---
title: "憨山老人夢遊集 · 大明海印憨山大師廬山五乳峰塔銘"
description: "憨山老人夢遊集是明代高僧憨山德清的著作集，由侍者福善日錄、门人通炯编辑整理。憨山德清是明末四大高僧之一，主张禅净双修，对佛教中国化有深远影响。该书收录了他的诗文、法语、书信等，内容涵盖禅宗思想、净土修行和佛教义理，展现了其圆融各宗的智慧。作为明代佛教重要文献，夢遊集不仅反映了当时佛教的发展状况，也为后世研究明代佛教思想提供了珍贵资料，在佛教史上具有重要地位。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmclqlpqx04zll7043hfrp81k"
---

### 大明海印憨山大師廬山五乳峰塔銘

> Great Ming Dynasty Master Hanshan of Haiyin, Pagoda Inscription at Five Milk Peaks of Mount Lu

我　神宗顯皇帝。握金輪以御世。推　慈聖皇太后之志。崇奉三寶。以隆顧養。　上春秋鼎盛。前星未耀。慈聖以為憂。建祈儲道場於五臺山。妙峰登公。與憨山大師。實主其事。　光宗貞皇帝。遂應期而生。於是二公名聞九重。如優曇鉢華。應現天際。妙峰不出王舍城。大作佛事。而大師有雷陽之行。其機緣所至。橫見側出。固非凡情之可得而測也。大師之遷化於曹溪也。大宗伯宣化蕭公。親見其異。為余道之。已而南海陳迪祥。以行狀來謁余表塔。余曰。有吾師宣化公在。他日請為第二󳬴。又明年乙丑。其弟子居廬山者曰福善。奉全身。歸五乳。而留爪髮於曹溪。走書來告曰。大師東遊。得子而憙曰。剎竿不憂倒却矣。燈炧月落。晤言亹亹。所以付囑者甚至。塔前之銘。非子誰宜為。余何敢復辭。謹按師諱德清。族蔡氏。全椒人也。父彥高。母洪氏。夢大士抱送而生。七歲。叔父死。屍於牀。問母從何處去。即抱死生去來之疑。九歲。能誦普門品。年十二。辭親入報恩寺。依西林和尚。內江趙文肅公。摩其頂曰。兒他日人天師也。十九祝髮。受具戒於無極某公。聽講華嚴玄談。至十玄門。海印森羅常住處。悟法界圓融無盡之旨。慕清涼之為人。字曰澄印。從雲谷會公縛禪於天界寺。發憤參究。疽發於背。禱護伽藍神。願誦華嚴十部。乞假三月以畢禪期。禱已熟寐。晨起而病良已。三月之內。恍在夢中。出行市中。儼如禪坐。不見市有一人也。雪浪恩公。長於師一歲。相依如無著天親。嘉靖丙寅。寺󱐑於火。誓相與畜德俟時。以期興復。師既巋然出世。而雪浪卒為大論師修治故塔。稍酬誓願焉。師嘗聽講於天界。廁溷清除。了無人蹟。意主東淨者。非常人也。訪之。一黃面病僧。目光激射。遂與定參訪之約。質明則已行矣。即妙峰登公也。師以江南習氣輭暖。宜入冬氷夏雪。苦寒不可耐之地。以痛自摩厲。遂飄然北邁。天大雪。乞食廣陵市中曰。吾一鉢足以輕萬鍾矣。抵京師。妙峰衣褐來訪。須髮鬖𣯢。如河朔估客。師望其眸子識之。相視一笑。參徧融貞公。融無語。惟張目直視。又參笑巖。巖問何方來。曰南方來。巖曰。記得來時路否。曰。一過便休。巖曰。子却來處分明。遊盤山至千像峰石室。見不語僧。遂相與樵汲度夏。時萬歷元年癸酉也。明年。偕妙峰結冬蒲坂。閱物不遷論。至梵志出家。頓了旋嵐偃嶽之旨。作偈曰。死生晝夜。水流花謝。今日方知。鼻孔向下。峰一見遽問師何所得。師曰。夜來見河中兩鐵牛。相鬬入水去。至今絕消息。峰曰。且喜有住山本錢矣。遇牛山法光禪師。坐參請益。法光發音如天鼓。師深契之。送師遊五臺詩云。雪中師子騎來看。洞裏潛龍放去休。且曰。知此意否。要公不可捉死蛇耳。師居北臺之龍門。老屋數椽。在萬山氷雪中。春夏之交。流澌衝擊。靜中如萬馬馳驟之聲。以問妙峰。峰舉古人三十年聞水聲。不轉意根。當證觀音圓通語。師然之。日尋緣溪橫彴。危坐其上。初則水聲宛然。久之忽然忘身。眾籟閴寂。水聲不復聒耳矣。一日粥罷經行。忽立定。光明如大圓鏡。山河大地。影現其中。既覺。身心湛然。了不可得。說偈以頌之。遊雁門。兵使胡君請賦詩。甫搆思。詩句逼塞喉吻。從前記誦見聞。一瞬現前。渾身是口。不能盡吐。師曰。此法光所謂禪病也。惟睡熟可以消之。擁衲跏趺。一坐五晝夜。胡君撼之不動。鳴擊子數聲。乃出定。默坐却觀。如出入息。住山行脚。皆夢中事。其樂無以喻也。還山。刺血書華嚴經。點筆念佛。不廢應對。口誦手畫。歷然分明。隣僧異之。率徒眾來相嬲。已皆讚歎而去。嘗夢與妙峰夾侍清涼大師開示。初入法界圓融觀境。隨所演說。其境即現。又夢登彌勒樓閣聞說法。曰。分別是識。無分別是智。依識染。依智淨。染有生死。淨無諸佛。自此識智之分。了然心目也。師既建祈儲道場。遂遠遁東海之牢山。　慈聖命龍華寺僧瑞菴行求得之。遣使再徵不能致。賜內帑三千金。復固辭。使者不敢復命。師曰。古有矯詔賑饑之事。山東歲凶。以此廣　聖慈於饑民。不亦可乎。使者持賑籍還報。　慈聖感歎。率闔宮布金造寺。賜額曰海印。師詣京謝恩。為報恩寺請藏。上命師齎送。因以便歸省父母。寺塔放光累日。迎經之日。光如浮橋北度。經在塔光中行也。師還。以報恩本末具奏。曰。願日減饍羞百金。十年工可舉也　慈聖許之。歲乙未。而黃冠之難作。師住山十三年。方便說法。東海彌離車地。咸向三寶。而黃冠以侵占道院。飛章誣奏。有旨逮赴詔獄。先是　慈聖崇信佛乘。敕使四出。中人讒搆。動以煩費為言。　上弗問也。而其語頗聞於外庭。所司遂以師為奇貨。欲因以株連慈聖左右。并按前後檀施。帑金以數十萬計。拷掠備至。師一無所言。己乃從容仰對曰。公欲某誣服易耳。獄成。將置　聖母何地乎。公所按數十萬在縣官錙銖耳。　主上純孝。度不以錙銖故。傷　聖母心。獄成之後。懼無以謝　聖母。公窮竟此獄。將安歸乎。主者舌吐不能收。乃具獄上。所列惟賑饑三千金。有內庫籍可考。　慈聖及　上皆大喜。坐私造寺院。遣戍雷州。非　上意也。達觀可公。急師之難。將走都門。遇於江上。師曰。君命也。其可違乎。為師作逐客說而別。師度庾嶺。入曹溪。抵五羊。赭衣見粤帥。就編伍於雷州。歲大疫。死者相枕籍。率眾掩薶。作廣薦法會。大雨平地三尺。癘氣立解。參政周君。率學子來扣擊。舉通乎晝夜之道而知發問。師曰。此聖人指示人。要悟不屬生死一著耳。周君憮然擊節。粤之孝秀馮昌歷輩。聞風來歸。師擬大慧冠巾說法。搆禪室於壁壘閒。說法華。至寶塔示現。娑婆華藏。涌現目前。開悟者甚眾。居󳱮五年。乃克住錫曹溪。歸侵田。斥僦舍。屠門酒肆。蔚為寶坊。緇白坌集。攝折互用。大鑒之道。勃焉中興。甲寅夏。師在湖東。　慈聖賓天。詔至慟哭。披剃返僧服。又二年。念達觀法門死生之誼。赴葬於雙徑。為作茶毗佛事。箴吳越禪人之病。作擔板歌。弔蓮池宏公於雲棲。發揮其密行。以示學者。自吳門返廬山。結庵五乳峰下。效遠公六時刻漏。專修淨業。居四年。復往曹溪。天啟三年癸亥。宣化公赴召來訪。劇談信宿。公謂師色力不難百歲。更坐二十餘夏。如彈指耳。師笑曰。老僧世緣將盡。幻身豈足把翫哉。別五日。果示微疾。韶陽守張君來問。師力辭醫藥。坐語如平時。既別。沐浴焚香。集眾告別。危坐而逝。十月之十一日也。曹溪水忽涸。百鳥哀鳴。夜有光燭天。三日入龕。面顏發紅。鬚髮皆長。鼻端微汗。手足如綿。僧徒驚告。謂師復生。蕭公語余衰老赴闕。䟦涉二萬里。何所為哉。天殆使為師作末後證明耳。嗚呼知言哉。師長身魁碩。氣宇堂堂。所至及物利生。機用善巧。如日晅雨潤。加被而人不知。山東再饑。師盡發其囷。親泛舟至遼東糴豆。以賑旁山之民。咸免捐瘠。稅使與󳱮帥有隙。嗾市民以白艚作難。羣噪圍帥府。師緩頰諭稅使解圍。不動聲色。會城以寧。珠船千艘。罷採不歸。剽掠海上。而開礦之役。繹騷尤甚。採使謁曹溪。師以佛法攝受。徐為言開採利害。由是珠船罷採不入海。而礦額令有司歲解。制府戴公詒書謝曰。吾乃今知佛祖慈悲之廣大也。師為余言居北臺。大雪高於屋數丈。昏夜可鑑毛髮。堅坐待盡。身心瑩然。遲明塔院僧穴雪以入。相𢹂行雪洞中里許乃出。當詔獄拷治時。忽入禪定。榜箠刺爇。若陷木石。逾年在雷陽。聞侍者趣呼。逮繫毒楚卒發。幾無完膚。此楞伽筆記所由作也。師東遊至嘉興楞嚴寺。萬眾圍繞。有隷人如狂易狀。搏顙不已。曰我寺西仲秀才也。身死尚在中陰。聞肉身菩薩出世附隷人身求解脫耳。師為說三歸五戒。問解脫否。曰解脫竟。懵然而覺。師之樹大法幢。為人天眼目。豈偶然哉。師世壽七十八。僧臘五十九。前後得度弟子甚眾。從師於獄。職納橐饘者。福善也。終始相依於粵者。善與通烱超逸通岸也。貴介子弟。剜臂然燈。以求師道。現大士像於瘡痂中。