廣弘明集 23

English (machine translation) 23

Language: English

23.1

Compiled by the Śramaṇa Shi Daoxuan of Ximing Temple of the Great Tang.

The preface states: Now, in discussing the Saṅgha, the six harmonies form its essence—namely, precepts, views, benefits, and the three karmic actions. For this reason, their Dao pervades the seen and unseen, and their virtue connects with sages and worthies. In opening up matters and accomplishing affairs, their blessings extend to gods and humans; in guiding understanding of the vinaya and deportment, their transformation hangs over both emptiness and existence. All this arises from honoring the six harmonies and illuminating the triratna. Internally, they sweep away the corruption of the four Māras; externally, they overturn the banner of the eightfold pride. Thus within the boundaries of the trichiliocosm, all receive the monastic rules; through sixty thousand distant years, all follow the vocal teachings. If monks did not broadly guide them, who could raise this up? And yet the Dao traverses low and high, confronting the dire cycles of calamity; worldly dust follows faith and slander, harboring safety and peril in utilitarian ends. Men of broad understanding are not impeded by opening or suppression, while vulgar men are blocked by the praise of their era. Thus the assembly mixes the heterodox and orthodox, laying out thoroughfares that press and guide; minds embrace brightness and obscurity, displaying pathways to meet the capacity of beings. Thus we know that the companions of Pūrṇa mounted the Lesser Vehicle to gather living beings, and those of the Heavenly Heat school lodged among heterodox followers to transform beings. Striking and sounding to examine what accords with the Dao, broad illustration lies in expedient means; before awaiting majestic deportment, they preserved only freedom from attachment. If these words are complete, then one penetrates principle and practice. Yet those who do not understand arbitrarily give rise to aberrant positions. If they see deviation, their confusion and deception grow ever more severe. Not considering their own afflictions and confusions, they exclusively fear others' transgressions of etiquette. Thereupon they follow the crowd in blindly burying and exterminating them. The ordinary rank perish nursing resentment at cruelty, while the noble sages grieve that violent rebellion should be tolerated. From antiquity, emperors who ruled people looked back at the records of rise and fall, spreading wide nets that could swallow boats and enacting lenient policies of tolerance and nourishment. They propagated the benevolent breeze throughout the realm, bringing about great peace without action; they magnified the established models of monastic withdrawal and engagement, enjoying this great bounty. The rest were petty and inquisitorial, going against the adage of cooking small fish; gathering faults, they drew up strict orders like congealed fat. When calamities later arose and disasters flared, no defense could be mounted, and they wept in a corner; in an instant they collapsed into ruin, becoming the laughingstock of the world. Therefore, I have collected various administrative achievements and laid bare the worthy and wise: some resisted edicts to utter upright words; some raised discourses to deliberate with righteous arguments; some praised and revered high nobility; some harbored grief to express eulogies. This Dao can be traced, fully set forth in the sections below.

23.4

Table of Contents for Monastic Conduct in the Liang Hongming ji:
Jin Dynasty: Yu Bing issues an imperial decree ordering monks to pay homage
Jin Dynasty: Supervisor of the Department of State Affairs He Chong proposes not submitting it (two pieces)
Jin Dynasty: Huan Xuan's letters debating whether men of the Dao should pay homage to rulers (with replies)
Huan Xuan's further letters debating the homage discussion (with the Prince's eight replies)
Shi Huiyuan's letters to Huan Xuan debating non-homage (with replies)
Huan Chu's illegitimate decree stating that śramaṇas need not pay homage (with five replies)
Shi Huiyuan's Treatise on Śramaṇas Not Paying Homage to Rulers
Shi Huiyuan's letter to Huan Xuan clarifying the purge of the Saṅgha (with reply)
Zhi Daolin's letter to Huan Xuan discussing monastic registers
Zheng Daozi's letter discussing squatting while eating
Fan Bolun's letter discussing squatting while eating
Fan Bolun's memorial discussing squatting while eating (with imperial reply)
Shi Huiyi's reply to Fan Bolun's letter (with reply)
Fan Bolun's letters to the two Dharma Masters [Dao]sheng and [Hui]guan
Later Qin ruler's decree ordering the two Dharma Masters Heng and Biao to abandon the Dao (with replies)
Kumārajīva's letter to the Later Qin ruler discussing Heng and Biao's abandonment of the Dao
Shi Huiyuan's reply to Huan Xuan's letter ordering a return to lay life (with reply)
Shi Sengyan's letter to Duke Liu refusing to return to lay life
Shi Daosheng's memorial to Emperor Wu of Qi discussing the purge of the Saṅgha

