English
English version Ge Yinliang said: 'Only this matter, some clever people hear it and don't believe it, but those who are foolish, on the contrary, have some understanding, isn't it strange?' Looking further down, parrots can attain fruition (the state achieved by Buddhist practice), and earthworms can discuss scriptures. The more minute the things, the more obvious the supernatural powers. But this still belongs to sentient beings, which is not particularly strange. As for the nodding of stubborn stones, that is too shocking. Observing carefully the one who is expounding the Dharma, is it really Zen Master Shou? Are the listeners sheep? Alas! The spring scenery of Shanglin Garden comes early, and the flowers and birds are all pleasing to the eye.' The Zen master was a Confucian scholar at the age of sixteen. At that time, King Wenmu of Wuyue, Qian Yuanguan (887-941 AD), was stationed in Hangzhou. The Zen master presented the 'Ode to Matching Heaven', and everyone praised him as a rare talent and wanted him to become an official. Huang Ruheng praised: 'Is it to follow the Buddha's Dharma? He personally presented his ode to the court. Is it to follow Confucianism? Who calls him a Shramana (a wandering ascetic)? His ode writes both of the heart and the spirit, like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. He is the teacher of Wuyue, the monarch of the Qingtai era (936-943 AD). His life is as long as that of Qi Tian (referring to the Buddha) and Zhong Tian (referring to humans), his life is immeasurable and nameless. If fame can be pursued, then Maitreya Bodhisattva (the future Buddha) will enter the Tushita Heaven (the waiting place for becoming a Buddha) to be respected. There is not a speck of dust separating Confucianism and Buddhism.' The Zen master once served as a warehouse clerk in Yuhang, and later was promoted to the garrison general of Huating, responsible for supervising military supplies. He repeatedly used the warehouse money to buy fish, shrimp, and other things to release them. When the matter was revealed, he was sentenced to death and escorted to the execution ground. Yu Chunzhen said: 'All things are one with me, why does releasing life lead to death? If they are not one with me, why does entering death lead to birth? The king's law and the Buddha's law seem different but complement each other. The perfect man (a person who has reached a very high level of moral cultivation) has no self, only compassion. He probably sees even the smallest insects as great enlightened beings, and sees the execution ground as a transformation city (an illusory city).' Song Xu praised: 'Generously facing death with a calm demeanor, it doesn't hurt to spend more money to release life. The king was moved to pardon and respect him, and thus he was able to transmit the lamp and inherit the ancestral seat of Zen.' The King of Wuyue was playing on the river and dreamed of an old man leading tens of thousands of fish and shrimp to him, saying: 'These are all released by the tax official, I hope Your Majesty can pardon his crime.' The King of Wuyue woke up and sent someone to investigate. The Zen master faced the death penalty without fear. The executioner felt strange and questioned him. The Zen master said: 'I have not used the warehouse money for any personal gain, but only to redeem lives.' --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