而坐脫以去者。即墨黃納善也。󳱮士歸依者。馮昌歷為上首。御史王安舜孝廉劉起相陳迪祥歐文起梁四相龍璋。皆昌歷之徒也。師所著有楞伽筆記。華嚴綱要。楞嚴懸鏡。法華擊節。楞嚴法華通議起信唯識解若干卷。觀老莊影響論。道德經解。大學中庸直指。春秋左氏心法。夢遊集又若干卷。嗟乎。師於世閒文字。豈必不逮古人。有不逮焉。亦糟粕耳。師於出世閒義諦。豈必不合古人。有不合焉。亦皮毛耳。惟師夙乘願輪。以大悲智。入煩惱海。以無畏力。處生死流。隨緣現身。應機接物。末後一著。全體呈露。後五百年。使人知有一大事因緣。是豈可以語言情見。擬議其短長者哉。是故讀師之書。不若聽師之言。聽師之言。又不若周旋瓶錫。夷考其生平。而有以知其願力之所存也。謙益下劣鈍根。荷師記莂。援据年譜行狀。以書茲石。其詞寧繁而不殺者。欲以示末法之儀的。啟眾生之正信也。銘曰。人生出沒。五濁世閒。生死之涂。屹立重關。重關峻復。誰不退墮。師子奮迅。一擲而過。濟河焚舟。縣車束馬。一鉢飛渡。誰我禦者。氷山蟄伏。雪窖沉埋。氷解凍釋。水流花開。光明四照。上徹帝閽。榮名利養。匪我思存。震霆赫怒。我性不遷。桁楊木索。說法熾然。覺範朱崕。妙喜梅州。雷陽萬里。謂我何求。軍持應器。橫戈杖錫。毀形壞衣。古有遺則。大鑒重徽。靈照不昧。屈㫬之衣。如施畫繢。師之示現。如雲出谷。觸石膚寸。雨不待族。雲歸雨藏。山川自如。孰執景光。以窺太虗。福德巍峩。文句璀璨。視此肉身。等一真幻。匡山不來。曹溪不去。塔光炳然。長照覺路　天啟七年丁卯九月朔常熟幅巾弟子錢謙益謹述。

> I, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming, held the golden wheel and ruled the world. Promoting the will of the compassionate and holy Empress Dowager Cisheng, I revered the Three Jewels to deepen my care for her. The Emperor was in the prime of life, but the heir star had not yet shone. The Empress Dowager worried about this and established a Dharma assembly on Mount Wutai to pray for an heir. Master Miaofeng Deng and Great Master Hanshan were the ones who actually led it. Emperor Guangzong, the Zhen Emperor, was then born at the appointed time. Thus both masters became known throughout the palace, like the udumbara flower appearing at the edge of the sky. Miaofeng did not leave Wangshe City and greatly carried out Buddhist works, while the Great Master made a journey to Leiyang. Wherever his karmic conditions led, they appeared in unexpected ways, certainly not something ordinary feelings could fathom. When the Great Master passed away at Caoxi, the Minister of Rites, Lord Xiao of Xuanhua, personally witnessed the wonders and told me of them. Later, Chen Dixiang of Nanhai came with a record of his deeds to ask me to write a pagoda inscription. I said, "My teacher Lord Xuanhua is here. Another day, please let him be the second." The following year, Yichou, his disciple living on Mount Lu named Fushan brought his whole body back to Wuru and left his nails and hair at Caoxi. He sent a letter saying, "When the Great Master traveled east and found you, he was delighted and said, 'The banner pole need not worry about falling.' As the lamp dimmed and the moon set, his earnest words were many. What he entrusted was most important. Who but you is fit to write the inscription before the pagoda?" How could I dare decline again? I respectfully note that the Master's dharma name was Deqing, his family name Cai, and he was from Quanjiao. His father was Yan'gao, his mother Lady Hong. She dreamed that a great being embraced and sent him, and then he was born. At seven, his uncle died, and the corpse lay on the bed. He asked his mother where one goes from there, and thus harbored doubt about death and birth, coming and going. At nine, he could recite the Universal Gateway Chapter. At twelve, he left his relatives and entered Bao'en Temple, relying on Monk Xilin. Lord Zhao Wensu of Neijiang rubbed his head and said, "This child will be a teacher of gods and humans one day." At nineteen, he shaved his head and received full ordination from a certain Master Wuji. He listened to lectures on the Profound Discourse of the Flower Garland Sutra. When he reached the Ten Mysterious Gates and the passage on the ocean seal wherein all things are permanently present, he awakened to the meaning of the Dharma realm's perfect interpenetration and endlessness. He admired the life of