23.5

Table of Contents for Section on Monastic Conduct in the Tang Guang hongming ji:
Eastern Jin: Qiu Daohu's Eulogy for Zhi Tandi (with preface)
Later Qin: Shi Sengzhao's Eulogy for Kumārajīva (with preface)
Song Dynasty: Shi Huilin's Eulogy for Shi Fagang (with preface)
Song Dynasty: Shi Huilin's Eulogy for Zhu Daosheng
Song Dynasty: Xie Lingyun's Eulogy for Shi Tanlong
Song Dynasty: Xie Lingyun's Eulogy for Shi Huiyuan
Song Dynasty: Zhang Chang's Eulogy for Dharma Master Jing of Mount Ruoye
Southern Qi: Shi Huilin's Eulogy for Shi Xuanyun
Southern Qi: Eulogy for Vinaya Master Shi Zhicheng
Southern Qi: Yu Xi's Biographical Sketch of Dharma Master Jing
Liang Dynasty: Shen Yue's Biographical Sketch of the Nun Jingxiu
Song Dynasty: Emperor Xiaowu's decree purging monks and nuns
Northern Wei: Emperor Xiaowen's decrees exalting various monks (seven pieces)
Southern Qi: Shen Xiuwen's Treatise on the Midday Meal
Shen Xiuwen's Treatise on Monks Gathering to Eat
Northern Qi: Emperor Wenxuan's decree on the debate over purging monks (with reply)
Liang Dynasty: Emperor Jianwen's letter of condolence on the death of Dharma Master Daocheng
Liang Dynasty: Prince of Jin'an's instruction to the monastic rectory under his jurisdiction
Liang Dynasty: Wang Jun's letter to Dharma Master Sheng of Dongyang
Liang Dynasty: Shi Zhilin's letter to Zhou Yong of Runan
Liang Dynasty: Liu Xiaobiao's letter to Dharma Master Ju
Liang Dynasty: Wang Manying's letter to Dharma Master Jiao (with reply)
Liang Dynasty: Liu Zhilin's letter of condolence on the death of Dharma Master Zhen
Liang Dynasty: Liu Zhilin's letter of condolence to Dharma Master Zhen's elder brother, Li Jingfei
Liang Dynasty: Liu Zhilin's letter of condolence on the death of Jingzheng (Record of Dwelling on Mount Jinhua) (Liang Dynasty: Liu Xiaobiao's Record of Dwelling on Mount Jinhua in Dongyang; Chen Dynasty: Shi Zhenguan's letter to Vice Director Xu)
Chen Dynasty: Xu Ling's letter remonstrating with Dharma Master Shen of Mount Renshan against abandoning the Dao
Northern Zhou: Shi Tanji's memorial presented to Emperor Wu to stop the purge of the Saṅgha
Dai Kui's letter sent to Dhyāna Master Ming of Xiancheng
Shi Huiming, śramaṇa of Youlin, replying to Northern Qi Gentleman Dai
Sui Dynasty: Palace Secretariat Xue Daoheng's letter of condolence on the death of Dharma Master Yan
Sui Dynasty: Shi Yancong's Treatise on the Field of Merit
Tang Dynasty: Emperor Gaozu's decree inquiring into the benefits and harms of monks leaving home (with reply)
Tang Dynasty: Emperor Gaozu's decree ordering a purge of Buddhism and Daoism
Tang Dynasty: Emperor Taizong's decree ordering Daoist priests to take precedence over monks (with memorial)
The Present Emperor's three great decrees ordering deliberation on śramaṇas paying homage (with the civil and military officials' refutations, memorials, reports, petitions, etc., and memorials, petitions, and discourses by imperial intimates)

23.6

Guang hongming ji, Section 5: Monastic Conduct, Part One (Fascicle 23)

23.7

Eulogies and Biographical Sketches of Various Monks

23.8

Zhi Tandi
Zhu Kumārajīva
Shi Fagang
Zhu Daosheng
Shi Tanlong
Shi Huiyuan
Shi Xuanjing
Shi Xuanyun
Shi Zhicheng
Shi Xuanjing
Shi Jingxiu

23.9

Eulogy for the Man of the Dao Zhi Tandi

23.10

By Qiu Daohu of the Eastern Jin

23.11

On a certain day of the fifth month in the seventh year of the Yixi reign of the Jin dynasty, the man of the Dao Zhi Tandi passed away at the age of sixty-five. Alas! How tragic! The Dharma Master traced his origin to the Western Regions, originally born in Kangju. Deriving his clan name from his country, after respectfully receiving the instructions of his teacher, he took the Dharma surname Zhi. He moved to Qianqiu Hamlet, Duxiang, Wucheng County, Wuxing Commandery. Endowed with the unyielding qi of the autumn element and relying on the harmonious measure of yang nurturance, he was born an outstanding figure of a distant land, harmonizing with rivers and peaks to receive spiritual essence. His discernment was deep and pure, his demeanor luminous and solemn. The Dao was manifested in his heavenly-allotted lifespan, and his virtuous model shone in his plain vessel. His chaste awakening stood alone; varied heterodoxies could not stir his mind. His utmost sincerity was deep and steadfast; multiple disputations could not shake his resolve. Thus transcending the dust and reaching supreme attainments, the intentions of wisdom emerged in his youthful years. Investigating the subtle and delighting in the profound, his illumination of the Dao shone in his late years. Therefore he could stir the spiritual breeze in this divine realm and disseminate the wondrous transformation in these latter days. Continuing the purity of past sages, he brought harmony to both clergy and laity, who turned their hearts to him. Traveling through various regions, he spread the great undertaking; marvelously probing hidden subtleties, his pure conversation analyzed the profound. In addition, he was skilled in literary composition, and his discerning appreciation was widely recognized, so he harmonized with superior manners and stood out as the foremost of his time. In his middle years, he lamented that it was difficult to maintain seclusion near the city as his principle; moreover, his love of mountains and waters was naturally inclined toward the spontaneous, and his stillness outside worldly affairs was realized from his heavenly mind. Thereupon he renounced worldly ties and withdrew his traces to the crags and ravines, establishing a dwelling at Kun Mountain in Guzhang of Wuxing Commandery. Savoring the Dao and exalting transformation for more than twenty years, what he propagated through his secluded practice was capable of cleansing the mind and purging selfishness; the beauty of his words and forms was sufficient to exhaust inspiration and prolong life. Thereupon those longing for the school and returning to benevolence gathered from all directions; those admiring his breeze and harboring his aims came from afar to knock at his ford. At that time, eminent heroes of the day often invited him to vegetarian feasts and lectures. The master responded to things with an open mind, never troubling his thoughts with activity or rest; he expounded doctrines with complete sincerity, never treating clergy and laity differently. His virtue of embracing the One was also extolled near and far. Just as he was about to sweep the profound path, bind the collapsing customs, scale the wondrous ladder beyond, and emulate profound traces, alas, his life was not long, and falling ill, he passed away. Those of understanding feel deep pain at his passing; all people harbor grief at the loss of the good. Being noble without rank, honored in life and mourned in death—this indeed applies to him! Although the ultimate principle is mysteriously one, and existence and non-existence are fixed before bodily form begins; although profound discernment marvelously illumines that the bodily vessel is equal to rotting soil; nevertheless, for one whose feelings fall short within the realm of joy and sorrow, and whose mind of separation and meeting has not yet been extinguished, how could one not take loss and gain as grief and joy, or stand at the long parting with a sorrowful heart? If the dark stillness is difficult to embody, we entrust the brush to cherish his breeze, lifting the supple tip to unfold our feelings and spreading his clear radiance without end. Thereupon I compose this eulogy:

