續傳燈錄 35.47

35.47

杭州靈隱法薰禪師號石田。眉山彭氏子也。師生而慧敏。三四歲時見佛僧即知禮敬。年十六往從丹稜石龍山法寶院智明出家。二十二薙髮受具戒。遂游方至石霜禮雷遷塔。述偈曰。一念慈容元不隔。何須特地肆乖張。平高就下婆心切。惱得雷公一夜忙。師名因是大著。聞吳門穹窿破菴先禪師道望遂往依焉。一見知為法器。室中舉世尊拈花迦葉微笑。師云。焦磚打著連底凍。赤眼撞著火柴頭。破菴陰奇之。每於日用語默故起其疑。師於是決志依棲隨時咨詢。與無準範日相激礪。辭去遍遊諸老門庭。見靈隱松源岳淨慈肯堂充華藏遯菴演。咸謂其從作家爐鞴中出自不同也。俄出世蘇之高峯。高峯蕞爾剎勞苦戢縮以身率之。未三年為改觀。次遷楓橋眾繩繩然。鍾山虛席。廟堂精選擇乃以師補處。寶慶初遷淨慈。端平二年遷靈隱。淳祐甲辰三月望示徒云。但得本莫愁末。喚恁麼作本。喚恁麼作末。松柏千年青。不入時人意。牡丹一日紅。滿城公子醉。山僧恁麼道。若有不肯底。是我同參。弟子師俊繪師像求贊。有云。末後一句分付厨山。眾頗訝之。明日忽示疾。又明日退而歸寶壽。趣辦終焉計。窆全身于院之後山。不違師意也。壽七十五臘五十三。師貌古性直音韻朗暢。五遷望剎閱三十有二年。撙節而足用。審量而計功。雖有大興建。一毫不以干人。見他處持疏鷺俟人門呫囁以希施與者。直鄙而笑之。而土木金碧在處成就云。

Chan Master Faxun of Lingyin in Hangzhou was styled Shitian. He was a son of the Peng clan of Meishan. The Master was intelligent and keen from birth; at the age of three or four, upon seeing Buddha [images] or monks, he knew to pay reverence. At the age of sixteen, he went to leave home under Zhiming at the Fabao Cloister on Mount Shilong in Danling. At twenty-two, he shaved his head and received the full precepts. Thereupon he traveled, reaching Shishuang to pay homage at the Leiqian Stūpa. He composed a verse, saying: 'The compassionate countenance in a single thought is originally not separated; / why should there specially be an unrestrained perversity? / Bringing down the high to match the low, her motherly heart was earnest; / vexing the Thunder God into a busy night.' Through this, the Master's name became widely renowned. Hearing of the prestige in the Dao of Chan Master Po'an Xian of Qionglong in Wumen, he went to rely on him. At first sight, Po'an knew he was a vessel of the Dharma. In the abbot's room, Po'an cited the Bhagavat twirling a flower and Mahākāśyapa smiling. The Master said, 'Striking a scorched brick, frozen to the very bottom; / a red eye bumping into the tip of a burning stick.' Po'an secretly marveled at him. In daily speech and silence, Po'an deliberately raised doubts in him. Thereupon, the Master resolved to remain, consulting him at all times, daily stimulating and urging each other on alongside Wuzhun Shifan. Taking his leave, he traveled extensively through the gates of various elders. He visited Songyuan Yue of Lingyin, Kengtang Chong of Jingci, and Dun'an Yan of Huazang; all said that coming forth from the furnace of a true adept, he was indeed extraordinary. Soon after, he made his advent in the world at Gaofeng in Suzhou. Gaofeng was a tiny monastery; suffering hardship and constraint, he led by personal example, and in less than three years, it took on an entirely new look. Next, he moved to Fengqiao, where the assembly gathered like a continuous cord. When the seat at Zhongshan became vacant, the court, after careful selection, appointed the Master to fill the post. In the early Baoqing era, he moved to Jingci, and in the second year of the Duanping era, he moved to Lingyin. On the full moon of the third month in the jiachen year of the Chunyou era, he instructed his disciples, saying: 'Just grasp the root, do not worry about the branches. What do you call the root? What do you call the branches? The pines and cypresses are green for a thousand years, but do not suit the minds of contemporary people; the peony is red for a single day, and the young lords of the whole city are intoxicated. This mountain monk speaks thus: if anyone does not agree, they are my fellow practitioner!' His disciple Shijun painted the Master's portrait and requested an encomium; the verse contained: 'The final word is entrusted to the kitchen mountain.' The assembly was quite surprised by this. The next day, he suddenly showed signs of illness. The day after that, he stepped down and returned to Baoshou to make haste with arrangements for his end. His whole body was buried in the mountain behind the monastery, not going against the Master's intention. He lived seventy-five years, with fifty-three years in the monastic order. The Master had an archaic demeanor, an upright character, and a clear, resounding voice. Over thirty-two years, he moved five times among prominent monasteries. He practiced economy and had enough for use; he weighed carefully and calculated expenditures; even when there were grand constructions, he never bothered people in the slightest. When he saw those elsewhere holding donation ledgers, waiting at people's doors and whispering in hopes of obtaining alms, he directly despised and ridiculed them. Yet wherever he went, timber, stone, gold, and azure decorations were completed.