北山錄 8.4.2

8.4.2

達磨喟然曰（喟然嘆息也）汝既有問。 吾則何隱。 吾所念累劫受生死苦。 險難長遠。 洎五百世為狗。 惟飽兩食。 況餘惡道。 若使吾頭可燃者。 吾並燃之。 矧茲燃火。 及餘支乎。 中夏姚秦世。 棄俗者十室而半。 羅什入關。 學徒籯糧（籯籠屬）不遠千里而至者三千。 因立道䂮為僧正。 慧遠為悅眾（維那也）法欽慧斌掌僧錄（主簿書。 若今僧判也）給車輿吏人。 僧正祑同侍中。 餘別有差。 震旦有僧官。 自秦始也。 魏世立監福曹又改為昭玄司。 備有官屬。 以斷僧務。 周齊革為崇玄署（北齊。 後周。 若功德司也）東魏高齊尚其統。 宋齊梁陳尚其正。 而復寺三官（若今三綱）屬其統正焉。 隋革周命。 弘法尤盛。 天下三藏。 分置十統。 今國家罷統立兩錄。 而司於京邑（僧錄掌京城。 外州別立僧正）其三綱特以德望求人也。 藍摩國塔。 昔與諸國分舍利而營之。 歲久地荒。 惟野象銜芳薦實。 以牙除䕌。 以鼻拚灑。 而有遊方沙門。 感其事。 遂反戒為策勤。 諦葺舊址。 總眾役于厥躬也（反戒捨戒也。 策勤沙彌。 何為然以有戒則掘地圻樹露地燃火皆為破戒。 故不可作興葺之事也）晉道敬王右軍之曾孫。 捿若耶山立懸溜精舍。 反戒如藍摩之事焉。 故仁人為善。 天下同矣。 不仁為不善。 亦天下同矣（吉人為善。 惟日不足。 凶人為不善。 亦惟日不足）崔慧元營寺於武陵。 既歿。 武當山下有見者。 神色甚暢。 寄語於寺僧曰。 勿令寺業有廢。 自是空中依時有磬聲也（今蜀之卭州霧中山。 及彭州金閣寺。 空中皆有讚唄磬聲等）廣州法獻創寺於藏微山。 有二童子携手來。 歌曰。 藏微有道德。 歡樂方未央（未央秦宮）歌訖忽然不見之也。 夫神以誠感。 道由神助。 匪誠何德。 匪神何怙。 故禎應之所翔。 宜勵乎未翔者耳。 齊周顒於鍾山雷次宗舊館立草堂寺。 或謂之山茨。 求慧約為寺任。 約以邑居雖近而蕭條物外冥賞素誠。 便有終焉之託。 顒歎曰。 山茨約主。 清虛滿世。 梁武造光宅寺。 詔法雲為寺主。 創立僧制。 雅有後範。 雲之有孝德。 又以業行承天之休荷國寵光。 夫孝者。 事歿如事生。 思親如不欲生。 曾子以事親聞執親之喪。 水漿不入口者七日。 高柴以思親。 泣血三年。 未甞見齒（言泣無聲。 如血出也。 笑之微故不見齒）雲無僧旻之讓。 則殆乎不勝喪矣（法雲持母喪。 幾至毀滅。 僧旻勉之。 方進食也）沙彌歲覃思法華。 甞造幽巖。 竪石為聽徒。 執松枝獨講。 故其後首出此經。 雖有眾師難能偕也。 甞於一寺散講。 感得天花如雪滿空而飄于堂內。 罷坐乃去。 時有一僧。 願欲齊雲。 夢神人誡曰。 雲法師燈明佛時已講此經。 宜速措汝意（措置罷也）勿圖非望也。 今法門之季人向其意（各趣向己意也）前哲遺列。 後生何顧。 背德向利。 易進難退。 恒覘常住。 若膏腴則賂求其司（覘竊視也。 用財求主務也）既得之握彼公符暢乎有位。 遂致專蒙造次不肅僧命。 紊六和之秩。 夷九仞之功。 洎儲廩空虛。 田蕪已綠（此明將常住寺務句當翻致破。 使莊田荒廢。 便則謀求退免也）或則謀老。 或則辭疾。 府寺曾不察其殿最。 省其姦直（漢書音義云。 上功曰最。 下功曰殿。 姦邪也。 直正也）遽則遂其背就。 致使狡夫得計甚矣。 且彼之菆爾也（菆爾小輩也）處俗猶俟乎人治。 豈服緇則能為物致治乎。 但府寺始以貨選。 而彼負罪亦終以貨免。 或眾所不蔽。 稱其罪以告。 而訊獄者。 且頗反陷於告者于理也（蔽蓋也。 頗偏也。 初求主持。 以財而求之。 及侵使後。 以財而求免。 或為僧訟之於官。 官亦以情倖反加罪於告者。 此皆公中長惡然也）甞未諭於府邑。

Damo sighed deeply (saying that he let out a sigh), 'Since you have asked, what would I conceal? What I reflect upon is that over accumulated kalpas I suffered the torments of birth and death, perilous and protracted. Even when for five hundred lifetimes I was a dog, I was sated with only two meals, not to mention the other evil destinies. If my head could be burned, I would burn it along with the rest; why then begrudge burning this fire and the rest of my limbs?' During the Yao Qin period in central China, half of the households abandoned the secular life. When Kumārajīva entered the Pass, disciples carried food baskets (a basket being a type of hamper) and, not considering a thousand li too far, three thousand came. Thereupon Daoqi was appointed as Sangha Director (sengzheng), Huiyuan as rector (karmadāna), and Faqin and Huibin were placed in charge of the Sangha Registry (managing the registers and records, like today's monastic administrators), and they were provided with carriages and clerks. The rank of the Sangha Director was equal to that of a Palace Attendant, and the others had their respective distinctions. The existence of monastic officials in China began with the Qin. The Wei dynasty established the Bureau for Overseeing Blessings, which was later renamed the Office of Illuminating the Arcane, complete with official subordinates, to adjudicate monastic affairs. The Zhou and Qi reformed it into the Office for Venerating the Arcane (in the Northern Qi and Later Zhou, it was like the Commissioner of Merit and Virtue). The Eastern Wei and Northern Qi esteemed its superintendents (tong), while the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen esteemed its directors (zheng). Furthermore, the three officers of a monastery (like the three directors of today) were subordinate to these superintendents and directors. When the Sui changed the Zhou mandate, the propagation of the Dharma became especially flourishing: the Tripiṭaka masters of the realm were divided among ten superintendents. Now the state has abolished the superintendents and established two registries, administering them