Qingliang and took the courtesy name Chengyin. He followed Master Yungu Hui to practice seated meditation at Tianjie Temple and zealously investigated. A boil broke out on his back. He prayed to the temple guardian deity, vowing to recite the Flower Garland Sutra ten times and asking for three months' leave to complete his meditation period. After praying, he fell into deep sleep. When he rose in the morning, his illness was completely gone. Within three months, he was as if in a dream. Going out into the marketplace, he was exactly like one sitting in meditation, not seeing a single person in the market. Master Xuelang En was one year older than the Master, and they relied on each other like Asanga and Vasubandhu. In the Bingyin year of Jiajing, the temple burned in a fire. They vowed together to cultivate virtue and wait for the time, hoping to restore it. Later, when the Master had risen prominently in the world, Xuelang finally became a great lecturer and repaired the old pagoda, somewhat fulfilling the vow. The Master once listened to lectures at Tianjie. The latrine was clean and swept, with no trace of anyone. He thought the one in charge of the eastern purity must be no ordinary person. He visited and found a yellow-faced sick monk whose gaze shot forth. He then made an appointment to travel with him. At dawn, the man had already gone. It was none other than Master Miaofeng Deng. The Master thought that the habits of Jiangnan were soft and warm, and that one should go to places of winter ice and summer snow, bitterly cold and unbearable, to sharply temper oneself. So he drifted north. It snowed heavily. Begging for food in the market of Guangling, he said, "My single bowl is enough to make light of ten thousand measures." Arriving in the capital, Miaofeng came in coarse cloth to visit. His beard and hair were unkempt, like a merchant from the north of the Yellow River. The Master looked at his pupils and recognized him. They looked at each other and smiled. He visited Master Bianrong Zhen. Rong said nothing and only opened his eyes wide and stared. He also visited Xiaoyan. Yan asked, "Where have you come from?" He said, "From the south." Yan said, "Do you remember the road you came by?" He said, "Once past, it is done." Yan said, "Your place of coming is clear." He traveled to Panshan and reached the stone chamber of Qianxiang Peak. He saw silent monks there, and together they gathered firewood and drew water for the summer. This was the guiyou year of Wanli, the first year. The next year, he spent the winter with Miaofeng at Puban. Reading the Treatise on Things Do Not Move, when he reached the passage about the brahmacharin leaving home, he suddenly understood the meaning of "the whirlwind levels the mountains." He wrote a verse: "Death and birth are day and night; the water flows, the flowers fade. Today I first know: the nostrils point downward." When Miaofeng saw it, he immediately asked what the Master had attained. The Master said, "Last night I saw two iron oxen in the river fighting and going into the water; since then there has been no news." Miaofeng said, "I am glad you have the capital to live on a mountain." He met Chan Master Faguang of Niushan and sat in consultation, seeking instruction. Faguang's voice issued like a heavenly drum, and the Master deeply resonated with him. Faguang sent him off to travel to Mount Wutai with a poem: "A lion in the snow rides in to see; a hidden