出三藏記集 15.8

15.8

釋慧遠。本姓賈。鴈門樓煩人也。弱而好書。珪璋秀發。年十三。隨舅令狐氏遊學許洛。故少為諸生博綜六經尤善老莊。性度弘偉風鑒朗拔。雖宿儒才彥莫不服其深致焉。年二十一。欲度江東就范宣子共契嘉遁。值王路屯阻有志不果。乃於關左遇見安公。一面盡敬。以為真吾師也。遂投簪落飾忘質受業。既入乎道厲然不群。常欲總攝綱維。以大法為己任。精思諷持。以夜續晝。沙門曇翼。每給以燈燭之費。安公聞而喜曰。道士誠知人矣。遠藉慧解於前。因資勝心於曠劫。故能神明英越機鑒遐深。無生實相之玄。般若中道之妙。即色空慧之祕。緣門寂觀之要。無微不析。無幽不暢。志共理冥。言與道合。安公常歎曰。使道流東國其在遠乎。後隨安公南遊樊河。晉太元之初。襄陽失守。安公入關。遠乃遷于尋陽。葺宇廬岳。江州刺史桓伊。為造殿房。此山儀形九流峻聳天絕。棲集隱倫吐納靈異。遠創建精舍洞盡山美却負香鑪之峯。傍帶瀑布之壑。仍石疊基即松栽構。清泉環階白雲滿室。復於寺內別置禪林。森樹湮凝石莚落合。凡在瞻履皆神清而氣肅焉。遠聞北天竺有佛影。欣感交懷。乃背山臨流營築龕室。妙算畫工淡采圖寫。色凝積空望似輕霧。暉相炳瞹若隱而顯。遂傳寫京都莫不嗟歎。於是率眾行道昏曉不絕。釋迦餘化於斯復興。既而謹律息心之士。絕塵清信之賓。並不期而至。望風遙集。彭城劉遺民。鴈門周續之。新蔡畢頴之。南陽宗炳。並棄世遺榮。依遠遊止。遠乃於精舍無量壽像前建齋立誓共期西方。其文曰。惟歲在攝提秋七月戊辰朔二十八日乙未。法師釋慧遠。貞感幽冥宿懷特發。乃延命同志息心清信之士百有二十三人。集於廬山之陰般若臺精舍阿彌陀像前。率以香華敬廌而誓焉。惟斯一會之眾。夫緣化之理既明。則三世之傳顯矣。遷感之數既符。則善惡之報必矣。推交臂之潛淪。悟無常之斯切。審三報之相催。知嶮趣之難拔。此其同志諸賢所以夕惕霄勤仰思攸濟者也。蓋神者可以感涉而不可以迹求。必感之有物則幽路咫尺。苟求之無主則眇茫何津。今幸以不謀而僉心西境。叩篇開信亮情天發。乃機眾通於寢夢。欣歡百於子來。於是靈圖表輝景侔神造。功由理諧事非人運。茲實天啟其誠冥數來萃者矣。可不剋心重精疊思以凝其慮哉。然其景績參差功福不一。雖晨祈云同夕歸悠𨽦。即我師友之眷。良可悲矣。是以慨焉。胥命整襟法堂。等施一心亭懷幽極。誓茲同人俱遊絕域。其有驚出絕倫首登神界。則無獨善於雲嶠。忘兼全於幽谷。先進之與後升。免思彙征之道。然後妙覲大儀啟心貞照。識以悟新形由化革。藉芙蓉於中流。蔭瓊柯以詠言。飄靈衣於八極。汎香風以窮年。體忘安而彌穆。心超樂以自怡。臨三塗而緬謝。傲天宮而長辭。紹眾靈以繼軌。指大息以為期。究茲道也。豈不弘哉。司徒王謐護軍王默等。並欽慕風德。遙致師敬。謐修書曰。年始四十七而衰同耳順。遠答曰。古人不愛尺壁而重寸陰。觀其所存似不存。長年。檀越既履順而遊。乘佛理以御心。因此而推復何羨於遐齡耶。想斯理久已得之。為復詶來訊耳。初經流江東多有未備。禪法無聞律藏殘闕。遠大存教本憤慨道缺。乃命弟子法淨等遠尋眾經。踰越沙雪曠載方還。皆獲胡本得以傳譯。每逢西域一賓。輒懇惻諮訪。屢遣使入關。迎請禪師解其擯事傳出禪經。又請罽賓沙門僧伽提婆出數經。所以禪法經戒皆出廬山幾且百卷。初關中譯出十誦。所餘一分未竟。而弗若多羅亡。遠常慨其未備。及聞曇摩流支入秦。乃遣書祈請。令於關中更出餘分。故十誦一部具足無闕。晉地獲本相傳至今葱外妙典關中勝說所以來集茲土者。皆遠之力也。外國眾僧咸稱漢地有大乘道士。每至燒香禮拜輒東向致敬。其神理之跡。固未可測也。常以支竺舊義未窮妙實。乃著法性論。理奧文詣。羅什見而歎曰。邊國人未見經。便闇與理合。豈不妙哉。遠翹勤弘道懍厲為法。每致書羅什訪覈經典。什亦高其勝心萬里響契。姚略欽想風名嘆其才思。致書慇懃信餉歲通。贈以龜茲國細鏤雜變石像。以申欵心。又令姚嵩獻其珠像。釋論初出。興送論并遺書曰。大智論新訖。此既龍樹所作。又是方等旨歸宜為一序以宣作者之意。然此諸道士咸相推謝無敢動手。法師可為作序以貽後之學者。遠答云。欲令作大智論序以申作者之意。貧道聞懷大非小渚所容。汲深非短綆所測。披省之日有愧高命。又體羸多病觸事有廢。不復屬意已來其日爾久。緣來告之重粗綴所懷。至於研究之美。當復寄諸明德。其名高遠國如此。遠常謂大智論文句繁積初學難尋。乃刪煩剪亂令質文有體。撰為二十卷。序致淵邈以貽學者。後桓玄以震主之威苦相近致。乃貽書躬說勸令登仕。遠答辭堅正確乎不拔。志踰丹石終莫能屈。俄而玄欲沙汰眾僧教僚屬曰。沙門有能申述經誥暢說義理。或禁行修整。足以宣寄大化。其有違於此皆悉罷遣。唯廬山道德所居。不在搜簡之例初成帝時。庾氷輔政。以為沙門宜敬王者尚書令何充奏不應敬禮。官議悉同。充門下承氷旨為駮。同異紛然竟莫能定。及玄在姑孰欲令盡敬。乃書與遠具述其意。遠懼大法將墜。報書懇切。以為袈裟非朝宗之服。鉢盂非廊廟之器。又著沙門不敬王者論。辭理精峻。玄意感悟遂不果行。其荷持法任。皆此類也。臨川太守謝靈運。負才傲俗少所推崇。及一相見肅然心服。自卜居廬阜三十餘載。影不出山跡不入俗。故送客遊履。常以虎溪為界焉。義熙末卒于廬山精舍。春秋八十有三。遺命露骸松下同之草木。既而弟子收葬。謝靈運造碑墓側銘其遺德焉。初遠善屬文章辭氣清越。席上談論精義簡要。加以儀容端雅風釆灑落。故圖像于寺遐邇式瞻所著論序銘讚詩書。集為十卷五十餘篇。並見重於世。

Shi Huiyuan, originally surnamed Jia, was a native of Loufan in Yanmen. From his youth he was fond of books, showing brilliance and excellence like jade tesserae and scepters. At the age of thirteen, he accompanied his maternal uncle of the Linghu clan to study as a wandering student in Xuchang and Luoyang. Thus in his youth he became a scholar, broadly mastering the Six Classics and being especially versed in Laozi and Zhuangzi. His nature and disposition were grand and imposing, his discernment and insight exceptionally sharp and outstanding. Even elder classicists and talented luminaries all deferred to his profound attainment. At the age of twenty-one, wishing to cross east of the Yangtze River to join Fan Xuanzi in a shared pledge to joyful reclusion, he encountered the blockage and turmoil of the imperial highways, so his intention could not be realized. Thereupon, west of the Pass, he met Master Dao'an. At their first meeting he paid him the utmost respect, regarding him as his true teacher. He then threw away his hairpins and cast off his secular attire, forgetting physical form to receive instruction. Once he entered the Path, he was stern and stood out from the crowd. He always wished to take comprehensive charge of the guiding principles, taking the great Dharma as his own duty. He concentrated his thinking, recited and upheld [the scriptures], continuing through the day into the night. The śramaṇa Tanyi frequently supplied him with the cost of lamps and candles. Master