鐔津文集 13.4

13.4

嘉祐壬寅之仲秋。秀人以故大和尚勤公骨身歸塔餘杭之安樂山。從始也。其稟法弟子省文儒者聞人安遠。迺命契嵩書且銘之。和尚諱盛懃本姓謝氏。不書其得姓之本末。從釋氏也。象郡之壽陽人也。童真出家。北面事象之白容山惟齊禪師。祥符中以誦經中試。遂得落𩬊。其年納戒於桂筦之延齡寺。還白容會其師適滅。葬已遂浩然西出。更訪其師宗者。和尚天資淳深懿厚。夙有道識。童之時以自發明。遍學衡湘鄢郢老禪碩師。而獨大盡玄旨於德山遠和尚。初以雲門語句請決於遠師。雖叩問勤至垂三月。遠未嘗稍辯盡。欲其自契耳。一旦悟已詣遠質之。遠師一見即謂之曰。汝已徹矣。當此和尚頓覺身超虛空。不覺屋廬為閡。復其立處。即遍體雨汗。其悟道靈驗如此也。先此和尚嘗師他僧。傳習乎安般定法。始授其法。迺蓆地然頂於其師前。遽有異光上發。圓赫如日。光熄而元略無所損。其師曰。汝最上乘法器也。勉之無以此自盡焉。其感通又若此也。其後禪之學者。迺蔚然嚮慕。來浙西混迹于餘杭之安樂山。皇祐初嘉禾太守聶公。厚載聞其風。率郡人遂命領徒于此。更十有二年而秀之人無賢愚男女風德大化。法侶趨其會者日不下數百。精廬完葺僧儲充備。而秀有禪居自和尚興起也。以嘉祐庚子之五載仲夏壬寅示微疾。正坐說偈而盡。世壽六十八。臘四十二。以嘉祐庚子五月己酉。遵教火之。得五色舍利。絢如不可勝數。度弟子者宗益嗣其法而領眾一方。曰省文。曰有昌和尚。平昔嘗綴古之語要。目其書曰原宗集。而其徒方傳之。然其所得之法。實諸佛之祕要。群生之所宗。諸祖之所傳者也。非語默可到。然非語默又不能稍發。故和尚莅眾接人雖勤教誨。而其語嘗簡其機緣不煩大較。其要道慈德入人最深。故其亡也。秀人傾城號慟。若喪所親。諸君以契嵩於和尚道交相知尤深詳得其出處。迺以文見託雖固亦不得讓焉。銘曰。

In the mid-autumn of the renyin year of the Jiayou era, people of Xiuzhou interred the bodily relics of the late Great Upādhyāya, the Venerable Qin, into a stūpa at Mount Anle in Yuhang, returning him to his beginning. His Dharma-heir disciple Shengwen and the Confucian scholar Wenren Anyuan then tasked Qisong with writing both a record and an epitaph. The Upādhyāya’s taboo name was Shengqin; his original surname was Xie. The details of his lineage and origin are not recorded, in accordance with the custom of the sons of Śākya. He was a native of Shouyang in Xiang Commandery. Having left home as a youth in pristine celibacy, he served Chan Master Weiqi of Mount Bairong in Xiang as his teacher. During the Xiangfu era, having passed the examination by reciting the scriptures, he had his head shaved. In that same year, he received the full precepts at Yanling Temple in Guiguan. When he returned to Bairong, his master happened to pass away. Once the burial was completed, he resolved with great determination to journey westward, seeking out and visiting various masters of the lineage. The Upādhyāya’s natural endowment was pure, profound, admirable, and solid; from an early age he possessed insight into the Dao, having attained self-realization while still a youth. He studied extensively under the senior Chan masters and venerable teachers of Heng, Xiang, Yan, and Ying, but it was exclusively with Upādhyāya Yuan of Deshan that he thoroughly plumbed the profound purport. At first, he presented Yunmen’s phrases to Master Yuan to seek confirmation. Although he inquired diligently for nearly three months, Master Yuan never offered the slightest complete resolution, wishing him to attain realization on his own. One day, having achieved awakening, he went to Master Yuan to verify it. As soon as Master Yuan saw him, he said: “You have penetrated completely.” At that moment, the Upādhyāya suddenly felt his body transcend the void, oblivious to any obstruction from the building. Returning to where he had stood, his entire body poured with sweat. Such were the efficacious signs of his awakening to the Dao. Prior to this, the Upādhyāya had studied under another monk to train in the meditative practice of ānāpāna. When he first received that method, he sat on the ground and burned his crown before his master; suddenly an extraordinary light radiated upward, round and bright like the sun. When the light extinguished, his crown was completely unharmed. His master said: “You are a vessel for the supreme vehicle; persevere, and do not limit yourself to this.” Such was the spiritual response he evoked. Thereafter, Chan students gathered to admire him in great numbers. He came to Western Zhe and mingled anonymously at Mount Anle in Yuhang. In the early Huangyou era, Lord Nie (Houzai), the Prefect of Jiahe, heard of his reputation and, leading the people of the commandery, invited him to guide the assembly there. During his twelve years there, people of Xiuzhou, whether wise or foolish, male or female, were transformed by his moral virtue. Dharma companions who flocked to his gatherings numbered no less than several hundred daily. The monastery was thoroughly refurbished, and provisions for the monks were abundant. Chan dwelling in Xiuzhou verily flourished beginning with this Upādhyāya. On the renyin day in the mid-summer of the fifth year (gengzi) of the Jiayou era, he manifested a slight illness. Sitting upright, he spoke a verse and passed away. His worldly age was sixty-eight; his monastic seniority was forty-two. On the jiyou day in the fifth month of the gengzi year of the Jiayou era, following the teachings, he was cremated (jhāpita), yielding five-coloured śarīra so radiant as to be innumerable. Among the disciples he ordained, Zongyi inherited his Dharma and led an assembly in one region, along with Shengwen and Youchang. In his daily life, the Upādhyāya had compiled essential sayings of the ancients, entitling the work the Yuanzong ji, which his disciples have now transmitted. Indeed, the Dharma he attained is truly the secret essence of all Buddhas, the foundation of all sentient beings, and the transmission of all patriarchs. It is not something words or silence can reach, yet without words or silence it cannot be disclosed even slightly. Thus, when the Upādhyāya presided over the assembly and received people, though he taught and instructed with diligence, his words were ever concise and his engagements were not burdensome. In general, his essential Dao and compassionate virtue touched people most deeply. Therefore, upon his demise, the entire city of Xiuzhou wailed in grief as though they had lost a dear parent. Gentlemen, knowing that Qisong shared an especially deep friendship in the Dao with the Upādhyāya and knew the full details of his life, entrusted me with this composition; although I hesitated, I could not decline. The epitaph reads: