---
title: "靈峰蕅益大師宗論 · 松陵鑒空寧禪師傳"
description: "靈峰蕅益大師宗論是明末高僧智旭的著作。明末佛教面臨內部僵化與外部挑戰，智旭大師立足天台宗，主張禪教律淨融合，回應時代弊病。該書匯集其書信、註疏與開示，系統闡述性相融通、淨土為歸的佛學思想，強調解行並進與實踐修行。作為中國佛教史上承先啟後的巨著，它深刻影響了後世漢傳佛教的發展，尤其對淨土宗的推廣貢獻卓著，被尊為淨土宗第九祖的智旭，其思想透過此論成為明清佛教的重要指南。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmgn46ogd0pb8k104fjypzyxc"
---

### 松陵鑒空寧禪師傳

> Biography of Master Songling Jiankong Ning

方外史曰：「世有大才小用者，舉世共稱之，其人終不傳。」如松陵沈氏，鑒空如寧禪師，貌古骨勁，志超夷等。以萬曆丁亥年，禮懷林茂公，出家方尖觀音禪院。茂棄世，師年十七，形影弔，日受侵擾，不去。對峰宏禪師，見師年少而志堅，力扶之。語長者敬菴陸公，捐資修葺。申文定公聞之，遊其地，手為題額，方獲安處。師唯誅茅力耕，絕無夤緣。延至天啟丙寅，囊有餘貲，捐之。像貌堂宇，煥然改觀。戊辰，遊普陀，歸憩聖壽寺之藏殿。時南關接待寺乏人，徵師理庫事，越一載，主之。整廢墜，肅清規，作事先勞，享用平等，別開學人信宿之單，按律制，無盡藏。田畝日增，積弊悉杜。經四載，空囊稍實，復捐修大殿，不數月工成。遂示微疾，絕湯藥，點常住事，纖悉分明，與眾永訣。上首墮淚，訶曰：「老老大大，作兒女態耶！」命送骨歸普同，上首請鎮方尖，默許之。次日，寂然無聲，吉祥而逝。眾撿其囊，無分文。世壽五十有九，僧臘九夏。既往而芳名益著，議者誰不曰師於接待第一功臣，於方尖中興烈祖哉。嗚呼！此皆非知公者也。方公之力耕方尖也，喟然歎曰：「不意為茲地埋沒半生。」天啟乙丑，予偶同二三法友，結夏菴中，商《大佛頂》要義。師既聞出世法門，猛省昔願，頓以菴事付實上足，從茂林律主受戒，偕予結夏承天，究律學。予以先慈捐世，將隱，師招掩關，以身護其海上之遊，亦侍予也。欲檢律，嚴淨毘尼，故歸憩聖壽。斯時也，舌不味非時之肴，手不釋圓明之珠，送想西方，不復知有人世閒事，將謂初志遂矣。不意接待之緣，漸漸逼身，兩翻皆再三力辭，檀護再四堅勸，萬不獲已，荷之，而志實大拂。臨終命送骨入六和僧海，蓋矢學於來生矣。至許方尖之請，不以語以默。是默也，與昔力耕時倚鋤長喟何異也。師不遂深入法門之志，故兩地之勳，人雖嘖嘖，而自視愈欿然焉。非大才小用，何能功成不滿哉。予知師，傳之，以為幼而有志者告。

> Master Fangwai said: "There are those in this world whose great abilities are used for small matters. Though praised by all, such people ultimately leave no lasting legacy." Take the case of Master Ning of Kongru from the Shen family of Songling. With an ancient face and a strong, gaunt frame, his aspirations soared above the ordinary. In the year Dinghai of the Wanli reign, he took refuge under Elder Huailin Mao and left home to become a monk at the Fangjian Guanyin Meditation Temple. After Elder Mao passed away, the Master was only seventeen, solitary and alone. He suffered daily harassment but would not leave. Master Duifeng Hong, seeing the young man's firm resolve, supported him vigorously. He spoke to the elder Lu Jing'an, who donated funds for repairs. Minister Shen Wending, hearing of this, visited the temple, personally wrote an inscription, and thus the Master found a peaceful dwelling. The Master merely cut grass and worked the fields, never seeking favors or connections. By the time of Bingyin in the Tianqi reign, he had saved some surplus funds and donated them. The temple's halls and Buddha images were completely renovated and transformed. In Wuchen, he traveled to Putuo and on his return rested in the Sutra Hall of Shengshou Temple. At that time, the Nanguan Reception Monastery had no one to manage it, so the Master was asked to take charge of the treasury. After a year, he became its abbot. He repaired what was broken, straightened the rules, worked before others, and shared equally in benefits. He established a system to house traveling scholars, followed the monastic regulations, and created an inexhaustible treasury. The temple's land holdings increased daily, and all accumulated abuses were eliminated. After four years, the empty treasury gradually filled, and he donated again to repair the main hall, completing the work in just a few months. Then, he showed slight signs of illness. He refused medicine, settled the temple's affairs with perfect clarity, and bid a final farewell to the assembly. When the senior disciple wept, the Master scolded him: "An old man of your age—why do you act like a child?" He ordered that his bones be sent to the common burial ground, but the senior disciple asked that they be kept to guard Fangjian. The Master silently consented. The next day, without a sound, he passed away peacefully and auspiciously. When the assembly examined his belongings, they found not a single coin. He had lived fifty-nine years in the world and spent nine summers as a monk. After his death, his fame grew even brighter. Who among the commentators did not say that the Master was the foremost benefactor of the Reception Monastery and the great restorer of Fangjian? But all this misses the true understanding of the Master. When the Master was laboring in the fields at Fangjian, he would sigh: "I never expected to be buried alive in this place for half my life." In Yichou of the Tianqi reign, I happened to spend the summer retreat in his temple with two or three Dharma friends, studying the essential meaning of the \*Shurangama Sutra\*. Once the Master heard the teaching of the transcendental path, he was suddenly awakened to his long-held vow. Immediately, he handed over the temple affairs to his senior disciple Shi, received the precepts from the Vinaya master Maolin, and spent the summer retreat with me at Chengtian, delving into the study of monastic discipline. Because my mother had passed away, I was about to go into seclusion. The Master invited me to stay in closed retreat, protecting my journey to the sea, and also served as my attendant. He wanted to examine the Vinaya texts, purify his observance of the precepts, and so he returned to rest at Shengshou. At that time, his tongue never touched food eaten at improper hours; his hand never let go of the perfect, luminous pearl. His mind was entirely fixed on the Pure Land, and he no longer knew anything of worldly affairs. He thought his original aspiration had been fulfilled. But unexpectedly, the conditions for serving at the Reception Monastery gradually pressed upon him. Twice he declined with all his might; twice the donors and protectors urged him repeatedly. With no other choice, he took up the burden—yet his true intention was greatly thwarted. On his deathbed, he ordered his bones to be thrown into the ocean of the sixfold harmonious Sangha, as if vowing to study in a future life. As for his silent consent to the request to guard Fangjian, that very silence was no different from the long sigh he heaved while leaning on his hoe in the days of his hard labor. The Master never fulfilled his aspiration to deeply enter the Dharma. And so, though people praised his achievements at both temples, he looked upon himself with increasing humility. If his great abilities had not been used for small matters, how could he have accomplished so much while remaining dissatisfied? I knew the Master. I write this record to tell the story for the benefit of those who, even in youth, hold great aspirations.