dragon in the cave, release it and let it go." He also said, "Do you understand this meaning? You must not grasp a dead snake." The Master lived at Longmen on the North Terrace, in a few old rooms amid ten thousand mountains of ice and snow. At the turn of spring and summer, the rushing ice struck, and in the stillness it sounded like ten thousand horses galloping. He asked Miaofeng about it. Miaofeng brought up the ancients' case of hearing the sound of water for thirty years without turning the root of intention, and said he should realize Guanyin's perfect penetration. The Master agreed. Each day he sought a log bridge across the stream and sat upright on it. At first the sound of water was clear; after a long time, he suddenly forgot his body, all sounds were silent, and the water no longer clamored in his ears. One day after the morning gruel, as he walked in meditation, he suddenly stood still. Radiant light was like a great perfect mirror, and mountains, rivers, and the great earth appeared as reflections within it. When he awoke, body and mind were serene, and utterly unobtainable. He spoke a verse in praise. Traveling to Yanmen, the military commissioner Lord Hu asked him to compose a poem. As he was just formulating his thoughts, poetic lines crowded his throat and mouth. All that he had previously memorized and seen appeared before him in an instant. His whole body was a mouth, yet he could not spit it all out. The Master said, "This is what Faguang called the illness of Chan. Only deep sleep can dispel it." Wrapping his robe around him, he sat cross-legged for five days and nights. Lord Hu shook him, but he did not move. After several sounds of the clapper, he emerged from samadhi. Sitting silently and looking back, it was like breathing in and out. Living on the mountain and wandering on foot were all dreamlike matters. Their joy could not be described. Returning to the mountain, he wrote out the Flower Garland Sutra in his own blood. As he touched brush to paper, he recited the Buddha's name and did not stop responding to others. His mouth recited and his hand wrote, both perfectly clear. A neighboring monk found it strange and led his followers to pester him. In the end they all praised him and left. He once dreamed of attending Qingliang Great Master together with Miaofeng and receiving instructions. He first entered the contemplation of the Dharma realm's perfect interpenetration, and whatever was expounded, that state appeared. He also dreamed of ascending Maitreya's tower and hearing the Dharma: "Discrimination is consciousness; non-discrimination is wisdom. Depending on consciousness, there is defilement; depending on wisdom, there is purity. Defilement has birth and death; purity has no Buddhas." From then on, the distinction between consciousness and wisdom was perfectly clear in his mind and eyes. After the Master established the assembly to pray for an heir, he fled far away to Mount Lao in the Eastern Sea. Empress Dowager Cisheng ordered Monk Rui'an of Longhua Temple to seek him and sent envoys twice to summon him, but he could not be brought. She bestowed three thousand gold from the inner treasury, and he firmly declined again. The envoy did not dare report back. The Master said, "In ancient times there was the matter of forging an imperial edict to relieve famine. Shandong has had a bad harvest. Using this to spread the holy compassion to the starving people, would that