法苑珠林 33.81

33.81

唐蒲州普濟寺釋道英。姓陳氏。蒲州猗氏人也。時年十八。叔休律師化令出家。父母戀逼取妻。英割愛辭親示同脫屣在俗不染色聲。出家經論洞明。乃曰。法相可知心惑須曉。至開皇十九年。遂入解縣太行山柏梯寺。修學止觀忽然發解。人法二空深寤心首。坐處樹枝下映四表。兼理僧役以事考心。後在京師住勝光寺。從曇遷禪師聽攝大乘論。學徒五百。英解獨俊。禪師歎曰。學徒極多。雖通文義。得其旨歸唯道英乎。常依華嚴發願供僧。因事呈理調伏心行。自爾儀服飲噉不守。章篇頗為譏目怪違也。營僧之外禪誦無廢。窮尋理性心眼洞明。至大業九年身居知事。有俗爭地。恐損僧利於俗無益。苦諫不從。便語彼云。吾為汝死矣忽然倒仆示同僵屍。諸俗固執云。此道人多詐以針刺甲可知真偽。針刺雖深死色轉變。身心不動將欲膖壞。傍有智者。教令歸懺誓不敢諍。尋聲起坐語笑如常。又行至臺澤見池魚遊戲。英曰。吾與汝共諍人我。何者為勝。便即脫衣入水經于六宿。弟子持衣守之。後出告曰。吾在水中唯弊。土坌不覺水氣。又屬嚴冬氷厚天雪復壯。乃曰。如此平淨之地何得不眠。遂露身仰臥經于三宿。及起笑曰。幾不火炙殺我。如是隨事以法對之。縱任自在不以為難。良由唯識之旨洞曉心腑。外事之質豈得礙乎。晚還蒲州住普濟寺。置莊三所。皆在夏縣東山深隱之處。不與俗事交爭。故使八方四部其湊若林。晝則營理僧務。夜則為說禪觀。或弊其勞者。然不覺其疲。常依攝論起信用資心腑。至於一日說起信論。到心真如門。奄然不語。眾怪觀之氣絕身冷。眾知滅想任不怪之。經于累宿方從定起。身色怡泰如證初禪。河東沙門道遜高德名僧。素是同學。祖習心道。契友金蘭。初在夏縣領徒盛講。及遜捨命去英。百五十里未及相報。終夕便知。告其眾曰。遜公已逝相與送乎。人問其故。此乃俗事心轉不可怪也。及行中路便逢告使。冥通來事類皆如此。自及終前集眾告曰。今日早須收積。恐明日人畜眾聚損食穀草。英亦自運催促極急。眾但知助然不測其意。至夜都了。索水洗浴還本坐處。被以大衣告眾曰。諸人喚余為英禪師。禪師之相不可違俗語門人志裒曰。禪師知英氣息可有幾許。裒以事答之。英言如是。因說。法要又曰。無常常耶。不可自欺。不可空死令誦華嚴經賢首偈。至臨終勸念善處。明相既現。口云。捨却故身。奄然神逝。人怪不動以手循摩從下而冷。以經驗之。縱是凡夫定升善處。況嘉徵如是豈同凡僧。即貞觀七年九月中也。春秋七十有七。初將終日眾問後事。答曰。佛有明教但依行之則眾累盡矣。當終之日感群鳥集房數盈千計。悲鳴相切哀慟人心。慧裒侍側。見有青衣二童執華而入紫氣如光從英身出。騰焰繞梁。及明霧結。周二十里。人物失光三日方歇。蒲晉一川行化之所。聞哀屯赴如喪重親。又感僧牛吼噭聲徹數里。流淚嗚咽不食水草。經于七日將欲藏殮。道俗爭之。以英生平不樂喧譁但存道素。便即莊南夏禹城東延年陵南鑿土龕安之。始下一钁地忽大震。人各攬草自防。懼謂身落。周十五里皆動大怖。又感白虹兩道連亘柩所。白鳥二頭翔鳴龕上。旋顧裴回哀聲而逝。英開導人物存亡俱益。自非位齊種姓豈感嘉祥。總華不負身。世誠斯人乎。

Śramaṇa Daoying of Puji Temple in Pu prefecture under the Tang was surnamed Chen and was a native of Yishi in Pu prefecture. When he was eighteen, Vinaya Master Shuxiu converted him and bade him renounce worldly life. His parents, clung to him in affection, pressured him to take a wife. Ying cut off attachments, bade farewell to his family, and treated [the marriage] like casting off a pair of worn-out sandals, remaining unstained by sounds and forms in secular life. Having renounced worldly life, he gained a penetrating comprehension of the sūtras and treatises, and said: "The marks of phenomena (dharmas) can be known, but the confusions of the mind must be illuminated." In the nineteenth year of the Kaihuang reign era [599 CE], he entered Baitis Temple on Mount Taihang in Xie county to cultivate the practice of calming and contemplation (śamatha-vipaśyanā). Suddenly he experienced an awakening: he was deeply enlightened in the core of his mind to the twofold emptiness of persons and phenomena. The branches of the tree beneath which he sat sheltered him and mirrored the four quarters; he also attended to communal monastic labor, using affairs to test and temper his mind. Later he resided at Shengguang Temple in the capital, studying the *Mahāyānasaṃgraha-śāstra* under Dhyāna Master Tanqian. Among the five hundred disciples, Ying's understanding was uniquely distinguished. The Dhyāna Master sighed in admiration: "Though disciples are extremely numerous and may master the text and meaning, the only one to grasp its ultimate import is Daoying!" He always made vows to provide offerings for monks in reliance on the *Avataṃsaka*, using affairs to bring forth principle and subdue his mind and deeds. Thenceforth, he did not keep to conventional forms regarding his monastic robes or his eating and drinking, and was considerably criticized and regarded as strange and contrary by others. Outside of managing monastic affairs, his meditation and recitation were never neglected; he plumbed the rational nature, and his mind's eye became fully penetrating and clear. In the ninth year of the Daye reign era [613 CE], when he was serving as monastic administrator (zhishi), there was a dispute over land with laypeople. Fearing that it would harm the monastery’s interests while bringing no benefit to the layfolk, he