止觀輔行傳弘決序
Preface to the Great Calming and Contemplation Commentary
宗虛無者名教之道廢。遺文字者述作之義乖。古先梵皇乘時利見。聖賢道契德音莫違。尚假言詮寄諸結集。況時淹像季學鮮知幾。領會之賓十無一二。至有窮年默坐甘節於惛懵。白首論心遲回於半滿。人之多僻其若是乎。未階捫象各陳乳色。或謂即心是佛悟入之門。色不異空本末誰迹。將冥絕待章句何施。嗚呼大教陵夷若是。蓋由未辨文字之性離孰喻總持之功深。惟昔智者大師降生示世。誕敷玄德大拯橫流。咨覆簣於大思振絕維於龍猛。命家作古以中觀為師宗。立極建言以上乘為歸趣。爰付灌頂。頂公引而伸之。欽若弘持廣有記述。教門戶牖自此重明。繼之以法華威。威公宿植不愆于素。復次天宮威。威公敬承如水傳器。授之於左谿玄朗。朗公卓絕天機獨斷。相沿說釋遑恤我文。載揚於毘壇湛然。然公間生總角頴悟。左谿深相器異誓以傳燈。嘗言止觀二門乃統萬行。圓頓之設一以貫之。噫。纘承四世年將二百。魚魯斯訛不無同異。方將繹思津導玄流。遂廣斥邪疑旁薄今古。質而不野博而不繁。著輔行記凡十卷。備前聖廣略之旨允今人勝劣之機。豈唯錯綜所聞將以隱括所治。所治即行三多之妙運遽階。所聞唯解一真之玄覽斯㳷。夫行有岐路則始終天隔。解無方隅亦淺深隨類。建言輔行以舉其全。故自遠方來詢疑請益。擊蒙發覆孜孜日夕。庶幾幽贊欽若傳弘。道之將行不孤運矣。咨予末學輕議上乘。其猶爝火增輝二曜。君山除饉男普門子敬序。時永泰首元興唐八葉之四載。
Those who advocate emptiness as the ultimate truth undermine the path of conventional teachings. Those who abandon words and texts violate the principle of composition and transmission. In ancient times, the primordial Buddhas appeared in the world at the right time to benefit beings. The holy sages and enlightened ones shared the same truth, and their virtuous words were never contradicted. Yet even they relied on verbal expressions to compile their teachings into scriptures. How much more so in these degenerate times, when few students of the Dharma possess real insight. Those who truly comprehend number scarcely one or two in ten. Some spend years in silent meditation, stubbornly clinging to dull confusion; others debate endlessly until their hair turns white, hesitating between partial and complete teachings. People's misguided tendencies are like this. Without having touched the elephant, each describes its shape according to their own limited perception. Some say the mind itself is the Buddha as the gate to awakening; others that form is not different from emptiness—but where is the trace of beginning and end? If we aim to transcend all dependence, what use are scriptures and commentaries? Alas! The great teaching has declined to such an extent precisely because people fail to understand the nature of words and texts. Who can fathom the profound power of total retention? Long ago, the Great Master Zhiyi was born into this world, spreading vast virtue and rescuing beings from the flood of confusion. He built upon the foundation of the Great and Wisdom sutras, reviving the lost lineage of Nagarjuna. Taking the Middle Way as his ultimate tenet, he established the supreme vehicle as his ultimate goal. He entrusted his teachings to Guanding. Master Guanding then expanded upon them, reverently upholding and transmitting them widely through extensive writings. The door of the teachings thus reopened. This was succeeded by Fahua Wei, whose deep practice remained true to the original tradition. Then came Tiangong Wei, who received and transmitted the Dharma like water poured from one vessel to another, passing it to Zuoxi Xuanlang. Master Xuanlang, with his extraordinary natural talent, made independent judgments, passing down explanations without neglecting the essential texts. He then passed it on to Pitan Zhanran. Master Zhanran showed astonishing wisdom from childhood. Zuoxi held him in high regard and vowed to pass on the lamp. Zhanran once said that the two methods of Calming and Insight encompass all practices, and that the Perfect and Sudden teaching unifies everything. Alas! For nearly two hundred years across four generations, errors accumulated like miswritten characters "fish" and "lu," inevitably mixing similarities and differences. Seeking to clarify the stream of Dharma and guide the profound current, he extensively refuted errors and doubts, thoroughly examining ancient and modern views. Balanced yet not crude, broad yet not complex, he completed the *Fu Xing Ji* in ten volumes. It fully contains the essential and detailed instructions of the ancient sages, matching the capacities of both superior and inferior students of today. It not only synthesizes what has been heard but also aims to regulate what is practiced. What is regulated is practice—the wonderful functioning of the Three Multiples swiftly approached. What is heard is only understanding—the profound contemplation of ultimate reality is thus reached. When practice diverges onto side paths, the beginning and end are separated like heaven and earth. When understanding has no fixed boundaries, it too varies according to depth. He established the *Fu Xing Ji* to present the whole. Thus, those from afar came to inquire about doubts and seek benefit. Day and night, he tirelessly opened the minds of the ignorant and removed their veils. It is my hope to assist in this profound transmission, to reverently uphold and spread it. The Dharma will not go alone when it is to flourish. I, a humble beginner, dare to discuss the supreme vehicle lightly. It is like adding a firefly's light to the sun and moon. Written respectfully by the lay mendicant Pumenzi in the first year of Yongtai, the fourth year of the eighth Tang emperor.