not be acceptable?" The envoy returned with the relief register to report. Empress Dowager Cisheng was moved and sighed. She led the whole palace in donating gold to build a temple and bestowed the name Haiyin. The Master went to the capital to thank her for the grace and requested the canon for Bao'en Temple. The Emperor ordered the Master to escort it, and so he took the opportunity to return home to visit his parents. The temple pagoda emitted light for many days. On the day of welcoming the scriptures, the light was like a floating bridge crossing north, and the scriptures traveled within the pagoda's light. When the Master returned, he memorialized the whole matter of Bao'en Temple, saying, "I beg that the daily meal offerings be reduced by one hundred gold, and in ten years the work can be completed." Empress Dowager Cisheng approved it. In the yiwei year, the disaster from the Daoist priests arose. The Master had lived on the mountain for thirteen years, teaching the Dharma with skillful means, and the lands of the Eastern Sea, even among the Mi-li-che people, all turned to the Three Jewels. But the Daoists, on the pretext that he had encroached on their Daoist temple, sent flying memorials falsely accusing him. An edict was issued to arrest him and take him to the imperial prison. Earlier, Empress Dowager Cisheng had deeply revered the Buddhist vehicle and sent imperial envoys in all directions. Court eunuchs slandered and schemed, repeatedly speaking of the trouble and expense. The Emperor did not inquire into it, but their words were somewhat heard in the outer court. The authorities then took the Master as a rare prize, wishing thereby to implicate those around Empress Dowager Cisheng and also to investigate all the donations before and after, amounting to several hundred thousand in treasury gold. He was tortured thoroughly, yet the Master said nothing. Finally he calmly looked up and replied, "It would be easy, sir, for me to falsely confess. Once the case is completed, where will you place the Holy Mother? The several hundred thousand you are investigating is but a tiny fraction to the government. His Majesty is perfectly filial and would not, for a tiny fraction's sake, wound the Holy Mother's heart. After the case is completed, I fear there will be no way to apologize to the Holy Mother. If you press this case to the end, where will you return?" The presiding official's tongue hung out and he could not retract it. So the case was submitted, and what was listed was only the three thousand gold for famine relief, which could be verified in the inner treasury records. Empress Dowager Cisheng and the Emperor were both greatly pleased. He was sentenced for privately building a temple and exiled to Leiyang. This was not the Emperor's intention. Master Daguanke, anxious about the Master's trouble, was about to go to the capital and met him on the river. The Master said, "It is the ruler's command. Can it be disobeyed?" He wrote "A Discourse on Expelling the Guest" for the Master and took leave. The Master crossed Yu Ridge, entered Caoxi, and arrived at Wuyang. In reddish-brown prisoner's clothes he met the Guangdong commander and was enrolled in the ranks at Leiyang. That year there was a great epidemic, and the dead lay piled upon one another. He led the people to bury them and held a great universal offering Dharma assembly. A great rain fell three feet deep on the flat ground, and the