No. 1558-A雷庵受禪師行業
Master Lei An's Life and Work
師諱正受。字虗中。號雷庵。出蘇之常熟邵氏。年十六。肄儒業。因游邑之慧日寺。與主僧心鑒語。異其敏慧。類若夙習。乃曰。世境虗幻。百年一瞬。讀世書選官。盍若究出世法以選佛邪。師善其言。毅欲超俗。坐孤養母。懷不敢發。居鬱鬱若有失。母恠而詰之。具道所以。頗難之。師遂舉偈曰。唱徹黃鍾宮。吹成大石調。萬古絕知音。驢揀濕處尿。母知其志不可奪。即赴愬於外祖。祖贊成之。俾禮鑒薙落登具。遊方。首見應庵華於天童。機緣不契。回淨慈。依月堂昌。昌峭峻。少許可。識師於室中。留侍左右。一旦。指續燈喟歎曰。佛祖之道。潛通廣被。曾何僧俗之間。是書獨取於比丘。而於王侯．士庶．尼師。皆遺而不錄。燈雖曰續。如照之不普。何爾盍為。掇所闕遺。抉具宗眼者備成之。普燈之作。遂權輿矣。尋謁無庵全於道場。瞎堂遠於虎丘仁㑃堂。住中竺。延寘上首。未幾還里。真查梨王化萬壽。一見相得。俾之分座說法。師視之不屑。慶元之初。泛霅過 都。憩湖上之壽星院。翛然返關。邈與世接。愚時獲摳衣。即進請益。竊謂。達磨西來。直指人心。見性成佛。不立文字。及傳二祖。付楞伽四卷。以印佛心。非文字而何。願祛其惑。師開示善巧。疑情氷釋。因言。是經蘊奧。讀者尚不能句。請為詮辨。以幸來學。當為鋟梓。師乃欣然發揮義趣。又因寂音所著楞嚴。𨤲正補葺。廣為合論。繼踐月堂之屬。成普燈三十卷。歲十七遷而絕編。表進于 朝。三書咸板行于世。又藏經四大部。華嚴居一焉。李長者復衍而論之。文富義愽。鮮有能終誦者。師乃括擿摳要。芟夷冗長。貫八十卷之經。兼四十卷之論。束為三卷。言約理詣。如措諸掌。悉蒙指授。師天資純至。識見超卓。以闡教弘宗為心。斥遠聲利。故屢却名剎之招。方遁跡藏密。庵居呫郊。廼以嘉定改元。歲在戊辰。示微疾。索筆書偈。奄忽而逝。時十一月二十八日也。壽六十三。臘四十七。
The Master, whose Dharma name was Zhengshou, style name Xuzhong, and sobriquet Lei'an, was born into the Shao family of Changshu, Suzhou. At sixteen, he studied Confucian classics. While visiting the local Huiri Temple, he spoke with the abbot, Master Xinjian. Impressed by his sharpness and how it seemed like old habits, Xinjian said, "The worldly realm is illusory. A hundred years pass in a flash. Reading worldly books to become an official—how does that compare to studying the Dharma of liberation to become a Buddha?" The Master agreed wholeheartedly. He was determined to leave worldly life, but he had an elderly mother to care for and dared not act. He sat at home listlessly, as if something were lost. His mother, noticing this, questioned him. He explained everything, but she was reluctant. The Master then recited a verse:
"Let the Yellow Bell pitch be sung through, Blown into the Great Stone tune— For ten thousand years, no one knows the melody, But a donkey picks a wet spot to piss."
Knowing his will could not be changed, his mother sought help from his maternal grandfather, who supported the decision. So, the Master was allowed to take refuge under Xinjian, shave his head, and receive full ordination. He then set out to travel.
His first stop was at Tiantong Monastery to see Master Ying'an Huatan, but their connection wasn't right. He returned to Jingci Monastery to follow Master Yuantang Chang. Chang was stern and rarely approving of anyone. He recognized the Master's potential and kept him by his side. One day, pointing to the *Lamp Transmission* texts, Chang sighed, "The path of the Buddhas and Patriarchs flows subtly and universally, with no distinction between monks and laypeople. Yet this text only records monks, omitting kings, nobles, scholars, commoners, and nuns. Though called a 'continuation,' it shines like a lamp that does not reach everywhere. Why don't you gather the omissions and, with true eye of the lineage, compile a complete work?" This sparked the creation of the *Universal Lamp*.
Soon, the Master visited Master Wu'an Quan at Daochang Monastery and Xiayuan Yuan at Huqiu Renzhaotang. He was placed as a senior monk at Zhongzhu Monastery. Not long after, he returned home. He met Zhenzhali Wang at Longevity Monastery, who welcomed him and offered him a seat to expound the Dharma, but the Master considered this beneath him. At the beginning of the Qingyuan era (1195-1201), he drifted via the Zha River to the capital, resting at Shouxing Hall by West Lake. He shut his door in seclusion, cutting himself off from worldly contact.
I, Yuchi, was then a disciple. Prostrating myself, I asked for guidance. I stated my doubt: "Bodhidharma came from the West, pointed directly to the mind, saw one's nature to become a Buddha, and established no words. Yet when he transmitted to the Second Patriarch, he gave him the *Lankavatara Sutra* in four volumes as a seal of the Buddha-mind. Is that not words? Please dispel my confusion." The Master taught skillfully, and my doubt melted like ice. Then I said, "This sutra is profound and obscure. Readers can hardly even parse the sentences. Please elucidate its meaning for the sake of future students. I will have it carved for print." The Master joyfully articulated its insights. He also corrected and supplemented the *Shurangama* commentary by Ji Yin, expanding it into a comprehensive treatise. Thereafter, he fulfilled Yuantang Chang's commission, completing the *Universal Lamp* in thirty volumes. Seventeen years passed before the work was finished. It was presented to the court. All three books were printed and circulated.
Among the four great sections of the Buddhist canon, the *Avatamsaka Sutra* is one. Elder Li extended it with a commentary, rich in words and broad in meaning, but few could finish reading it. The Master extracted the essentials, cut away the superfluous, synthesized the eighty-fascicle sutra with the forty-fascicle commentary, and bound them into three fascicles. The words were concise, the principles clear, laid out as plain as the palm of one's hand. All were transmitted through his teachings.
The Master was pure by nature, with extraordinary insight. He devoted himself to spreading the teachings and promoting the lineage, rejecting fame and profit. He repeatedly declined invitations to famous monasteries. Instead, he concealed his traces and lived in a hermitage on the outskirts of Tige. In the inaugural year of the Jiading era (1208), on December 5, he showed a slight illness, called for a brush to write a verse, and passed away peacefully. He was sixty-three years old, with forty-seven years as a monk.
辛未歲元日授法弟子武德郎敬庵黃(汝霖)謹誌
Recorded on New Year's Day in the Xinwei Year, by Emperor Wu De's disciple Jing'an Huang(Rulin), respectfully.