法苑珠林 12.100

12.100

隋國師智者。天台山國清寺釋智顗。俗姓陳氏。頴川人也。宿德英賢自古罕儔。常樂山居靜慮習禪。道俗欽敬君臣識重。顗初往天台。先有青州僧定光。久居此山積三十載。定慧兼習。蓋神人也。既達彼山。與光相見。即陳賞要。光曰。大善知識憶吾早年。山上搖手相喚不乎。顗驚異焉知通夢之有在也。時以陳太建七年秋九月矣。又聞鍾聲滿谷眾咸怪異。光曰。鍾是召集有緣。爾時住也。顗乃卜居勝地。是光所住之北。佛壟山南。螺溪之源。處既閑敞易得尋真。地平泉清裴回止宿。俄見三人皂幘絳衣。執疏請云可於此行道。於是創建草菴。樹以松果。數年之間。造展相從復成衢會。光曰。且隨宜安堵。至國清時三方總一。當有貴人為禪師立寺。堂宇滿山矣。時莫測其言也。顗後於寺北華頂峯。獨淨頭陀大風拔木雷霆震吼。螭魅千群一形百狀。吐火聲噭駭畏難陳。乃抑心安忍湛然自失。又患身心煩痛。如被火燒。又見亡沒二親。枕顗膝上陳苦求哀。顗依上法忍不動如山。故使強軟兩緣所感便滅。忽致西域神僧告曰。制敵勝怨乃可為勇。文多不載。陳宣帝下詔曰。禪師佛法雄傑時匠所宗。訓兼道俗國之望也。宜割始豐縣調以充眾費。蠲兩戶民用供薪水。天台山縣名為安樂。令陳郡袁子雄崇信正法。每夏常講淨名。忽見三道寶階從空而降。有數十梵僧乘階而下。入堂禮拜手擎香鑪繞顗三匝。久之乃滅。及大眾同見驚歎山諠。其行達靈感咸皆如此。不可具述。於開皇十七年十一月二十二日。忽語眾吾將去矣。言已端坐如定而卒於天台山大石像前。春秋六十有七。至於滅後而多靈驗。到仁壽末年已前忽振錫被衣猶如平昔。凡經七現重降山寺。一還佛壟語弟子曰。案行故業各安隱耶。舉眾皆見。悲敬言問。良久而隱。

The Sui Imperial Preceptor, the Wise One—Śramaṇa Zhiyi of Guoqing Temple on Mount Tiantai—was originally surnamed Chen and was a man from Yingchuan. An elder of virtue and an outstanding worthy, since antiquity he had few peers. He always delighted in dwelling in the mountains, meditating in tranquility, and cultivating dhyāna. Clergy and laity alike admired and revered him; sovereign and ministers recognized his importance. When Zhiyi first went to Mount Tiantai, there had already been a monk from Qingzhou named Dingguang who had resided in these mountains for thirty long years, cultivating both dhyāna and prajñā—a truly divine man. Having reached the mountain, when Zhiyi met Dingguang, he promptly expressed his delight in their encounter. Dingguang said, 'Great virtuous friend (kalyāṇamitra), do you remember when, in my earlier years, I waved my hand from atop the mountain to summon you?' Zhiyi was amazed, only then realizing that this had been foreshadowed in a dream. This was in the autumn, the ninth month of the seventh year of the Taijian reign of the Chen dynasty. Furthermore, when the sound of a bell filled the valley, the community all found it strange. Dingguang said, 'The bell is summoning those with karmic affinity. It is time for you to reside here.' Zhiyi then divined a dwelling on a superior site, which lay to the north of where Dingguang lived, south of Mount Folong, at the source of Luoxi stream. The place was both secluded and spacious, making it easy to pursue the truth. The ground was flat and the spring clear; there he lingered and stayed. Suddenly, he saw three men in black caps and crimson robes, holding an invitation, requesting: 'You may practice the Path here.' Thereupon he founded a thatched hermitage and planted pine and fruit trees. Within a few years, people followed in succession to build residences, and it became a crossroads of gathering. Dingguang said, 'For now, settle peacefully according to circumstance. When the country is cleared and peaceful (guoqing), and the three regions are unified into one, an eminent person will surely build a monastery for the Chan Master, and its halls and buildings will cover the entire mountain.' At the time, no one could fathom his words. Later, Zhiyi practiced solitary, pure dhūta on Huading Peak, to the north of the monastery. A great wind uprooted trees, and thunder crashed and roared. Thousands of mountain sprites and goblins took a single form with a hundred shapes, spitting fire and screaming—a terrifying sight difficult to describe. Yet he subdued his mind in patient endurance (kṣānti), serenely absorbed in oblivion. He then suffered distress and pain in body and mind, as if being burned by fire. He also saw his deceased parents resting their heads upon his knees, recounting their suffering and begging for mercy. Zhiyi, relying on the supreme Dharma-patience, remained as unmoving as a mountain, thereby causing the afflictions evoked by both adverse and favorable conditions to immediately vanish. Suddenly, a divine monk from the Western Regions appeared and told him: 'Only one who conquers enemies and overcomes hostility can be called brave.' The text is vast and is not fully recorded here. Emperor Xuan of the Chen issued an edict stating: 'The Chan Master is a towering hero of the Buddha-dharma, the ancestral guide of contemporary artisans [of the spirit]. His instructions encompass both clergy and laity; he is the hope of the realm. We hereby allocate the tax revenue of Shifeng County to cover the community's expenses, and exempt two households of commoners to provide firewood and water. The county of Mount Tiantai shall be named Anle.' Yuan Zixiong, Duke of Chen Prefecture, had deep faith in the true Dharma. Every summer, Zhiyi would lecture on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa. Suddenly, three jeweled staircases descended from the sky, and several dozen Indian monks descended via the stairs, entered the hall, bowed in reverence, and, holding censer burners in their hands, circumambulated Zhiyi three times, vanishing only after a long time. The entire assembly witnessed this together, marveling with exclamations that stirred the whole mountain. His attainment in spiritual practice and sympathetic resonances were all like this, impossible to recount in full. On the twenty-second day of the eleventh month in the seventeenth year of the Kaihuang reign, he suddenly said to the assembly: 'I am about to depart.' Having spoken, he sat upright as if entering samādhi and passed away before the great stone image on Mount Tiantai, at the age of sixty-seven. Even after his decease, there were many spiritual verifications. Prior to the end of the Renshou reign, he suddenly shook his monk’s staff and donned his robes just as in former times; he appeared a total of seven times, descending again upon the mountain monastery. Once, returning to Folong, he said to his disciples: 'Are you inspecting your former practices, and are all of you peaceful and well?' The entire assembly saw him, and addressed him with words of sorrow and reverence. After a long while, he vanished.