in the capital (the monastic registries manage the capital, while outside prefectures separately establish Sangha Directors); their three directors, in particular, are sought among men of moral prestige. The stūpa of the country of Rāmagrāma was originally built when it received a share of the relics along with other kingdoms. With the passage of long years, the grounds became desolate; only wild elephants held fragrant offerings in their trunks and presented fruits, cleared the overgrowth with their tusks, and sprinkled the ground with their trunks. A traveling śramaṇa was deeply moved by this; he thereupon renounced the full precepts to become an earnest postulant (ceqin), diligently repaired the old site, and took all the labors upon his own person (renouncing the precepts means giving up the full ordination; as for an earnest postulant śramaṇa, why was it done? Because holding the precepts made digging the earth, felling trees, and burning fires in the open air violations of the precepts; therefore, he could not carry out the work of renovation). In the Jin, Daojing, the great-grandson of General of the Right Wang [Xizhi], resided in Mount Ruoye and established the Xuanniu Hermitage, renouncing the precepts just as in the affair of Rāmagrāma. Thus, when a benevolent person does good, it is identical throughout the realm; when an unbenevolent person does evil, it is also identical throughout the realm (for an auspicious person doing good, only the day is insufficient; for a baneful person doing evil, only the day is also insufficient). Cui Huiyuan built a monastery in Wuling. After he died, someone saw him at the foot of Mount Wudang, his expression and bearing utterly serene; he sent a message to the monastery's monks, saying: 'Do not allow the monastery's estate to fall into neglect.' From then on, the sound of a stone chime was heard in mid-air at the regular times (now at Mount Wuzhong in Qiongzhou of Shu, and at Jinge Monastery in Pengzhou, sounds of hymns, stone chimes, and the like are all heard in the sky). Faxian of Guangzhou founded a monastery on Mount Cangwei. Two youths arrived hand in hand and sang: 'Cangwei possesses the Dao and virtue, / Joy and bliss have not yet reached their end' (Weiyang was a Qin palace). When the song ended, they suddenly vanished. Indeed, spirits are moved by sincerity, and the Dao is assisted by the spirits. Without sincerity, what virtue is there? Without spirits, what reliance is there? Therefore, when auspicious omens soar, they ought to encourage those who have not yet soared. Zhou Yong of the Qi established Caotang Monastery at the former residence of Lei Cizong on Mount Zhong, which some called Shanci; he sought Huiyue to serve as its abbot. Huiyue, feeling that although it was close to urban dwellings, it was secluded beyond worldly matters and a silent appreciation of pure sincerity, entrusted his final years to it. Zhou Yong sighed, saying: 'The prior Yue of Shanci: his pure emptiness fills the age.' Emperor Wu of Liang built Guangzhai Monastery and decreed that Fayun serve as its abbot; he established monastic regulations, which set a noble standard for posterity. Fayun possessed filial virtue, and furthermore, through his practice and conduct, he received heaven's blessing and bore the country's favor and glory. Now, filial piety consists in serving the dead as one serves the living, and yearning for one's parents as if wishing not to live oneself. Zengzi was renowned for serving his parents; when he observed his parents' mourning, neither water nor broth entered his mouth for seven days. Gao Chai, in yearning for his parents, wept