。今死当径生西方极乐上品。又何戚焉。探者覆命。王释之。 苏子瞻志林云。禅师应以市曹得度。故菩萨乃现市曹以度之。学出死入生法。得向死地走一遭。抵三千年修行。余自窜逐海上。去死地稍近。心颇忧之。愿学永明寿师放生以证阿罗汉果。敬以亡母蜀郡太君程氏遗留簪珥。尽买放生。以荐父母冥福。 师儿时即以出家为念。父母不听。遂断荤。刺心血。濡毫写经。终期副愿。至年三十。吴越王知师慕道。乃从其志。放令出家。舍妻孥。投龙册寺翠岩禅师削染登戒。执劳供众。都忘身宰。衣不缯纩。食无重味。野蔬布襦。以遣朝夕。 潘之恒赞曰。尝观世智辩聪之士。有欲割尘俗。而白首无能者。有辞亲出家。耽染世缘。而黑业日深者。若师金门献赋。尝推间世之才。华亭备军。早擅脱颖之秀。当强仕之年。卒断烦恼之发。为灵山法臣。而化敷异境。呜呼。师真人杰也哉。 师尝习静于天台智者岩。跏趺不起者九旬。有鸟似斥鷃巢衣中育雏。定起乃去。 金学曾曰。寿师在天台斥鷃巢衣一事。此圣师定中不思议境界。与如来鹊巢其顶相似。非机忘议尽。心同木石者。未易臻此。即如鸽就如来影中。顿无惊怖。岂庄生沙鸥之喻耶。余未达其境。不能赞一词。惟不能赞一词。然后 现代汉语译本：现在死去，应当直接往生西方极乐世界的上品，又有什么可悲伤的呢？探子回报了情况，吴越王（钱俶）这才放心。 苏轼在《志林》中写道，禅师应该在市井之中得到度化，所以菩萨才显现在市井之中来度化他。学习出生入死的法门，得在死地走一遭，抵得上三千年的修行。我自从被贬谪到海上，离死地稍微近了一些，心中颇为忧虑。我愿意学习永明延寿禅师放生来证得阿罗汉果。恭敬地用亡母蜀郡太君程氏遗留的首饰，全部买来放生，用来为父母祈求冥福。 禅师小时候就立志出家，父母不允许，于是断绝荤腥，刺破心血，用血濡湿笔毫书写经文，最终期望实现愿望。到三十岁时，吴越王（钱俶）知道禅师仰慕佛道，于是顺从他的志向，放他出家。禅师舍弃妻子儿女，投奔龙册寺翠岩禅师剃度受戒，勤劳地为大众服务，完全忘记自身的存在。衣服不穿丝绵，饮食没有厚味，粗布衣裳和野菜，用来度过早晚。 潘之恒赞叹道：‘我曾经观察那些世俗智慧和辩论聪明的士人，有想要割舍尘俗，却到老也无法做到的；有辞别父母出家，却沉溺于世俗因缘，黑业日益加深的。像禅师这样，在金门献赋时，就展现出超凡脱俗的才华；在华亭备军时，早就显露出出类拔萃的优秀。在壮年之时，最终断绝烦恼的根源，成为灵山的法臣，教化传播到不同的地方。’ 唉！禅师真是人中的豪杰啊！ 禅师曾经在天台山智者岩习禅入定，跏趺而坐九十天不起身。有像鹪鹩一样的鸟在禅师的衣服中筑巢养育雏鸟，禅师出定后鸟才离去。 金学曾说：‘永明延寿禅师在天台山，鹪鹩在衣服中筑巢这件事，是圣师在禅定中不可思议的境界，与如来佛头顶被喜鹊筑巢相似。不是机心忘却，议论止息，心与木石相同的人，不容易达到这种境界。就像鸽子来到如来的身影中，顿时没有惊恐害怕一样。难道是庄子所说的沙鸥吗？’ 我没有达到那种境界，不能赞美一句话。正因为不能赞美一句话，然后才能……
English
English version: Now that I am dying, I should be reborn directly into the highest grade of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. What is there to grieve about? The scout reported back, and King Qian Chu of Wuyue was relieved. Su Shi wrote in *Zhilin* that a Chan master should be enlightened in the marketplace, so the Bodhisattva appears in the marketplace to enlighten him. To learn the method of escaping death and entering life, one must walk through the land of death, which is equivalent to three thousand years of cultivation. Since I was exiled to the sea, I have been a little closer to the land of death, and I am quite worried. I am willing to learn from Zen Master Yongming Yanshou's practice of releasing life to attain the Arhat fruit. I respectfully use the jewelry left by my deceased mother, the Lady Cheng of Shujun, to buy and release living beings, in order to pray for blessings for my parents in the afterlife. The master had the thought of becoming a monk since he was a child, but his parents did not allow it, so he stopped eating meat, pricked his heart to draw blood, and used the blood to write scriptures, eventually hoping to fulfill his wish. When he was thirty years old, King Qian Chu of Wuyue learned that the master admired the Buddhist path, so he followed his wishes and allowed him to become a monk. The master abandoned his wife and children, went to Cuiyan Zen Master of Longce Temple to be tonsured and receive the