北山錄 1.11.5

1.11.5

後十五日為黑月也）半月前號黑魄死（謂月初黑景漸消也）後半月號白明生也（謂十六日時月光正盛）分十二月為三時。 肇正月十六日至五月十五日為熱際（謂夏正也）自是十六日至九月十五日為雨際。 自是十六日至正月十五日為寒際。 涼暑之風稍與此曆象會耳。 古者三代之正有所取捨。 夏后氏尚黑建寅為正（夏禹姒姓。 名文命。 以天錫玄珪之瑞。 以建寅之月為武首。 號人正。 祭祀旌旗衣服皆尚黑。 以平旦為朔也）殷人尚白建丑為正（殷湯子姓。 名履。 字天乙有白狼銜鉤之瑞。 以建丑之月為歲首。 號地正。 祭祀旌旗衣服皆尚白。 以五更時為朔也）周人尚赤建子為正（周姬姓。 名發。 有火流王屋之瑞。 以建子之月為歲首號天正。 祭祀旌旗衣服皆尚赤。 以夜半為朔也）而大聖在乎周年。 故得以十一月言正。 異乎今之世也（佛既生周代。 凡經中所有年月。 皆取周朝正朔。 與今建寅夏正別也）是月也天地否閉。 龍蛇斯蟄。 微陽潛布於下泉。 匃萌未達於上土。 以茲生者應氣運而來。 以茲滅者應代謝而去也（北山和尚以佛滅乃用周正涅槃。 與今之二月十五日涅槃別也。 句萌則物初生如鉤也。 萌生也）夫居終而不能死者非聖人也（聖人與物無滯。 其生也示相同凡。 其滅也示化歸真。 雖現生而無生。 雖示滅而非滅也）既死而不能生者非聖人也（此方緣盡見化他方非同小聖灰身而已故云常在靈鷲山而實不滅度也）非死非生而能死生者。 是謂大聖人也（本不屬於生死而示同生死。 真大聖也）而六合之間。 萬類職之。 未捐於有為。 未窳於無為。 生而復生。 未始有極。 而聖人應生者。 亦何有極焉（職主也。 捐捨也。 窳憜也。 佛是萬類之主。 而未捨於有為故示相。 未怠憜於無為故化終而歸寂。 此方緣盡他方化故未有極盡者也）是以大聖生可生之世。 滅可滅之世。 生滅在物。 固不在己也（示相生滅。 真本元無。 故云而眾見劫盡大火所燒時我此土安隱）八日而生。 表始華而就滿也（周四月佛生是今二月也。 物正榮華。 八日者月漸圓滿也）十五日而滅者。 顯自盈而之虧也（以十五日月圓之極。 慮眾生起常見。 故現無常十六之後。 月漸虧也）滿則滋華。 虧則害盈（以八日漸滿故滋於榮也。 以十五日後漸虧故害盈也）揆其日。 是以見生滅之有為耳。 又方晝而誕。 反晝而逝者。 蓋生顯死晦。 旦勤夕逸之徵也（佛生以晝入滅以夜者。 蓋生則顯明也。 死則晦暗也。 又生居旦必有勤勞之用。 死居夕乃是閑逸之義也）嗟乎群生紛紛若乎在夢。 或有見佛生者滅者近者久者體常存者本不生者（隨心所悟不同。 化相雖有多般。 法身本無生滅也）譬同室而異夢。 彼夢者不知彼所夢也。 且有大覺而後知彼所夢者也（有聖教說。 佛以四月八日生。 七月十五日降生。 二月八日逾城。 十二月八日成道。 二月十五日入滅。 又有聖教。 以二月八日生。 二月八日逾城。 二日八日入滅。 又有以二月八日生。 十二月八日逾城。 十月八日成道。 十二月十五日入滅。 諸部所記不同。 如一室而異夢也）果有其分而異者不能合其同而同者不能離其異也（以今四月八日生者。 據夏正說以二月八日生。 據周正說即今北山和尚是也。 俱以二月八日。 乃天竺小乘別部所計也）有以莊王十年為佛生時。 按據魯史。 曲裁經意。 但多穿鑿之美（此乃費長房。 以周莊王十年是魯莊公四年。 恒星不見。 星殞如雨。 便為佛生。 此乃據春秋妄為穿鑿也。 佛生是周第四主昭王二十四年四月八日生。 莊王是第十五主也。 又恒星不見。 是四月五日。 乃是佛滅度後。 文殊菩薩於雪山化五百仙人而歸本國。 光明掩於恒星不見也）有以三月十五日為佛滅時。 蓋西域他俾羅部之言。 餘則不然也。

the last fifteen days are the dark fortnight.) The first half of the month is called the dying of the dark shadow (meaning that at the beginning of the month the dark shadow gradually wanes), while the latter half of the month is called the waxing of the bright light (meaning that at the sixteenth day the moonlight is at its fullest). Dividing the twelve months into three seasons: beginning from the sixteenth day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the fifth month is the hot season (meaning the Xia calendar); from the sixteenth day of this [month] to the fifteenth day of the ninth month is the rainy season; from the sixteenth day of this [month] to the fifteenth day of the first month is the cold season. The winds of coolness and heat broadly tally with this astronomical calendar. In ancient times, the first months of the Three Dynasties each had what they adopted and discarded. The Xia lineage favoured black and established the yin month as the start of the year (Yu of Xia was of the Si clan, named Wenming; because of the auspicious omen of Heaven bestowing the dark jade tablet, he took the month of yin as the beginning of the year, calling it the Human Commencement; sacrifices, banners, and garments all favoured black, taking dawn as the new moon); the Yin people favoured white and established the chou month as the start of the year (Tang of Yin was of the Zi clan, named Lü, courtesy name Tianyi; he had the auspicious omen of a white wolf holding a hook; he took the month of chou as the beginning of the year, calling it the Earthly Commencement; sacrifices, banners, and garments all favoured white, taking the fifth watch as the new moon); the Zhou people favoured red and established the zi month as the start of the year (Zhou was of the Ji clan, named Fa; he had the auspicious omen of fire flowing onto the king's roof; he took the month of zi as the beginning of the year, calling it the Heavenly Commencement; sacrifices, banners, and garments all favoured red, taking midnight as the new moon). Now, the Great Sage lived during the Zhou era, and therefore