blood for three years and was never seen to show his teeth (this means he wept without voice, as if bleeding; his smiles were so faint that his teeth were not seen). Had Fayun not received the remonstrance of Sengmin, he would nearly have been broken by grief (Fayun observed mourning for his mother almost unto physical destruction; Sengmin urged him, and only then did he take food). When Fayun was a novice, he pondered the Lotus Sūtra deeply for years. He once went to a secluded crag, erected stones to serve as his audience, held a pine branch, and expounded it alone. Hence, later he stood foremost in this scripture, and though there were crowds of masters, it was hard to equal him. Once, when he concluded a lecture at a monastery, he moved heavenly flowers to drift through the hall like snow filling the sky; only when he stepped down from his seat did they cease. At that time, there was a monk who wished to equal Fayun; in a dream, a divine being admonished him, saying: 'Dharma Master Yun already expounded this scripture in the time of the Buddha Dīpaṅkara. You should promptly dismiss your intention (to dismiss means to cease) and not plot for what cannot be hoped for.' Now, in the final age of the Dharma gate, people pursue their own caprices (each turns toward his own intentions); as for the legacy and records left by former sages, how do the later-born regard them? Turning their backs on virtue, they head toward profit; they advance easily but retreat with difficulty. Constantly coveting the monastery's permanent property, if it is rich and fertile, they use bribes to seek its office (to spy means to steal a glance; using wealth to seek the principal duties). Once they obtain it and grasp those official tallies, swaggering in their position, they end up acting wilfully and blindly, behaving rashly without revering monastic ordinances, disrupting the order of the Six Harmonies, and leveling the accomplishment of nine fathoms. When the granaries and stores are empty and the weed-covered fields have turned green (this clarifies that handling the affairs of the monastery's permanent property in reverse brings ruin, causing estates and fields to become barren, whereupon they plot to retire and be relieved), they either contrive claims of old age or resign claiming illness. The prefectural offices do not investigate their failures and merits, nor scrutinize their corruption and uprightness (the commentary on the Hanshu states: superior merit is called zui; inferior merit is called dian; jian means evil; zhi means upright), but hastily grant their resignations and transfers, thereby allowing crafty fellows to succeed in their schemes to an extreme degree. Moreover, those petty and insignificant persons (cuier means small, base fellows) still require human governance even when dwelling among the secular; how could donning black robes suddenly enable them to bring order to things? But the authorities initially select them through wealth, and when they bear guilt, they also in the end evade it through wealth. Or, when the community does not conceal it and reports their crimes, those who examine the case conversely frame the accusers against all principle (to conceal means to cover up; biased means partial; initially seeking abbotship, they seek it with wealth, and after encroaching and misusing it, they use wealth to seek immunity; or when monks sue them before officials, officials also, through favoritism and luck, instead impose penalties on the accusers; this is all because wrongdoing is fostered in the officialdom); this has never been understood by the prefectures and cities.