pestilential air immediately dissolved. Vice Minister Zhou led students to come and question him. He raised the passage "comprehending the way of day and night and knowing" as a question. The Master said, "This is the sage pointing out to people that they must awaken to that which does not belong to birth and death." Lord Zhou was moved and clapped his hands. The learned and filial of Guangdong, Feng Changli and others, heard the wind and came to take refuge. The Master planned to follow Dahui's example of teaching the Dharma in a cap and scarf and built a Chan chamber amid the military camps. He expounded the Lotus Sutra. When he reached the appearance of the jeweled pagoda, the Saha world and the Flower Treasury realm surged forth before them. Those who awakened were very many. After living there five years, he was finally able to reside at Caoxi. He restored encroached fields and demolished rented houses. Slaughterhouses and wine shops became splendid monasteries. Monks and laity gathered in crowds. He used both gentle and forceful means, and the way of Great Master Huineng flourished again in revival. In the summer of jiayin, the Master was in Hudong. Empress Dowager Cisheng passed away. When the edict arrived, he wept bitterly, shaved his head, and returned to monk's robes. Two years later, mindful of the bond of Dharma and life and death with Daguanke, he went to Shuangjing for the burial and performed the cremation Buddhist service. He admonished the illness of Chan practitioners in Wu and Yue and wrote "Song of the Shoulder Pole." He mourned Master Lianchi Hong at Yunqi and brought out his secret practice to show learners. Returning from Wumen to Mount Lu, he built a hut below Wuru Peak. Imitating Master Huiyuan's six-period timekeeping, he devoted himself to pure practice. After four years, he again went to Caoxi. In the third year of Tianqi, guihai, Lord Xuanhua came at summons to visit. They talked deeply for two nights. Lord Xuanhua said the Master's physical strength would easily reach a hundred years, and another twenty summers of sitting would be like snapping the fingers. The Master laughed and said, "This old monk's worldly conditions are about to end. How could this illusory body be worth playing with?" Five days after parting, he indeed showed slight illness. The prefect of Shaoyang, Lord Zhang, came to ask after him. The Master firmly declined medicine. He sat and talked as usual. After they parted, he bathed, burned incense, assembled the assembly, and took leave. Sitting upright, he passed away. It was the eleventh day of the tenth month. The waters of Caoxi suddenly dried up. A hundred birds cried mournfully. At night there was light that lit the sky. Three days later he was placed in the coffin. His face turned red, his beard and hair all grew, there was slight moisture at the tip of his nose, and his hands and feet were like cotton. The monks were startled and announced that the Master had come back to life. Lord Xiao told me: "I am old and have gone to court, traveling twenty thousand li. For what? Heaven likely made me bear final testimony for the Master." Alas, how true those words were. The Master was tall and stalwart, with a dignified bearing. Wherever he went, he benefited beings and helped the living. His skillful means were善巧. Like the sun warming and rain moistening, he blessed people without their knowing. When Shandong again suffered famine, the Master emptied