23.12

Endless throughout antiquity, / Dim and obscure was the profound path. / The wondrous condition was nowhere sought; / The long slumber knew no waking. / Arising and ceasing were manifold and chaotic; / Movement and rest were contrary and disordered. / Driving one another through a hundred generations, / The later ages were all the more corrupted. / Forever drowning in defilement and toil, / Who knew the reason why? / The Perfected Man mounted the turning of fortune; / Spiritual awakening arose in our midst. / Having not yet beheld the vast ocean, / The frog in the well deemed none small. / The great illumination shone radiant and bright; / The dark night at last broke into dawn. / Annihilating existence, one returned to emptiness; / Dispelling darkness, all became luminous. / The Way reached everywhere without boundary; / Benevolence extended even to birds and beasts. / The benighted were not left behind; / The discerning understood ever more clearly. / How transcendent was the Dharma master! / His nature in the Way was spontaneous and natural. / With single mind he renounced the mundane, / Reverently dedicated to the profound of the profound. / Grinding the keen edge of his spiritual faculty, / His wondrous realization was uninterrupted. / That to which worldly dust clings, / Upon arriving here was discarded. / That by which entanglements drag one down, / He held to with ever greater steadfastness. / Shaking off the bridle of dust, / He surged forth from the spiritual abyss. / Vast and distant in pure elegance, / Solemn and grave in chaste melody. / Broad and deep in his quietude, / Striving continuously in his advancement. / Harmonious yet resolute, / Distinct yet not severe. / Calming the mind, he attained it alone; / Projecting his contemplation to thousands of fathoms. / Emptied, he responded to things; / Nothing that came went unharmonized. / Wandering freely to propagate the transformation, / Resounding with echoes and radiating brilliance. / He opened the way to the profound market; / He initiated the opening of the spiritual portal. / His station was ordered by the dark extremity; / He dissected the abstruse and subtle. / Forgetting self, he drew gently upon goodness; / Tranquil, he went against nothing. / Unifying and penetrating all quarters, / Bringing together that whereto all converge. / From afar he raised up the sagging net; / He expounded and fortified the portals of the Dharma. / Continuing this wondrous wisdom, / He then broadcast spiritual might. / The secluded realm is still and silent; / The human market is clamorous and enticing. / In leisure and seclusion it is easy to become one; / Amid florid tumult it is hard to eradicate distraction. / The master then, with deep sighs, / Turned his carriage mid-course to retreat. / Divining a dwelling among rivers and crags, / He built a hut amidst the forested peaks. / Casting off conditions outside his domain, / He focused his essence and honed his inner acuity. / No fish-trap did he fail to master; / No subtlety did he leave unprobed. / How luxuriant is the peak of Kunshan, / With ridges, mounds, and hills! / Continuous peaks reach up into the clouds; / Winding ravines meander far and wide. / The courtyard shade is solitary and still; / The steps are encircled by clear streams. / Shaded and secluded in its remoteness; / Desolate and tranquil in its emptiness. / Far-reaching was the profound breeze; / Serene were the disciples of the Saṅgha. / Savoring the Way in the quiet room, / Silent was his spiritual dwelling. / His mind followed intimacy with the Way; / His sentiments grew distant from the mundane. / The Way is surely never solitary; / Virtue must have neighbors. / The abyss of his purity attracted reflections; / The supremacy of his work endeared people to him. / Yearning for his breeze and venerating the profound, / They came as guests from afar. / There were also those of like mind, / Who came from time to time to inquire after the ford. / Profound and inexhaustible, / Day by day his spirit grew more robust. / Forests and earth are subject to decline, / But the mind of the Way is ever new. / The sage has passed, and his words are severed; / The worthy has manifested, but interpretations diverge. / Dark and dim is the final age; / The profound transformation is on the brink of ruin. / How serene was this master! / Monastics and laypeople turned their hearts to him. / We hoped he would enjoy long years, / To hold up these falling cords. / How could misfortune strike so unsparingly, / That he abandoned the world in everlasting departure? / His bearing and shadow have returned forever; / Gone, he cannot be recalled. / The discerning feel deep heartbreak; / All who harbor feeling share in sorrow. / Alas! How mournful! / Recalling our close fellowship in the past, / We frequently lingered night after night. / Feasting quietly in the pure abode, / Sitting on the grass in the secluded valley. / Sometimes washing in the white rapids, / Then resting amidst the verdant bamboo. / Often we celebrated auspicious days, / Floating goblets and picking chrysanthemums. / Pears and pomelos offered their sweetness; / Rushes and bamboo shoots served as our greens. / Composing poems and chanting verses, / We were joyful and contented together. / Fondly looking back upon those travels, / The memory is right before the eyes. / How grievous is this encounter; / In a thousand years it will not come again. / Treading familiar ground, tears wet our lapels; / Gazing at his tumulus, we weep in grief. / Alas! How mournful! / What is must return to what is not; / The beginning ultimately comes to an end. / In the wondrous contemplation of the accomplished man, / A thousand ages are but a single day. / The benighted may react, / Arbitrarily making of it misfortune and fortune. / Far away is the Dharma master; / Early he has returned to the profound chamber. / The toil of countless kalpas / Was swift without haste. / May he encounter dark conditions, / And at last meet with spiritual methods. / His wondrous practice is no longer exercised; / Truly deep is the loss of his physical form. / Our feelings remain not yet darkened to sorrow; / Disconsolate, we are beside ourselves. / Entrusting our sentiments to brush and silk, / We set forth his illustrious breeze. / Alas! How mournful!