Dao'an, hearing of this, rejoiced and said: 'This practitioner of the Way truly knows men!' Huiyuan drew upon his discernment of wisdom from before, and had planted the basis of an exalted mind across vast kalpas; therefore his spiritual radiance was preeminent and his insight was far-reaching and deep. In the mystery of the unproduced true mark, the subtlety of the middle way of prajñā, the secret of wisdom seeing forms as empty, and the essentials of quiescent contemplation through the gateway of conditioned arising, there was no subtlety that he did not analyze and no obscurity that he did not elucidate. His intent merged in secret with principle; his words harmonized with the Way. Master Dao'an often sighed and said: 'If the Way is to flow into the Eastern Land, will it not depend on [Hui]yuan?' Later he followed Master Dao'an south to journey along the Fan and the River. In the beginning of the Taiyuan era of the Jin, Xiangyang fell. Master Dao'an entered the Pass, whereupon Huiyuan moved to Xunyang and built a dwelling on Mount Lu. The Regional Inspector of Jiangzhou, Huan Yi, built halls and chambers for him. This mountain forms the likeness of the Nine Rivers, towering steeply and cutting off from the heavens. Recluses and hermits roost and gather there; it breathes out spirit-like marvels. Huiyuan founded a vihāra, thoroughly exhausting the mountain's beauty. To its back it leaned against Incense Burner Peak; at its side it bordered the gorge of the waterfall. Relying on rocks, he piled up the foundations; adapting pines, he framed the structures. Clear springs circled the steps; white clouds filled the rooms. Further, within the monastery he separately established a meditation grove, where dense trees gathered in mist and rock mats lay together. All who gazed upon or stepped into it became clear in spirit and solemn in breath. Huiyuan heard that in North India there was the Buddha's Shadow. Joy and longing mingled in his heart. So, with the mountain behind and overlooking the stream, he constructed a niche-chamber. Devising a fine design for the painter, with light pigments it was depicted: its color condensed into gathered emptiness, looking from afar like light mist; its radiant marks were luminous yet dim, as though hidden yet apparent. Thereupon it was copied and transmitted to the capital, and none failed to sigh in admiration. Thereupon he led the assembly in practicing the Way without interruption from dusk to dawn; the remaining transformation of Śākyamuni was revived here. Soon after, men who observed the vinaya and quieted the mind, and guests who severed dust and were pure in faith, arrived without prior agreement, gathering from afar as they looked toward his influence. Liu Yimin of Pengcheng, Zhou Xuzhi of Yanmen, Bi Yingzhi of Xincai, and Zong Bing of Nanyang all cast aside the world and abandoned glory to follow Huiyuan and reside [there]. Huiyuan then held a fast before the statue of Amitāyus in the vihāra and made a vow to look toward the Western Land together. The text read: 'In the year of Sheti, in the autumn, the seventh month, on the twenty-eighth day, yiwei, the new moon being wuchen: The Dharma Master Shi Huiyuan, with pure devotion moving the unseen realm and his former aspiration especially stirring, invited one hundred and twenty-three like-minded gentlemen who quiet the mind and are pure in faith, to assemble on the northern slope of Mount Lu before the Amitābha statue in the Prajñā Terrace Vihāra. Leading them with incense and flowers, he respectfully offered them and swore an oath: Considering the assembly of this one gathering: once the principle of conditioned transformation is understood, the transmission