his granaries and personally took a boat to Liaodong to buy beans to relieve the people of the neighboring mountains. All were saved from death by starvation. The tax envoy and the regional commander had a rift. He incited the city people to make trouble with white boats. The crowd clamored and surrounded the commander's office. The Master gently mediated and persuaded the tax envoy to lift the siege. Without changing expression or voice, the provincial capital was calmed. A thousand pearl ships stopped gathering and did not return, plundering the seas. The mining service was especially disruptive. The mining envoy visited Caoxi. The Master received him with the Dharma and gradually spoke to him of the advantages and disadvantages of mining. Thereupon the pearl ships ceased gathering and did not go to sea, and the mining quota was ordered to be delivered annually by the authorities. Governor Dai wrote a letter of thanks, saying, "Only now do I know the greatness of the Buddhas' and Patriarchs' compassion." The Master told me that while living on the North Terrace, the great snow was several tens of feet higher than the house. In the dark night one could distinguish hairs. He sat firmly awaiting the end, body and mind luminous. At dawn the monks of the pagoda courtyard dug through the snow to enter. Together they walked in the snow cave for a li or so before coming out. When he was being tortured in the imperial prison, he suddenly entered samadhi. Beating, flogging, piercing, and burning were as if sinking into wood and stone. More than a year later at Leiyang, he heard an attendant urgently call. The poison of imprisonment and torture finally broke out, and there was almost no intact skin. This was why the Notes on the Lankavatara Sutra were written. When the Master traveled east to Jiaxing and reached Lengyan Temple, a great crowd surrounded him. There was a servant who seemed insane, knocking his head without stopping, saying, "I am the licentiate Zhong of the west of the temple. My body is dead and I am still in the intermediate state. Hearing that a flesh-body bodhisattva has appeared in the world, I have attached myself to a servant's body seeking liberation." The Master explained the Three Refuges and Five Precepts for him. He asked, "Are you liberated?" He said, "Liberated." Then he woke from his confusion. That the Master raised the great Dharma banner and became the eye of gods and humans—how could this be accidental? The Master's worldly lifespan was seventy-eight years, and his monastic years were fifty-nine. Before and after, those he saved were very many. The one who followed the Master in prison and provided food and drink was Fushan. Those who stayed with him from beginning to end in Guangdong were Shan, Tongjiong, Chaoyi, and Tong'an. Among noble youths, one cut his arm and lit a lamp to seek the Master's way, and an image of a great being appeared in the scar. Then he sat and passed away—Huang Nashan of Jimo. Among scholar-officials who took refuge, Feng Changli was foremost. Censor Wang Anshun, and the licentiates Liu Qixiang, Chen Dixiang, Ou Wenqi, and Liang Sixiang Longzhang were all Feng Changli's disciples. The Master's works include Notes on the Lankavatara Sutra, Essentials of the Flower Garland Sutra, Hanging Mirror of the Surangama Sutra, Striking the Joint of the Lotus Sutra, Comprehensive Discussions of the Surangama and Lotus Sutras, and Explanations of the Awakening