23.13

Eulogy for Dharma Master Kumārajīva

23.14

By Shi Sengzhao

23.15

Now, the Way does not broaden itself; its broadening depends on the person. The worldly do not awaken of themselves; their awakening awaits a master craftsman. Awaiting a master craftsman, the world therefore has epochs of lofty realization. Depending on the person, the Way therefore has times of modest accomplishment. When the times lie in modest accomplishment, the spiritual ford ceases to flow; when the epoch lies in lofty realization, the profound vanguard can be reached. Yet the Benevolent One has long departed this world, nearly a thousand years ago; contemporary masters harbor perverse minds, and disputes over right and wrong arise in contention. Thus the spiritual model has secretly vanished, and the illustrious thread is all but disrupted.
There was Dharma Master Kumārajīva, who was indeed an heir left by the earlier awakened. He concentrated his thought on the great method and let his mind gallop in lofty contemplation. Discerning the decline of the Śākya Way, he grieved over the destitution and blindness of the multitude. Therefore, he roused his spiritual bearing and lodged his form in this degenerated age. Unifying and continuing the vast succession, he became a rampart for the times. When the world was fast asleep, he awakened it with the Great Sound; when the times were turning to twilight, he illuminated them with the Sun of Wisdom. He contemplated tying up the collapsing guidelines amid the decline of the Way, and gathering the fallen threads in an era of destitution. Therefore he mounted the times to adapt, straightening the crooked; with one strike, the times knew no unteachable village, and with a second stroke, the obstinate returned to benevolence.
At that time, the carts of the goat and deer broke their wheels, and the carriages of the six teachers overturned their ruts. Once the profundity of the two conceptions was clarified, the secrets of the One Vehicle were also revealed. Thus he sat upright east of the mountains, while his fame galloped to the eight extremities. In tranquil delight he propagated instructions, and the nine streams of thought yearned to conform. Therefore Fu and Yao, the two Heavenly Kings of the Great Qin, dispatched armies to invite him. These two kings: their minds wandered through the gates of Great Awakening, and their forms held sway over the myriad transformations; externally they spread the customs of Xi and He, and internally they promoted the methods of propagating the Dharma. Their ways in accord and their spirits attuned, they condescended to receive instructions in person.
The master considered that if the great craftsman is not respected, then his Way is not revered; hence he treasured the spiritual gem within his breast, stirring only when stimulated. From the time the master’s form manifested in the plains of Qin, it was as if the Torch Dragon radiated spiritual light; he expanded the great lineage, as if Xihe emerged from Fusang. Melting and refining the constant Way, he exhausted the wonders of the double profundity; warding off the perverse and awakening the worldly, he brought to fruition the beauty of the orthodox teachings. His words being suited to the times, the principle was completely harmonious. Therefore his eloquence did not arise in vain, and the Way was not proclaimed without effect. This was indeed the Dharma drum sounded anew in Jambudvīpa, the Wheel of Brahmā turned once more to the north of heaven. Had he not been one whose station surpassed cultivated attainment, whose substance was refined through a hundred smeltings, and whose action and retirement accorded with the times, who could have matched this?
In summary, his propagation was more luxuriant than spring sunlight; his eradication of suffering was fiercer than autumn frost. How towering! How vast! Lofty resonance without bounds! Yet an obstructed destiny secretly arose, and this man saw his twilight. In the guichou year, at the age of seventy, on the thirteenth day of the fourth month, he passed away in the Great Monastery. Alas! How mournful!
The master craftsman of the Way has tilted toward the west; / The spiritual axle has broken in the east. / The morning sun has cast down its rays; / The jewel mountain has crumbled and collapsed. / The six directions are dark at midday; / The lost carriage wanders in nine circles. / The spiritual gate is shut again; / The three bad paths open in contention. / How regrettable is the night-shining pearl! / How pitiable are the blind children! / The feeling of boundless grief / Is magnified a hundredfold in every heart.
Thereupon I compose this eulogy:
The Earlier Awakened ascended to the heights; / The spiritual breeze is distant and remote. / The master of pervasive transcendence quietly coalesced; / The Arhat entered the tranquil void. / The tangled clusters of the nine streams / Contend in asserting right and wrong. / The wandering blind children / Have their spiritual roots submerged. / When the times have no south-pointing needle, / Who recognizes the passage across the darkness? / The Great Man attained distant awakening; / In his secret mind he realized alone. / Tranquil, empty, still, and silent, / He embraced this profound plainness. / Responding to the period, mounting the times, / He soared with wings along the heavenly road. / Having been said to respond to the times, / He was fittingly the hope of the age. / Taking birth, he rode upon sharpness; / His form bore extraordinary marks. / In swaddling clothes he was talented and far-reaching; / In his childhood he had boundless capacity. / In thought he needed no second reading of the classics; / In awakening he did not await a master craftsman. / Setting his feet on the Eightfold Path, / He roamed his spirit through the three directions. / His profound roots stood out remarkably; / His magnificent voice echoed far and wide. / Furthermore, maintaining his integrity, / He cast away honor and the worldly. / At ease within the Dharma gate, / He revered and valued plain simplicity. / Whatever canon there was, he explored it; / Whatever wonder there was, he recorded it. / In propagation, he never let himself falter; / In his lineage, no clan could compare to him. / His frost congealed like ice; / His spirit was as steadfast as a mountain. / Outwardly detached, he was ever higher; / Inwardly radiant, he was ever more complete. / Vast was his lofty resonance, / Fitting to be modeled and followed. / Serene was his empty virtue, / Truly wondrous, truly genuine. / In stillness he penetrated the profound; / In motion he responded to humanity. / His words were treasures for the world; / His silence was a jewel for the times. / Once the Chinese customs were established, / The two teachings also submitted. / Who says the Way is declining? / The profound transformation was just renewed. / Since the awakening of the master, / There was no Way that was not broadened. / The spiritual breeze fanned far and wide; / The transcendent echo soared high. / He opened up this great method; / He lit this lamp of wisdom. / As soon as the sound of the Way was proclaimed, / The worldly net collapsed. / The roots of ignorance were all the more uprooted; / The supreme goodness was all the more increased. / For a man lodging in the mundane, / His paths are without fixed ways. / Unifying these myriad existences, / He tied together these sagging guidelines. / Complying through the four debts of gratitude, / Descending with the frost of wisdom. / Like that Vimalakīrti, / His traces entered city and lane. / Though his form responded comprehensively, / His spirit was empty in the imperial realm. / Though the incoming teachings are wondrous, / How could they suffice to praise him? / How magnificent was the Great Man, / Promoting and raising complete virtue! / Setting forth these names and forms, / Revealing that tranquil silence. / Penetrating through the myriad subtleties, / Binding them by the profound rule. / About to glorify prajñā, / So as to respond to the north of heaven. / Why did destiny turn contrary, / And the dark village secretly claim him? / Who will open the heavenly road? / Who will block the three bad paths? / Alas! How mournful! / The Perfected Man does nothing, / Yet there is nothing he does not do. / The net of expedient means covers from afar; / The long snare bridles from a distance. / Pure benevolence acts as the lure cast below; / Wandering travelers are caught above. / Diligently he gave skilled guidance; / Swiftly his breeze blew. / The Way could alter customs; / Transformation could shift the times. / How is it that Bright Heaven / Shattered this spiritual model? / Now that the Ultimate Truth has departed, / The One Way cannot be applied. / Devas and humans weep in grief; / Mournfully lament the spiritual deities. / Alas! How mournful! / When the master passed away, / The time was merely one hundred and six. / The master craftsman of the Way conceals his axe; / The Wheel of Brahmā broke its axle. / The morning sun cast down its light; / The jade peak was overturned. / The universe was dark at midday; / The times lost the eye of the Way. / Grieving, grieving are the common people; / Who will nurture and rear them? / The whole world mourns with feeling; / My own sorrow and heartbreak increase. / Alas! How mournful! / Once, in earlier days, / I roamed in the stream of benevolence. / Following its remaining waves, / I continued to receive the empty and profound. / Using it without exhaustion, / Drilling into it, it grew ever harder. / It outshone the sun and left the dust behind; / I hoped for a few more years to be added. / My slight feelings were not yet expressed, / When he had already passed with transformation. / If he could be ransomed, / I would trade a thousand for him. / The time cannot wait; / Life cannot be prolonged. / Regarding my body and regarding other men, / There is nothing to rely upon, no condition to hold to. / My mind gallops in boundless grief; / My feelings mourn to Bright Heaven. / Alas! How mournful!

