居士傳發凡
Lay Practitioners' Biographies
佛門人文記載其專繫宰官白衣者。故有祐法師宏明集。宣律師廣宏明集。心泰佛法金湯。姚孟長金湯徵文錄。夏樹芳法喜志。其以沙門為主兼収外護者。則有志磐佛祖統記。念常佛祖通載。以及傳燈錄．續傳燈錄．五燈會元．東林傳．往生傳。諸書所錄事言。互有詳略。或失之冗。或失之踈。至朱時恩居士分燈錄。郭凝之先覺宗乘。李士材居士禪燈錄。並本五燈。止揚宗乘。於諸三昧法門有所未備。今節取諸書者十之五。別徵史傳。諸家文集。諸經序錄。百家雜說。視諸書倍之。裁別綴屬成列傳五十餘篇。詳其入道因緣。成道功候。俾有志者各隨根性。或宗或教或淨土。觀感願樂。具足師資。但自唐以前。簡冊無多。披覽易遍。自宋以後。文字浩瀚。耳目聞見搜討難周。更望博雅君子惠以珍藏。佐其不逮。
護法之文。須從般若光明海中自在流出。乃為可貴。是書所載。非其真實有關慧命者。概弗列焉。如王簡栖頭陀寺碑。王子安釋迦成道記。誠為典贍。然文過其質。於道何有。柳子厚制諸沙言碑銘。為蘇子瞻所推服。然如曹溪一碑和會儒釋。與六祖壇經之旨全無交涉。況摩詰夢得之文。抑又遜之。元明士大夫文字。類多出入儒佛。亦必其行解相應始堪采擇。否則祇成戲論。何足數也。
Here, the protection of the Dharma must flow freely from the luminous ocean of prajna wisdom—only then is it truly valuable. The pieces collected in this book are selected strictly for their direct bearing on the life of wisdom; anything else is left out. For example, Wang Jianqi's "Stele for the Crownaloka Temple" and Wang Zian's "Record of Shakyamuni's Attainment of Buddhahood" are indeed elegant and erudite, yet their literary flourish outweighs their substance—what do they truly offer to the path? Liu Zihou's inscriptions for the various monks were admired by Su Zizhan, but his attempts to harmonize Confucianism and Buddhism in his piece on Caoxi have no real connection with the core teachings of the Platform Sutra. As for the writings of Wang Wei and Liu Yuxi, they fall even shorter of the mark. Among the literati of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, many writings drift between Confucian and Buddhist thought, but only those whose practice matched their understanding are worthy of inclusion. Otherwise, they amount to mere intellectual play—what significance could they possibly hold?
宗門冐濫者多。如夏竦．呂惠卿．章惇之徒。既不足道。即白蘇二公其在佛門亦別有長處。與宗門無與。諸書所載機緣。無可取者。他如韓退之．李習之．周茂叔．歐陽永叔諸先生。平生願力全在護儒。一機一境偶然隨喜。不足增重佛門。豈宜附會牽合莊點門庭。反成謬妄。此於教理違背非小。故予是書持擇之間頗存微指。不敢將就影響。以誣古人。以誣自心。以誣教理。
龐居士之於宗。李長者之於教。劉遺民之於淨土。百世之師矣。三公者各專傳。尊師也。其他立專傳者。大都軼邁等倫。難為匹儷。雖不盡以三公為繩。亦庶幾近之者也。
登地證果根基五戒。而五戒者全體五常。不踐五常何有五戒。南北朝諸臣罔明忠孝之義。妄談般若。裨販如來。至如魏収．蔚宗浪附通人。沈約．江總濫塵戒品。以身謗法。視崔浩．傅奕罪有甚焉。清淨海中不受死屍。削而投之豈為刻核。若王摩詰．柳子厚．郭功甫．張天覺之徒。先迷後復。情罪可原。善善從長。亦庶幾春秋之指與。
自昔言三教者。其莫善於大珠乎。或問三教異同。曰大量者用之即同。小機者執之即異。總從一性起用。機見差別成三。迷悟在人不在教之同異也。達此義者。其宋之李伯紀．明之趙大洲乎。南北之朝。釋道相爭。唐宋之時。儒佛相角。總由不知性真常中本無同異。尋枝摘葉安有了期。至如周彥倫．明休烈．張天覺．李純甫數子之論。解紛挫銳不謂無功。究其實際亦多離合。獅子咬人韓盧逐塊。智者覩指知歸。昧者雙迷指月。世又安得盡大珠與之暢談三教哉。
列傳中有不得詳其事跡者。文富諸公是也。非繫於佛法。弗錄其事跡。自載正史舉而著之。非此書體也。有不容略其事蹟者。如宗汝霖．趙大洲．周景文．熊魚山諸公是也。其應於世者。其學佛之精神也。一切治生諧偶。皆與實相不相違背。不其然乎。不其然乎。
是書始事於庚寅之夏。削稿於乙未之秋。中間辨味淄澠。商量去取。則吳縣汪子大紳之助為多。瑞金羅子臺山往來。過蘇每相切磋。訂其離合。最後書成。婺源王子顧庭諷誦一周。讚歎歡喜。捐金付刻。普願見聞隨喜。發菩提心。證圓滿果。是則區區七年纂述功不虗施。青蓮華海香光無垠。一念歸誠同登彼岸。不亦樂乎。