earnestly remonstrated with them, but they would not listen. Thereupon he said to them: "I shall die for you!" Suddenly he fell over, appearing just like a stiff corpse. The laypeople stubbornly said: "This Daoist is deceitful; prick under his fingernails with a needle to see if it is true or false." Though pricked deeply with a needle, the pallor of death changed upon him; with body and mind unmoving, he was on the verge of bloating and decaying. A wise person nearby instructed them to take refuge and repent, vowing that they would not dare dispute any further. At the sound of their words, he rose, sat up, and talked and laughed as usual. Once, walking to the marshes of Taize, he saw fish playfully sporting in a pond. Ying said: "Let me compete with you in the self and others to see who is superior." He immediately took off his robes, entered the water, and remained for six nights. His disciples held his robes and kept watch over him. Later he emerged and told them: "While in the water, I was only troubled by the dirt and dust, and did not feel the chill of the water." On another occasion, in the depths of severe winter, when the ice was thick and heavy snow fell, he said: "In such a flat and clean place, how could one not sleep?" He then bared his body and lay face-up on the ground for three nights. When he got up, he laughed and said: "I was nearly roasted to death by the fire!" In this manner he met each situation with the Dharma, giving himself free rein without deeming anything difficult. Truly, because the import of consciousness-only had thoroughly illuminated the depths of his mind, how could the substance of external affairs present any obstacle? In his later years, he returned to Pu prefecture and stayed at Puji Temple. He established three manors, all in deep and secluded locations on the East Mountain of Xia county, never clashing with secular affairs. Consequently, the fourfold assemblies from all eight directions flocked to him like a forest. By day he managed monastic affairs, and by night he preached meditation and contemplation for them. When others were worn out by the toil, he showed no weariness. He constantly relied on the *Mahāyānasaṃgraha* and the *Awakening of Faith* to nourish his mind. One day, when lecturing on the *Awakening of Faith* and reaching the gate of the Mind as Tathatā (True Suchness), he suddenly fell silent. The assembly found it strange, looked at him, and saw that his breath was gone and his body was cold. Recognizing that this was the state of the cessation of thought, they let it take its course and did not take it as strange. Only after several nights did he arise from samādhi, his complexion serene as if having realized the first dhyāna. The śramaṇa Daoxun of Hedong, a monk of lofty virtue and renown, had originally been his fellow student; they had inherited and practiced the path of the mind together and were sworn friends like gold and orchid. Initially, Daoxun led disciples and gave lectures flourishingly in Xia county. When Xun passed away, he was a hundred and fifty li from Ying, and before the news could be delivered, Ying already knew it by the evening's end. He said to his assembly: "Venerable Xun has passed away; let us send him off together." When people asked the reason, [he replied]: "This is just a secular matter and a turn of mind; it is not to be wondered at." When they were on their way, they met the messenger sent to report the death. His tacit knowing of future events was universally like this. Before his own passing, he gathered the assembly and told them: "Today we must