23.16

Eulogy for Dharma Master Fagang of Wuqiu

23.17

By Shi Huilin of the Song

23.18

In the eleventh month, winter, on the xinwei day, in the eleventh year of the Yuanjia reign era, Dharma Master Fagao passed away. Alas, how grievous!
Now, unyielding rectitude and rigid obstinacy do harm to broad-minded ease; while humble compliance and round accommodating compromise defile firm purity. Dwelling in the mountains brings the distress of withered isolation; residing in towns invites the affliction of clamour and quagmires. One who could weigh both sensibilities and dispense with both extremes—Dharma Master [Fagang] was such a man! In his youth he frequented the splendid capital, and in maturity he dwelt on secluded slopes. Delighting in his intention, he entered and departed; following his disposition, he went and came. Wearying of the worldly throng, he sought leisure amidst trees and stones; brooding in the stillness of hills and ravines, he observed the varieties of living things. Others considered him to lack a single set principle, yet I saw his masterly sincerity.
By endowed nature he was clear-sighted and quick, gradually cultivated in taste and air. At ease in sentiment and reason, he entrusted his delight to literary meaning. In his associations he was sincere, bright, and utterly genuine in covenant; in his advancement he admired the way of returning to eternity. Putting his person in order through the Dharma robes, the entanglements of vermilion tassels had long been severed; lifting his feet to the divine realm, the impediments of the imperial halls were early dissolved. How much more so the tracks of a śramaṇa's austere disciplines, compared to the mere shifts of worldly fortune!
Formerly, encountering each other by chance, we formed a friendship as carriages brushed; both having shaved our heads, our natural dispositions gathered in harmony, pouring out our hearts and venting our griefs to entrust our fleeting years. We then joined hands to travel to Liang, and wing to wing we perched at Deng. Feasting on the winds of empty peaks, and bathing in the Dao of the mysterious ford, matching our joys and sharing our banquets, it was a once-in-a-thousand-years moment.
Since the forest fell and the birds scattered, more than a decade swiftly passed. You brushed against high boughs, while I sank into the mire. Ever hoping for the chance to meet in secluded dwelling, it turned out to be the separation of Liang's high mountain and the sea. The eastern waves do not return; the western shadows cannot be gathered up. Reaching the end of your river voyage, your bones returned to the layered mounds. Alas, how grievous!
The eulogy says:
His clan and surname derived from Yin,
Truly the lineage of King Tang.
His illustrious fame faded in the middle period,
Yet its origin and flow were brightly manifest.
In his youth he met with sorrow and disaster;
His clan lacked even the mourning of fine hemp.
His benevolent aunt took charge,
And relying on her, he was nurtured and protected.
When he reached fifteen years of age,
His brilliant talent was uniquely prominent.
Two wonders paired in elegance,
A rare match, even in excellence.
His aspiration disdained the central realms;
He thought to ascend to the spiritual domain.
Casting off prolonged earthly life,
He earnestly longed for eternal conditions.
Having followed the mysterious tracks,
He thoroughly understood names and vestiges.
Apart from humaneness and righteousness,
He begrudged none of the mundane.
Desires of the household were not pursued;
Quietly sitting, he found his ease.
Not relying on vermilion doors,
He divined his dwelling on craggy walls.
In coming, his feet were not dampened;
In leaving, his wings were not broken.
Soaring and descending, flocking together,
Advancing and retreating, diminishing and augmenting.
I abhor the floating waves;
You could align directly with mind.
Together soaring over the marshes of the Way,
Both gathering in the forest of virtue.
Equally brushing the gentle breeze,
Together listening to the mysterious voice.
From the palace to the state,
Ever before our eyes, ever in our bosoms.
Past transformations stretch far away;
Remaining thoughts linger in melancholy.
Having already been drawn far apart,
The Way of Heaven bears clear witness.
You departed your former mountain;
I returned to distant frontiers.
Hoping to ride the harmonious turn of fate,
To share shade and rest together.
Cold ashes yield no smoke;
Fallen leaves are severed from their stems.
Our conflicting hopes could not be fulfilled;
You thereupon departed this world.
A man has passed away;
His lofty sentiments are eclipsed and darkened. Alas, how grievous!
Deep winter is bitterly cold;
The riverbank is desolate.
Freezing wind flutters the tent;
Flying sleet enters the boat.
Your life reached its near end;
The journey home remains distant.
Sorrowful, reaching the end;
In stillness, lamenting and crying out.
A lone traveler, fragile indeed;
Equal in transformation, with no special praise. Alas, how grievous!
Remembering your sojourn at Tiger Hill (Huqiu),
Grieving over the extinguishing at the peaks of Lu;
Recalling our gatherings in the central capital,
Thinking of our companionship in foreign borders.
My feelings flutter over the twin peaks;
My thoughts linger tenderly across two provinces.
How entwined and endless!
What is kept in heart brings grief and choking.
Watching the severe winter already pass,
Relying on the great heat now stilled.
The four seasons turn in chaotic cycles;
Our anticipated meeting is dark and eternally hidden.
If future conditions are not extinguished,
Looking back on our lives only increases sorrow. Alas, how grievous!

