華嚴宗七祖(出歷代通載)
Seven Patriarchs of the Huayan School(From Lidalai Tongzai)
初祖馬鳴尊者。馬鳴大士者乃西土十二祖，波羅奈國人也，造《起信論》，亦名功勝，以有作無作諸功德最為殊勝，故名焉。昔世尊示寂六百年中，第十一祖富那夜奢，華氏國人也，姓瞿曇氏。父寶身既得法於脅尊者，尋詣波羅奈國。有馬鳴大士迎而作禮，因問曰：「我欲識佛。何者即是？」祖曰：「汝欲識佛。不識者是。」曰：「佛既不識，焉知是乎？」祖曰：「既不識佛，焉知不是？」曰：「此是鋸義。」祖曰：「彼是木義。」復問：「鋸義者何？」曰：「與師平出。」又問：「木義者何？」祖曰：「汝被我解。」馬鳴豁然惺悟，稽首歸依，遂求剃度。祖謂眾曰：「此大士者，昔為毘舍離國王。有一類人如馬裸露，王運神力分身為蠶，彼乃得衣。王後復生中印度，馬人感戀悲鳴，因號馬鳴。如來記云：『吾滅度後六百年，當有賢者馬鳴，於波羅奈國摧伏異道，度人無量。』繼吾傳化，今正是時。」即告之曰：「如來大法眼藏，今付於汝。」即說偈曰：「迷悟如隱顯，明暗不相離。今付隱顯法，非一亦非二。」付法已，即現神變湛然圓寂。
The First Patriarch, the Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa.
The Great Being Aśvaghoṣa was the twelfth patriarch of the Western Lands, a native of the kingdom of Vārāṇasī. He composed the *Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna*, and was also known as "Merit Supreme" because his meritorious deeds, both active and passive, were exceptionally excellent, hence the name.
About six hundred years after the Buddha's passing into Nirvāṇa, the eleventh patriarch was Puṇyayaśas. He was a native of the kingdom of Pāṭaliputra, of the Gautama clan. After receiving the Dharma from the Venerable Parśva, he soon traveled to the kingdom of Vārāṇasī.
There, the Great Being Aśvaghoṣa came to greet him and prostrated himself, then asked: "I wish to know the Buddha. What is it that truly is?" The Patriarch said: "That which you do not recognize is what you wish to know as the Buddha." Aśvaghoṣa asked: "If one does not recognize the Buddha, how can one know that what is not recognized is Him?" The Patriarch replied: "If you do not recognize the Buddha, how can you know that it is not Him?" Aśvaghoṣa said: "This is like the logic of a saw's teeth." The Patriarch said: "That is like the nature of wood." Aśvaghoṣa then asked: "What do you mean by the logic of a saw?" The Patriarch answered: "It means it is on equal footing with the teacher." Aśvaghoṣa further asked: "And what about the nature of wood?" The Patriarch said: "You have been 'split' by me."
At these words, Aśvaghoṣa was suddenly and completely enlightened. He bowed his head in veneration and took refuge, then requested to have his head shaved and become a monk. The Patriarch said to the assembly: "This Great Being was once a king of the land of Vaiśālī. There was a class of beings who were like horses and went naked. The king, using his spiritual power, transformed his body into a silkworm, thereby providing them with clothing. Later, that king was reborn in Central India. The horse-like beings, moved by gratitude, wept and neighed in sorrow, which is why he is called Aśvaghoṣa (Horse’s Neigh). The Tathāgata predicted: 'Six hundred years after my passing, there will be a wise one named Aśvaghoṣa, who will subdue heretical doctrines in the kingdom of Vārāṇasī and liberate countless beings. It is now the time for him to succeed me in propagating the Dharma.'”
Then the Patriarch told him: "The great Dharma-eye treasury of the Tathāgata, I now entrust to you." And he spoke this verse:
"Ignorance and enlightenment are like hiding and revealing, Light and darkness are never truly apart. Now I entrust to you this teaching of hidden and manifest, Which is neither one nor two."
After transmitting the Dharma, the Patriarch manifested a spiritual transformation and entered utterly serene Nirvāṇa.