precepts, diligently served the public, completely forgetting his own existence. He did not wear silk or cotton clothes, and his diet was not rich, using coarse cloth and wild vegetables to spend his days. Pan Zhiheng praised: 'I have observed that there are scholars with worldly wisdom and eloquence who want to give up worldly affairs, but are unable to do so even in their old age; there are those who leave their parents to become monks, but indulge in worldly affairs, and their negative karma deepens day by day. Like this master, when he presented his poems at Jinmen, he showed extraordinary talent; when he served in the military at Huating, he showed outstanding excellence. In the prime of his life, he finally cut off the roots of affliction, became a Dharma minister of Ling Mountain, and spread his teachings to different places.' Alas! The master is truly a hero among men! The master once practiced meditation in the Zhizhe Rock of Mount Tiantai, sitting in the lotus position for ninety days without getting up. A bird like a wren nested in the master's clothes and raised its young, and only left after the master came out of meditation. Jin Xuezeng said: 'The incident of Master Yanshou of Yongming having a wren nesting in his clothes on Mount Tiantai is an inconceivable state of the holy master in meditation, similar to the story of the magpies nesting on the head of the Tathagata Buddha. It is not easy to reach this state unless one forgets the scheming mind, stops the discussions, and the heart is the same as wood and stone. Just like the pigeons coming into the shadow of the Tathagata, suddenly without fear. Is this like the sand gulls Zhuangzi spoke of?' I have not reached that state, and cannot praise a single word. Only because I cannot praise a single word, then... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chinese
见禅定不可思议之妙也。具眼者以为何如。 师从定起。寻往天台山德韶国师执弟子礼。北面师事之。时国师眼目天人。一见而深器焉。密授心印。仍谓师曰。汝与元帅有缘。他日当大兴佛事。惜吾不及见耳。 朗士吴之鲸赞曰。 法王阐法亦资法力 如空鼓风若助之翼 韶师示谶法缘夙植 灵鹫宗风南屏主席 竹祖桐孙世食其德 大劫不坏缘缘空寂 薪尽火传请问慧月 师于国清中夜旋绕。见普贤所执莲花忽然在手。因思宿有二愿。进退未决。遂登智者禅院。作二纸阄。一曰一心禅定．一曰万善生净土。冥心祷曰。于此二途。功易成者。湏七拈着。信手拈之。乃至七度。一无间隔。由是一意专修净业。 比丘洪恩赞曰。心欲生天。梦想轻举。心存佛国。圣境冥现。梦矢秽者得财。梦棺器者得位。此处世出世念虑正倒之有徴也。方师行道。感斯瑞应。夫普贤为万行之师。莲花表一乘之法。岂师之功阶真净。果证妙圆之先眹者欤。 师一生随处常建法华忏堂。庄严净土。昼夜六时普为法界众生代修法华忏。后于国清寺结坛修礼。夜见神人持戟而入。师呵之曰。何得擅入。对曰。久积净业。方到此中。 郑之惠赞曰。 师忏众生谁为师忏 漫漫长夜千古不旦 现代汉语译本： 见到禅定不可思议的妙处啊。有见地的人认为怎么样？ 禅师从禅定中出来，随即前往天台山拜见德韶国师（指德韶禅师，天台宗高僧），行弟子之礼，以北面之礼侍奉他。当时国师眼光如天人般锐利，一见禅师就非常器重他，秘密地传授了心印。并对禅师说：‘你与元帅有缘分，将来一定会大兴佛事，可惜我不能亲眼见到了。’ 朗士吴之鲸赞颂说： ‘法王阐扬佛法也需要凭借佛法的力量， 如同空中鼓风，好像有翅膀的帮助。 德韶国师的预言，是法缘早就种下。 灵鹫山的宗风，南屏山的主席。 竹祖和桐孙，世世代代享受他的恩德， 大劫也不会坏灭，因缘空寂。 薪尽火传，请问慧月（比喻佛法传承）。’ 禅师在国清寺中夜里绕佛，看见普贤菩萨（象征菩萨的行愿）所执的莲花忽然出现在手中。因此想到自己宿世有两个愿望，进退不定。于是登上智者禅院，做了两张纸阄，一张写着‘一心禅定’，一张写着‘万善生净土’。默默地祈祷说：‘在这两条道路中，哪一条功德容易成就，需要连续七次拈到它。’随意拈取，乃至七次，一次也没有间隔。因此一心专修净土法门。 比丘洪恩赞颂说：‘心想往生天界，梦想着轻身飞举；心存佛国，圣境便在冥冥中显现。梦见粪矢污秽能得到钱财，梦见棺材器物能得到官位。这些都是世间和出世间的念头，正与倒的征兆啊。方禅师修行，感应到这样的祥瑞。普贤菩萨是万行之师，莲花代表一乘之法。难道不是禅师的功行已经进入真净的境界，果证妙圆的先兆吗？’ 禅师一生无论在哪里，常常建造法华忏堂，庄严净土。日夜六时普遍地为法界众生代修法华忏。后来在国清寺结坛修礼，夜里看见神人拿着长戟进来。禅师呵斥他说：‘你怎么能擅自闯入？’神人回答说：‘我久积净业，才能来到这里。’ 郑之惠赞颂说： ‘禅师为众生忏悔，谁又为禅师忏悔？ 漫漫长夜，千古不天明。’