bring in and store [the harvest] early, for tomorrow crowds of people and beasts will gather and damage the grain and grass." Ying also transported things himself, urging everyone with extreme haste. The assembly simply helped, not discerning his intention. By nightfall it was all finished. He asked for water to bathe, returned to his original seat, donned his great robe, and told the assembly: "Everyone calls me Dhyāna Master Ying. The deportment of a Dhyāna Master must not transgress worldly standards." He spoke to his disciple Zhipou: "Dhyāna Master, do you know how much breath Ying has left?" Pou answered with the facts of the matter. Ying said: "It is so." Thereupon he expounded the essentials of the Dharma, and further said: "Is the impermanent permanent? One must not deceive oneself, and must not die in vain." He instructed them to chant the "Xianshou Gāthā" of the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra*. Approaching his final moment, he exhorted them to be mindful of good destinies. When the bright signs had appeared, he said: "Casting off the old body." Suddenly his consciousness departed. People found it strange that he did not move; when they stroked his body with their hands, it had cooled from below. Verifying this through the scriptures, even if he were an ordinary being, he would surely ascend to a good realm; how much more so with auspicious signs such as these—how could he be equated to an ordinary monk? It was the ninth month of the seventh year of the Zhenguan reign era [633 CE], at the age of seventy-seven. When his final day was approaching, the assembly asked about his funeral affairs. He answered: "The Buddha has clear instructions; if you merely act in accordance with them, all entanglements will be exhausted." On the day of his passing, flocks of birds gathered at his room, numbering in the thousands, uttering sad cries to one another that grieved the hearts of men. Huipou, who attended at his side, saw two boys in blue clothing enter holding flowers, and a purple vapor like light issued from Ying’s body, surging in flames that circled the roof beams. By dawn, a dense fog congealed for twenty li around, and persons and objects lost their luster, clearing only after three days. Throughout the river plain of Pu and Jin, where he had practiced and converted, those who heard of his passing rushed to gather as if mourning their own parents. It also moved the monastery’s oxen to low and bellow with cries heard several li away, weeping with tears and choked sobs, refusing to drink water or eat grass. After seven days, when they were about to inter his remains, monks and laypeople vied with one another. Because Ying in his lifetime had not taken joy in clamor and preserved only monastic simplicity, they excavated an earthen niche to lay him to rest south of the manor, east of the city of Yu the Great in Xia, and south of the Yannian Mound. Just as the first mattock was struck, the earth suddenly shook violently; everyone grasped the grass to steady themselves, terrified that their bodies would fall, and a fifteen-li area was moved with great fright. Furthermore, two white rainbows stretched across the place of the coffin, and two white birds soared and cried above the niche, circling and lingering before flying away with plaintive cries. Ying guided and transformed beings, benefiting both the living and the dead. Had his station not been equal to the gotra (spiritual lineage), how could he have stimulated such auspicious omens? He truly was such a person as never betrayed his noble life in the world.