one may speak of the eleventh month as the start of the year, which differs from today's world (since the Buddha was born in the Zhou era, all the months and years found in the scriptures follow the first month and new moon of the Zhou dynasty, which differs from the present Xia calendar that establishes yin). In this month, heaven and earth are shut and closed; dragons and snakes hibernate; the faint yang secretly spreads in the springs below; the budding shoots have not yet reached the soil above. Those born by means of this arrive in response to the movement of qi; those extinguished by means of this depart in response to the alternation [of seasons] (the Master of Beishan holds that the Buddha's extinction followed the Zhou calendar's nirvāṇa, differing from the present nirvāṇa of the fifteenth day of the second month; "hooked shoots" means that things newly sprouting are curved like hooks; "budding" means sprouting). Now, one who abides in the end and cannot die is not a sage (a sage has no obstruction with things; his birth shows marks identical to the ordinary, and his extinction shows transformation returning to the true; though manifesting birth, there is no birth; though displaying extinction, it is not extinction); one who, having died, cannot be born is not a sage (when conditions in this realm are exhausted, he is seen transforming other realms; he is not like the lesser sages who merely reduce their bodies to ash; therefore it says that he always resides on Vulture Peak and in truth does not undergo extinction). One who is neither dead nor born, yet is able to die and be born—this is called a Great Sage (one who originally does not pertain to birth and death, yet manifests identity with birth and death, is truly a Great Sage). And between the six directions, myriad kinds are under his charge; he does not discard saṃskṛta, nor does he grow indolent in wuwei; they are born and born again without ever having an end; and as for the Sage's responding births, what end could they have? ("Charge" means to master; "discard" means to abandon; "grow indolent" means to be lazy. The Buddha is the master of myriad kinds, yet does not abandon saṃskṛta, thus manifesting marks; he does not grow lazy in wuwei, thus his transformations end and he returns to quiescence. When conditions in this realm are exhausted, he transforms other realms, hence he never has an ultimate end). Therefore, the Great Sage is born into a world where birth is possible, and extinguished in a world where extinction is possible; birth and extinction reside in beings, certainly not in himself (displaying the marks of birth and extinction, the true origin originally lacks them; thus it says, "while beings see the end of the kalpa burned by great fire, this land of mine is safe and secure"). Being born on the eighth day signifies the initial blossoming advancing toward fullness (the Zhou fourth month when the Buddha was born is the present second month; things are just flourishing; the eighth day means the moon gradually approaches fullness); being extinguished on the fifteenth day reveals the turn from waxing to waning (since on the fifteenth day the moon's fullness is at its peak, fearing that sentient beings would give rise to eternalist views, he manifested impermanence; after the sixteenth, the moon gradually wanes). Fullness fosters flourishing; waning impairs plenitude (because on the eighth day it gradually waxes, it fosters flourishing; because after the fifteenth day it gradually wanes, it impairs plenitude). Calculating these days, one thereby sees the saṃskṛta of birth and