廬山記 3.6

3.6

The Dharma master's taboo name was Huiyuan, his family name was Jia, and he was a man of Loufan in Yanmen. In his youth he was a student of the classics. At the age of thirteen, he accompanied his maternal uncle of the Linghu clan to study in Xu and Luo, and was particularly adept in Zhuangzi and Laozi. His natural capacity was grand and great. At twenty-one, wishing to cross the river to the east to join Fan Xuanzi in their shared pact of a good life in recluse, [he found that] the Central Plains were in the midst of turmoil and banditry, and the southern road was blocked. At that time, the śramaṇa Shi Dao'an had established a temple on Mount Taihang to propagate and extol the Buddha's Dharma, whereupon [Huiyuan] went and turned to him. Upon first hearing him lecture on the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, he was suddenly enlightened, and sighed: 'Confucianism, Daoism, and the nine schools are nothing but chaff!' Thereupon, together with his younger brother Huichi, he threw away his hairpin, shaved his hair, entrusted his life, and received his training. Once his mind had entered the Way, he always took the great Dharma as his own task. His insightful understanding arose early, and his spiritual brilliance was preeminent. Dao'an often sighed: 'If the Way is to flow into the Eastern Realm, is it not through this Yuan?' At twenty-four, he began to give lectures. A guest once heard him lecture on the meaning of the true mark (dharmatā) and raised doubts and objections back and forth, becoming ever more blocked in confusion. The master cited the meanings in the Zhuangzi to make analogies, and the doubter's confusion was thoroughly resolved. From then on, Dao'an's disciples were solely permitted not to discard secular texts. Later, following his master south on travels to Xiangyang, Dao'an was detained by Zhu Xu, and the assembly all dispersed. Yuan and several dozen disciples then went to Jingzhou, residing at Shangming Temple. Later wishing to go to Mount Luofu, he reached Xunyang in the sixth year of Taiyuan. Loving the vast quietude of the Lushan range, he established Longquan Hermitage. After a long time, the śramaṇa Chan Master Huiyong was already residing at Xilin; having had an old friendship with the master, he wished to invite him to stay together, and said to the regional inspector Huan Yi: 'Master Yuan propagates the Way, and students gather daily. Where this poor monk perches is cramped and insufficient to dwell in; what can be done?' At that time [Huan Yi] also dreamt that the mountain deity requested: 'This mountain is fit for spiritual habitation.' One evening there was suddenly thunder and rain. At dawn after the striking [storm], the forest at the foot of the mountain was greatly cleared, with only plain white sand spread over the ground, as well as fine timber such as pian, nan, and figured catalpa. Huan then established further quarters and halls on that very ground, naming the hall 'Divine Transport' (Shenyun). Because it was to the east of where Master Yong lived, it was named Donglin. That was in the eleventh year of Taiyuan, the year bingxu, when the temple was completed. Previously, there was a statue of Mañjuśrī of King Aśoka that had sunk in the waters of Wuchang, which Tao Kan was unable to recover; by this time it floated up lightly, and was welcomed back to the Divine Transport Hall to perform Buddhist services. Moreover, with a man of the Way from Jibin (Kashmir), they together fashioned the Terrace of the Buddha's Shadow. All of these met with divine responses, the matters being detailed in the Biographies of Eminent Monks. Thereupon, companions who carefully observed the vinaya and guests who severed worldly ties arrived unbidden from the four directions. Liu Yimin of Pengcheng, Lei Cizong of Yuzhang, Zhou Xuzhi of Yanmen, and Zong Bing, Zhang Ye, Zhang Quan and others of Nanyang—altogether one hundred and twenty-three men—practiced together with the master in the Pure Land Society. He then ordered Liu Yimin to compose the text of vows. When Yin Zhongkan was about to take up his post in Jingzhou, he entered the mountain to pay his respects and discussed the Book of Changes with the master beneath the pines. Xie Lingyun of Chen Commandery, conceited with his own talent and haughty toward things, had little praise for others; upon meeting [Huiyuan] once, he was solemn and completely convinced in his heart. For him he dug the east and west ponds and planted white lotuses, begging to enter the Pure Society; the master stopped him because his mind was mixed. When Fan Ning was in Yuzhang, the master invited him into the society, but Fan could not follow. Yao Xing and Dharma Master Kumārajīva both admired his moral character from afar and sent generous offerings. Huan Xuan, whose might shook the sovereign, unawares bowed in respect. When Emperor An returned to the capital from Jiangling, the Auxiliary of the Realm He Wuji urged the master to greet and attend upon the emperor; the master pleaded illness and did not go, and the emperor sent an envoy to comfort and inquire after him. In all, he dwelt in the mountain for thirty years, and his shadow never touched the dust of the secular world. Whenever he saw guests off, he made Tiger Creek the boundary. On the sixth day of the eighth month in the twelfth year of the Yixi era of the Jin, the year bingchen, he passed away peacefully, having lived eighty-three years. When he first felt ill, he walked beneath the forest; the elder bhadantas requested that he drink fermented soybean wine or rice water, but he did not allow either. They also requested to mix honey with water as a drink; the master ordered a vinaya master to look through the vinaya texts to see whether it was permissible, and before the scroll was half-read, he expired. His posthumous command was to leave his skeleton bare beneath the forest, but soon after, his disciples and the officials of Xunyang reverently buried him on the West Ridge. Xie Lingyun composed the inscription and Zhang Ye wrote the preface. In the fifth year of Huichang of the Tang, the year yichou, the temple was abandoned; in the second year of Dazhong, the year wuchen, it was restored. When the temple was restored, the Controller of the Monks Zhengyan petitioned for a bestowal of honors, and he was posthumously titled Great Master Bianjue (Discriminating Enlightenment). In the third year of Shengyuan, the title was changed to Zhengjue (Right Enlightenment). In the third year of Xingguo, he was posthumously titled Great Master Yuanwu (Perfect Awakening), and his tomb was still named the Stūpa of Congealed Tranquility. There is the Collected Works of Kuangshan in twenty fascicles, transmitted to the world.