傅大士
Fu Dashi
大士姓傅。名翕。字玄風。婺州義烏縣人。父名宣慈。字廣愛。母王氏。世為農。以齊建武四年丁丑歲。五月八日生。端靖淳和。無所愛著。少不學問。時與里人漁。每得魚。常以竹籠盛之。沉深水中。祝曰。去者去。止者留。時人以為愚。梁天監十一年。年十六歲。娶劉氏。名曰玅光。生子。一曰普建。二曰普成。普通元年。年二十四。於稽停塘下。遇一梵僧。號嵩頭陀。語大士曰。我昔與汝於毗婆尸佛前發願。汝今兜率天宮受用現在。何時當還。因命臨水觀影。乃見圓光寶葢。大士笑曰。鑪鞴之所多鈍銕。良醫門下足病人。當度生為急。何暇思天之樂乎。於是結菴松山下雙檮樹間。即今雙林寺是。自號雙樹下當來解脫善慧大士。日與玅光營作。夜則行道。見釋迦金粟定光三佛。放光集大士身。從是身常出妙香。又感七佛相隨。釋迦引前。維摩接後。每旦鐘鳴。有仙人騰空而下。隨喜行道。甞謂弟子曰。我得首楞嚴三昧。又曰。我得無漏智。弟子僉曰。首楞嚴三昧。唯十地菩薩。方能得之。故知大士是住十地菩薩。示迹同凡耳。告大眾曰。學道若不值無生師。終不得道。我是現前得無生人。昔隱此事。今不覆藏。以示汝等。又弟子禮拜。大士因謂之曰。汝等禮我。但禮殿中佛。即我形像。又曰。我於夢中。憶得過去師。名曰。善明世尊。或問曰。善明世尊。得道時師耶。發心時師耶。答曰。非發心時師也。彼佛出世時。我為國王。供養彼佛。彼佛壽八萬歲。我作佛時。壽量亦爾。大通六年。大士詣闕。武帝問大士。師事從誰。答曰。從無所從。師無所師。事無所事。自是天下。名僧雲集。此處常降甘露。大士躬寫經律。千有餘卷。願諸眾生。離苦解脫。大士三至京師。所度道俗。不可勝計。謂弟子曰。我於賢劫千佛中。一佛耳。若願生千佛中。即得見我。又告眾曰。我捨此身時。期嵩頭陀。蹔往忉利天。不久還兜率天。汝願生彼。即得見我也。大同八年。立誓持上齋。作願文曰。弟子善慧。今啟釋迦世尊。十方三世諸佛。盡虗空徧法界。常住三寶。弟子自念今生。無可從心布施。拔濟受苦眾生。自今立誓三年。持上齋。每月六日不飲食。以此饑渴之苦。代一切眾生酬償罪業。速得解脫。以不食之糧。廣作布施。願諸眾生。世世備足財法無量。永離愛染。不作三業。得大總持。摧伏諸魔。成無上道。誓捨身命財。普為一切供養諸佛。謹持不食上齋。而取滅度。執志燒身。為大明鐙。為一切供養三寶。遂先告眾曰。莫懷憂惱。夫物有生有死。事有成有敗。天下恩愛。皆悉離別。今捨此穢濁之身。當得無上清淨法身。唯願徒眾。無懷悲戀。生生世世。不相捨離。永為眷屬。至成佛道。但自相率。共辦樵薪。於雙林山頂。營作火龕。願以此因緣。當來世界。必為佛事。普度一切。共同解脫。至四月八日。弟子留堅意。范難陀等。十有九人。各請奉代師主。持不食上齋。及燒身供養三寶。復有四部弟子。刺心燒指。割耳。留大士久住世間。又曰。吾悟道已四十劫。釋迦世尊方始發心。葢謂能捨身苦行。所以先我成佛耳。嵩頭陀入滅。大士心自知之。乃集諸弟子曰。嵩公已還兜率天宮待我。我同度眾生之人。去已盡矣。我決不久住於世。乃作還源詩十二章。時太建元年。歲次己丑。夏四月。丙申朔。大士寢疾。告其子普建普成二法師曰。我從第四天來。為度眾生故。汝等慎護三業。精勤六度。行懺悔法。免墮三塗。二師因問曰。脫不住世。眾或離散。佛殿不成若何。大士曰。我去世後。或可現相。至二十四日乙卯。大士入涅槃。時年七十三。肉色不變。至三日。舉身還煖。形相端潔。轉手柔軟。更七日。烏傷縣令。陳鍾耆。來求香火。結緣因。取香及四眾。次第傳之。次及大士。大士猶反手受香。沙門法璿等曰。我等有幸。預蒙菩薩示還源相。手自傳香。表存非異。使後世知聖化餘芳。初大士之未亡也。語弟子曰。我滅度後。莫移我臥牀。後七日。當有法猛上人。送織成彌勒佛像來。長鎮我牀上。用標形相也。及至七日。果將彌勒佛像。并一小銅鐘子。安大士牀上。猛時作禮流淚。須臾忽然不見(詳載本傳。此乃大士證首楞嚴三昧。示現如是。如首楞嚴三昧經明)。
The Great Master, whose family name was Fu, given name Xi, and courtesy name Xuanfeng, was a native of Yiwu County in Wuzhou. His father was named Xuanci, with the courtesy name Guang'ai, and his mother was from the Wang family. For generations, the family had been farmers. He was born on the eighth day of the fifth month in the fourth year of the Jianwu era of the Qi dynasty, in the year of Dingchou.
