一釋惠遠
Master Huiyuan (Shi Huiyuan)
鴈門人也。少遊學于許洛。博總經史。尤通莊老。時道安於大行。弘贊像法。聲聞甚著。遠往歸之。一面盡敬。後聽安講般若經。[容*各]然開悟。乃曰。九流異議。皆糠粃爾。與母弟惠持。投簪事之。風韻嚴肅。容止方稜。安每歎曰。使教流東土。其在遠乎。至二十四。大善講貫。欲南之羅浮。路出見尋陽。見廬峯青峻。意頗樂之。然所憇去水猶遠。遠以杖扣地曰。若此可居。當使朽壤抽泉。艮時泉涌。創東林以居之。謝靈運負才傲物少所推許。一與遠接。肅然心服。遠內通佛教。外善儒書。自居廬山三十年。影不出山。迹不入俗。遠自著法性論十四篇。羅什見而歎曰。漢地人未見新經。便闇與理會。又曰。此人思理乃爾轉非登住法身耶。遠公雖博綜群經。而以西方教跡。持為樞安(〔考〕安。恐要)乃於[(富-一)-曰+口]下。造淨土觀堂。晨夕禮念高僧名賢。皆往師之。劉遺民。雷次宗。周續之。畢頴之。宗炳。張野。并棄世遺榮。依遠遊止。遠與遺民而下僧俗一百廿三人。結為淨社。於彌陀像前。建誠立誓。期升安養。仍令遺民撰文刻之。當時或稱蓮社。蓋指群心誓生之所尒。義●十二年八月一日動散。至于六日。[窪-圭+?]加困篤。大德耆年。皆相稽顙。請飲豉酒。遠曰。以道瘡病。律無適文。請飲米(〔考〕米寶集作未)飲。又曰。月過中矣。已而請飲密漿。乃命律師。披律尋文。文未之半。遠已已(〔考〕已戒傳作亡)焉。春秋八十三。道俗雲委車軌。為之結道。於其山西。𮢶壙以葬。而靈運宗炳。一時名賢。追悼遺德。迭為銘誌。遠於淨土之修。克勤千(〔考〕千寶集作十)念。初憩盧山。十一年。澄心繫想。三觀勝(〔考〕三觀勝寶集作二覩聖)相。而遠沉厚不言。後十九年七月晦夕。遠於般若臺之東龕。方由定起。見彌陀佛身。滿虛空。圓光之中。有諸化佛。又見觀音勢尤(〔考〕尤恐至)侍立左右。又見水流光明。分十四支。一一支水。流注上下。自能演設(〔考〕設寶集作說)□(〔考〕苦字缼歟)空無常無成(〔考〕成。恐我)佛共(〔考〕共恐告)遠曰。我以本願力故。未(〔考〕未寶集作來)安慰汝之後七日。當生我國。又見佛陀邪(〔考〕邪恐耶)舍。與惠持曇順。在佛之側。前揖遠曰。法師之志。在吾先。何來之遲也。遠既自(〔考〕自恐目)擊分明。又審精爽不亂。乃與其徒法淨惠寶等。具言所見。因吉(〔考〕吉恐告)淨曰。始吾右(〔考〕右寶集作居)此十一年。幸於淨土。三觀勝相。今復見之。吾生淨土決定矣。次日寢疾。又謂淨曰。七日之期。斯其漸也。汝徒自勉。無以世間情累拘也。至期果卒。
A native of Yanmen. In his youth he traveled to Xu and Luo to study, mastering the classics and histories, and especially well-versed in the writings of Zhuangzi and Laozi. At that time, Dao'an was on Mount Taihang, promoting the Buddha's teachings with great renown. Huiyuan went to him and, at first sight, paid him the utmost respect. Later, he listened to Dao'an lecture on the *Prajnaparamita Sutra*, and was suddenly enlightened. He said, "All the various schools of thought are nothing but chaff." He and his younger brother, Huichi, shaved their heads and became his disciples. With a dignified and solemn demeanor and proper conduct, Dao'an often sighed, saying, "If the teaching is to flow to the East, it will surely be through this man." At twenty-four, he was very skilled in lecturing and explaining. He wished to go south to Luofu, and on his way passed by Xunyang. Seeing the green and majestic peak of Mount Lu, he felt quite delighted. However, the place where he rested was still far from a water source. Huiyuan struck the ground with his staff and said, "If this is a suitable place to dwell, let water spring from the dry soil." Immediately, water gushed forth. He then established the Donglin Monastery to live there. Xie Lingyun, who was proud of his talent and looked down on others, rarely praised anyone. But after a single meeting with Huiyuan, he was respectfully convinced. Huiyuan was deeply versed in Buddhism and externally skilled in Confucian texts. He lived on Mount Lu for thirty years, his shadow never leaving the mountain, his presence never entering the secular world. The *Treatise on the Nature of Reality* in fourteen chapters that Huiyuan himself wrote was seen by Kumarajiva, who exclaimed, "Men of China have seen no new scriptures, and yet they are mysteriously in accord with the truth!" He also said, "This man's contemplation is such—is he not, after all, a Dharma-body Bodhisattva of the stage of non-retrogression?"