extinction. Moreover, being born precisely at daytime and passing away contrary to daytime: this is because birth is manifest and death is obscure, a sign of daytime exertion and evening rest (the Buddha being born during the day and entering extinction at night: birth is bright and clear; death is dark and obscure; furthermore, birth abiding in dawn necessarily has the function of diligent labor; death abiding in evening is the meaning of leisure and rest). Alas, sentient beings in their profusion are as if in a dream: some see the Buddha born, extinguished, recent, ancient, with a body eternally abiding, or originally unborn (according to what their minds awaken to, there are differences; although the marks of transformation are manifold, the dharmakāya originally has no birth or extinction). It is like being in the same room yet having different dreams: those dreamers do not know what the others dream. Only after having a great awakening does one know what they dreamed (some sacred teachings say the Buddha was born on the eighth day of the fourth month, descended into birth on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, leaped over the city wall on the eighth day of the second month, attained the Way on the eighth day of the twelfth month, and entered extinction on the fifteenth day of the second month. Other sacred teachings say he was born on the eighth day of the second month, leaped over the city wall on the eighth day of the second month, and entered extinction on the eighth day of the second month. Still others say he was born on the eighth day of the second month, leaped over the city wall on the eighth day of the twelfth month, attained the Way on the eighth day of the tenth month, and entered extinction on the fifteenth day of the twelfth month. The records of the various traditions differ, like different dreams in one room). Truly, each has their share; those who differ cannot unite their sameness, and those who are the same cannot separate their differences (those who take the eighth day of the fourth month as his birth speak according to the Xia calendar; those who take the eighth day of the second month speak according to the Zhou calendar, which is what the Master of Beishan holds now; taking both as the eighth day of the second month is the reckoning of a particular Hīnayāna school in India). There are those who take the tenth year of King Zhuang as the time of the Buddha's birth, relying on the chronicles of Lu, forcibly twisting the meaning of the scriptures, displaying merely the craft of far-fetched fabrication (this is Fei Changfang: taking the tenth year of King Zhuang of Zhou, which is the fourth year of Duke Zhuang of Lu, when 'the fixed stars were not seen and stars fell like rain', he made this to be the Buddha's birth. This was wild fabrication based on the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Buddha was born in the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao, the fourth ruler of Zhou, on the eighth day of the fourth month; King Zhuang was the fifteenth ruler. Moreover, the 'fixed stars not seen' occurred on the fifth day of the fourth month, which was after the Buddha's extinction, when Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva converted five hundred immortals on the Snowy Mountains and returned to his native land, his radiance overshadowing the fixed stars so they were not seen). There are those who take the fifteenth day of the third month as the time of the Buddha's extinction, which is the statement of the Sthavira school of the Western Regions. As for the rest, they are not so.