From a young age, he was upright, serene, and gentle, without attachment to anything. In his youth, he did not pursue scholarly learning but would often go fishing with the villagers. Whenever he caught fish, he would place them in a bamboo basket and lower it into the deep water, praying, "Those who wish to leave, let them leave; those who wish to stay, let them stay." The people of his time thought he was foolish.
In the eleventh year of the Tianjian era of the Liang dynasty, at the age of sixteen, he married a woman named Liu, whose given name was Miaoguang. They had two sons: the first named Pujian, and the second named Pucheng.
In the first year of the Putong era, at the age of twenty-four, he encountered a foreign monk named the Venerable Song (Song Toutuo) beneath the Qiqi Pond. The monk said to the Great Master, "In the past, you and I made a vow before the Buddha Vipashyin. You are now enjoying the blessings of the Tusita Heaven, but when will you return?" He then had the Great Master look at his reflection in the water, and the Great Master saw a radiant halo and a jeweled canopy. The Great Master smiled and said, "In a forge, there is much scrap iron; at the door of a good physician, there are many patients. I should focus on liberating sentient beings—how can I spare the time to think of heavenly pleasures?"
Consequently, he built a hermitage beneath the twin camphor trees on Songshan Mountain, which is now the site of Twin Trees Monastery (Shuanglin Temple). He took the name "Shanhui Dashi, the Future Deliverer under the Twin Trees." During the day, he worked alongside Miaoguang, and at night, he practiced the Way. He then saw the Buddhas Shakyamuni, Jinsu (Golden Grain), and Dipankara emit light that gathered into his body. From that time onward, his body constantly emitted a wonderful fragrance. He also sensed the seven Buddhas following him, with Shakyamuni leading in front and Vimalakirti following behind. Every morning at the sound of the bell, a celestial being would descend from the sky, rejoice, and practice the Way with him.
He once told his disciples, "I have attained the Samadhi of Heroic Advance (Shurangama Samadhi)." He also said, "I have attained the wisdom of non-outflow." His disciples all said, "The Shurangama Samadhi can only be attained by bodhisattvas at the tenth ground." Thus, they knew that the Great Master was a tenth-ground bodhisattva, manifesting in ordinary form for the sake of sentient beings.
He proclaimed to the assembly, "If one studies the Way but does not encounter a teacher of birthlessness, one will never attain the Way. I am one who has presently realized birthlessness. In the past, I kept this hidden; now I no longer conceal it, and I reveal it to you all."
When his disciples bowed to him, the Great Master said to them, "When you bow to me, you are merely bowing to the Buddha in the hall, for that is my form." He also said, "In my dreams, I recall my teacher from the past, whose name was Shanjian Shijun (Good Light World-Honored One)." Someone asked, "Was Shanjian Shijun your teacher when you attained the Way, or when you first aroused the mind?" He replied, "He was not my teacher at the time of my initial aspiration. When that Buddha appeared in the world, I was a king and made offerings to him. That Buddha's lifespan was eighty thousand years. When I become a Buddha, my lifespan will be the same."
In the sixth year of the Datong era, the Great Master went to the imperial court. Emperor Wu asked him, "Who do you follow as your teacher?" He replied, "Following that which has no source; teaching without a teacher; serving without a task." From then on, famous monks gathered from across the land, and nectar frequently descended at this place. The Great Master personally copied more than a thousand volumes of sutras and vinaya texts, praying that all sentient beings might be freed from suffering and attain liberation.
The Great Master journeyed to the capital three times, and the number of monks and laypeople he guided was incalculable. He said to his disciples, "Among the thousand Buddhas of the Fortunate Eon, I am but one. If you wish to be born among those thousand Buddhas, you will be able to see me." He also told the assembly, "When I abandon this body, I have agreed with the Venerable Song to visit the Heaven of the Thirty-Three for a short while, and soon after, I will return to the Tusita Heaven. If you aspire to be reborn there, you will see me."