23.19

Eulogy for Dharma Master Zhu Daosheng of Longguang Temple

23.20

By the Song Śramaṇa Huilin

23.21

In the tenth month, winter, on the gengzi day, in the eleventh year of the Yuanjia reign era, Dharma Master Daosheng died at Mount Lu. Alas, how grievous!
When a good person reaches their end, the following sorrow is not shallow; when one who embodies the principle passes away, the regret felt is all the deeper. The Dharma Master was originally surnamed Wei, a native of Pengcheng. His father was the magistrate of Guangqi County, who marveled at him in his youth. He took him to Dharma Master Fatai, whereupon he changed his attire and pursued the vocation. Endowed by Heaven with sharp intellect and diligence, his understanding and enlightenment were remarkably precocious. At the age when one sets their will on learning, he already mounted the lecture seat. At that time, renowned monks who hoped for the Way and men of eminent fame—none failed to exhaust their words, blunt their thoughts, and submit to his exquisite subtlety. Lu Lian refuting Tian Ba, or Xiang Tuo withstanding the old man Confucius, could scarcely have surpassed him.
Moreover, his nature was calm yet unbending and fierce; his disposition was harmonious and easily followed. Welcoming and guiding with joyous giving, others esteemed him all the more. In middle age, he traveled to study, extensively seeking unusual teachings. From Yang to Qin, he ascended Lu and climbed Huo. The purports of Kumārajīva's Mahāyāna and the essentials of Devadharma's Hīnayāna—he thoroughly mastered their tenets and investigated their depths. What he heard grew superior by the day; what he saw surpassed the abstruse. Thereupon he was enlightened and said: “Images are what convey principles; if one clings to images, one strays from principle. Teachings are that by which transformation occurs; if one is bound to teachings, one is blind to transformation. Therefore, to scrutinize names and demand realities leads to confusion over falsehood; to seek the mind through external affairs leaves one blind to profound sayings. From its transmission among the Western lands to its reception in China, no one has yet been able to transcend these boundaries.”
Thereupon, gathering what was obscured and exercising his mind alone, he contemplated and trod the ancient vestiges. Upon this, the myriad scriptures scattered like clouds, and all doubts melted like ice. Śākyamuni's purpose could be calmly discerned, and marvelous, rare expressions all became coherent doctrines. Laozi and Zhuangzi expounding the nominal teachings, or Wang Bi and Xiang Xiu grasping the mysterious mind—compared to this, that was easy!
Creatures envy radiant talent, and people censure upright transcendence. Resentment arose among his fellow monks, who took pleasure in breaking apart from the assembly. He then drooped his wings, drew back his feet, withdrew his shadow into crags and caves, and followed the darkest depths of the supreme Way. Casting his steps in the manner of the Foolish Old Man boarding a boat, he went forward with no return, ending his life at the foot of the mountain. Grief arose throughout the realm. Alas, how grievous!