Although Master Huiyuan was broadly versed in all the sutras, he held the Western Pure Land teachings as his core principle(Textual note: The character "安" (an) is likely a mistake for "要" (yao, essential).). Therefore, at the foot of the mountain, he built a Pure Land contemplation hall. Morning and evening, he practiced recitation and reverence. Eminent monks and renowned scholars all went to study with him. Liu Yimin, Lei Cizong, Zhou Xuzhi, Bi Yingzhi, Zong Bing, and Zhang Ye all abandoned worldly affairs and glory, following Huiyuan and staying with him. Huiyuan, together with Liu Yimin and the others—123 people in all, both monastics and laypeople—formed a Pure Society. Before the image of Amitabha, they made a sincere oath, vowing to be reborn in the Land of Peace and Nourishment. They had Liu Yimin write a text describing the event, which was carved in stone. Sometimes it was called the Lotus Society, referring to the collective aspiration for rebirth there.
On the first day of the eighth month of the twelfth year of the Yixi era (416 CE), he became ill with dysentery. By the sixth day, his condition grew critical. The senior monks and elders all prostrated themselves, begging him to take some fermented soybean broth. Huiyuan said, "According to the Vinaya, the rule regarding illness does not permit this." They begged him to take rice gruel. He said, "The noon hour has passed." Then they begged him to take honey water. He instructed the Vinaya master to look up the rule in the texts. Before the Vinaya master had read halfway, Huiyuan had already passed away(Textual note: The character "已" (yi) may be a mistake for "亡" (wang, died).). He was eighty-three years old. Monastics and laypeople gathered like clouds; the ruts of their carriages filled the road. They dug a grave on the western side of the mountain and buried him. Xie Lingyun and Zong Bing, both famous scholars of the time, mourned his departed virtue and composed eulogies and epitaphs.
Huiyuan diligently cultivated the ten recollections of the Pure Land. Originally, when he first settled on Mount Lu, for eleven years, he concentrated his mind and focused his thoughts, but only had three visions of the sacred form, and Huiyuan remained deeply silent about it. Later, on the evening of the last day of the seventh month, nineteen years after the first vision, Huiyuan, just arising from concentration in the eastern niche of the *Prajna* Terrace, saw the body of Amitabha Buddha filling all of space. In the circle of light were numerous transformation Buddhas. He also saw Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta standing on either side. He also saw flowing water and radiant light, divided into fourteen streams. Each stream of water flowed up and down, naturally proclaiming the teachings of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and no-self. The Buddha said to Huiyuan, "By the power of my original vow, I have come to comfort you. Seven days from now, you will be reborn in my land." He also saw Buddhas, along with Huichi and Tan Shun, standing by the Buddha's side. They bowed to Huiyuan and said, "Dharma Master, your aspiration was before ours. Why are you so late in coming?" Having seen this clearly with his own eyes, and knowing that his spiritual clarity was undisturbed, Huiyuan told his disciples, Fajing and Huibao, all that he had seen. Then he said to Jing, "When I first dwelled here eleven years ago, I was fortunate in the Pure Land to have three visions of the sacred form. Now I have seen them again. My rebirth in the Pure Land is certain." The next day he became ill. He then said to Jing, "The seven-day period is approaching. Do your best, my disciples, and do not be bound by worldly attachments." At the appointed time, he indeed passed away.