既受法於夜奢尊者，後於華氏國轉妙法輪。忽有老人坐前仆地，師謂眾曰：「此非庸流，當有異相。」言訖不見。俄從地踴出一金色人，復化為女子，右手指師而說偈曰：「稽首長老尊，當受如來記。今於此地上，宣通第一義。」說偈已瞥然不見。師曰：「將有魔來與我校力。」有頃風雨暴至，天地晦冥。師曰：「魔之來，信矣。吾當除之。」即指空中，現一大金龍，奮發威神，震動山嶽。師儼然於座，魔事隨滅。經七日，有一小蟲，大若蟭螟，潛形座下。師以手取之，示眾曰：「斯乃魔之所變，盜聽吾法耳。」乃放之令去。魔不能動，師告之曰：「汝但歸依三寶。」即得神通，遂復本形，作禮懺悔。師問曰：「汝名誰邪？眷屬多少？」曰：「我名迦毘摩羅，有三千眷屬。」師曰：「汝盡神力變化若何？」曰：「我化巨海，極為小事。」師曰：「汝化性海得否？」曰：「何為性海？我未嘗知。」師即為說性海云：「山河大地皆依建立，三昧六通由茲發現。」毘摩羅聞言，遂發信心，與徒眾三千俱來剃度。師乃召五百羅漢與授具戒，復告之曰：「如來大法眼藏今當付汝。汝聽偈言：『隱顯即本法，明暗元不二。今付悟了法，非取亦非離。』」付法已，即入龍奮迅三昧，挺身空中如日輪相，然後示滅。四眾以真體藏之龍龕，即顯王四十二年甲午歲也。是為初祖。
Having received the Dharma from Venerable Yecha, he later turned the wonderful wheel of the Dharma in the kingdom of Huashi. Suddenly, an old man appeared and fell to the ground before him. The Master said to the assembly, “This is no ordinary person; he will soon display an extraordinary sign.” No sooner had he spoken than the old man vanished. Then, from the earth, a golden figure emerged, which then transformed into a woman. Pointing her right hand at the Master, she spoke a verse:
“I bow to the venerable elder, Who shall receive the Tathagata's prophecy. Here on this ground, You will proclaim the ultimate truth.”
Having spoken the verse, she disappeared in an instant. The Master said, “A demon will come to challenge my power.” Soon, a violent storm arose, shrouding heaven and earth in darkness. The Master said, “The demon has indeed arrived. I must subdue it.” He pointed into the sky, and a great golden dragon appeared, radiating majestic power that shook the mountains. The Master sat calmly in his seat, and the demon’s influence ceased.
After seven days, a tiny insect, as small as a mosquito, hid beneath the Master’s seat. The Master picked it up with his hand and showed it to the assembly, saying, “This is a transformation of the demon, who came to secretly listen to my teaching.” He then let it go, but the demon could not move. The Master said to it, “If you take refuge in the Three Jewels, you will gain spiritual powers.” The demon then returned to its original form, bowed in repentance, and asked, “What is your name, and how many followers do you have?” It replied, “My name is Kapimala, and I have three thousand followers.” The Master asked, “What transformations can you achieve with your full powers?” It said, “I can turn into a vast ocean—such things are trivial to me.” The Master asked, “Can you transform into the nature of the ocean?” It said, “What is the nature of the ocean? I have never known it.” The Master then taught it about the nature of the ocean:
“All mountains, rivers, and the great earth are established upon it. The three samadhis and six supernatural powers arise from it.”
Upon hearing this, Kapimala generated faith and came with his three thousand followers to be ordained. The Master then summoned five hundred Arhats to bestow full ordination upon them. He further told Kapimala, “The great Dharma-eye treasury of the Tathagata I now entrust to you. Listen to this verse:
‘Manifest and hidden are the very Dharma, Bright and dark are originally one. Now I entrust to you the awakened Dharma— Neither to grasp nor to abandon.”
Having transmitted the Dharma, he entered the Dragon’s Leaping Samadhi, stood upright in the sky like the disk of the sun, and then passed into nirvana. The fourfold assembly enshrined his true body in a dragon shrine. This occurred in the forty-second year of King Xian’s reign, corresponding to the year Jiawu. This is the First Patriarch.