23.22

The clarity of the Si and the Bian,
The height of Mount Lüliang—
Only this graceful spirit
Nurtured this brilliant talent.
Like the orchid among grasses,
Like the jade among stones,
It was not through polishing or carving
That this fragrant brilliance was accomplished.
From the beginning of his aspiration to learn,
He took to heart the mysterious traces.
Passing into his ears, understood in his mind;
Opening the texts, he arranged the bamboo slips.
Young, he ascended the lecture seat;
There was no passage he did not analyze.
Skillful in using concise words,
He did not value superfluous phrases.
Those with understanding respectfully received them,
Satisfied with his deep investigations.
In middle age he scrutinized the teachings,
Yet the principles were not fully refined.
For this reason he traveled the regions,
Seeking them in the profound and hidden.
Though encountering distinct doctrines,
He increasingly felt they converged near.
When the road ended with nowhere to turn,
He turned the shafts and redirected his carriage.
Cutting away nominal commentaries,
He illuminated what lies beyond matters.
What obstruction was not made to flow?
What obscurity was not made clear?
As if the morning sun emerged,
Its brightness brilliantly illuminated.
The four fruits and ten abodes,
Were elevated and corrected through this.
The ox and horse of the Yijing,
The fish and bird of Zhuangzi—
Who, scrutinizing these realities,
Would not be deluded regarding this Way?
Dwelling long in this enlightenment,
He gave me instructional words:
“The Way truly resides herein;
All listeners have turned away.
Do not stand in stubborn opposition,
And reprove those of wide learning.”
I considered this harmless,
And urged him to propagate it.
His understanding aligned with upright sincerity;
He saw and cautioned against frivolous clamour.
Silently resting in shade, he abandoned the great,
Stilling these clamorous mouths.
Ascending his perch, he achieved excellence,
Distantly escaping to bamboo thickets.
Reclusive thoughts by the spring's source,
Unimpeded by rivers and mounds.
Hoping to rely on leisure,
It is said that the benevolent enjoy longevity.
Yet life is subject to fate,
Never lasting forever.
The fragrant orchid swiftly withered,
Its spirit harmed in isolation. Alas, how grievous!
Recalling our first parting,
As the third month of autumn announced its close;
The wind was severe, the stream clear,
The clouds high, the forest bare.
Seeing you off at the southern shore,
Joining hands, we went our separate ways.
Vast and boundless, your departure and staying;
Sorrowful, our affectionate backward glances.
Who remains in retirement?
Each followed the current or went upstream.
Grieved by this lasting estrangement,
Parting became eternal separation. Alas, how grievous!
Facing the incoming wind, the echo ceases;
Seeing off departing clouds, there is no reliance.
Far off, the three winter months have passed;
The turning year is offered to this spring.
Listening to the joyful birds of the sun,
Gazing upon the misty warmth of the spiritual air;
Remembering the schools in this month,
Truly an auspicious time for practicing studies.
Saddened by the empty sight of the lecture hall,
Pained by the hollow sound at the high seat;
Sighing over how matters lead to pitying principles,
Grieving over how feelings turn to yearning for the man. Alas, how grievous!
The Way of Heaven is obscure and dim,
Yet truth and compliance can be inferred.
Principle does not perish;
May we perhaps return together.
Longevity and early death can be set aside;
Sentiments and yearnings can be pursued.
A short piece cannot fully express it,
I merely use it to write my grief. Alas, how grievous!

23.23

Eulogy for Dharma Master Tanlong

23.24

By Xie Lingyun

23.25

Now, when establishing discourses in accord with principles, the hundred schools have not yet determined what is right; when relying on the mind to understand internally, a single person does not fear stumbling. Yet in the end, they cannot distinguish one from another. If we all sigh over falling into ruin yet being rescued, who ultimately knows for whose sake? Hoping that when conduct is established, good and evil need not be scrutinized; desiring that when fame is transmitted, the fragrant and the foul wither alike. However, for one whose purpose was not broken by bodily frame, and whose aspirations transcended the limits of life, in what my own eyes personally witnessed, I saw such a person in this master!
His benevolent mind and luminous intellect emerged in his youth. Born with innate nobility, his family possessed abundant gold and silks. Furthermore, he was skilled at riding and understood strings and pipes. Darting past fleeting scenery on the grand boulevards and plucking strings and blowing pipes in splendid marketplaces, this was not merely for a matter of weeks and months, but went on for years. Truly, he was like the Zhao and Li families of Xianyang, or the Cheng and Zheng clans of Linqiong!
Afterward, during a long night of solitary realization, in the midst of drinking he sighed and said: “How sorrowful! Joy and aversion come by turns, ultimately returning to sorrow and suffering. If one does not block their roots, how can one transcend them? Moreover, the three realms whirl and sink, and the various heavens are but a fleeting instant. How much more so Duke Jing of Qi atop Mount Niu, or Emperor Wu of Sui peering at the shadows? The seasonal affairs urge us on, pressed hard by frost and dew. Inferring from these earnest words, how could this endure for long?”
Resolutely, he conceived the aspiration to cast aside glory and splendor, and universally succour both others and self. His mother pitied his resolve, and his elder sister and younger brother praised his integrity; they thereupon gave their consent. Leaving the household to seek the Way, he himself having done so, his entire family withdrew from the world. Wife and children were severed forever, and joys were dismissed for good. How could it be merely the vanishing of past pleasures? Discerning it in the prime of his youth, the love and affections of all time were now parted forever.
Taking a travel boat southward, he cast his shadow on Mount Lu. Once he ascended Stone Gate and Incense Burner Peak, for six years he did not descend the ridge. The assembly of monks could not endure its depths, but the Dharma Master did not alter his discipline. His thought of aiding others did not allow him to remain proud in seclusion: when a fellow student fell ill, he shook his staff across ten thousand li to rescue him.
At that time, I was recuperating from illness at East Mountain (Dongshan). Hearing of his reputation, I admired him from afar. How could I expect his personal presence? I merely invited him on account of the mountains. When the Dharma Master arrived, I, an unworthy person, was burdened by mundane duties. The preface to my earlier poem roughly recorded it, so I will not trouble to repeat it.
Later, when he returned to the mountain and expounded teachings, our sincerity was fully realized and at last fulfilled. Adjoining eaves on layered crags, together we drew from the winding torrent. Eating mushrooms and atractylodes, sharing our meals; opening the words of the Dharma, reading from the same scrolls—this lasted for two cycles of cold and heat. It was not merely that Shan Tao showed no expression of joy or anger, or that the Chief Minister was unaffected by being dismissed or promoted; he truly illuminated the hidden and subtle, clearing away immediate blockages, washing away subtle defilements, daily forgetting his illnesses.
I had hoped we would dwell together into white-haired old age, yet separation came without warning. Sincerity and compliance found no return; what cause was there to gather again? In his later years, entangled in misfortune, he came from afar to visit me. Having arrived, obstacles intervened, and letters and news were nearly cut off. Meeting with the summer heat, he contracted an illness, and within ten days he passed away. Truly, life and death are governed by fate! This journey indeed had its cause. Hearing the tragic news, my grief and pain were a hundredfold above common sentiments. How long could paper and ink last? It is not to seek fame; rather, admiring his will and integrity, and recalling deeply our lifelong bond, I could not remain silent. Therefore, entrusting my heart, I take up the brush. Its words say:

