竹篦劈口便打。師應聲呈偈云。大茶毒鼓。轟天震地。轉腦回頭。橫屍萬里。無用頷之。久之侍香。辭去西游歷登諸老門。迨出世妙勝嗣無用。遷金文移。光孝乙亥大旱禱雨。州治郡將以道居左偏。師謂釋左道右舊有成法。力爭不可。退歸雪竇申明于朝得旨仍舊乃已。史衛王薦師領台之報恩。天台舊無律宗。師議合十寺為大剎。築壇場闡揚毘尼。朝命徙虎丘領雪峯三年。陞住靈隱。衛王創大慈成請師開山。師審法立度去浮務約。雖大智復作無以易之。衛王薨退居上柏。台州使君陳公遣使以瑞巖邀之於道。師勉領寺事逾月遂行。無何江心牒至。監丞史公強之。乃起黽勉絕江。明年廷臣奏令僧道買紫衣師號。俾以衣號住持。師以為審如是。則千金之子皆可主法。吾道殆矣。奏疏殿陛上書廟堂。其議遂寢。詔徙育王。興建居多。既而天童除書至不應。戊申春師寢疾。通守永嘉曹公等入山問疾。從容敘世契。移頃命紙筆書遺表。作寺丞張公書援山谷晦堂例請主後事。書四句偈辭眾云。業鏡高懸。七十二年。一槌擊碎。大道坦然。置筆與曹公訣別右脅而逝。

Chan Master Xiaoweng of Yuwang, whose taboo name was Miaokan, was a son of the Mao family of Siming. He had a broad forehead, a flat crown, clear bones, and a heroic bearing. At age ten, he studied Buddhism under Ye'an Daoqin. He visited Songyuan Yue at Lingyin but did not reach accord. He went to Tiantong to visit Master Wuyong Quan. Wuyong asked, "Are you a monk on itinerant pilgrimage, or a monk sightseeing in the mountains?" The Master said, "A monk on itinerant pilgrimage." Wuyong said, "What is the matter of itinerant pilgrimage?" The Master immediately struck him with his sitting mat. Wuyong said, "This monk dares to come here and stroke the tiger's whiskers! Go to the monk's hall!" In the abbot's room, [Wuyong] often showed him the topic of the dog having no Buddha-nature. One day, as [the Master] was about to open his mouth, Wuyong struck him straight across the mouth with a bamboo spatula. Responsive to the sound, the Master presented a verse: / "The great poison drum / Shakes heaven and rumbles the earth. / Turning the brain and looking back, / Corpses lie prostrate across ten thousand miles." / Wuyong nodded to it. For a long time he served as the incense attendant. Taking his leave, he traveled west, visiting the gates of various elders. When he emerged into the world at Miaosheng, he became the heir to Wuyong. He moved to Jinwen and was transferred. At Guangxiao in the yihai year, during a severe drought, prayers were made for rain; the prefectural administrator and military commander placed the Daoists on the left. The Master stated that Buddhism on the left and Daoism on the right was the established rule from of old, and firmly contested it as unacceptable. He retired to Xuedou and submitted a memorial to the imperial court; the imperial decree ordered that the ancient rule be maintained, and only then was it resolved. Prince Wei Shi [Miyuan] recommended the Master to take charge of Bao'en in Tai[zhou]. Tiantai previously lacked the Vinaya school; the Master proposed merging ten temples into a great monastery, building an altar-ground, and propagating the Vinaya. By imperial order, he was moved to Huqiu and oversaw Xuefeng for three years, then ascended to reside at Lingyin. Prince Wei founded Daci; when completed, he invited the Master to be the founding abbot. The Master examined the regulations and established standards, dispensing with superficialities and applying restraint; even if Dazhi were to arise again, he could not have altered them. When Prince Wei passed away, [the Master] retired to Shangbai. The governor of Taizhou, Lord Chen, sent an envoy to invite him on the road with [the abbacy of] Ruiyan. The Master reluctantly took charge of temple affairs, and after more than a month, he departed. Before long, an official communication from Jiangxin arrived; Lord Shi, the supervisory clerk, compelled him, so he arose and with effort crossed the river. The following year, court ministers memorialized asking that Buddhist monks and Daoists purchase purple robes and master titles, and that they serve as abbots based on robes and titles. The Master believed that if it were truly so, sons of wealthy families could all control the Dharma, and our Way would be endangered. He submitted a memorial at the palace steps and addressed a letter to the imperial court, and the proposal was consequently dropped. By imperial decree, he was moved to Yuwang, where he undertook many reconstructions. Soon after, an imperial appointment to Tiantong arrived, but he did not accept it. In the spring of the wushen year, the Master took to his bed with illness. Lord Cao, the vice-prefect of Yongjia, and others entered the mountain to inquire about his illness. At leisure, they conversed about worldly ties. After a while, he called for paper and brush, wrote his testamentary memorial, and wrote a letter to Lord Zhang, the temple director, invoking the precedent of Shangu and Huitang to ask him to oversee the post-mortem arrangements. He wrote a four-line verse to bid farewell to the assembly: / "The mirror of karma has hung high / For seventy-two years. / Smashed with one hammer-blow, / The Great Way is smooth and wide." / Putting down his brush, he took leave of Lord Cao and passed away lying on his right side.