across the three times becomes manifest; once the numbers of transmigration correspond, the recompense of good and evil becomes certain. Inferring the silent decline of those who rub shoulders, we awaken to the urgency of this impermanence; examining how the three kinds of retribution urge each other on, we realize that the perilous destinies are hard to extricate oneself from. This is why these worthy companions are vigilant by evening and diligent by night, looking upward and thinking of how to be saved. For the spirit may be touched and traversed, but cannot be sought through traces. If what touches it has an object, the dark path is but a foot away; but if seeking it lacks a master, how can the vast expanse serve as a ford? Now, fortunately, without prior planning all minds unite toward the Western Realm; knocking open the text gives rise to faith, and pure feelings burst forth naturally. Thus our inner stirrings communicate in sleep and dreams; our joy and rejoicing are a hundredfold greater than children flocking to help. Thereupon the numinous image shows forth its radiance, its appearance rivaling spirit creation; the accomplishment is due to the harmony of principle, the matter is not driven by human effort. This is truly Heaven opening their sincerity, and the unseen numbers gathering here! How could one not fix one's mind, redouble one's essence, and pile up thoughts to concentrate one's meditation? Yet their radiant achievements are uneven, their merits and blessings are not uniform; though their morning prayers are said to be identical, their evening returns may be far apart. Regarding this bond of our teachers and friends, it is truly pitiable! Therefore, lamenting this, we jointly call upon one another to straighten our robes in the Dharma hall, equally bestow a single mind, and harbor serenity toward the dark ultimate, vowing that these companions shall together journey to the supreme realm. If there is one who startlingly surpasses the crowd and first ascends the divine realm, let him not cultivate solitary virtue on the cloudy crags and forget to help all in the dark valley! Let the earlier ascenders and the later risers be spared the thought of the way of flocking together. Thereafter, marvelously beholding the Great Form and opening the mind to pure illumination, our consciousness will be renewed by awakening and our bodies transformed by conversion. Resting upon lotuses in midstream, sheltered beneath boughs of jade to chant words, fluttering spiritual robes across the eight extremities, and drifting with fragrant breezes through endless years: our bodies will forget ease yet become ever more serene; our minds will transcend joy to delight themselves; looking upon the three paths we will bid them farewell from afar; looking down on the heavenly palaces we will take leave of them forever. Inheriting the tracks of all spirits, we take great rest as our goal. Penetrating this Way—is it not grand!' The Minister of Works Wang Mi, the Army Protector Wang Mo, and others all admired his moral character and paid homage to him as a master from afar. Mi wrote a letter saying: 'I am only forty-seven years old, yet my decline is already like one at sixty.' Huiyuan replied: 'The ancients did not begrudge a foot of jade disk, but treasured an inch of time. Examining what they preserved, it seems they did not preserve longevity. Since you, dānapati, wander in accord with compliance and ride the Buddha's principle to govern the mind, inferring from this, what is there to envy in long life? I think you have long attained this principle; I merely reply to your inquiry.' Earlier, when scriptures flowed east of the Yangtze River, many were