23.26

Looking upward, I trace form and consciousness;
looking downward, I plumb principles and categories.
By gathering sounds one knows the musical pitch;
by uprooting the reeds one sees their kind.
Creatures are distinguished by their spiritual nature;
human beings are treasured for their wisdom.
This indeed is the divine illumination,
whereby the mind perceives, scrutinises, and conceptualises.
At the very beginning in childhood,
his wise mind was perceptive from an early age.
Inhaling and exhaling fragrant blossoms,
he harboured the sun and moon within his breast.
Like that acre of orchids,
when the wind passes over, their fragrance wafts far;
like that natural order of Heaven,
when the clouds part, its light bursts forth.
Seeking fame, one restricts the body;
regulating conduct, one binds oneself.
Even in an ignorant generation,
he was never remotely like that.
Life is sustained by a tranquil mind;
the mind governs the principles of life.
Who brought pleasure and comfort?
Cheng Zheng, and the Zhao and Li families.
Their houses were stocked with gold and silk;
their talents were skilled in arts and techniques.
Holding their heads high, they spent lavishly;
their profuse strings sounded gorgeous and delicate.
Flushed with wine, the music grew urgent;
their thoughts were fine, their robes extravagant.
In the morning, pressed by the setting sun;
in the evening, fearful of the shifting stars.
On and on go the bright days;
chilly and desolate are the good nights.
Years pass and pleasures drift away;
when revulsion comes, passions are abandoned.
Suffering and joy cycle around;
in the end they continuously give way to one another.
Discarding this to proceed elsewhere,
life is fleeting, its fame merely borrowed.
Who can alter or wrest it away?
By what art can it be turned aside?
The refined and the coarse are mingled together;
the good and the bad are mixed and uneven.
Since the mind has its limits,
within principle it cannot be fully measured.
Tentatively examining all schools of thought,
he hoped to gain a glimpse [of truth].
The Daoists stumble over the near at hand;
the myriad currents fall short of the far-reaching.
In conventional designations, what remains permanent?
Can supplementary doctrines ever revert [to the truth]?
Only in forgetting both [opposites],
following the heart, does goodness reside.
Pitying living beings sunk in delusion,
he marvelled at their being driven about.
He changed his robes in the capital,
and shook his staff atop Mount Lu.
Parting forever from the glory of hopes,
he rested perpetually on the secluded peak.
Discarding finery to put on plain robes,
leaving behind complexity to seek simplicity.
Others suffered from its hardship;
he chose its tranquility.
When the benighted view the clear,
their very ignorance cuts them off.
When the wise cling to passion,
before principle it becomes defiled.
If stinginess is not dispelled,
how can stagnation ever be eradicated?
You took pity on them,
and practiced bitter discipline for their sake.
Suffering discipline lay with oneself;
beneficial steadfastness was preserved for others.
Through illumination darkness departs;
through compassion burdens are moved away.
Wishing to succour living beings,
one must first rescue these.
Setting out, ordinary sentiments are opposed;
in the end, principle is affirmed.
Liang Hong took his wife along;
the bearer of the weed-basket was seen by his son.
Feeding guests with chicken and millet,
singing while walking, he followed his own way.
In the worldly view this is called lofty;
for the Way, it is utterly mean.
Only when I met the Dharma Master
did I see one extraordinarily peerless in spiritual principle.
Bodily lifespan is easily exhausted;
a pledge made is hard to retract.
Following his heart, he was transformed;
relinquishing his body, he voiced no lament.
Cherishing the Way, he grew ever more earnest;
his destined years were already late.
Pitying creatures, he took leave of the mountain,
and at last rested in an inn.
Alas, how sorrowful!
His spirit and breath followed along;
Yanling had already understood.
Bestowing the body equally to kites and ants
was what the Master of the Lacquer Garden comprehended.
Leaving one's skeleton in the empty wilderness—
how could it be strange, how could it be feigned?
Fortunately there were remains left over,
to feed the insects and birds for a while.
Alas, how sorrowful!
Looking back on his life,
we shared seclusion and plumbing the depths.
Together we set about planning;
together we climbed and gazed out.
Breaking rocks to open mountain streams;
clearing branches to thin the forest.
Gazing far at the layered peaks;
viewing near the rugged crags.
Tasks were few and the place was quiet;
we pursued the subtle and probed the hidden.
Which phrase did we not polish?
Which doubt was not resolved?
Opening wrappers and unrolling scrolls,
retrieving texts and unfolding paper.
Questions arrived and answers were returned,
letting the day run on into the night.
Changju and Jieni ploughed side by side;
Boyi and Shuqi shared the fern-shoots.
When our footsteps matched, our hearts were joyful;
now that things have diverged, my wishes are frustrated.
Hearing of his illness, I was filled with burning grief;
learning of the misfortune, I was overcome with sorrow.
Who could say it does not hurt?
Falling tears soak my robe.
Alas, how sorrowful!
Traveling far, the seasons shifted;
at the borders of the land, the climate changed.
At the end of autumn and the middle of winter,
I crossed the cinnamon-covered ridges and plunged towards the sea.
Forever remembering that man,
my thoughts run deep and my grief doubles.
Looking down, I take leave of ordinary men;
looking up, I am ashamed before those beyond dependence.
Alas, how sorrowful!

First 26 of 49 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

廣弘明集 — Classical Chinese