of Faith and Consciousness-Only, in several fascicles. There are also On the Influence of Laozi and Zhuangzi, Explanation of the Daodejing, Direct Pointing at the Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean, and The Mind-Method of the Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Dream Travels Collection is in several more fascicles. Alas! As for the Master's worldly writings, how could they necessarily fail to reach the ancients? If there is anything that fails to reach them, it is mere dregs. As for the Master's supramundane truth, how could it necessarily fail to accord with the ancients? If there is anything that does not accord, it is mere skin and hair. Only the Master, long riding the wheel of vows, with the wisdom of great compassion entered the sea of afflictions, and with fearless power dwelt in the stream of birth and death. Appearing according to conditions, responding to capacities and meeting beings, in his final act he fully revealed his whole being. For the next five hundred years, he will let people know there is one great matter. How could one use words and emotional views to measure his strengths and weaknesses? Therefore, reading the Master's books is not as good as hearing the Master's words. Hearing the Master's words is not as good as accompanying his bottle and staff, examining his whole life, and thereby knowing where his vow-power lay. I, Qian Qianyi, am of inferior and dull faculties, but I received the Master's prediction. Drawing on the chronological biography and records of conduct, I write this stone. Its words would rather be abundant than abbreviated, wishing to show the standard for the Dharma-ending age and awaken living beings' right faith. The inscription says: People emerge and sink in the world of five turbidities; on the road of birth and death stands a heavy gate. The heavy gate is steep and layered—who does not retreat and fall? The lion leaps and surges, passing through in one bound. Crossing the river, burning the boats, hanging up the chariots, binding the horses. A single bowl flies across—who can stop me? Hidden on an ice mountain, buried in a snow pit. Ice melts, frost releases; water flows, flowers open. Radiant light shines in four directions, reaching up to the imperial gate. Glory, fame, profit, and offerings are not what I cherish. The thunderbolt of imperial wrath—my nature does not move. In stocks, chains, and ropes, I preach the Dharma blazingly. Juefan at Zhuwu, Miaoxi at Meizhou, Leiyang ten thousand li—what do they seek from me? The water bottle and alms bowl, spear across, staff and tin. Destroying form and changing clothes—in ancient times there were such examples. The Great Master Huineng's revival of the jeweled robe, the spirit illumination not dim. The robe of Quxun is like applied painting. The Master's manifestation is like clouds emerging from a valley. Touching stone, an inch of moisture; rain does not wait for the gathering. Clouds return, rain hides; mountains and rivers are as they are. Who grasps a ray of light to peer at the great void? Blessings and virtues towering, phrases brilliant. Beholding this flesh body as equal to one true illusion. Mount Kuang does not come; Caoxi does not go. The pagoda light shines brightly, forever illuminating the road of awakening. Written respectfully by Qian Qianyi, cloth-capped disciple of Changshu, on the first day of the ninth month of the seventh year of Tianqi, dingmao.