incomplete; meditation methods were unheard of, and the Vinaya Pitaka was fragmentary and lacking. Huiyuan greatly cared for the roots of the teaching, grieving over the deficiencies of the Way; he ordered his disciple Fajing and others to seek various scriptures from afar. Traversing sands and snows, they returned only after many years, having obtained Hu manuscripts that could be translated. Whenever he met a guest from the Western Regions, he would earnestly consult and question him. He repeatedly sent envoys into the Pass to invite meditation masters, resolve their points of contention, and translate and issue meditation sūtras. He also invited the Kapiśa śramaṇa Saṃghadeva to translate several scriptures. Therefore, the meditation methods, sūtras, and precepts all issued from Mount Lu, nearly one hundred fascicles in all. Earlier, when the Daśādhyāya-vinaya was translated in the Pass, one remaining portion was unfinished when Puṇyatāra died. Huiyuan constantly lamented its incompleteness. When he heard that Dharmaruci had entered Qin, he sent a letter entreating him to translate the remaining portion in the Pass, so that the single work of the Daśādhyāya became complete without lack. The Jin land obtained the text, which has been handed down to the present day. That the marvelous scriptures beyond the Congling and the superior expositions in the Pass gathered in this land was entirely due to Huiyuan's efforts. The monks of foreign countries all declared that the Han land had a Mahāyāna practitioner of the Way; whenever they burned incense and prostrated, they always faced east to pay homage. The traces of his spiritual principle were indeed unfathomable. He constantly considered that the old interpretations of Zhi [Qian] and Zhu [Fahu] had not exhausted the marvelous reality, so he composed the Treatise on Dharmatā (Faxing lun). Its principle was profound and its prose polished. When Kumārajīva saw it, he sighed and said: 'A man of a border country, not having seen the scriptures, yet dark accords with principle—how marvelous!' Huiyuan diligently propagated the Way and was awe-inspiringly strict for the sake of the Dharma. He frequently sent letters to Kumārajīva to investigate and verify the scriptures; Kumārajīva also esteemed his lofty mind, resonating with him across ten thousand li. Yao Xing admired his renown from afar and sighed at his talents and thoughts; he sent letters attentively, and messages and gifts arrived year after year. He presented him with a stone statue intricately carved with various transformations from Kucha to express his sincerity. He also ordered Yao Song to offer a pearl statue. When the Exegesis on the Great [Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra] was first produced, Yao Xing sent the treatise together with a letter saying: 'The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa has just been completed. Since this was composed by Nāgārjuna and is the ultimate purport of the vaipulya teachings, a preface should be written to proclaim the author's intention. However, these practitioners of the Way all defer to one another, none daring to set their hand to it. Dharma Master, you may write a preface for it to bequeath to later scholars.' Huiyuan replied: 'You wish for me to write a preface to the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa to express the author's intention. This poor monk has heard that what holds great waters cannot be accommodated by a small islet; drawing from the deep cannot be measured by a short rope. Reading and examining it today, I feel ashamed before your lofty command. Moreover, my body is frail and plagued by illness, and I have neglected various