In the eighth year of the Datong era, he made a vow to observe the supreme fast and wrote a vow statement: "Your disciple Shanhui now makes this declaration before Shakyamuni, the World-Honored One, and all Buddhas of the ten directions and three times, throughout all space and the entire Dharma realm, in the presence of the eternal Triple Gem. Your disciple reflects that in this life, I have no means to offer gifts according to my heart's desire to rescue and liberate suffering sentient beings. From this day forward, I vow for three years to observe the supreme fast, abstaining from food and drink on the six monthly observance days. May the suffering of this hunger and thirst serve as repayment for the karmic debts of all sentient beings, so that they may quickly attain liberation. May the food I forgo be widely offered as a gift. I pray that all sentient beings, in life after life, may be fully endowed with immeasurable wealth and Dharma, forever free from attachment and defilement, committing no deeds of body, speech, or mind. May they obtain the great total retention (dharani), subdue all demons, and accomplish the supreme Way. I vow to sacrifice my body, life, and possessions, universally making offerings to all Buddhas for the sake of all beings. I sincerely uphold the supreme fast of not eating, and then enter cessation. With firm resolve, I will burn my body as a great bright lamp, making offering to the Triple Gem for the sake of all."
He then announced to the assembly, "Do not harbor worry or sorrow. All things that are born must die; all undertakings have their successes and failures. All loved ones in the world must eventually part. Now I abandon this impure and turbid body, and I will attain the supreme pure Dharmakaya. I only ask that my followers not be sad or attached, but that life after life, we never abandon one another, remaining as kin until we achieve Buddhahood. Simply gather together and prepare firewood, and on the summit of Twin Trees Mountain, construct a pyre chamber. May this merit serve as a cause for future worlds, that I may surely engage in Buddha work, universally deliver all beings, and together with them attain liberation."
On the eighth day of the fourth month, nineteen disciples, including Liu Jianyi and Fan Nantuo, each requested to offer themselves on behalf of their teacher, observing the supreme fast and burning their bodies as offerings to the Triple Gem. Moreover, disciples of the four assemblies pierced their hearts, burned their fingers, and cut off their ears, pleading for the Great Master to remain long in the world.
He also said, "I awakened to the Way forty kalpas ago, and only then did Shakyamuni, the World-Honored One, first arouse his mind. It was because he was able to renounce his body and undergo ascetic practices that he attained Buddhahood before me."
When the Venerable Song entered cessation, the Great Master knew it in his heart. He gathered his disciples and said, "The Venerable Song has already returned to the Tusita Heaven to await me. The people who were to be delivered alongside me have all departed. I will certainly not remain in this world much longer." He then composed twelve poems on returning to the source.
In the first year of the Taijian era, in the year of Jichou, in the fourth month of summer, on the day of Bingshen, the Great Master took to his bed due to illness. He said to his sons, the Dharma Masters Pujian and Pucheng, "I have come from the Fourth Heaven in order to deliver sentient beings. You must carefully protect the three karmas, diligently cultivate the six perfections, and practice the method of repentance so as to avoid falling into the three lower realms." The two masters asked, "If you should not remain in this world, the assembly may disperse, and the Buddha hall may not be completed—what then?" The Great Master said, "After I depart this world, perhaps I will manifest a sign."
On the twenty-fourth day, in the year of Yimao, the Great Master entered parinirvana at the age of seventy-three. His complexion did not change. After three days, his entire body became warm again, his appearance remained pure and dignified, and his hands became soft and pliable. After seven more days, the magistrate of Wushang County, Chen Zhongqi, came to request incense and to form a karmic connection. He took the incense, and the four assemblies passed it around in sequence. When it came to the Great Master, he still turned his hand to receive the incense. The monk Fa Xuan and others said, "We are truly fortunate to have witnessed the bodhisattva's manifestation of the return-to-source sign, personally passing the incense with his own hand, showing that he was not truly gone, so that later generations might know the remaining fragrance of this holy teaching."
Before the Great Master passed away, he told his disciples, "After my cessation, do not move my bed. Seven days later, the Venerable Fa Meng will come, bringing a woven image of Maitreya Buddha, which is to remain permanently on my bed as a mark of my form." On the seventh day, indeed, Fa Meng arrived with the Maitreya image and a small bronze bell, which he placed upon the Great Master's bed. Fa Meng bowed and wept for a moment, and then suddenly disappeared. ( As detailed in the full biography, this is how the Great Master, having realized the Shurangama Samadhi, manifested such signs, as explained in the Shurangama Samadhi Sutra.)