matters; it has been a long time since I applied my mind. Because your message is weighty, I have roughly stitched together my thoughts. As for the beauty of deep investigation, that must be entrusted again to illustrious virtues.' His renown was lofty in distant lands like this. Huiyuan often remarked that the sentences and phrases of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa were numerous and cumbersome, difficult for beginners to study. So he eliminated redundancies and clipped the disorder, giving form to its substance and literary style, compiling it into twenty fascicles. The preface was profound and far-reaching, to bequeath to scholars. Later, Huan Xuan, with his authority that shook the ruler, urgently summoned him; he sent letters and spoke in person, urging him to take office. Huiyuan's words of reply were firm and resolute, unshakeable. His resolve surpassed cinnabar and stone, and in the end he could not be bent. Soon after, Huan Xuan wished to purge the saṃgha, and issued an instruction to his subordinates saying: 'Śramaṇas who are able to explain the scriptures and declarations and fluently expound doctrine, or whose disciplinary practice is disciplined and proper, sufficient to declare and entrust the great transformation—those who violate this shall all be dismissed and sent away. Only Mount Lu, where virtue resides, is not subject to searching and selection.' Earlier, in the time of Emperor Cheng, Yu Bing was assisting in governing; he considered that śramaṇas ought to pay homage to the ruler. The Prefect of the Masters of Writing He Chong submitted a memorial stating that they should not pay homage, and the court deliberations all agreed. Chong's subordinates, following Bing's intention, refuted this; differences were entangled, and in the end nothing could be decided. When Huan Xuan was in Gushu, wishing to make them pay full homage, he wrote to Huiyuan detailing his intention. Huiyuan feared the Great Dharma would fall, and his reply was earnest and incisive, maintaining that the kāṣāya was not attire for court audiences, and the alms bowl was not a vessel for ancestral halls and palaces. He also composed the Treatise on Śramaṇas Not Paying Homage to Rulers (Shamen bu jing wangzhe lun), its phrasing and principles subtle and rigorous. Huan Xuan was moved to realization and in the end did not carry it out. His upholding of the burden of the Dharma was always of this sort. Xie Lingyun, Governor of Linchuan, took pride in his talent and was haughty toward worldly conventions, revering few people; but upon meeting him once, he was awestruck and submissive in heart. From the time Huiyuan settled on Mount Lu for more than thirty years, his shadow never left the mountain and his footsteps never entered worldly realms. Thus when seeing off traveling guests, he always took Tiger Brook as the boundary. In the late Yixi era he died in the Mount Lu vihāra, at the age of eighty-three. His testamentary order was to expose his corpse beneath the pines to be like grass and trees; afterwards his disciples collected and buried him. Xie Lingyun erected a stele beside the tomb, inscribing his bequeathed virtue. Earlier, Huiyuan was skilled at literary composition; his words and bearing were clear and outstanding. In discussions upon his seat, his subtle meanings were succinct and essential. Added to this, his demeanor was dignified and graceful, and his bearing free and easy. Therefore his portrait was painted in the monastery, gazed upon as a model far and wide. The treatises, prefaces, inscriptions, eulogies, poems, and letters he wrote were collected into ten fascicles and more than fifty pieces, and were all valued by the world.